Archetype 3: The Mystic - Vision beyond culture - The 12 Virtues of the Primordial Artist

This is part 12 in a series exploring the 12 virtues that can free artists from cultural enslavement.

ATTEND

We have now seen the three facets of the Mystic: Piety, Arete, and Poetry. We have seen how the Mystic is transparent to Nature, both of the outside world and of their own. They know how to abide in the Mystery. They know how to be obedient to their intuition – infused by Self Love. With this first facet the Mystic can connect and commune and see into the Mystery. The can be there with it. With Arete, the Mystic is able to make. they are able to craft, to form, to forge, to write – with the help of the Warrior and the Lover they Mystic can apply excellence – can improve, can grow, can make their work aligned with the Mystery. And with Poetry, the Mystic finally constructs their object, finishes it, and offers it up to the god – a sacrament to the great mysterious, inviting humanity to celebrate its birth, celebrate its exhibition.

ENVISION

With the foundation of the Lover, adding love of self, love of other, love of god/reality, and the strength of the Warrior, enabling physical strength and reality, courage to look into the abyss, and sensitive alternation between doing and listening, the Mystic is able to be the link to the Great Mysterious the Artist must have.

The Artist who has incorporated the Mystic is on a mission from god. The visions they participate in and receive and the work they are called by intuition to do are liberated from human expectation. They are not creating for the culture, they are creating for the primordial commonwealth. The culture may witness, may support, may celebrate, and may be changed, but the culture will not dictate.

The simulacra of generations of copies of copies no longer hold sway: the Artist now can see through them, turn down the opacity, view the stars through the glass bottomed boat, and perceive of the truth and beauty that the great mysterious provides. The work they do is now aligned with the creative source, and is beyond cultural critique.

And yet the Artist improves! Their dedication to Arete urges them to care more, to develop more, to refine, to make more congruent to the Mystery. Their work rises as of it’s own force – Like a red tailed hawk riding an updraft, Arete lifts the Artists to heights not before seen.

The Artist, with the Mystic integrated, is a poet of the highest order: Creating works that not only indicate the mystery, but are the mystery. Their objects are offerings to the god, and are relics other humans can witness and be transported to connection they didn’t know was possible. The art objects become portals.

With the Mystic the mission of the artist is brought high: Not just to love, not just to be brave, but to create in a dance with god. To see through the illusions and craft pieces of truth and beauty.

DIRECT

Exercise 1: Meeting Your Inner Wise Guide

Sacred Space: Create or visualize a temple, forest grove, or mountain peak.

Invitation: “I call forth my Inner Wise Guide, the one who knows my true calling.”

Visualization: Allow a figure to emerge – an old sage, a luminous being, an animal spirit, or simply a presence.

Dialogue:

“What is my soul’s true creative purpose?”
“What wants to be born through my art right now?”
“How do I distinguish between my ego’s desires and divine calling?”
“What is the next step on my path?”

Gift Receiving: Ask your Guide to give you a symbol, word, or image to carry forward.

Integration: Place this symbol somewhere in your creative space as a reminder.

Exercise 2: The Intuition Activation

Quiet Preparation: Sit in stillness for several minutes, releasing mental chatter.

Question Holding: Hold a specific creative question or decision lightly in awareness.

Body Scanning:

“What does ‘yes’ feel like in my body?”
“What does ‘no’ feel like in my body?”
“What does ‘not yet’ feel like?”

Intuitive Dialogue:

“Inner Knowing, what wants to emerge?”
“What is trying to be expressed through me?”
“What is the highest quality I can bring to this work?”

Action: Trust the first impulse that feels alive and take one small step in that direction.

Exercise 3: The Excellence Practice

Current Work Focus: Bring to mind a current creative project.

Quality Dialogue: “I invite my Inner Master Craftsperson to speak.”

“Where am I settling for less than my best?”
“What would true excellence look like in this work?”
“What am I afraid will happen if I truly commit to quality?”
“What support do I need to create at my highest level?”

Vision: See your work completed at its highest potential.

Commitment: “What am I willing to sacrifice to serve this level of quality?”

CURTAIN

The Mystic has now cemented our identity as an Artist and has elevated our calling from decorating the simulacra to exhibiting the truth. Creating from and for the primordial mystery the artists work is sanctified. With the Mystic we can approach the task well, with excellence, with devotion, with good intention, and with the support of the Lover and the Warrior, we are sustained, we are strong, we are courageous, we are Artists. We create objects of transcendence.

Next we will meet the Child. We will remember the accuracy of desire, we will see the bliss of abandon, the joy of breaking down old forms, and the humility to start again.