[jamesn.]

I have spent most of the day thinking about what Stephen has clarified; and indeed the more I thought about it and looked up references the more I realized how true and on point with my personal journey this applies. First off; I am no writer; but yes, I have been trying to learn more on how to write better in expressing my thoughts as a vehicle to better understand my own journey and the personal myth that drives it. Saying that; what has become increasingly more apparent to me is as Stephen has pointed out; the two have become intertwined in the way I viewed this; (which I think others may in some ways also be experiencing themselves which I think may often cloud this issue). So the creative spark and the craft are indeed separate from the writer’s process; but I would think could also be “affected” by the archetypal influences in the way they interpret the experience as they are bringing it forth as a vehicle of consciousness.

(To be clear I am not suggesting the self/archetype as regulator of the entire psyche is not pushing the (ego as hero) to write from a creative spark of inspiration; but definitely could be affected by a separate archetypal influence; (say like in a novel of fiction as opposed to a non-fiction piece). But this would not be concerned with the individual’s life course. (Joseph often refers to esthetic art or aesthetic arrest; (setting a frame around something); as opposed to other types such as commercial art that is used to sell something). But if I’m understanding this correctly; as when Joseph talks about sacred space and bringing forth something that the individual “as artist” is experiencing as a piece of “aesthetic” expression; this distinction of clarity must be understood if it is to be realized as a true symbolic reference that is being conveyed. For instance the use of a metaphor, or the use of a symbol, or an abstract approach can all be experienced as the aesthetic as opposed to say the religious or commercial. “Spiritual” I think would be different; although you could possibly say (divine) I’m assuming; but it would be the experience that the work is attempting to reveal.

I realize this is may be a rather convoluted way of articulating my impressions of Joseph various descriptions throughout both “Pathway’s to Bliss” and Diane Osbon’s: “Reflections on the Art of Living”; as Joseph comes at this topic from different directions when making distinctions about the different categories of artistic expression. One example might be when Art took a big leap in Paris at the end of the 1st World War when he first encountered James Joyce and had to ask Sylvia Beech; owner of Shakespeare and Co. to help him understand Joyce’s work. (So please have patience with my rather clumsy descriptions.)