Active Imagination (One of four imagination techniques)

Transcription

1 Active Imagination (One of four imagination techniques) by Andrew Schneider The Soul Journey 2009 Updated 2/22/2009 Table of Contents 1. Introduction Communicating With the Unconscious Self Active Imagination is Active Active Imagination As Described By John Sanford The Healing Power of Active Imagination Essentials for Active Imagination Using Active Imagination the Right Way Practical Approach to Active Imagination The Ethical Stance Practical Application The Uses of Active Imagination Integration Inner Cooperation Archetypal Contact Activating Potentials

2 1. Introduction If we look inward, the other looks at us too -- Marie-Louise von Franz Carl Jung developed the concept he named Active Imagination between 1913 and 1916, following his break with Freud. During this time, he was disoriented and experienced intense inner turmoil. He suffered from lethargy and fears, and his moods threatened to overwhelm him. He searched for a method to heal himself from within, and finally decided to engage himself with the impulses, fantasies and images of his unconscious, using his imagination. In a 1925 seminar, and again in his memoirs, he tells the story of his experiments during this time that led to his self-healing, using this Active Imagination process. All the creative art psychotherapies (art, dance, music, drama, poetry) can trace their roots to C. G. Jung's early work on Active Imagination. However, the essence of this method is ages old, although previously not named. [If you are interested in Jung s accounts, there is a book you may want to read: Jung on Active Imagination by Joan Chodorow. In this book Chodorow offers a collection of Jung's writings on Active Imagination a method based on the natural healing function of the imagination, and its many expressions. Chodorow clearly presents the texts, and sets them in the proper context. She also interweaves her discussion of Jung's writings and ideas with contributions from Jungian authors and artists.] Active Imagination was not a theory that Jung applied, but a naming of a process that began quite spontaneously with him when he was writing down his fantasies. During this writing he asked himself, What am I really doing? To his surprise an inner voice answered him with a response that was contrary to anything he had previously thought. The voice came from his unconscious personality which he called an anima. It came in the form of the voice of one of his female patients who had a strong transference to him. This illustrates that the unconscious self has no voice but that which it is given, or fantasized, by the conditioned or conscious self. 2

3 Caution There are some people who easily get lost in the fantasy realm, and can t readily find their way back to external reality. These people might find that the Active Imagination process that was started at an earlier time can intrude involuntarily in their everyday life. It is best that such persons have someone whom they can contact when needed to talk them down from the fantasy state. However, it is better that such persons do not use the Active Imagination process at all. The subconscious is a powerful realm even more so when it has not been regularly accessed in a conscious way and there is a tremendous backlog of unprocessed and repressed material. One must have great respect for this aspect of the personality, and understand its nature. In working with any aspects of the subconscious, one must establish and maintain personal conscious authority in order not to get lost. The subconscious aspects and powers must be kept in their place in order not to flood the conscious self and be overwhelming but at the same time be invited to communicate their thoughts, feelings, etc. to the conscious self. Jung said that while the unconscious self is not dangerous, there was one real danger, and that was panic. This is the fear of being swamped by contents of the unconscious and losing one s footing and control in the conscious world. A person who does inner work must be grounded in external reality. For this reason, very young people should not engage in deep inner work. Young people may be mature in many ways, but usually lack grounding in all three bodies. Older adults, while they might lack wisdom and be very immature, have often worked hard or suffered sufficiently to ground the bodies adequately in order to do inner work. 2. Communicating With the Unconscious Self The spiritual soul within us, which is the only soul to which esoteric philosophers refer, is impartial and without duality. It is the consciousness that arises when the opposites of Spirit and form have merged. In order for us to function within that consciousness, or to make soul as we say, it is necessary to engage the identity opposites within the personality or human soul. The primary identity in the human soul is found in the creative interaction of the expression of the archetypes, Logos and Eros. This expression is in our masculine (Logos) and feminine (Eros) energies. These belong to the human soul, not to the animal soul and not to the spiritual soul. This is the area of personality work and development that is essential for moving toward the soul path. Any degree of integration 3

