There is a psycho-spiritual practice developed by Carl Jung known as “active imagination”. The more I learn about and practice it, the more convinced I am of the transformative effects it may offer us. It works like this.
- Take any image that has caught your attention. The image could be a scene from a dream that won’t leave you alone; a symbol that you keep finding over and over again; a photograph of someone important to you; a painting from any time and place, from cave wall paintings to a canvas still wet with the paint; a tarot card; a postcard; a photo from today’s news; an image that suddenly came to mind. Hopefully, you get the idea. The requirement is an image that really seems to want your attention. It doesn’t have to be beautiful by any measure. It needs to be an image that is already, on a nonverbal level, is speaking to you or from which you want to hear more.
- Find a quiet place to sit where you won’t be disturbed, with a journal and pen nearby.
- Sit with the image in front of you (or called to mind if that’s where it exists). Be still and calm. Ground or center yourself by observing your breath and allowing muscles to let go and release–until you find yourself calm and at ease.
- Look at the image, and speak to it as a living being: hello (image). What message do you have for me?
- And listen. Listen with your imagination. What do you imagine the image saying back to you as the message it holds for you? The message may come in short phrases; or longer sentences with pauses; or in flowing narrative or even poetry. Keep listening until the message seems to be finished.
- Repeat the message back to the image. Ask it if you understand it correctly. Ask if there is anything more. Listen until the message you imagine coming from the image is finished.
- Gently, take up your journal and pen, and write down the message you received. Mark it with a description of the image and the date. Write until you feel within yourself that you have captured the message.
My own experience with active imagination is that when I do it, two things always are true. I start out the practice somewhat doubtful if anything significant is going to happen, and I am always surprised by the depth and importance of the message that I imagine coming from the image.
For me, the practice of active imagination opens up the powers of my imagination that are always there, always inside of me. Images in my life, world and dreams reach into me and tap something waiting to be seen, heard and activated in my life. If I understand Jung correctly, we are all individual expressions of Life who can tap into the collective world of meaning. It’s always there, waiting for us to open the door or window or portal. Our imaginations are powerful aspects of Being Human, of Being Life and Love.
~Bob Patrick
