Creative Fire by Mary O'Gara, Ph.D.

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NEW for October 2011

Four Creative Streams

In primitive cultures and in the ancient wisdom of the Western world, storytelling was the way of the healer, and storytelling was only one of four creative paths or processes. Whether you study the pyramids or the four rivers flowing out of Eden when Adam and Eve left or the four animals symbolizing the New Testament gospels, it is clear that ancient wisdom recognized four ways of creating, expanding and bringing new works into the world.

The primitive world, as Angeles Arrien documented in The Four-Fold Path, grouped the work of leaders and creators into these patterns:

The visionary, who sees and tells the truth
The warrior, who works by being present
The teacher, who bears wisdom
The storyteller, who heals by giving life meaning and completion

The visionary stands in the desert and sings. The poet Gary Snyder says we should understand song as “voice, which is ... speech, music, language and intelligence.” Any work that calls us back to our purposes, as individuals or members of the community, is related to the visionary and the fire element even though sound and intelligence are the visionary’s primary tools.

The warrior’s path is action, with all the correspondences to power and the element of air. The primary purpose of the warrior, however, is to be present; the finest warriors deter and direct simply by showing up. We are warriors when we show up to comfort friends and family in hard times. Today we might consider that architecture, with the towering statements of corporate power, and traffic signs are also creations of the warrior way.

The teacher, who we often think of as talking in modern classrooms, actually works in silence and represents the blending and commingling powers of water. We see the ancient teacher in classrooms where ego is set aside in order to let the subject matter itself come alive and lead students to learning. The teacher, in the ancient cultures, established trust so that people could face uncertainty and be open to learning. The teacher is a weaver, a maker of rituals that ease us into new experiences. Today the teacher is often a counselor or perhaps a maker of films and documentaries that let us explore the world from the safety of our homes.

Perhaps there were only three elements in the beginning. The primary colors, which represent fire, air and water, blend to form earth.

The storyteller heals by giving meaning and perspective to life. Without the work fo the warrior, the visionary and the teacher, the storyteller would be crippled or disabled. The storyteller heals by what Arrien calls “right speech”, speech that carries truth even if it is fiction. Kahlil Gibran, author of The Prophet, teaches by parable as people did in Biblical times.

Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the threads of the four paths. When a potter or sculptor molds clay, the making involves vision (a clear intention). The potter may also intend to have us hold the pot and experience life in a new way (teacher) as we use an unfamiliar shape for a familiar task. Or perhaps the potter is a warrior, and the presence of handmade work reminds all present of the value of human effort. She may even be a storyteller, using her pots to bring meaning to a ceremonial ritual with a gift such as a ceremonial pot.

As modern “cultural creatives” tell us, creativity is a basic human quality, not restricted to “works of art”. Although beauty makes work approachable (that teacher again), beauty alone is only one measure of a creative work.

Feng shui, with its placement of furnishings to direct energy, is warrior work as well as teacher work. John F. Kennedy’s inaugural address was the work of a visionary. Wasn’t Kennedy’s speech also a teacher for those with high aspirations? And didn’t it tell a story about our people? And was it or was it not a warrior’s presence barring the path for those who wanted America to take the safe and easy way?

At its core, creativity is simply innovation. Creative cooks sometimes make new foods that are inedible. The curiosity had value even if the finished product didn’t. As Edison said, he learned many ways not to make a lightbulb before he learned how to make a lightbulb.

At its best, creativity draws from and honors all four pillars. The works that survive, in every field, compel attention (warrior), bring something new to the community (teacher’s legacy), hold true to a unified and clear intention (visionary), and give meaning and direction to the stories of our life and the world in which we live (storyteller).

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