Beating Drums in the Caves of the Underworld

The Creative Process as a Journey into the Spiritual World

Authors

  • Laura Valeri Georgia Southern University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v4i2.287

Keywords:

creative process, creativity, mythology, monomyth, sumerian mythology, chtonic gods, writing, writer's journey, Gardner, Campbell, daemonic inspiration, shamanic journey

Abstract

Writing a story is on the surface only a matter of discipline, but I argue that inherent in the creative process is a battle between order and chaos documented in the earliest myths of civilization. I examine several myths about the journey to the underworld to suggest that these stories are metaphors for the biology and psychology that empower the creative process.

Author Biography

  • Laura Valeri, Georgia Southern University

    Laura Valeri is the author of two collections of short stories, Safe in Your Head (Stephen F. Austin University Press) and The Kinds of Things Saints Do (University of Iowa Press), both recipients of literary awards and honors. She has written numerous short stories and essays on craft for a variety of journals and e zines, and she’s at work on a novel about Sumerian mythology. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Florida International University and an MFA in Fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Writing and Linguistics at Georgia Southern University.

References

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Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2004, February) Creativity, fulfillment and flow. Retrieved on 31 March 2011 from ww.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html.

Dalley, S. (2000) Myths from Mesopotamia. London: Oxford University Press.

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Gardner, J. (1979) On Moral Fiction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Kramer, S. N. (1963) The Sumerians: Their History, Culture and Character. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Narby, J. (1998) The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge. New York: Putnam.

Speirs, R. (1971) Tolstoy and Chekhov. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

University of Pennsylvania (2006) The Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary (ePSD). Retrieved on 30 April 2011 from http://psd.museum.upenn.edu/epsd/nepsd-frame.html.

Wolkstein, D. and Kramer, S.N. (1983) Inanna. New York: Harper and Row.

Published

2012-12-28

Issue

Section

Reflections on Practice

How to Cite

Valeri, L. (2012). Beating Drums in the Caves of the Underworld: The Creative Process as a Journey into the Spiritual World. Writing and Pedagogy, 4(2), 287-296. https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v4i2.287