4 that occurs between these gender opposites, however small, not only opens a pathway to spiritual soul expression but also enables us to express ourselves much more creatively as individuals and be less resistant to life s experiences. The ego itself is considered an identity structure, whereas the anima and animus are considered relational structures. Because of this, we need to incorporate these subpersonalities (anima and animus) into our conscious awareness through relational processes. The spiritual soul is, in fact, more akin to anima and animus than to the ego, for it too is primarily a relational structure. By definition, anima and animus will remain in the realm of the subconscious, but we can at least establish a conscious relationship to them. Anima is the inner feminine in males, while animus is the inner masculine in females. We need to communicate with the unconscious opposite, the anima/animus within. We need to become conscious masculine-feminine beings, regardless of our body gender. Anyone who is doing this is well on their way toward soul consciousness. The merging of the masculine-feminine energies is the activity of love, which is the essence of soul consciousness. Active Imagination is well suited to discussions with the contra-sexual self within the anima for men and the animus for women. Through such inner dialogues one can come to know this very influential sub-personality. Anything that is known or experienced directly with the anima or animus can be integrated into the conscious self, thereby gaining power and creating another pathway through the personality for soul expression. Ultimately Active Imagination is helpful because it tends to reconcile the conscious and the unconscious. It takes us into a relationship with the figures of the unconscious, negotiating and working things out with them. This helps bring about that paradoxical union of the conscious and unconscious personalities that corresponds to what the alchemists called the unio mentalis. Just as the alchemists, in the search for the stone, started with materials that were commonly rejected, we start with the otherwise rejected material of the unconscious and, through meditation or Active Imagination, activate an inner process. (John Sanford, The Invisible Partners, p. 126) the process of Active Imagination is the psychological equivalent of the second stage of the conjunctio. It is one major way to reconnect the unio mentalis with the body to bring about the concrete experiences of living wholeness as opposed to just an abstract concept of it. No matter how adept one considers oneself in this process of Active Imagination, each time that it takes place and one has a living experience of it, it is a unique, creative occasion. It is as though it happens for the first time. (Edward Edinger, The Mysterium Lectures, Lecture 26, p. 307) Everyone has voices, many voices, within themselves. If we do not recognize and accept these as real, there is the possibility that they will take over our feelings, thinking and 4

5 expression. This process is an active one. This means that the ego is active in responding to the voices. the ego asserts itself in the process, and the demands of the unconscious must be measured against the reality of the ego The process of Active Imagination calls for active participation by the ego, and represents an attempt of consciousness and the unconscious to have it out with each other and work out together a creative life. (John Sanford, The Invisible Partners, p. 128) When using Active Imagination, the conscious self or ego must have no goal or objective other than learning about some unconscious aspect. It therefore does not direct the unconscious or get it to conform or change to anything other than what it is. It could not do so anyway if it tried, as the authentic unconscious voice would, perhaps imperceptibly, become a voice of illusion. James Hillman tells us in A Blue Fire what Active Imagination is not. He says it is not a spiritual discipline, not an artistic endeavour, not a psychological activity in only the personal sense, nor a psychological activity in a transpersonal sense of theurgy (ritual magic), and not a mystical activity. It is, instead, a way of knowing oneself through communicating and relating to aspects of oneself hitherto isolated. The aim is not to change oneself, but to know oneself. Through self-knowledge natural change automatically occurs. We do not have to do anything with our new self knowledge. It will do what needs to be done, for all true knowledge is creative. Truths for Transformation No discipline is needed to do what we know of ourselves. The discipline is needed to simply know aspects and dimensions of self that previously we have blocked from our awareness. Awareness releases our natural creativity. Lack of awareness blocks creativity. Awareness gives the psyche the freedom it needs to manifest new and more universal dimensions of being. In immediately translating images (from dreams, Active Imagination, etc.) into concepts, meanings, directions, etc. we often do not value the depth and complexity contained in the image. There is a hidden dimension to all images; they are inexhaustible and bottomless. By immediately translating the image into something else, even a symbol, we do not enter into our fantasy life as a credible, vital part of our psyche. Images have power and vitality. Once they are interpreted, much of that power and vitality is lost. Sometimes we do this purposely in order to diminish the power of the images we do not like. At other times we do it to satisfy the ego. The challenge is to honour the fantasy life while relating to it in a meaningful way. 5

