The Method

Active Imagination is a method created by Carl Gustav Jung through the course of his long personal and professional experience. It is a complex practice that requires analytic preparation and an ego that is sufficiently solid and flexible. For this reason, it is generally introduced during the more mature and established phases of the Analytical Journey.

Active Imagination is a dialogue between the ego and the personifications of the unconscious within a state of expanded consciousness; a powerful and effective method for turning one’s gaze toward the invisible world of inner life.

It is a central, self-reflective psychological attitude that encourages the unfolding of the symbolic function through the inner encounter with the Other.

Purpose

Active Imagination fosters integration, transformation, and the expansion of consciousness.

It opens a space for inner exploration, where whatever emerges may become guidance, orientation, and the possibility of change, while respecting the timing and uniqueness of each individual path.

By giving space and form to the tension implicit in the contrast between divergent positions, Active Imagination aims to create unifying symbols which, by containing and transcending both positions, may indicate new possibilities, activate the transcendent function, and facilitate the individuation process.

Fundamental to the practice of Active Imagination is the capacity to welcome the Taoist principle of Wu-Wei: action in non-action, and non-action in action. To enter the current of life and allow oneself to be carried by it while maintaining one’s own point of view.

Benefits

Unlike many other imaginative techniques, (there are countless examples), what characterizes the method of Active Imagination is that the ego does not step into the role of a character, as may happen in psychodrama or other forms of creative imagination. Rather, the ego enters into relationship with what is other than itself.

The ego addresses an image of the unconscious and awaits a response from that image, a response that, of course, cannot be predicted and usually brings a sense of surprise.

The personifications of the unconscious speak autonomously, and it is important that the ego takes seriously whatever comes from the unconscious, with the same attention and care it would offer in dialogue with someone in real life.

Moreover, Jung never made rigid distinctions between what is real and unreal: for him, only that which works is real—that which brings transformation.

The benefits are therefore realized through an evolution of consciousness along the path of individuation.

Through this living dialogue with the inner world, it becomes possible to:

• foster a deeper connection with the Self and its evolutionary guidance

• bring unconscious contents into consciousness that seek listening, integration, and transformation

• free oneself from obsessive and repetitive thoughts

• give form and meaning to emotions, experiences, and inner conflicts

• support processes of transformation

• reactivate the creative, imaginative, and symbolic resources of the psyche

  
  

How It Works

Active Imagination is essentially based on two complementary factors:

1.    Letting things happen or allowing them to emerge

2.    Coming to terms with the unconscious

Within these two factors, we can distinguish five fundamental phases:

1.    In a waking state, a psychic emptiness is created that opens space for letting things happen. A meditative and relaxed state is the best way to begin a dialogue with the unconscious.

2.    Concentrate attention on the image that emerges, with an attitude of openness and receptivity. The act of observing the image, in accordance with principles of quantum physics, creates a link between observer and observed object; from this arises transformative potential. Attention should be maintained for as long as necessary, and one may begin to ask questions of the image.

3.    One enters into relationship with the image through a dialogue that may be expressed through different forms: writing, painting, sculpture, movement. The aim is to give form and find an expressive mode that objectifies what is happening. It is possible to move fluidly from one form to another according to individual tendencies and the psychic moment of each person.

4.    Initiate an ethical confrontation between the ego and the unconscious. This means taking a responsible position toward what emerges. Consciousness evaluates whether to accept or reject the various solutions that may present themselves. The term “active” refers precisely to the active role of the ego in relation to the personifications of the unconscious.

5.    Live it in life.

Through a state of alert yet relaxed attention, one enters into dialogue with the image, gives it expressive form, and integrates the experience into everyday life.