Who they were and what they are today…
Each of us needs to express our muse. This is vital for every human! It is how we experience the joy in our very existence as well as our deep interconnectedness with life in which everything is exactly as it should be. But how do we know what force is working through us, what is the driving energy in our lives, what inspires us to grow, to evolve, to create?
Greek mythology speaks of the god Apollo, who was often in the company of the muses and so found solace in his search for beauty. Minerva, daughter of Jupiter, patroness of wisdom, crafts, arts, sciences and healing also finds the muses. When Urania meets her to tell her of the new source of inspiration created by Pegasus (born of Medusa’s blood), one of the Muses shares a concern of safety by telling the story of Pirineus who tried to imprison the 9 Muses in his tower. Fortunately for them, however, he was unable to do so and so the Muses are still free today to serve us in expressing our inspiration. Yes, the muses only appear in our lives when we begin to work through our inspiration.
The nine muses were; Urania, the muse of astronomy helping us to connect to our cosmic origin, Clio, the muse of history, said to know the ways of the future, Calliope – muse of poetry and music – mother of Orpheus, the musician on a journey to set his soul free, Terpsichore – muse of song, dance and education, or harmony and soul.In ancient Sparta, traditional education required parents to teach their children to dance from the age of five.
Erato was the muse of love. The winged god Eros was a common accompaniment to the muse, thoughEros was the god of erotic love and Erato tells a tale of the dangers of passionate and destructive love.
Thalia was the muse of comedy holding a comedic mask in her hands, bringing wisdom and philosophy through comedy, reminding us not to take ourselves too seriously and to play on the great stage of life.
Euterpe was muse of wind instruments and all sound which brings delight.
Melpomene the muse of the underworld, or the shadow, the expression of the other side of life. This ironically does not reflect her name, which in ancient Greek means “to celebrate with song” it rather allures that there is a bittersweet song to human life. She is said to have inspired some of Sophocles’ most famous tragedies the Antigone, Electra, The Women of Trachis, and Oedipus.
Polyhymnia was the muse of politicians and great orators.
The nine muses were said to be daughters of Zeus, the king of all gods, and their mother Mnemosyne – the Goddess of Memory. The muses were born to bring enthusiasm, creativity inspiration through the arts, sciences, music, astronomy and so on.
Mythology has left behind its symbols to help us search for what exists in each of us. Each muse is connected to an energy within us, in our cosmic and planetary presence. In our pursuit for beauty, for manifesting what truly inspires us and provokes our growth each of us works with our muses. They are actually much more than nine. Nine may be our archetypes of them. Any inspiration to build, to create, to find new ways, solutions, discoveries whether in art, sciences, music, politics, or else, they all come from a deeper connection with who we really are and with an innate drive to make things better, to perfect ourselves.
Though the term “muse” nowadays may mean “someone who inspires“ in my understanding, the muse is something that one finds inside. It is an inner calling! Like a wind instrument that sounds from within us and clears the very air of our inner world and whispers of why we are here. The question remains; what is our muse? What inspires us? The answer may mean the world for each of us and also collectively as humanity.
And perhaps there will come a time when we are able to express our inspiration through all of the muses, but until then, we all seek our calling now. And just as Minerva’s cause is vindicated even through war when the cause is noble, so our struggle is vindicated when we must give birth to the fountain of Pegasus within us.
Let us bring our Mount Helicon to life. The new spring is different from that of Narcissus, as it is sourced by an inner inspiration, which comes from Spirit. Oh, and Helicon, in addition to a mountain is also a tuba – a wind instrument, which reminds us to spiritualize our body as the perfect instrument.
