The Value of Creativity

 

 

card from Ancestral Magick Oracle deck

    I recently pulled the Muse card from the Ancestral Magick oracle deck by Nancy Hendrickson and Stacey Williams-Ng. It is a card of creativity, divine inspiration, and ideas. Creativity comes in so many different forms such as drawing, painting, sculpture, music, design, dance, theater, crochet, knitting, baking, sewing, writing, photography, and so on. This card pull got me thinking about the importance of creativity and how this is an ancestral value in our family that we still uphold today. For example, my great grandma Helen Elizabeth (Shaw) Meese was creative. She took dress making classes and even sewed her own wedding dress. Helen also did woodworking and crafted her own sewing desk custom to her shorter height. Her husband Grayson Walter Meese was a talented handyman and mechanic who built a camper from scratch and rebuilt old cars from the scrap yard. Now, their daughter and my grandma Sandra "Sandy" Karen Meese carries on the creative gift through crafts like crocheted ornaments, scarves, blankets, and figurines. She also used to decorate cakes for a living.  

 

cake my Grandma Sandy decorated 

 

afghan Grandma Sandy crocheted for her friend 

 

Dumbledore crochet Grandma made for my mom's birthday

Another example is my great grandma Doris Maxine (Perry) Gould/Kook who was creative with flowers. She worked as a florist making bouquets. She even created the flower arrangements for Brian Ned Beucus and Seralin Fintz's wedding. Her husband Maurice Lee Gould was a talented woodworker making furniture and a water ski called the Plank. Their son and my grandpa Gregory "Greg" Gould is also artistic. He is a talented abstract oil painter. 

 

Grandpa Greg's painting "Self Portrait"

 

Grandpa Greg's painting "Before the Dream"

 

Grandpa Greg's painting "Evolution 3"

And continuing down the generations, Grandpa Greg's daughter and my mother Summer Gould loves to craft. She does everything from quilting, painting figurines, diamond painting, sewing and crochet. She always has several different craft projects going on at once.  

 

my mom Summer Gould's first quilt photo bombed by Percy Pugson 

 

diamond painting by my mother 

 

Santa Christmas craft my mom sewed and beaded

And last, but not least, is little old me. I always loved art as a kid, and even took some art classes in college. I still have a lot of room for improvement in my artistic abilities, but art has always been a fun way to express myself creatively whether my love of animals or love of Halloween. It can also help relieve stress. I recently bought some new art supplies including oil pastels, charcoal, watercolor pens, and acrylic paint pens to try different mediums. I just ordered a new camera for wildlife and nature photography that I am excited to try out when it arrives. Art helps me see the beauty of the world. I am starting to learn how to crochet, sew, and embroider to honor my ancestors creative skills. 

 

sketches I did in art camp as a kid at the San Diego Zoo

 

oil painting I made in Middle School with lessons from my Grandpa Greg 

 

Halloween wreath that I hot glued 

These were only some of the many ways our ancestors embraced creativity. Furthermore, Great Grandma Fonda Doris Magill knitt and crocheted as well as watercolor paintings and charcoal. Her mother Fonda Drusilla (McCorkle) Magill worked as a piano teacher and played the organ at her Methodist church. 

So how can you honor the creativity of our ancestors? How can you express the creativity within you?

 With love, 

Autumn Rose Surratt 

The Ancestor Witch 

Sources 

• second hand info from mom, grandpa Greg, and grandma Sandy