ACTIVE IMAGINATION

Active imagination is a form of inner dialogue used and developed by the psychiatrist and

psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung as a way of establishing a deeper dialogue with the

unconscious. Jung saw active imagination as the most direct way of relating to the

unconscious, although it is not always an easy way of working, and has its own problems

and difficulties as opposed to the more usual and accepted way of working with the dream.

At the same time, active imagination can involve a consistent and continuing dialogue with

the unconscious, and can be seen as a living relationship with this part of ourselves that

does not have to come to an end when we are no longer in a therapy situation. At the same

time it is important to recognise that learning and thinking about active imagination is not at

all a kind of 'how to do it' course because any deep involvement with the unconscious may

always need the guidance of a therapist, work with dreams, and so on.

In the concept of analytical psychotherapy as developed by Jung and his associates, an

important therapeutic aim has been the establishment of a consistent dialogue with the

unconscious. This can be understood as an interaction between conscious and unconscious,

or what is less conscious and which does not have to come to an end when therapy has

ended. This remains essential to what Jung saw as the process of individuation. And this is

about becoming more aware of who and what we are at many different levels. Jung

saw this as also being about finding a deeper connection between ego and Self.

The term Self was used by Jung to designate the transpersonal centre and totality or

wholeness of the human psyche. It constitutes the greater objective personality, whereas

the ego describes the lesser subjective personality that is our everyday self. Like all other

archetypes the Self is never completely knowable and can be experienced and re-

experienced in differing ways over the course of a lifetime.

It is also important to remember that active imagination, expressed in some form or other,

is probably as old as the earliest efforts of humankind to relate to forces greater than

themselves. Indeed, what we could now see as a form of active imagination would be the

very early representations of animals in prehistoric cave art. They were not only drawings

and paintings of animals. but also of the power and magic they were felt to possess.

Many shamanic traditions use forms of active imagination to develop their own inner

process of creative visualisation. True imagination engages deep feelings and nurtures the

growth of consciousness as well as the creative awareness of both suffering and joy, so

enhancing the development of human personality. Active imagination has been described as

a waking dream, or dreamlike state, happening in the absence of sleep when we become

able to observe our conscious thoughts and action and have access to thoughts and feelings

not usually accessible to consciousness.

Relating to the unconscious as it becomes expressed through active imagination, is a

symbolic process for we are not working factually, but using images that can represent living

symbols. A living symbol expresses a part of us that is not fully conscious and can often be

felt rather than rationally understood. As soon as we are able to fully understand a symbol,

it loses its numinosity and becomes a sign.

The term symbol can never be explained once and for all as its very nature implies a

transition to a new level of understanding, a new depth of consciousness. A symbol has the

power to move and shift our consciousness because it connects us to a deeply unconscious

energy field. Incidentally I would also suggest that dreams themselves are symbols rather

than signs because a sign will always have an assigned or given meaning. Symbols are

autonomous products of the unconscious and, in Jung's view, real symbols are never

invented or made up, nor are they only a poetic or allegorical way of representing a known

fact. One could see them as expressions of the unconsciousness through archetypes and

archetypal patterns which have always exerted a powerful influence on the individual and

on society. So active imagination can also be seen as a dialogue with archetypes of the

collective unconscious. In this context it is always important to recognise that there is a

great deal that is personal and still more that is impersonal which we do not know, but

which continues to have its effect on us.

Jane Dahon, a Jungian analyst working in the United States, has written of how "the

collective unconscious constitutes all these aspects of the psyche that are basic to the

human condition; those psychological characteristics that belong to us by virtue of our

biological structure. It is part of being born with two legs, two arms, a cerebral cortex and

the capacity to walk upright. These and all other aspects of our biology have certain

psychological consequences and lead to typical modes of functioning and patterns of

behaviour." It is all too easy to make use of the term 'archetype' intellectually without any

sense of what it can mean when we are confronted by it at an imaginative level.

Marie von Franz, Jung's colleague over many years, has defined four stages or steps in the

process of active imagination:

1. Being alone by oneself and settling the thoughts of ego; consciousness having to give

space to the unconscious.

2. Starting to make contact with the unconscious, usually in the form of images, fantasies,

and emotions; these are then written down, drawn or painted to give them an external

form.

3. The ego reacts by confronting the emerging unconscious material that has come up.

4. Conclusions to be drawn and enacted in life.

In the first step of working with active imagination, it is important to let the conscious ego

stand aside in order to feel more free from its critical judgement. Let the ego observe

without criticising what comes up but not filtering anything out, a state that could be

described as being somewhat similar to the alpha state of unfocused attention.

