What is a creative spirit? During the Renaissance, philosophers said that each person is born with something called a daimon. The word daimon comes from the Greek, and it can be translated in quite a few different ways, such as guiding spirit, heart’s calling, twin soul, or higher self. I like to call it a creative spirit.

Basically, the idea is that each of us is born with particular talents and abilities. The daimon can be thought of as a kind of guardian angel or as a metaphor for a power you have inside you, but that you may have forgotten. The daimon brings messages in the form of hunches, desires, recurrent thoughts, dreams, images, associations, synchronicities—those occurrences that feel meaningful for you.

For example, many years ago I received a message about continuing to teach when I thought I would do another kind of work. I passed by a school and saw a large billboard with angel wings and the words: Peace on Earth. But not all messages from the daimon are that obvious of course. You need to listen to that still, small voice within. The daimon travels between different dimensions of existence or states of consciousness and its messages often come as a whisper. 

When you begin to trust in your ability and use your talents for your fulfillment and for the benefit of others, the daimon helps you to find your way.

I hope you will all remember that you are here for a reason, that you are needed, and that you can bring something good to the world. Help is there for you when you can get calmer, stay focused, and follow your creative spirit.

“At every person’s birth, he or she is assigned a certain daimon by his own star, a guardian of life to help with his destined task.”—Marsilio Ficino (qtd. in Outer Beauty, Inner Joy: Contemplating the Soul of the Renaissance by Julianne Davidow)