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How did I come to identify the seven creative powers?
First, I will address a related question: “If the seven creative powers actually exist, where is the proof?”
As the seven powers are features of primal world (the same goes for intent and angels), scientific proof, a feature of mundane world, is not an option.
Instead, we must rely on the secular form of faith. Have faith now, proceed, and receive proof later.
By the time you reach the end of this article, you will need to decide which of the following statements is true for you:
- The body really does contain seven sources of creative power.
- The seven creative powers are metaphorical.
- The seven creative powers represent an embodied process for conceiving new creations, bringing them into being and realising their value generation potential.
- The seven creative powers are New Age mumbo-jumbo.
The only valid test of an idea, concept, or theory is what it enables you to do.
The chakra system
The chakra system was one of the two sources that led to the discovery or invention of the seven creative powers. The other was a diagram and commentary appearing in the book Talking with Angels, which I will say more about in a few momentsChakras are various focal points used in a variety of ancient meditation practices, collectively denominated as Tantra, or the esoteric or inner traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The concept of the chakra arose in the early traditions of Hinduism. Beliefs differ between the Indian religions, with many Buddhist texts consistently mentioning five chakras, while Hindu sources reference six or seven. Early Sanskrit texts speak of them both as meditative visualizations combining flowers and mantras, and as physical entities in the body. Within Kundalini yoga, the techniques of breathing exercises, visualizations, mudras, bandhas, kriyas, and mantras are focused on manipulating the flow of subtle energy through chakras.
Source: Wikipedia — Chakra
Starting with the seven chakra system, I reinterpreted each chakra in the light of study, personal experience, intuition and reflection. The work required to understand the function of each power and give it a meaningful name was carried out over the course of many years and is ongoing. I have renamed powers 1, 4 and 7 several times, although the associated functions have remained constant.
The designations and descriptions will only ever be indicative as I am compelled to use leftside language to describe rightside workings, which by their very nature are beyond conceptualisation and description.
Talking with Angels
Read about Talking with Angels
The insights gained from this remarkable book provided even greater inspiration than the chakra system.
The diagram below, which appears throughout the book with explanatory text, is profound, and foundational to the Newcreate way of conceiving new creations, bringing them into being and realising their value generation potential.
In the image below, you can see how the seven creative powers correspond with the seven souls (mineral, plant, animal etc.) shown in the previous image.
Each creative power is associated with a particular part of the body.
| POWER | SUPERPOWER | LOCATION | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|---|
| Openness | Transcend the Mundane | Crown | Connection to intent’s originating aspect, which is concerned with initiating the new. |
| Imagination | Enrich the World | Third eye ¹ | The power to foresee possibilities for enriching the world or a particular piece of it. |
| Conceptualisation | Create the New | Throat | The power to devise something that will generate the foreseen value. |
| Faith | Transcend the Mundane | Heart | An existential commitment of the heart to transcending the mundane, creating the new and enriching the world with value, meaning and joy. |
| Materialisation | Create the New | Diaphragm | The power to give the creation tangible form. |
| Realisation | Enrich the World | Pelvic floor ¹ | The power to bring the creation to maturity and realise its value generation potential. |
| Groundedness | Transcend the Mundane | Tailbone | Connection to intent’s fulfilling aspect, which is concerned with bringing to fullness that which has been created. |
1. The mythical ‘third eye’ is located between the eyebrows. The pelvic floor muscles (pubococcygeus or PC muscles — we each have two, men as well as women — are the ones we use to control the flow of urine.
The realms of possibility (what could be) and actuality (what is), and their corresponding creative powers
The creative powers of Openness, Imagination and Conceptualisation are associated with the realm of possibility.
The creative powers of Materialisation, Realisation and Groundedness are associated with the realm of actuality.
The creative power of Faith, which binds everything together, is associated with intent and world enrichment.
Actuality is molecular; possibility is atomic2. So actuality is intrinsically different from possibility: it adds something new to possibility. The ontological structure of the actual doesn’t simply recapitulate the ontological structure of the merely possible. Actuality is a different type of reality from possibility.
Colin McGinn, Possibility and Actuality, on his website | Short and profound; highly recommended
2. Colin McGinn seems to be talking about possibilities and not their source: the realm of possibility, a.k.a. the unmanifest, where atoms have no existence.
The creative powers combine to form three superpowers
Transcend the Mundane, one of the Newcreator’s three superpowers, is a combination of the creative powers Groundedness, Faith and Openness (numbered 1, 4 and 7 in the next image).
When Transcend the Mundane is activated, the Newcreator becomes right-inclined, the door to primal world opens, 147 becomes a channel for intent, and creative imagination becomes accessible.
Transcend the Mundane enables the activation of the creative powers Conceptualisation and Materialisation, which combine to form the superpower Create the New, as well as Imagination and Realisation, which together form the superpower Enrich the World.
Faith, experienced in the heart as a fervent desire to enrich the world with value, meaning and joy, is a precondition for activating all three superpowers.
Read more about Faith
Read the article Transcend the mundane, enter primal world and channel intent
The relationship between the seven creative powers and the brain’s two hemispheres
When the Newcreator is doing create-the-new work, the brain’s left hemisphere is in the foreground.
When doing enrich-the-world work, the right hemisphere is to the fore.
However, this is just a difference in emphasis and both hemispheres are active throughout.
Quotes
In the future of work, a paradox is becoming increasingly apparent and important: The more advanced and pervasive technology becomes, the more important humans are to the equation—humans as customers, humans as buyers, humans as engines of growth and innovation, humans as users, collaborators, and stakeholders. And leaders are seeing fresh importance in the ways in which organizations deploy and develop their people to create new value and navigate increasing ambiguity.
As unexpected events proliferate and the pace of change quickens, companies are under more pressure than ever: performance pressure to deliver not just consistent financial returns to investors but noteworthy and increasing returns, pressure from customers for products and services that don’t just meet needs but deliver more and different value, and pressure from talent, for material well-being and aligned values and support for opportunities and individual development. In the short term, the immediacy of any one of these pressures can seem irreconcilable with the others.
And this only becomes more pronounced when large unexpected events further accelerate the pace of change. For a company looking to grow and thrive in a fast-paced and ambiguous future, meeting these needs for increasing returns and new types of value and meaning will require differentiation and deep relationships. Human capabilities—curiosity, imagination, creativity, empathy, and courage—applied by workers across all levels and departments will be key for the type of differentiation, relationships, and new value creation needed to navigate these pressures and sustain success.
Collectively, these enduring human capabilities are like superpowers. They course beneath the surface or lay dormant in every member of the workforce with the potential to deliver real benefits. They help navigate ambiguity and deliver greater impact. Organizations can draw on these powers to accomplish far more—to jump higher, run faster, see farther, maybe even challenge the laws of the universe.
How capabilities can unleash business performance, by John Hagel, John Seely Brown, and Maggie Wooll, on Deloitte Insights
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The three superpowers and constituent creative powers in more detail
Other topics
Newcreate and other create-the-new methods
How does Newcreate compare with design thinking?
How Newcreators use mind, body and spirit to create the new and enrich the world
How to put Newcreate into practice
Transcend the mundane, enter primal world and channel intent
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