6 The realm of images can be honoured, and still expressed, through art rather than science. Faithful artistic representation is a valid way of staying with the subjective images while at the same time going through them, or seeing through them, to their objective sources in the archetypal realms. This can also be done with words if the words are not restricted by linear, rational concepts, but instead are poetic, metaphoric, open-ended, colourful, dynamic, and invocative. 3. Active Imagination is Active There is a similarity between dreaming and Active Imagination in that both deal with unconscious processing. However, there is a big difference. In dreaming, the conscious self is not involved. In Active Imagination the ego or conscious self is very much involved. There is also a similarity between fantasy and Active Imagination in that both take place in the imagination. However, there is a big difference between passive fantasy (such as worry) and Active Imagination. Robert Johnson explains: Passive fantasy is daydreaming. It is sitting and merely watching the stream of fantasy that goes on in the back of your mind as though you were at a movie. In passive fantasy you do not consciously participate; you do not reflect on what is happening; and you do not take an independent, ethical position regarding what is going on. (Robert Johnson, Inner Work, p ) Passive fantasy does not resolve anything because there is no confrontation or engagement by the conscious self and the will. There is just endless repetition. When Active Imagination becomes a regular practice, passive fantasy tends to diminish and dreaming also often diminishes at least the repetitive fantasies and the repetitive dreams. The reason for this is that the individual is working consciously with the subconscious content that is seeking to become conscious. There is less fragmentation of consciousness through this practice. When Active Imagination is done correctly, it pulls the different parts of you together that have been fragmented or in conflict; it wakens you powerfully to the voices inside you; and it brings about peace and cooperation between the warring ego and unconscious. (Ibid., p. 141) 4. Active Imagination As Described By John Sanford (The following notes under this heading only are excerpts from The Invisible Partners by John Sanford, p I highly recommend this book for all of its contents.) Active Imagination goes a step beyond meditation. Meditation involves the contemplation of an image; Active Imagination is interaction with an image, voice, or figure of the unconscious and then enters into an interaction with that image or figure. In 6

7 Active Imagination the ego is definitely a participant. We are not passively watching, but are positively involved in what is happening. It calls for an activation of the image from the unconscious and an alert and participating ego. One word of caution: Active Imagination can start a flow of images from the unconscious that, in a few cases, may be difficult to stop. This can be frightening, for the images are then like a flow of water that cannot be turned off and there is the fear of being inundated in this way, but I have known one or two people who became quite frightened. This is not likely to happen, for most people can turn off Active Imagination any time they want to, but it is a possibility if someone is too close to the unconscious and has not sufficient ego strength. In this case Active Imagination should not be undertaken without the guidance of a skilled spiritual director or therapist with whom the experiences can be shared if necessary. Active Imagination can begin in several ways. A dream is one place to start. In this case we continue the dream in our imagination as a story, writing down whatever comes to us. This is especially helpful in certain dreams that do not reach a conclusion. For instance, maybe we dream we are being pursued by some figure; we run and run and the dream suddenly ends while we are still running from this figure. This is an unfinished dream. It does not end because the unconscious cannot take the action any further. We can continue the dream by finishing its story in Active Imagination. What happens now as that figure pursues us? Perhaps we see ourselves stopping and facing our adversary, or maybe someone comes into the situation to help us. Any number of possibilities present themselves, but only one can be selected and this is the one we will follow through to see where it leads us. A fantasy can also be utilized as the basis for Active Imagination. The place to begin would be with the fantasy that has been haunting our minds, the uninvited train of thought that keeps coming back to us again and again. Maybe it is a recurring fantasy of a burglar breaking into our house, or perhaps of some kind of doom descending on us, or perhaps it is a powerful sexual fantasy. One can take the fantasy and deliberately develop it, writing down whatever occurs to us as we continue the fantasy as a story. This has the effect of altering our psychological situation, and of making clearer the underlying meaning of the fantasy. With sexual fantasies this may be the only way to avoid living them out concretely in ways that may be destructive in our relationships. One source for Jung s ideas on Active Imagination was alchemy. Alchemy spoke of the adept (alchemist) giving careful attention to all the elements in his retort and observing their transformation with great concentration. Jung transliterates the language of alchemy into its psychological equivalent and sees this as a prototype of Active Imagination. What alchemy suggests, he says, is that we Take the unconscious in one of its handiest forms, say a spontaneous fantasy, a dream, an irrational mood, an affect, or something of the kind, and operate with it. Give it your special attention, concentrate on it, and observe its alterations objectively. Spare no effort to devote yourself to this task, follow the 7

