Explaining personal genius
In my last post – Losing your personality – I briefly mentioned that developing your genius can free you from the ego. This item explores what that personal genius is.
This article is a little theoretical but the idea is too important for me to not to try and explain it.
When you understand how personal genius works you will be in a better position to develop it.
The word Genius is a translation of the Greek Daimon. In Homer a daimon is either a god or a spirit. Later on, the ‘daimon’ came to mean a person’s guiding spirit, or guardian angel. Some people found this idea a little disturbing and, for them, daimons became ‘demons’ -something to be repressed and avoided.
The Romans understood daimons as Genii, from which we get both the words ‘genie’ and ‘genius’. A Genie is your personal guide, whom you can contact through prayer, trance-states, visions, and dreams although most of us experience it as an inner voice, intuition or compulsion.
A Genius is the unique spirit which lives in every living thing. So the Romans worshiped the genius of the river, the genius of the tree, the genius of the family, the genius of the Emperor, and so on. Sacrificing to a genius was a way of harnessing its power.
For the Romans, each and every god had her own, unique, genius and that was how they could tell them apart. Jupiter’s daimon was majestic, Apollo’s was frightening, Venus’s was sexy, and so on. The picture in this blog shows the Genius of Water – hence the outflowing arms.
What personal genius means for you
Now, each of us human beings have our own, unique, genius – a kind of driving force which must fulfil its own destiny – forcing you you to become that which you are really meant to be. Ignoring your genius means not only denying the power within you but denying the core essence of who you really are. And, if you do that for too long you will eventually become ill.
Here are some common expressions of Genius:
- Teaching
- Making things work (e.g. engineering, mechanics, craftsmanship)
- Nurturing people
- Connecting to animals (pets, wildlife, endangered species, etc)
- Art
- Science
- Mathematics
- Caring for children
- Spirituality
- Leadership
- Fighting injustice, discrimination, exploitation
- Cultivating nature
- Building
- Discovering new ‘truths’
- Healing others
Your daimon, or your genius, is also expressed through your genetic code (unique to you unless you have an identical twin), your emotions, your intuitions and your passions. If you regularly practice attunement to Bodymind then you will become more expert at eliciting all of these.
Some questions that can guide you
If you want find out more about your genius then here are some questions that can also help. I will supply my personal answers to the questions to help you see what I am getting at.
1. What teachers and mentors were you drawn to when you were young? These will tell you a lot about what you are here to learn.
My answer: My first mentor (age 12) was my Uncle. He gave me a thirst for education and awoke in me a desire to serve others. He also challenged me to think for myself.
2. What are you most love doing or what are you most fascinated by? What are the most interesting activities you have ever done? This will give you a clue about your (divine) passion.
My answer: Working with and exploring the hidden depth in people. Finding out how human beings work in terms of their biology, culture, emotions, society, personal history and desires.
3. What do you most detest in life? This shows you what you are here to fight and what you need to overcome in yourself.
My answer: Lies, lack of integrity, smugness and complacency.
4. What are your most rewarding moments in life? This will tell you something about your personal mission.
My answer: The birth of my children, becoming a therapist, writing (some of) my books, moments of deep connection with other human beings, discovering Reverse Therapy, and two mystical experiences in which I glimpsed an egoless state of being.
5. What drains your energy? This shows you what your daimon most needs you to avoid.
My answer: Routine, small talk, academics, television, newspapers, humorlessness, stale ideas.
6. How, and in what way, are you most creative? This, along with question 7, could be the most important questions here. Answering them truthfully reveals a lot about your personal genius.
My answer: Writing, bringing together new ideas, using my intuition to work out what is really going on with my clients, educating people, and inspiring large audiences. Blog writing.
7. What characteristics are either unique to you or which you rarely see in others? This tells you a lot about the ‘character’ of your daimon.
My answer: My sense of mischief, the clarity of my thoughts, my constant need to pull things down and start again.
8. What do you find it hardest to do? Answering this shows what you have to practice doing, in order to free up your genius.
My answer: Forgiving people who have hurt me. Taking time off to play, dream, and have fun.
I would be fascinated to discover what my readers have got from this blog, or what they have already discovered about their personal genius. Please do email me or leave a comment about that.
“Happiness means the full expression of your daimon. Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence“.
As soul, happiness is a bi-product of understanding who we really are, this questionaire helped to open up a bit more of that understanding, thank you John
Nice to meet you.
Reading through your questions and aswers I was a tad dismayed to realize that most of the answers involved my relationship with the guitar.
I unfortunately don’t remember any mentors or positive influences from my youth. It wasn’t a pretty picture. Now the guitar is my inner world, my mentor — though I have a loving wife and critters. Joe Pass and classical guitarists are my favourites.
Thanks for the mind opening thoughts. I’d like to hear more.
Ed
Hi Ed. Seems like your Daimon loves the guitar. So go with the flow! Best JOHN
Hi Ed. Seems like your Daimon loves the guitar. So go with the flow! Best JOHN
For me, personally genius lies not only in humans but in every living organism whether it a tree grass or a little bug. Its like balanced energy between them and universe which flows like musical harmony. Like watering flowers and see them grow, turning up to you like talking in a sense the same could be applied to animals. I personally don’t believe bad or evil in sense of existence I think its misunderstanding for the most part which misleads people to draw conclusions and act and think accordingly. I remember reading one of the unknown writers who said that when you thinking about something good and get in tune with your energy you can hear the symphony of the universe which flows like water and looks like a night skies.
For me, personally genius lies not only in humans but in every living organism whether it a tree grass or a little bug. Its like balanced energy between them and universe which flows like musical harmony. Like watering flowers and see them grow, turning up to you like talking in a sense the same could be applied to animals. I personally don’t believe bad or evil in sense of existence I think its misunderstanding for the most part which misleads people to draw conclusions and act and think accordingly. I remember reading one of the unknown writers who said that when you thinking about something good and get in tune with your energy you can hear the symphony of the universe which flows like water and looks like a night skies.