Stories are where I go to understand the world. Mythology, folklore, or modern day plots all hold archetypes and universal truth. Because of this, they’re easy to relate to even if the details don’t look like our daily life.
In one of my favorite myths, at the advice of the wise crone, a young woman travels the seas to reconnect mother earth with her heart that was stolen and lost at sea. Her journey involves a list of tasks, as all good myths do, that push her to her limits, build confidence, and introduce her to her new found and forever community. This famous myth is probably one you’ve seen, with music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and voice overs from your favorite WWE star, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Yes, this movie is Moana. It is a modern day myth and has so much to teach us.
Moana: A Modern Myth About Creative Spark
I love this movie for the imagery of the ocean, of course, the music, and the hero’s journey led by a strong female character. But as I watched this movie for the 20+ time with my 2-year-old son, a new layer was broken open and revealed. For the first time, I saw this story in regards to creative spark. The inner truth that lives inside of us, that guides us and moves us, coming back to life in Te Fiti through the renewal of Te Kā.
The Archetype of the Wounded Goddess
Te Kā, the lava monster guarding the entrance to Te Fiti and hungry for the heart of the ocean, is the feminine disconnected from her creative spark, or in this storyline from her heart. She is dry, enraged, disconnected from all, destroying all that’s in her path, unable to create, unable to evolve or move forward. She is the archetype of the wounded goddess mother. Or depicted as Demeter who in her grief stops the harvest for all the world until her heart (her daughter) is returned to her. Te Kā’s pain and anger and everything else that creates this character is in all of us when we too are separated from creative spark. However, when the creative spark or heart comes back to her again she is moved back into her true self–one filled with growth, life, possibility, joy, and connection.
The Dark Night of the Soul and the Wisdom Within
The whole plot of Moana is a story about finding out who you are. Whether it’s Te Kā as Te Fiti or Moana as the Ocean’s chosen one to heal the world. When all hope seems lost and Moana enters the stage of “the dark night of the soul” she is reconnected with her diseased grandmother (my favorite character and whom I want to be when I grow up). It’s when all our guards are down, the real wisdom comes to us and reveals the truth–“The call isn’t out there, it’s inside of me”.
The same lesson is discovered in the classic film, The Wizard of Oz. After her long journey through Oz, Dorothy discovers that she had the ability to go home all along, inside of herself. Similar to Moana, she finds her community on this journey and discovers courage (The lion or Maui, in Moana), and lets go of logic for intuition (Scarecrow or Hey-hey the chicken).
Your Hero's Journey Starts Here
The answer I, and most likely you, have been searching for is shared with us in these movies we know and love. The answer is within. Everything you need to feel whole, to be creative, to know who you truly are, lives inside of you. The hardest part is taking that first step on your hero’s journey to discovering the truth that only you can reveal. This journey will contain a list of trials you too will have to face along the way. But through the journey you reveal exactly what you’ve been searching for and maybe pick up a few friends along the way.
Tools to Help You Find Your Way Back
If you’re not sure where to start on your journey, I hope to help provide some tools through Modern Magic Fine Art.
Art is my favorite way to connect with yourself. Find a painting that speaks to something deep inside of you and use it as a daily reminder of this journey you’re on. Use it with the Modern Magic Podcast where I provide free guided mindfulness practices to go deeper with your Modern Magic art and help you discover something new about the painting or yourself.
Then there is the Creative Spark workshop. A 2-hour painting workshop in Denver that invites you to explore the creative process through painting with gouache. Of course there is so much more to this workshop as we explore creative cycles, reclaiming your name as artist, and learning about more tools to keep the spark lit long after you leave.
Lastly, I offer 1:1 Source Sessions. I like to think of these as creative direction. Together we find where you’re stuck and play with different creative tools to help you get unstuck. We’ll work with archetype cards, visual journaling, breathwork, and conversation to dig up some things and help you build a roadmap to restoring your own heart like Te Fiti.
The journey is yours, consider me the crazy grandma leading you to the boats that will take you on your voyage.