There were nine muses according to Classical Greek mythology, all daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (memory). These graceful, alluring ladies are credited with being the inspiration behind the sciences, literature and the arts. I think of them more in Jungian terms, as concentrations of the collective unconscious.

The muses are powerful conduits of creative energy and insight. So it is fitting to call on them for favor and assistance at the start of a project. Homer, famously, begins his epic poem Odysseus with an invocation of the muse.

“Sing to me of the man, Muse.”

Here is my own invocation of the muses (all nine) because I’ll take all the help I can get. This is how it came to me.

Sing to me of the universe, of the galaxies, planets and stars, of the constellations and the turnings of the spheres, of the patterning of their movements in space, of the influence of energies on the ground. Sing me the song of the future, regale me with tales of the past. Teach me the rhythms of enchantment, of truth, goodness, laughter and light so things that never were might manifest in harmony, melody and metaphor. Lend me your presence muses that I may disappear completely and am but an instrument of the dance.