8 subsequent transformations of the spontaneous fantasy attentively and carefully. Above all, don t let anything from outside, that does not belong, get into it, for the fantasy-image has everything it needs. In this way one is certain of not interfering by conscious caprice and of giving the unconscious a free hand. (C.G. Jung, Mysterium Conjunctionis, CW 14 [Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1963, 1974], p.526.) In the same volume, Jung puts it even more explicitly: This process can, as I have said, take place spontaneously or be artificially induced. In the latter case you choose a dream, or some other fantasy-image, and concentrate on it by simply catching hold of it and looking at it. You can also use a bad mood as a starting point, and then try to find out what sort of fantasy-image it will produce, or what image expresses this mood. You then fix this image in the mind by concentrating your attention. Usually it will alter, as the mere fact of contemplating it animates it. The alterations must be carefully noted down all the time, for they reflect the psychic processes in the unconscious background, which appear in the form of images consisting of conscious memory material. In this way conscious and unconscious are united, just as a waterfall connects above and below. (Ibid., p. 495) Active Imagination can be started from any manifestation of the unconscious dream, affect, mood or whatever but the simplest place to start is with the daily running dialogue that goes on within the minds of most of us. We spend a lot of time arguing with ourselves. A little introspection will reveal that there are all kinds of voices battling inside of us. Often these inner dialogues resemble courtroom scenes, and it is as if we were on trial for something. There is the inner prosecutor, the critical voice that tries to convict us of this or that, and that also, as a rule, constitutes itself as judge as well as accuser. In a woman this voice usually has a masculine character, and in a man a feminine character. These voices are like autonomous thoughts or moods that suddenly inject themselves into our consciousness. If we are totally unaware of them, we become identified with them. If the voice we are hearing is the accusing voice of the inner critic or prosecuting attorney, we become depressed, and our self-image goes down to zero. To become aware of the autonomous nature of these voices is to begin to make a distinction between them and us, and this dawning awareness brings the possibility of breaking free from what amounts to a state of being possessed. To begin an Active Imagination with the argument we are hearing inside of us we start by writing down the thoughts already racing through our minds. It helps to personify the different voices we hear. The Prosecuting Attorney, the Great Score Keeper, the Cynical Bystander, the Forlorn Woman, are personifications of inner voices that certain people have used from time to time. The personification should, of course, correspond to the kind of voice we are hearing. Transferring the inner argument to paper makes it possible for us to respond to these autonomous thoughts, and encourages us to clarify and adopt our own point of view. By writing things down we really begin to hear 8

9 what is being said, and are now in a position to examine these utterances for what they are. In doing this we may discover that the authority of the inner critic, for instance, may not be so great after all, that while this critic poses as God it is actually a personification of collective opinions, that is, of general or conventional points of view. Writing things down also strengthens the ego, for to take pen in hand and begin to write is an ego activity, and has the effect of solidifying and centring consciousness, and affirming it in the face of destructive influences. Hence it now becomes possible to find our position and, perhaps, turn the tables on an inner enemy who, up until now, has had the advantage of being able to work in the dark. Of course it can also be a positive voice that we hear and with which we learn to talk. Just as there is a negative voice that seems to want us to fail in life, so there is a positive voice that gives us helpful insights and flashes of inspiration. We can cultivate a relationship with this side of ourselves by learning to dialogue with it, and talk over with it our life situation. The ancients used to call such a figure a spiritus familiaris. Socrates referred to it as his daimon, meaning not demon in the negative sense of the word, but his genius or inspirational spirit. In Christian parlance it is a version of the guardian angel or a manifestation of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Psychologically this positive figure can be likened to a personification of the Self as it relates to ego consciousness. If a relationship with this inner figure can be developed, we are greatly helped. It is like having an inner analyst or spiritual director. In some cases it is the way to freedom from dependence on an analyst, for it gives us access to our own unconscious wisdom. Notice how many times I have said that in doing Active Imagination we must write it down. There are many reasons for putting Active Imagination in writing. Writing gives reality to it; unless it is written it may seem wispy and vaporish and lack impact. Writing things down also keeps us from cheating on the process. It may be that there are some unpleasant things we have to learn about ourselves and it is easy to avoid these unless they are written. Writing also, as mentioned, strengthens the hand of the ego and develops our conscious position in the face of the unconscious. Finally, it gives us a permanent record and enables us from time to time to review what we have done. Not only does this refresh the memory, but there are times when something has emerged in Active Imagination that we could not understand at the time but is clear to us later. There is one exception to the practice of recording Active Imagination; sometimes it works best when we are in a meditative state, and writing it down might interrupt. Pursue the Active Imagination while meditating, but then record it immediately in a journal. I mentioned the risk in doing Active Imagination, but the greater difficulty lies in getting people to do it at all. Some of this has to do with the fact that it must be written to become real. To write down Active Imagination is work. In fact, Active Imagination itself is hard work; it takes discipline, and to do it we must overcome the inertia that grips 9

