Crafting the Mythos-Sphere: Toward the Practical Integration of Intuition and Intellect

Abstract

This production dissertation examines the role of the creative process in balancing intellect and intuition in the individual; and the potential of collaborative creativity to support the integration of intuition and intellect on a social level. The mythos-sphere is given as a metaphor to conceptualize the human experience, which extends from the physical, but always includes much more than one knows: inner and outer, conscious and unconscious, physical and imaginal altogether comprise this sphere of influence.

The mythic imagination aids social cohesion when there is sufficient shared experience. This research addresses a disconnect between inner experience and collective experience. This gap might be bridged by a social context that encourages awareness of our immersion in a mythic environment, built upon common ground.

The third is considered as the space between inner-outer and self-other, that allows negotiation without loss of self, and from which creative solutions emerge. A discussion of the third examines Winnicott’s transitional space and Jung’s archetypal theory. The space of the third is “expanded” by admitting the unknown and the ambiguous as real and meaningful, but “collapsed” by reductive thinking. Participation, or being present and phenomenologically engaged, relaxes the tension wrought by protracted rational focus. Metaphor is proposed as the essential bridge that mediates the “in-between” area of the third.

Giving physical form to images emerging from the unconscious is considered as “applied metaphor.” Connecting inner with outer, known with unknown, and rational with non-rational, the creative process generates meaning for the individual. A collaborative creative process is therefore suggested as a way to develop shared meaning.

Concluding that creative collaboration encourages communication and group cohesion, a method is proposed. The production presents the application of this method via a three-day collaborative art-and-story making event, documented as an interactive digital magazine.