Creative art is a spell, a talisman, an incantation

“The poet or philosopher in the non-religious Greek states occupied, we are told, much the same position as the priest or witch doctor or magician in a more religious or superstitious community. It was for that reason that a poet or philosopher was held responsible for his slightest or most casual utterance in the way that he was. He was recognized as the custodian of the spiritual consciousness of the race.” - Wyndham Lewis, Time and Western Man, Book II, ch. IV, p. 193.