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One of the predecessors of the word "create" is creare in Latin. This verb meant "to form out of nothing" as in the phrase creatio ex nihilo from the Book of Genesis in the Bible. Accordingly, God manifested heaven and earth from the void.

Thus, artists sometimes refer to their spark of inspiration as being in the likeness of God.

However, the art from us mortals is creatio ex materia. Stravinsky may have said it best with the annotation of "refitting old ships." Astronomer Carl Sagan added that if you really want to bake an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.

So, does ego help or hinder art?

Another etymological root of create is keres or later ceres from ancient Indo-European language. Ker means "to grow" like the Roman Goddess of agriculture known as Ceres.

Egoism believes that the “I” is the origin of creative ideas and offerings, but the spiritual attitude is that of a steward tending to the growth and garden of community.

We will explore whether ego impedes or augments one's creative output and how the mode of operation is different.

(music “Divine Influence” by Bing Satellites and original artwork for this episode is on the podcast website)