The Muses is part of a series of books by the author that focuses on different gods and goddesses from Classical Mythology, and how you can utilise them in your life. This one is about the Muses, and how you can call in creativity and inspiration through them. The twelve Muses of Ancient Greek and Roman mythology are often said to be the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Goddess of Memory). They are Calliope (Muse of Epic Poetry), Clio (History), Erato (Love Poetry), Euterpe (Lyric Poetry/Music), Melpomene (Tragedy), Polymnia (Sacred Poetry), Terpsichore (Dance), Thalia (Comedy) and Urania (Astronomy/Astrology).

The author is a teacher and priestess in the Reclaiming tradition, and is US based. She uses some terms like “godds” to move away from highly gendered language. The book contains research about The Muses, their history, stories about them and their origins, and what they each represent. It then has visualisations and meditations which you can use to help you unlock your creativity or to help you in your creative work, whether that’s on a occupational scale or a personal one. This book is very much in the New Age or Mind Body Spirit genre.

I liked that the author doesn’t just talk about the Muses and mythology off the cuff, but has researched her subject and has an understanding of the context of them in history and their original culture. Here, the goddesses come to life, and I enjoyed all the quoted original texts and learning a little about how they evolved over time.

The meditations and things are very accessible and easy to follow. I don’t think they’re anything too out there for most people who have read something like The Artist’s Way, for example, but they’re also relatable to people who practice more New Age lifestyles as well. I think this could be a useful book for creatives as well as spiritual people, and of course often people are both those things at once.

I don’t review books like this too much, but I was drawn to the idea of calling in creativity and reading a bit more about the Muses. It’s quite a short book. I found it informative and interesting, and I liked some of the ideas here. It was a pleasant and positive read, and would make a nice gift for the artist or creative in your life.

Read It If: you’ve been feeling creatively blocked or if you want to add the Muses into your spiritual practice.

Thank you to Moon Books and Collective Ink for the copy of this book for review.