10 us when it comes to psychological matters. People are lazy about their own psyches. We do not want to have to work on ourselves, but want everything to come to us. This is a common difficulty the therapist encounters: He finds that people come to him expecting him to have some magic with which to make everything all right, and they won t have to do the work themselves. Not only is this exhausting for the therapist, who has to provide more than his share of energy for the process, but the client does not make satisfactory progress, for the fact is that we get well in direct proportion to the energy we put into our psychological development. In addition to the lazy streak in us, which resists doing Active Imagination precisely because it is active, there is also the voice within us that is certain to comment that it is nothing but your own thoughts. As soon as we depart from the known and conventional, this cynical, doubting voice begins to comment that what we are doing is nonsense, banal, or not worth writing down. It is another aspect of the critical voice we have met before, and may also say to us when we awaken with a dream, Oh that dream doesn t mean anything. People who try to do creative writing are certain to run into this voice too, and will hear it say things such as, Oh, that has already been written. Or, You will never be able to get it published. This voice will try to keep us from doing Active Imagination, and will make poisonous comments as though it wants to keep our development of the most mediocre level possible. It acts like a negative-mother-voice in a man, or a poisonous-father voice in a woman, a version of the witch, who, in fairy tales, paralyzes the young hero or heroine, turning them into stone, or sending them into sleep, or causing them to lose their heads. There are two ways to deal with this voice as it relates to Active Imagination. One method is to resolutely go ahead anyway, to say something like, I don t care what that voice says, I am going to do this Active Imagination and when it is done we will see what it is like. The other method is to begin the Active Imagination by dialoguing with the voice itself. If we have it out with this voice to begin with we may find that the battle is half won and we are beginning to free ourselves from something paralyzing that has affected us on many levels of life. In the dialogue form of Active Imagination it often works best to write down the first thoughts that come into our minds. We identify the voice with whom we wish to speak and say what we want, and then record the first answering thought that occurs to us. Then we answer back, and so the dialogue proceeds. It is important not to criticize or examine what is being said as we go along, but to proceed as if it were a normal conversation. Later, when it is all finished, we can go back over what we have written and examine it for some of its content if we wish. Active Imagination sometimes has more vitality than at other times. There are times when an image, voice, or fantasy is right there and becomes activated at once and interacts with us. At other times the results may not be so vital. Some people, for instance, may be able to do Active Imagination in the morning, but not in the evening. For others it may be the other way around. Each person must find his own way of working and discover what suits his personality the best. 10

11 5. The Healing Power of Active Imagination There is a need for healing when some aspect of our psyche is isolated or disconnected from consciousness which is always. At times, however, the need for integrating a specific reality or aspect is very strong. At such times inner communication is vital in order to avoid an unconscious expression in some painful or disturbing way. We then enter the struggle between the ego s attempt to keep things as they are separated and suppressed, and the inner aspect pushing its way through the psyche towards selfrevelation. It does this through feelings, images, words, fantasies, dreams, projections, emotions, acting out, etc. Whenever one reacts emotionally to something, there is an unconscious affect, mood or image behind that emotion. You might say that there is an inner being expressing itself as the emotion. This inner being demands to be contacted and responded to. The emotion is its expression to get attention. A practical way of dealing with this is to create images of the emotions. Jung said: To the extent that I managed to translate the emotions into images that is to say, to find the images which were concealed in the emotions I was inwardly calmed and reassured. Had I left those images hidden in the emotions, I might have been torn to pieces by them As a result of my experiment I learned how helpful it can be, from the therapeutic point of view, to find the particular images which lie behind emotions. (C.G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, p. 177) Commenting on this approach, Edward Edinger in the Mysterium Lectures said: Whenever one is possessed by a powerful affect or mood, the first thing to do is to separate oneself from the aggravating external factor whatever it is and then look inside. Do Active Imagination, seek the image that gives expression to the nature of the inner content that grips one. If the agitation is too great one may need some help. For example, throwing the I Ching can be a helpful way to encourage an introverting process when it s hard to get started. If you can find the image that expresses and represents what is gripping you, it can have an almost miraculous effect. Let me give you a personal example. Many years ago I was visiting Rome as a sightseeing tourist. I woke up in the middle of the night in a state of anxiety, convinced that the plane I would be taking home was going to crash into the sea. Well, there was clearly no question of any more sleep while that fear was there so I tried to apply this procedure. The image that emerged was the imperious image of the feminine personification of ancient Roma who was angry at me because I had picked up some stones I had taken some from the Palatine, a little piece from the Colosseum and she was enraged that I had plucked some of her material and was going to steal it and take it away. She said, You re going to discover that those stones are too heavy for you to get across the sea. I m going to drop you right into the ocean. 11

