59 ~ Solocast w/ Palehorse - The Creative Muse

Episode of Seekers of the Eternal · January 29, 2025 · 1 h 16 min

In a live solo episode, Palehorse discusses following the inner muse, superconscious inspiration, his planned creativity course, and the Thoth-inspired start of his oracle deck.

Summary

Palehorse opened the first of a planned series of live solo podcasts with an affirmation from Paramahansa Yogananda and recounted how, around 2020, he received Kriya Yoga initiation at Ananda Village and left his New York illustration agent to pursue spiritual art. He described a period of pausing his career to learn to seek inner guidance, supported by his wife.

He explained that books including Swami Kriyananda's Art as a Hidden Message, Steven Pressfield's The Artist's Journey, Rick Rubin's The Creative Act, and Rizwan Virk's Treasure Hunt inspired him to develop an online creativity course, likely for Skillshare. Its themes include reawakening childlike wonder, recognizing "threshold guardians" and resistance, and drawing superconscious rather than regurgitated inspiration. He described piloting the material on a forest meditation retreat with friends, and illustrated threshold guardians with Joseph Campbell and a scene from The NeverEnding Story.

Palehorse recounted a chain of synchronicities involving the Egyptian deity Thoth while preparing a painting for the Wild Wonders group show at ABV gallery in Atlanta, which led to meditative writing sessions and his decision that Thoth would be the first card of a long-planned oracle deck spanning deities from world cultures, with paintings, prints, and phone-accessible stories and meditations. He compared Kriyananda's advice on clarity in seeking inspiration to prompting AI, discussed virtual reality and Virk's simulation hypothesis, and argued that artists matter most in times of chaos. He closed by encouraging listeners to overcome fears of failure and success, reading Yogananda on stage fright.

Chapters

0:00
Introduction and a 2020 turning point
Palehorse introduces the live solo series and describes his Kriya Yoga initiation and leaving his illustration agent to make spiritual art.
5:58
Planning a creativity course
He explains his search for meaningful income and the books that inspired an online course on creativity.
9:37
Treasure Hunt and following clues
He describes how a Silicon Valley episode and a podcast led him to Rizwan Virk's Treasure Hunt and the practice of following synchronicities.
15:37
Reawakening the child within and the retreat
He outlines the course's first module on childlike wonder and describes a meditation hiking retreat with purpose animals.
21:21
Threshold guardians and resistance
He discusses Pressfield's resistance, Joseph Campbell's threshold guardians, The NeverEnding Story, and handling criticism.
28:07
The muse and the transmission of feeling
He covers Pressfield's definition of an artist, the daemon or inner genius, and quotes from Tolstoy and Schumann on art as feeling.
37:37
Superconscious versus regurgitated inspiration
He relays Kriyananda's two kinds of inspiration and Virk's anti-clues as ways to weigh ideas.
40:03
Thoth synchronicities
He recounts a series of Thoth synchronicities while preparing a gallery painting and the meditative writing that followed.
48:23
The oracle deck plan
He announces Thoth as the first oracle card and describes paintings, prints, and interactive stories and meditations for each deity.
52:59
Artists in times of change
He argues that art flourishes in turbulent times and that artists, not wealth or violence, change the world.
56:39
Prompting the universe like AI
He compares Kriyananda's advice on clear inner requests to AI prompting and discusses virtual reality and the simulation hypothesis.
1:06:15
Art as spiritual practice and overcoming fear
He reflects on returning to art through meditation, the podcast's small audience, fear of success, and closes with Yogananda on stage fright.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

