The Source

This chapter examines the idea that creative ideation has an external locus. It traces the belief that the wellspring of innovation is unknowable and that the musician is a conduit rather than a creator, from Stockhausen&s;s interest in Jungian psychology to the Christianity of Coltrain and inter-religious spirituality of McLaughlin, acknowledging that there is no consensus on who or what the source of creative ideation actually is but, in any case, a tightly held belief that inspiration comes from an ephemeral source is wholly based on trust. This chapter proposes that faith in an externally located creative source is obviously based on trust and functions equally effectively without exclusive adherence to any one religious faith.