12 Well, that was wonderful; at least I knew what I was dealing with! And I said, Well if you insist, I ll meekly take them back and drop them right where I found them. However, they re not very much and you ve got a lot of them. Furthermore, I can promise you that when they are taken to the New World they will promote respect for you. They will not be treated disrespectfully; in fact, they will enhance your esteem in the New World. Consider that you see you ve got something to gain. Okay, she said, you can have them. And I could go back to sleep. That s all there was to it. (Edward Edinger, The Mysterium Lectures, p. 267) 6. Essentials for Active Imagination The following conditions ought to be present when using Active Imagination: 1. An ASC an altered state of consciousness similar to light meditation; an increase in alpha brain waves produced through deep relaxation. 2. The intention to communicate with a specific sub-personality or aspect of the subconscious, such as the anima or animus. 3. Having an image, voice or figure that represents that sub-personality. 4. Being actively alert in one s ego or conscious self. 5. Starting the process. This can be done by asking a question, using a dream, taking a fantasy or a mood that has arisen spontaneously. 6. Write down the dialogue as it is occurring. It can be any length very long or very short. 7. A single process can have a series of sessions spread over any length of time chosen. Any quality within you can be personified and persuaded to clothe itself in an image so that you can interact with it. If you feel an inflation, you can go to your imagination and ask that inflation to personify itself through an image. If you vaguely feel a mood controlling you, you can do the same. It is the image that gives one a starting point. You can then enter into dialogue; you can interact; and you can move toward some kind of understanding. (Robert Johnson, Inner Work, p. 147) Active imagination is not an idle pastime, nor is it easy. But it is a worthwhile task. We do it so that we can begin to know what we do not know that exists within us. Our peace of mind depends on understanding and effectively relating to the unknowns that are wanting to be known. 12

13 7. Using Active Imagination the Right Way It is very popular today to change your reality, to get what you want, using the imagination as the tool to create the reality you want to experience. In this use of the imagination one would probably populate one s imaginal reality with people from one s outer life, thereby likely producing manipulative effects. This is nothing short of the ego s use of the imaginative faculty to get and control what it wants. This has nothing to do with Active Imagination. In fact it is diametrically opposed to Active Imagination wherein the ego must be interactive, but totally non-manipulative. Barbara Hannah emphasizes right motivation in doing Active Imagination in this passage: One should never take the figures of living people into one s fantasies. As soon as there is any temptation to do this, we should stop and very carefully inquire again into our motives for the whole undertaking, for it is only too likely that we are regressing into old, magical thinking; that is, trying to use the unconscious for personal ends, and not really using it in the only legitimate way: for exploring the unknown, in as scientific a way as possible, with the motive of finding our own wholeness The question is: Are we doing it honestly to try to reach and discover our own wholeness, or are we dishonestly using it as an attempt to get our own way? But if we honestly want to find our own wholeness, to living our individual fate as fully as possible; if we truly want to abolish illusion on principle and find the truth of our own being, however little we like to be the way we are, then there is nothing that can help us so much in our endeavour as active imagination. Ultimately, it can lead to far greater independence and free us from depending on analysis, or any other outer help, than anything else that I know but I say ultimately because it is the most difficult work that I know. (Barbara Hannah, Encounters With The Soul, p. 12) If someone you know in your outer life shows up in your Active Imagination, stop and change the appearance of the image. You might ask the inner aspect to appear differently toward you. Remember that Active Imagination is not about external relationships, but about communicating with inner personal aspects. 13

