No. 9
On Monday 9th December, I hosted my first Wild Writers’ Web, Creative Circle on my Instagram. The prompt for the session was the number nine:
“And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of Men, who above all else desire power.”
The number nine is associated with power, truth, the breath, cycles, and endings. The number nine has been significant in my own story. When I was nine, I moved across the world and started a whole new life. When I stopped living with my little sister for the first time, she moved into a house with the number nine. The fact I started my creative circle on 9th December, well… the prompt/theme had to be nine. The universe was already saying it.
As well as the number nine being a recurring theme in Lord of the rings…
“Nine companions. So be it. You shall be the fellowship of the ring.”
The number nine is present in many stories across time. In Norse mythology, there are nine worlds linked by the world tree, Yggdrasil. The god Heimdallr was born from nine mothers. The Norse god, Odin hung himself from Yggdrasil, to gain mystical knowledge, for nine days and nine nights:
“I know that I hung on a windy tree
nine long nights,
wounded with a spear, dedicated to Odin,
myself to myself,
on that tree of which no man knows
from where its roots run.”
Within some cultures, it is believed that the number nine is a cursed number, associated with witchcraft and dark magic. In Macbeth, the number is used as foreshadowing of what is to become of the king
“The Weird Sisters, hand in hand,
Posters of the sea and land,
Thus do go about, about,
Thrice to thine and thrice to mine
And thrice again, to make up nine.
Peace, the charm’s wound up.”
So, nine was the theme for our circle, and the most extraordinary thing happened…
When I started to write, I set out writing an epistolary poem. My mind was had a hard time focusing, as though my brain was flicking through channels on a TV set. It irritated me, which made my concentration deteriorate even more. The whole point of this circle was to have a free space, connect with other creatives, to let my imagination flow. Instead, my mind was haywire and that judgemental voice turned up, to tell me off and criticise me. It wasn’t working.
I took a deep breath and connected with my heart. After a moment of stillness, a wonderful warm sensation in my chest rose and calm washed over me. I felt into this sense of presence more, deepened my connection to gratitude for this group of creative folks, and the more I connected the more I could feel my heart warming. The stillness grew into vast space and then, an image of a tree appeared in my mind eye. Suddenly, I could write, and it was just flowing and flowing.
At the end of the session, we all shared what we wrote about. Here’s the incredible thing, we all wrote about trees in some form. And here’s the even more incredible thing, we all started out writing a letter of some form too! We all connected in that way, without discussing it beforehand. I was blown away because my intention for the circle was to create a space for connection and creativity and it all happened in the first session.
I also learned a lot about myself and the way that I work best. In the past I would struggle at school because when a teacher set a task, everyone else would get to it straight away, but I had nothing, my mind would just be blank until much later. It wasn’t all the time, but it made me appear distracted and lazy. I would watch how other people worked and try to emulate them, but still I got stuck a lot of the time. This trend carried on into my exams, which did not serve me well at all. At university, I was diagnosed with dyslexia and I learned how I learn best. I need time and stillness for my brain to conjure things into existence. No notes, plans, et cetera just to sit with the idea and allow it to emerge.
Before the writing circle, I hadn’t made this connection with my creativity. One the circle was closed, I reflected on my experience. I often sit down to write and expect for myself to just begin. After Monday’s session, I realised, like when learning, I need to allow myself the time and space to dream up what I am about to write. My brain works a little different, so when I allow myself to create in the way that works best for me, I achieve so much more! The best part is, I have so much more fun in the process.
The next Wild Writers’ Web, Creative Circle is 23rd December at 11am GMT on my Instagram page. Looking forward to having you there!
