The Artist’s Way - why I stopped teaching it after I became a Christian

Twenty years ago I taught creative writing classes based on The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. This book is a classic guide to opening up creativity and many artists of all kinds have unlocked creative gifts using its advice. Many of my students found the advice to write ‘morning pages,’ an effective way to let go of writer’s block, and practise free flow creating.  But, recently I revisited The Artist’s Way to gather quotes for a writing workshop I was teaching. I found, as a Christian as I saw the book completely differently.

Cameron sees creativity as a spiritual thing. She describes humans as being ‘channels’ or ‘conduits’ for ideas which come from a creative force that goes by many names.

Cameron, uses the idea of ‘God’ found in the 12 steps recovery programme; where ex. addicts choose a ‘god of your own understanding.’ In her book she explains that if you aren’t happy with the word God you could choose another name such, as ‘goddess’, ‘universe,’ ‘higher power,’ or ‘source.’

This God, Cameron makes clear, isn’t the Christian God, but a ‘great creator’ where all our ideas come from.

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I do agree with Cameron that creativity is at least some of the time a spiritual act. Ideas pop into our minds as if from somewhere beyond ourselves. As Christians the Holy Spirit can speak through our creative gifts, whether that be writing, art or music. But if we make creativity spiritual without a relationship with Jesus, then what spirits are speaking through us?

Automatic writing is an occult form of writing where people surrender conscious thought

Automatic writing is an occult form of writing where people surrender conscious thought, and open themselves up to whatever spirit wants to speak on the page. Morning pages actually have a lot in common with the process. With morning pages we are encouraged to just keep the hand moving, to write without judgement, even if we don’t feel like we have anything to say.

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The theory behind it all is that by writing in this way we ignore the censor and inner critic that comes from our artistic wounds about our work not being good enough or our art being a waste of time.

The theory behind it all is that by writing in this way we ignore the censor and inner critic that comes from our artistic wounds about our work not being good enough or our art being a waste of time. There’s truth in that; we do want to overcome the barriers that cause creative blocks, but as is often the case with the new age, the enemy takes a genuine problem we have, and gives us a solution that is spiritually dangerous.

I think that writing without a topic, and just seeing where your mind goes, has the potential to lead us into a hypnotic state where we do become a channel.

If I was stuck on what to write, or wanted to practise my craft, I wouldn’t  do morning pages anymore. Instead I might pick a topic, set a timer and write about it for a set period, without worrying about spelling, punctuation or grammar which can all get in the way of our creativity and can be fixed later.

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As a Christian is it okay to read The Artist’s Way because we have the Holy Spirit? It can be a case of eating the meat while spitting out the bones. There is plenty of truth in what she’s saying. But if creativity is spiritual for Cameron then we must ask the question; what spirit or spirits helped write The Artist’s Way?

We know the Holy Spirit is behind the Bible and reading the Living Word is healthy, spiritual food. If we read The Artists Way, it should definitely be done with prayerful consideration, and I would say in small doses, as we don’t know what spirit is behind it.

So what should you do if you are a Christian who wants to be creative? Creativity is a gift from God. We can pray for this gift, and ask for his guidance in how to use it. We can ask him to heal any pain, or doubts because of previous difficult experiences with creativity. In terms of developing a craft I would seek out books, classes, or other resources that are either non-spiritual in nature or Christian. Creativity is a beautiful journey, but we need a spiritually safe guide to show the way.