14 8. Practical Approach to Active Imagination These are some practical guidelines for the Active Imagination process. Space and Writing 1. Create a place or space to do the work where you will not be disturbed. This would be the same preparation as you would do for meditation. 2. Write or type the process so that it does not become a passive fantasy, even if you first painted, danced, acted it out or did it in meditation. 3. When writing, use a simple method for indicating who is speaking. You can use a letter code, or if writing with a computer or typewriter you could alternate between upper case and lower case type. (For conscious self you could use I, or E for ego. For the sub-personality you are dialoguing with you could give a name that seems appropriate like A for angry one or C for inner critic.) 4. Do not concern yourself how it sounds or seems, as it is being written only for you. 5. Be alone in the room when you are doing it. Making Contact 1. Go into a meditative state, an altered state of consciousness. 2. There are different approaches possible a. Invite the inner aspects to come to the surface and initiate contact. Stay in a receptive mood without thought, and wait to see who shows up. Some consider this the purest form of Active Imagination because the ego does not decide with whom to dialogue, and remains receptive to whatever and whomever surfaces. b. Take a subject from some recurring fantasy and start a conscious dialogue with its images. c. Take a recent dream and enter dialogues with its characters. You can choose a specific character you need to talk to. You can also continue or extend the dream itself in the conscious state. d. Personify a feeling, a mood or an obsession and dialogue with it. Johnson suggests leading it this way: Who is the one inside me who is (depressed) today? Where are you? What do you look like? Please take some form I 14

15 The Dialogue can see and come up and talk with me. I want to know who you are and what you want. e. Visit a place or scene in your imagination and meet someone there who would be a personification of some aspect of yourself. 1. Let the inner voices or figures have a life of their own. you say or do whatever comes into your mind that feels appropriate and ethical. If a figure appears in the imagination and seems to have nothing to say at first, one may get the conversation going by asking who he or she is. Ask what the person wants, what the person would like to talk about, would like to do. It is better to ask questions than to lecture or start making pronouncements, because the basic attitude you want to show is a willingness to listen. (Robert Johnson, Inner Work, p. 179) If an inner figure does something, write it down; then do or say whatever your reaction is in response. Often an inner person will try to draw you into some activity, take you somewhere, lead you off on a path or a journey. If it seems right to you, then do it, and record what happens along the way. If you feel that it is wrong to follow the person, or you don t like the activity or involvement that the inner person suggests, you have the right to say so. You have the right to refuse and to state your reasons. That, in turn, will often lead to a heated discussion of the conflict between this inner person and what you think you want or don t want, or don t approve of, or are afraid of. All this is excellent material for the Active Imagination: the dialogue has begun, and the different parts of the self are learning from each other. (ibid.) Probably nothing gets the dialogue going as quickly or on as deep a level as does an expression of feelings. When you let your feelings out and invite your inner person to do the same, it usually constellates the exchange very directly. This is because feelings are mostly concerned with values: who or what we love and appreciate, what we are afraid of, what we feel is dishonest or illegitimate, what we desire for ourselves and others. And values, we find, are the mainsprings of our human lives. (ibid. p. 180) 2. Stay focused on the dialogue without flitting about, just as you would stay in dialogue with an external person with whom you were conversing. Move through the process until there is resolution, just as there would be in a story or a dream. This might take many sessions or just one. 3. Participate with your feelings in such a way that it is a real experience for you. Act and react just the way you would in dialogue with an equal make suggestions, object, agree, challenge, argue, ask questions, etc. 15

16 4. Do not control the situation or how the unconscious expresses itself, even if you judge it to be stupid or inferior. Participate in it with courtesy and respect. 5. Listen with full attention, even if (and especially if) the unconscious has some unpleasant things to say. Before arguing or challenging, it is a good idea to give the unconscious aspect the stage. This might be the first time in your life it has been given such an opportunity. 6. Learn to reply from the ego with its information, viewpoints, and values. 7. Never work with a prepared script. You never know what the unconscious point of view or feeling is going to be, so be prepared to allow it to be whatever it is. The purpose is not to program or manipulate the subconscious to feel a certain way in support of what you might want, but to find out the truth that lies beyond the veil, whatever that might be. The Ethical Stance Within the subconscious there are very dark forces since the archetypes from which we draw our life and direction manifest as both the very positive and the very negative. We usually try to choose the positive and repress the negative. For integration of personality and expansion of consciousness it is necessary to embrace both of the opposites. That is essentially what Active Imagination helps us do. That being the case, we need to recognize that the negative forces within often do not have the same values or ethics that we have consciously cultivated, simply because they are unconscious forces within us. That is not to say that there are not other subconscious aspects which do have acceptable values to our conscious self. The subconscious aspects, such as instinctive forces, aspects of the animal soul, are not immoral; they are amoral that is, they make no reference to morality. Morality is a human characteristic which reflects personal and collective values whereby we guide our actions consistent with our development of consciousness. When we dialogue with unconscious aspects we have the human obligation to set ethical parameters. We must not allow the imaginative process to become inhuman or destructive or to go off into extremes. In the dialogues we confront different options, different values, different ethical standards. We must work out the inherent conflicts between ego and unconscious aspects, and then make choices that will either expand or limit our consciousness. In order for consciousness to expand, one s choices and resulting behaviours must be consistent with one s essential character and one s deepest values. If they are not, and one 16