Palehorse
Palehorse says he originally took up meditation for creative purposes, to receive visions and ideas for his artwork.
“I originally got into meditation for creative purposes, to tap into those realms beyond the thinking mind, beyond the physical realm”
Listen from 1:11 · Meditation
Palehorse
Palehorse recounts that in 2020 he left his illustration agent to pursue spiritual artwork despite not knowing how he would pay his bills.
“in 2020, actually letting go of my agent and wanting to pursue artwork that was of a spiritual nature. I didn't know how I was going to manage”
Listen from 2:17
Palehorse
Palehorse says he is developing a creativity course that he intends to launch on Skillshare, with a Patreon community for participants.
“I started developing this course, and I believe that it'll be Skillshare is what I'm going to launch this on”
Listen from 13:16 · Treasure Hunt (Rizwan Virk book)
Palehorse
Palehorse argues that the resistance met when undertaking good work should be seen not as an enemy but as a guardian testing readiness.
“I also like to think of it as not an enemy, but rather a guardian that is really just testing us to make sure that we are ready”
Listen from 20:19 · Threshold guardians
Palehorse
Palehorse describes resistance as the ego trying to preserve itself, appearing as self-doubt, distraction, or vices.
“it's really just the ego trying to preserve itself. It's trying to keep you from transcending yourself”
Listen from 21:21 · Threshold guardians
Palehorse
Palehorse asserts from his own practice that it is possible to cultivate inspiration on demand, emphasizing clarity of request.
“from my practice with this, I say, yes, this is possible. Swami Kriyananda even talks about how inspiration can come to us on demand”
Listen from 30:32 · Superconscious inspiration
Linked moment · 36:25Skip to 36:25 using a listen link in the info box.
Palehorse
Palehorse relays Kriyananda's distinction between inspiration reformed in the thinking mind and superconscious inspiration that brings something entirely new.
“there are inspirations that come from the superconscious beyond the thinking mind to bring something completely fresh and brand new into the world”
Listen from 36:25 · Superconscious inspiration
Palehorse
Palehorse recounts encountering Thoth three times in a row, in two books and a Crowley tarot deck, prompting him to paint the deity.
“this is an Alistair Crowley, uh, a tarot deck and the name of it is Thoth. And so I was like, okay, there's, there's three in a row”
Listen from 41:13 · Thoth
Palehorse
Palehorse believes that the artist's enjoyment while making a work is transmitted to the viewer.
“if I'm enjoying drawing this line, painting this line, then chances are someone who's looking at it will enjoy it as well”
Listen from 45:56 · Synchronicity
Palehorse
Palehorse announces that Thoth will be the first card of his oracle deck, which will expand to deities from cultures worldwide.
“he is going to be the first card in the Oracle deck and that this Oracle deck is going to be... I'm feeling so enthusiastic about it”
Listen from 48:23 · Oracle deck project
Palehorse
Palehorse says each card will have a painting for sale and allow users to scan it with a phone to access a mythic story, meditation, or symbolism.
“the idea is that you'll be able to roll over this card with your phone, and then you'll have a series of options”
Listen from 49:32 · Oracle deck project
Palehorse
Palehorse argues that art and creativity always improve during times of chaos and fear, and that distraction by news is a form of resistance.
“whenever there's a lot of challenges and fear and uncertainty in the world, always, always, always the art gets better, the music gets better, creativity increases”
Listen from 51:58
Palehorse
Palehorse contends that artists, rather than weapons or wealth, are what change the world, because emotional impact endures.
“It's artists that change the world. It's not the guns and the billions of dollars and the violent revolutions”
Listen from 52:59
Palehorse
Palehorse says experimenting with AI prompting has helped him better ask the universe for specific inspiration.
“I feel like my experiments with AI have helped me to better prompt the universe and to ask for inspiration”
Listen from 1:01:23 · Artificial intelligence
Palehorse
Palehorse states his belief, grounded in Eastern teachings, that people are formless eternal beings rather than bodies.
“I believe that we're all formless, infinite, eternal beings just having these experiences, having these human experiences in these bodies”
Listen from 1:03:49 · Simulation hypothesis
Palehorse
Palehorse describes a period in which deep meditation made art feel trivial, after which he turned to guiding meditations before returning to art.
“you may go through a period where you're like, wow, making art seems so trivial now. I don't have the motivation that I used to have”
Listen from 1:05:01 · Meditation

People

In the conversation

PalehorseArtist and host of the Seekers of the Eternal podcast, also referred to as Chris

Discussed

Paramahansa YoganandaIndian yogi and author whose writings the host quotes at the episode's close
Swami KriyanandaDirect disciple of Yogananda and founder of Ananda
Steven PressfieldAmerican author of books on creativity including The Artist's Journey
Rick RubinAmerican record producer and author, a friend of Huberman's
Rizwan VirkEntrepreneur and video game designer cited by Cohen as linking health problems to straying from his life path
Joseph CampbellAmerican mythologist
Leo TolstoyRussian novelist whose quote about happy and unhappy families Wilson paraphrased
Richie BeckettIllustrator and previous podcast guest
Luke BrownThailand-based artist and previous podcast guest
Ryan HolidayAmerican author on Stoicism and founder of Daily Stoic

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From the publisher

First episode in a series of live, solo podcasts on the theme of Superconscious creativity and following the inner muse. Come with me to exit the Matrix and unlock a new perception of reality! Inspiration is always flowing and our inner guides are always sending us clues to follow. But, it's up to us to invite, notice, receive and honor these signs and feelings. When we heed this call to adventure, face our fears and follow the inner guidance, we align with our soul's purpose. Our entire life becomes a beautiful work of art –an expression of calm feeling, –a magical treasure hunt on a quest for Bliss! Affirmation: I step forward with perfect faith in the power of the Omnipresent Goodness, to bring me what I need, at the time I need it. - Yogananda Connect with Palehorse & Visit Online Store: https://seekersoftheeternal.com Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Live Podcasting and Creativity 05:07 Exploring the Inner Muse and Spiritual Art 14:46 Developing a Course on Creativity 23:55 Understanding Threshold Guardians 29:34 The Role of the Inner Muse in Art 35:41 Connecting Feelings and Artistry 44:24 The Creative Process and Thoth 50:05 Creating an Oracle Deck 55:13 The Role of Artists in Times of Change 01:06:16 Art as a Spiritual Practice 01:14:18 Overcoming Fears in Creativity

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on October 4, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Spirituality·Arts·Self-Improvement