This first step is about noticing and becoming more aware of the activities of the psyche. It

can be helpful to have a notebook or tape recorder to catch images, or fragments of images,

that may impinge on our consciousness A ritual of some kind can also facilitate getting into a

state of active imagination as for instance, lighting a candle. A dream may be continued in

our imagination, or a particularly powerful dream image can be worked with. Using drawing,

painting, clay modelling rather than words, can help to reduce ego interference and

conscious control. In active imagination we always need to develop the attitude of the child

at play. This means taking play seriously which as adults we can find quite difficult.

Jung writes of how "the creative aspect of the imagination frees us from our knowledge of

the nothing but, and raises us to the state of one who plays." We need to reach that place

before active imagination can really begin.

The second step moves on further to giving expression to the inner voice of the

unconscious, either in writing or some other medium. It is always essential to give outer

form to whatever comes up, otherwise it gets lost and cannot be fully used.

Active imagination is defined by the relationship between ego and unconscious and not by

the particular medium employed. The unconscious can be expressed in so many different

ways, using poetry, story telling, dialogue, verbal or visual description of images, dance or

music to create both harmonies and disharmonies. Deciding what medium to use is a matter

of individual choice based on whatever feels comfortable at a particular time. However, if

someone is skilled in one medium, it is usually better to begin active imagination in a

different medium because skill relates more to ego control than expression of the

unconscious. One could also say that modelling in clay is very much an intuitive and feeling

activity, while writing facilitates a more cognitive understanding.

In the third step, once the voice from the unconscious has been given form, the ego can

relate to it. The ego needs to recognise that the inner event - whatever has come out of the

unconscious - is just as real as any outer event, even if it exists in a different space. Inner

events have real effects and need to be treated with care and respect. Sometimes one may

have to say 'no' to the demands of the unconscious in order not to be over-fascinated and

held too passively by it There has to be a creative confrontation and a relationship formed

between ego and unconscious, ego and Self. An important factor is not identifying with the

contents of the unconscious, yet also recognising that it can be more negative to remain

unconscious of them than to meet them in active imagination.

In the fourth step, once the ego has heard and listened to and confronted the voice of the

unconscious, we have to recognise that we can no longer live unconsciously as if we did not

know what has been learned from working with the unconscious images. It is important to

take what we have experienced into life in order to work towards having a deeper

understanding of who we really are and what we can become.

Resistance to doing active imagination should always be taken seriously, especially when

there is a feeling of real fear, such as the fear of acting out fantasies that have become

conscious. It may take a lot of work to become aware of the fact that admitting the

existence of a fantasy is not the same as doing what is imagined. Yet the power of the

unconscious has always to be recognised, and since the process of active imagination

encourages less ego control and takes place at a waking level rather than in a dream, it may

be less safe in the feelings it can bring up than when we are working with the images that

arise spontaneously through dreams. It is always important to recognise that there is a great

deal that is personal, and still more important that it is the impersonal which will always

exercise its effect on us.

Jung's work with active imagination was undoubtedly a source of much inspiration to

Assagioli and others who have developed the use of guided imagery, taking the process of

active imagination further and possibly in safer ways.

Active imagination, or Jung's definition of it and his work with it, is not the same as guided

imagery. Guided imagery offers particular images for the client and ways in which to

proceed. In guided imagery the images used by the therapist are connected to those of the

client, working with the ego and the unconscious, while in active imagination one may need

guidance from the therapist in relation to the process, but not as regards the content. The

client can be helped to open up to their own images and to respond to them in ways that

are consistent with their own view of reality.

At the same time the power of the unconscious has always to be recognised and since it

could be said that the process of active imagination is based on less ego control, and

because guided imagery remains to some extent an area shared by both therapist and

client, there is less likelihood of the client being overwhelmed by the unconscious as can

sometimes happen with active imagination. Working with dreams and the symbols arising

from them is to face being moved and influenced by symbolic structures that we do not

control as in the dream story and its happenings. And this can be even more evident when

using active imagination.

Active imagination could be seen to initiate a deeper and more intense process of

psychological transformation. Of course working with dreams also brings about change, but

for those who have worked with it, active imagination can sometimes bring about a more

profound understanding and change.

An important aspect of dreams, active imagination and guided imagery is the transcendent

function, an expression of the desire to reach to a higher level of personal interaction and

consciousness. It became Jung's term for the mutual influence taking place between ego

and Self in the course of personal development and individuation.

In his view the psyche possessed the capacity to heal itself through the compensatory

function of the unconscious. The unconscious can give rise to symbols capable of re-uniting

conflicting tendencies that are seemingly irreconcilable at a conscious level. We could see

growth and development in all its many forms including individuation and self-realisation as

a continuing process of growth and change initiated and regulated by the Self. In the end it

is less about the solving of problems than becoming able to transcend them.

Rahima Spottiswood

2001-02