17 is controlled by some primitive urges, a real inner conflict is created or deepened which will eventually have to be resolved. In living ethically and relating to unconscious aspects of our life, we need to be governed by our deepest values and by the level of consciousness we have attained. We must also never let one archetype or one aspect of ourselves rule or dominate. We must keep each in its proper place in relation to all other aspects of our life. It might be very tempting to allow some powerful urge to take over to compensate for some felt lack in oneself. But this always results in worsened relationships and some self-destruction. The critical task that each of us has when we take the lid off of the unconscious, is to think independently and clearly. We must listen carefully to hear the truth that is hidden behind the overblown, seductive, dramatic urgings of the inner voices. You must refine that truth to something that is more civilized, more human, more bearable something that can be integrated into ordinary human life without incinerating it. And, toward that truth, you must find your own individual ethical stance. (Robert Johnson, Inner Work, p ) Practical Application Whenever any inner work is done there ought to be an attempt to externalize it since our soul task is to bring Spirit into appropriate forms of expression. External manifestation should not be confused with acting out. Acting out is a recognized psychological reality in which a person acts out inner urges or feelings. This regularly occurs when a person feels them but is not dealing consciously with them. As one does the Active Imagination one might think that it would be a good idea to choose to act out the urges and feelings that one is aware of as a way of integrating them. This is to be completely avoided since it does anything but produce integration. The acting out tendency would likely occur when a person is projecting onto someone in their life what they are encountering within. This tendency would be supported by the lack of resolution with the inner conflict. This is one reason why it is so important to honour the ongoing process and get to a resolution not to force a resolution, but to work towards it. The decision to manifest the resolutions of your inner work can result in making some outer changes in your life. These changes could be in the way you relate to someone or to some thing. They can be about changing the way you handle some practical aspects of living. They can be about behaving or acting differently. It is best to keep the outer application on a small scale so that it is achievable. Another wonderful way of externalizing the progress or resolution of inner work is to ritualize it. This can be a made-up ritual that demonstrates the meaning of the inner work, or a ritual that is more of a behaviour change or an activity that demonstrates a change of consciousness. 17

18 9. The Uses of Active Imagination Active Imagination can be useful in several different ways all relating to the necessity of communicating between conscious and unconscious aspects of oneself. 1. Integration The main purpose of Active Imagination is to encounter unconscious aspects of oneself and integrate them into cooperative, conscious awareness. 2. Inner Cooperation Since there are always disparate parts of ourselves pulling in different directions, part of the process of integration and an essential part of moving forward is to get inner cooperation. When you make a conscious decision about anything and find that some part of you is resisting and blocking you, you would do well to engage this part in dialogue and reach some compromises, agreements or understandings that would enable you to proceed unencumbered. 3. Archetypal Contact Although not a primary purpose for Active Imagination, archetypal contact is sometimes made during the process. This might be a contact with a personification or image of an archetype or some symbolic representation of the spiritual soul within. The quality of this level of connection will be significantly different than any other inner contact made. Taking a mythical inner journey might fall into this category, provided that it is an archetypal journey, and therefore a soul story rather than a personality fantasy based on what the ego wants to experience. Such a journey would have the classic initiations and encounters that need to be entered, overcome and integrated. This journey would also have a purpose of making a valued and valid contribution to life and to one s context in life. 4. Activating Potentials Just as there are raw collective, primitive energies within us at unconscious levels, so there are a multitude of potentials for expression that would enhance or at least change our lives, but of which we might be unaware or afraid. These alternatives can be encountered as personifications of those potentials within ourselves. And therefore we can engage them in dialogue to see what force they have, and what they might have to contribute to our conscious life. 18

19 Perhaps you are doing exactly what you need to be doing, but there is some longing within yourself to escape. Perhaps there is a gypsy or vagabond inside of you pulling at your work ethic; there might be an inner recluse making your social life rather challenging. You might envy others whom you see doing more interesting or exciting things than you are doing. You would undoubtedly benefit by dialoguing with these aspects who feel this way. The results might lead to outer change, or perhaps not. But they would at least resolve inner conflict and bring about greater self-understanding. Exercise: Active Imagination Engage in an Active Imagination writing exercise using the above points to guide you. If you wish, you can do it as a diary in that you can have a series of sessions over many days or weeks, with each session building upon the previous one(s). 19