Your “Inner Magician” – Creative Fire
Freude, schöner Götterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium!
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, Dein Heiligtum.
Lyrics by Schiller, later used by Beethovan in “Ode to Joy,” Symphony #9.
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods,
Daughter of Elysium,
We approach, drunk with fire,
Heavenly One, your holy shrine.
Translated by A.J. Maren.
Creative fire! Genius! Divine inspiration!
It is moments like these in which we feel uplifted; exalted even.
Moments of inspiration, in which we are seemingly infused with the “fire of the gods,” set us apart from the “dailiness” of living. They seem to redefine us and reframe our lives with new meaning. In such moments of creative passion, we really do feel ecstatic.
When we are consumed with the “inner fire” and totally absorbed with our creation, we are accessing our inner Magician.
Being in this mode – which can even take us to exaltation – is a transcendent experience. It can even become addictive! We desire to fulfill our creative potential to our utmost.
For this reason, many “creative types” have been willing to forego many of life’s amenities. The mythology of the artist, starving in a garret in order to devote himself (or herself) to creative passion – there actually is some truth to these stories!
Thomas Edison
Not only does our “creative fire” give us some immunity to our body’s (and even our psyche’s) demands for comfort, this “fire” also embues us with seemingly supernatural powers of endurance. Thomas Edison, for example, was known to work around the clock for days at a time. He took short naps in which he recharged, and required relatively short sleep at night (only four to five hours).
In Jungian terms, our Magician mode is iNtuitive, Thinking, and Judging (NTJ). That is, we use our “intuition” to gain insight into what we desire; what we are creating. We leap beyond the “what-is-so-right-now” to “inwardly know” the final product, and then work backwards, filling in the details. A composer, for example, “hears” the music in his or her head at first, then writes down the melody, and then the full orchestration.
The Magician – The first of eight Core Power Archetypes
– Jungian Type NTJ
Our inner Magician is very much a “Thinking” mode as as opposed to “Feeling.” “Feeling” modes are dominated by the neurohormone oxytocin, which induces bonding. The bonding can be with a spouse or lover, with a parent or child, with a group of friends, or even with a pet. Physical touch (cuddling, petting, grooming someone else) and even conversation all contribute to a warm, gooey, oxytocin-induced good feeling.
Our Magician mode operates on a more abstract and logical plane. When we are in this mode, we do not require connection with others. In fact, attempts by others for connection may seem like intrusions to our concentration; they become distractions that break our focus.
Ludwig van Beethovan, drawn by Klober
Finally, our Magician mode is definately a “Judging” state. This does not mean that we “judge” others, forming opinions of whether they are good or bad, or even opinions on someone’s daily habits. (“Oh, Mary is always late,” or “John always talks too loud.”) Rather, it is a desire to come-to-closure. When in this state, we desire to see our creation emerge in final form. We want the invention to work, we want the symphony to be completed and performed, we want our newest marketing campaign strategy to be launched in all its glory.
Our inner Magician is the first “core power archetype” that we seek to access and master. As we gain competence in this realm, we define ourselves – and our creative gifts – uniquely. We become who we truly are. This is one of the most exciting and sublimely fulfilling of our core archetypes, of our personal “V8 power car engine.”
