Demon Muse

Demon Muse is a weekly blog about the deep nature of artistic creativity. Published every Monday (with occasional bonus posts during the rest of the week), it offers an ongoing exploration of the daimonic model of creativity and consciousness, complete with informational articles and practical advice for writers and other creators who want to integrate this model into their creative process.

Its focus is the nature and role of the unconscious mind as symbolized by the ancient Greeks and Romans in the form of the daimon, muse, and personal genius. With a working conceptual and experiential understanding of these ancient figures, you can learn to tap the (very real, very potent) inner force to which they refer, and let this energize and guide you in discovering and doing the work that you were uniquely born to do.

Weekly features include new articles and essays exploring the psychology of creativity and techniques for tuning into your deep self and establishing a creative flow. The blog also features commentary on books and films that highlight the daimonic theory of creativity, and presents original interviews with successful creators who share their practical insights into the inner workings of the creative process. The focus is evenly divided between the theoretical — exploring the daimonic model of life, consciousness, and creativity for its pure informational value and inherent fascination — and practical — learning how to work productively with this knowledge.

My name is Matt Cardin, and I’m the creator and writer of Demon Muse. I’m a writer, teacher, and musician with a special focus on horror, philosophy, religion, and deep cultural trends. My books include Dark Awakenings (2010) and Divinations of the Deep (2002), both of which explore the electric frontier between religion and horror. I blog in a more freeform style at The Teeming Brain (about horror, religion, education, cultural-apocalyptic trends, and other assorted topics) and am the creator of the instrumental music project Daemonyx, whose first album, Curse of the Daimon (2009), invokes many of the themes pursued here at Demon Muse. I’m a lifelong Missourian now living in Texas; my family and I moved down here in 2008 and are still savoring the newfound charms of the Lone Star State. I have a B.A. in communication and an M.A. in religious studies, and have worked since 2001 as a professional educator, first at a high school, now at a community college. I’ve also worked for several years as a professional freelance blogger, copywriter, and occasional consultant. Prior to that, the career path goes all eclectic and haywire: motel night manager, condo/golf course maintenance worker, piano salesman, mortgage broker, and five years as a professional video and media producer (including three years working with country music legend Glen Campbell).

You can read more about me at my website, MattCardin.com.

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Also please feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, and general responses. I’m particularly interested to hear your own thoughts and insights about the creative process.