Nature Spirits are Back

the muse has returned

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A collection of nature spirit dolls, Jan Blencow (2025)

In my creative depth coaching practice, I work with numerous creatives. Some are visual artists, some writers and poets, and even a few dancers. Several individuals approach their work professionally, while others utilize the creative process to explore their inner worlds and spiritual journey.

We explore how creativity arises and what supports a creative life. Often, we travel together through the lifetime of their innovative projects and pursuits, from conception to the final and full realization of their finished creations. The purpose of their creative endeavors may be specific, or it may evolve and take shape, changing and morphing over time.

Very often, creating is a calling or feels necessary for expressing and healing the roots of wounds or as a means of discovering or recovering parts of their true self that are lost or buried under circumstances or responsibilities that smother the creative flame within them.

Creative individuals (and many more people are creative than you might imagine, yes, even you are likely to be creative in ways you haven’t yet imagined!) have unique needs because of the way the highly creative mind works. There is simultaneously a need for silence and introspection when ideas can begin to form and incubate, as well as a need for novelty, new experiences, and exposure to that which enlivens and inspires. Ideas, colors, scenery, places, words, emotions, beauty, tragedy, in short, immersion in life with exuberance and vitality balanced by forays into their inner world of imagination, the fantastical, the immense, and numinous all play a part in the matrix of what is necessary to fuel creative output.

While it is important to “just show up” as so many gurus say, creativity and creative work often come in fits and starts. The urge to create compels obedience, the command must be acted upon, and the task completed, sometimes at the expense of much else. The Muse is a terrible taskmaster. She is unpredictable, demanding, and capricious. She arrives like a bolt out of the blue, often without warning. Her assignments can bring deep joy and satisfaction, transporting the artist out of the ordinary self and into the service of the divine. The work feels like a flow and pours through like water. Sometimes the flow becomes an overflow, a torrent that floods the entire being, sweeping the artist away into a terrifying state of frenzied work. At the end of the storm, there is often a brilliant work of art, but also wreckage, a messy aftermath to be dealt with.

There is also the other end of the spectrum, the betrayal of the Muse. After months or years of steady engagement, guidance, flow state, and energy, she withdraws without so much as a hint. This is what we often refer to as “creative block”. The well is dry, the ideas, desire, and energy to create have evaporated. The blank page or canvas, the silent keyboard, or the motionless body becomes a void, empty of inspiration, life, and meaning.

She is a cruel mistress, to be sure.

Autumn Nature Spirit, Jan Blencowe, ©2025

I have known the ways of the Muse for many years in her service. The indescribable exhilaration in the first stages of visionary inspiration, to the thrill of the beginnings of making something manifest through the struggle to keep the process going, the unexpected changes in direction, the moments when everything seems to fall apart, the negotiation with your creation as it begins to take on a life of its own, the creative decisions that mold and shape the final piece to the moment when you know its complete and the exhaustion that follows.

Art has been my life for many decades, whether I was working professionally or pursuing it for my own nurturing and delight. Being a creative is a monumental part of who I am.

For several years, I created nature spirit dolls. These are handcrafted from natural found materials, carefully selected and curated fibers, fabrics, beads, and findings, as well as my own sculpted elements. They were and are a labor of love. They are also generated at the behest of the Muse. The idea came from her, and the energy that sustained their creation was entirely gifted to me from a source beyond myself.

See a gallery of my Nature Spirit Dolls HERE

One of the most gratifying parts of this work was how archetypal energies inspired and settled into each one-of-a-kind art doll sculpture. Rubbing elbows in such an intimate way with these considerable energies, all of which came from the world of earth elements and nature, was exhilarating. The other delightful part was my customers. Each of them had a particular story, a need, or an insight that led them to one of my pieces. They found strength, comfort, joy, clarity, direction, and sometimes even protection from the nature spirit they took into their care and their home. Those conversations were a source of amazement and deeply gratifying to me.

Just at the height of this output, suddenly and without warning, the muse departed. One day, I woke up and I knew that was it. I was no longer creating nature spirit dolls.

Forest Spirit, Jan Blencowe ©2025

That was three years ago. Of course, I continued to create, but the work I was doing was purely for my enjoyment; it was not intended for others. About two months ago, as spring began to bloom in full, I started to feel the earth and the woods on my land begin to murmur. The spirits there began to desire a way to connect, to speak, and to interact. I started to sense that the time was approaching when I would once again collect branches, moss, acorns, lichen, stones, and similar items to craft nature spirit dolls. Now the time is here.

I sense a different approach to creating is brewing. Something new and lively is about to emerge. I expect these little nature spirit effigies to be richer, fuller, more laden with symbols, gifts, and blessings.

If owning a nature spirit doll is intriguing, you can visit my newly reopened Etsy Shop, Talking Tree Creations, where there are a few offerings for you to pursue. Expect more to come as the months progress.

Nature Spirit Blessings and Creative Thanks for being part of my own maker’s journey.

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