The butterfly flame – Embracing creative knowing beyond ordinary consciousness

In "The Butterfly Flame, Embracing Creative Knowing Beyond Ordinary Consciousness," Tom and I examine the concept of the 'butterfly flame' as a metaphor for transformation and creative insight.

Drawing from personal experiences and philosophical reflections, the piece highlights the significance of stepping beyond traditional modes of thinking to access deeper layers of understanding.

Through the lens of poetic nursing and arts-based research, our article underscores the value of creative practices in fostering resilience, especially within educational and caregiving contexts.

It invites readers to consider the potential of creative knowing as a pathway to personal and collective healing.

As a cultural creative artist and educator, it is important to expand my audience and seek understanding in other fields of study and social environments.

This was a project in which I was able to deliver a lecture for the Nursing and social justice module at CCCU.

Art is a great form of holistic self-therapy, especially for those that may have Mental health conditions like myself. Art is what saved me, freed me, and now is steering my academic career and social justice work.

As a Black British woman, counternarratives within all arenas are essential for equity, including in healthcare, and using digital platforms such as Canterbury Blogs as a tool for contribution.

Representation does matter.

Alt Text (for the online image accompanying the article):
Digital abstract of a glowing butterfly surrounded by swirling flame-like patterns, symbolising awakening, inner transformation, and creative consciousness. Represents the metaphor of the ‘butterfly flame’ as a guide to deeper, intuitive knowledge and creative healing.

I am building upon the following existing knowledge:

Heron & Reason’s cooperative inquiry; Polanyi’s concept of tacit knowledge; arts-based educational research by Leavy (2020).

Ellis, Holman Jones, and Spry’s use of personal narrative in ethnography.

Turner’s liminality, Mbembe’s notions of presence, and Andil Gosine’s queer Caribbean ecology.

And I am contributing to

Black British reframing of “creative ancestral data and resistance epistemology

New ethnographic language that centers marginalized thinkers as knowledge producers.

By filling the gap where most anthropological discussions exclude the spiritual, energetic, or intuitive as valid sources of knowledge, particularly through Black, female, or diasporic lenses.

Our reflective piece delves into the transformative power of creative knowing, symbolised by the 'butterfly flame.' It explores how embracing creativity beyond conventional consciousness can lead to personal growth and deeper understanding. Both Tom and I discuss the importance of unlearning and the role of poetic and artistic expression in navigating the complexities of the human experience.

This article post is an extension of my research, Validating non-traditional, intuitive, and spiritual forms of knowing as data within my theoretical composite MAETT© and MMAT© frameworks.

Providing lived methodology for my Anthro-Digital Narratives (ADN) Framework©, showcasing how creative flashes, memory, and metaphor are used in real-time reflexivity.

I am contributing through my position as a neurodivergent, age-informed, Black British female, whose experience is underrepresented in digital and AI arts, tech, society, and anthropology. This article expands on the unrepresentative within the field of healthcare and medicine.