Moreover, while the painter focuses on the detail in front of her,
she also holds an awareness of the whole canvas in her conscious-
ness. At times, she steps back and objectively sees what she has been
so subjectively involved in creating. She is absorbed, involved—and
also somewhat detached and objective.
In both good communication and creative process, there is an in-
teraction. Conversation, for example, can be banal, meaningless,
wounding—or it can be an art form, as spontaneous, moving, and
wonderful as musical improvisation or jam sessions, when the soul
takes flight with the music and soars to rhapsodic heights one mo-
ment, and touches a deep chord the next. The interaction is spontan-
eous in form, yet its substance may be deep and moving. The con-
versants feel excitement and discovery as each in turn sparks a re-
sponse in the other. They mutually experience Aphrodite conscious-
ness, which provides the energy field or backdrop for communication
or creativity to happen. Where the music will go, or how the conver-
sation will evolve, is not known at the start, or planned for. Discov-
ery—the birth of something new—is a key element in creativity and
communication.
Whenever Aphrodite consciousness is present, energy is generated:
lovers glow with well-being and heightened energy; conversation
sparkles, stimulating thoughts and feelings. When two people truly
meet each other, both receive energy from the encounter and feel
more vitality than before, regardless of the content—which, in
therapy, can be very painful material. Work becomes invigorating
rather than draining. Absorbed by whom we are with, or by what
we are doing, we lose track of time—a characteristic that Aphrodite
shares with Hestia.
VISION CARRIERS
To make a dream come true, one must have a dream, believe in
it, and work toward it. Often it is essential that another significant
person believe that the dream is possible: that person is a vision
carrier, whose faith is often crucial. Daniel Levinson, in Seasons of a
Man’s Life, describes the func-
The Alchemical Goddess