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Creative/Sexual Energies

Skeleton Camera

17:17 / 18.01.04

In my understanding of things, one's creative and sexual energies are two varieties of the same second-chakra energy. The force itself is simply that of creation - at one 'frequency', that creation is biological; at another, it is more abstract and related to needs, aesthetics, representation, meme-spreadin', etc.
However, young children are frequently extremely creative long before any sexual development - that's biological. So there's a biological determinant to what course the energy takes at what point in life. Once one reaches sexual maturity, though, what determines the energy then? And can we, as energy-tweakin' little beings, direct that energy at will (creation <--> sex etc)? I'm assuming so, but looking for thoughts on it...

(Reminds me of that passage from the Tao te Ching, re: infant vitality...can't find it at the moment though.)

17:56 / 18.01.04

... one's creative and sexual energies are two varieties of the same second-chakra energy.

There's quite a lot of loaded assumptions in that statement though, do you not think? We've had various discussions here before about the meaning of the word "energy" (do a search) and there's one kindof ongoing at the moment about "kundalini" which may shed some light on the idea of the chakras. I'm not picking holes, just pointing out we're not necessairly on the samepage with these ideas.

I can see some relationship between creativity and sexuality but not sure I'd want to nail in down, beyond saying there's some similarity in the two processes. I'd have to think more on it. More on point though, children have a sexuality before reaching full maturity. That's what Freud's work is based on. I can certainly remember having sexual feelings in early childhood, and I can't see why this wouldn't go on back to the pre-verbal stage. Not sure if I get the rest of your statement - can you unpack it a bit?

22:44 / 18.01.04

There's always the religious/thelema idea of denying the sexual urge and therefore building up reserves of energy which can then be channelled into other more mystical channels. This is surely the basis of all monkish celebacy vows (along with saint peter's chauvanism.)

This seems to be the same kind of idea?

Skeleton Camera

03:15 / 19.01.04

I've been reading the Kundalini thread and have read some of the older postings re: energy. And you're absolutely right as to sexual feelings in children (which I too, upon thinkin' about it, can correlate). In which case there is no developmental "switch" from creative mode to sex mode - they're always hand in hand - so does creativity get turned up when one's sex drive does?

My basic question/thought is this: are creative and sexual energies variations on ONE energy, or are they different? And you're right, I am making many assumptions as to energy and the nature of energy. What could be a better phrasing, then, would be: is there a relationship between the drive to create and the sex drive?

19:11 / 20.01.04

Well, in my experience, I'm definitely more creative and have more energy for projects and such when in a happy sexual relationship, because when the sexual needs are met, I don't spend lots of time fantasizing about or trying to get sex. Steve Martin said it best in his play "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" - "A painter has got to stay well fucked, otherwise his mind keeps drifting off the canvas and across the street to the miller's pretty daughter." And I mean this partly tongue-in-cheek, but partly seriously too. I definitely think that when you have sex, your mind and body spend less time engaged in how to get sex, thus freeing your time and energy up for more creative pursuits. So it doesn't surprise me that the chakras are connected. Plus, sex is, genetically at least, for creation. And in the non-procreative uses of sex, it creates an emotional bond and superentity between two people (the third entity known as their relationship, the fusion of both together).

trouser the trouserian

07:02 / 21.01.04

What about celibate creatives?

Take Leonardo da Vinci for instance: one of the great creative figures of the 15th century - a painter, sculptor, anatomist, designer of weapons of mass destruction (he worked for Cesare Borgia as a military engineer); produced studies on geometry, mechanics, architecture; oh yeah, and the odd masterpiece like the Mona Lisa.
In 1476 he was anonymously accused of "sodomy" with the 17 year-old Jacopo Salterelli and thrown in the pokey - but subsequently acquitted.

da Vinci is generally thought to have been celibate by his biographers. For more information try A History of Celibacy by Elizabeth Abbott. Alternatively, Vertigo Comics did a 10-issue "speculative biography" a few years back entitled Chiaroscuro which is also worth reading.