What To Do When Your Muse Dumps You

So, you had a spat, did you? 

She packed her toothbrush and stormed right back to her mother’s house, didn’t she?

My first question is this: Did you deserve it?

I mean seriously, if you’re not paying attention to her, only giving her time and affection when it’s convenient for you…do you blame her? Would you stay under such conditions?

Did you work at the relationship? (re-read that emphasizing the word WORK) Hello? Relationships are imperfect, difficult, and—more often than not—require an amount of effort that seems skewed from your own perspective. 

Now you can try enticements such as flowers (aromatherapy) or chocolates (a reward system for work done) to woo her back to your writing-room door. Sometimes these incentives, lures and bribes will earn her forgiveness and win you another chance at a glorious partnership. But she won’t be bought (unless you can hire a ghost-writer). So, if this isn’t the first time she’s put distance between you, it’s time to face facts: it’s not her, it’s YOU. 

There are a couple of different approaches you can take, but anything that will make you a better person ({lol} read that as: better writer, more serious writer, or successful author…whatever suits you best) so your Muse will want to come back is probably a good idea. 

I’m going to share something that has always worked well for me. Since I’m pagan, my take on this may not be for everyone, but I’m going to share a generalized affirmation using a candle as a focus. And, for the love of whatever you believe in, follow basic fire-safety rules every time you use a candle.

1.) CHOOSE ONE OR MORE AFFIRMATIONS:

I am open to new ideas and am blessed with many.

I recognize validity in new ideas. 

I can develop new ideas into product.

2.) CANDLE MAGIC:

Dress and light a pale blue candle. (In this instance ‘dressing' the candle means rubbing it lightly with oil. You can use a few drops of olive oil or cooking oil or an essential oil—especially if the scent correspondences work to power up your purpose. *Eucalyptus is said to boost creativity and mental acuity; patchouli aids in clear thinking and mental stimulation; some folks swear by basil oil. A scented candle in these aromas is good too, but the blue color is more important here. Finally, when 'dressing' the candle, since you want to bring creativity toward you, it’s important to rub the oil on the candle starting at the top and running down to the base.) 

Place the candle (following fire safety rules) where you can sit comfortably before it. Hold a geode in your non-dominant hand, close your eyes and relax. Call for ideas for your project, and name it specifically. Make it a chant if you can rhyme it. Since three is a creative number, repeat your chant in cycles of three. Imagine ideas flowing like water, filling the geode ‘cup’ in your hand. As if meditating, ‘see’ and ‘feel’ the ideas filtering through the geode and into you, or ‘drink’ the ideas from the geode ‘cup.’

Take it to the next level: 

• use three blue candles in a triangular formation—keep the tip pointing at you and imagine the ideas funneling through the other two and being directed toward you by the foremost one 

• do this on a Thursday and call on Jupiter in your rhyming chant, such as:
“Mighty Jupiter in the sky, send ideas from on high, 
  fill my creative cup and never let it run dry!”

** Affirmations are a great way to remind yourself how awesome you are. It's too easy to get bogged down by life and things that go awry. It's okay to root for yourself, pat yourself on the back once in a while, and say nice things to yourself. 
*** Your olfactory bulbs (scent molecules bind to specific spots on the olfactory receptors which unite at the glomerulus which in turn transmits signals to the olfactory bulbs) are part of the limbic system in your brain. The limbic system supports many functions such as emotion, behavior and memory. It triggers neurochemicals that govern much of our lives…like serotonin, endorphins, etc. Scents are linked to certain experiences and memories, and by that, specific scents create/recreate certain moods. Just search “essential oils for creativity and inspiration” and check out some of the many sites with info on this. 

AND...If you are following the free chapters of the Persephone Alcmedi BOOK 7, I posted chapter 4 last week and chapter 5 this week. www.wolfsbaneandabsinthe.blogspot.com