2023-07-19 Wed 21:31 ![[DALL·E 2023-11-01 21.06.59 - Photo of a vast subterranean cavern, dimly lit by bioluminescent fungi. In the center, an individual embarks on a journey downwards, following a windi.png]] 'Active imagination' is [[Analytic psychology|Jung]]'s name for a method for accessing unconscious content in service of the the [[Individuation_jung]] process. Earlier in his career, he used the name 'transcendent function'. ([[Related notes]] [[Ref. Jung 1916 - The transcendent function]]) - Definition: The [[Active imagination|Transcendent function]] is a concept that describes the process by which an individual integrates conflicting or opposing elements within their psyche to achieve psychological growth and wholeness. - Example: A person who has experienced trauma might engage in a therapeutic process that helps them reconcile their painful past experiences with their present reality, resulting in personal transformation. Images: - [[DALL·E 2023-10-31 19.01.10 - Illustration depicting the inner workings of the mind during active imagination. The unconscious is symbolized by a vast, deep ocean filled with vario.png]] - [[Pasted image 20230513122808.png]] - [[Pasted image 20230513122826.png]] > There are many ways to approach active imagination. At first [according to Jung's description], the unconscious takes the lead while the conscious ego serves as a kind of attentive inner witness and perhaps scribe or recorder. The task is to gain access to the contents of the unconscious. > > In the second part of active imagination, consciousness takes the lead. As the affects and images of the unconscious flow into awareness, the ego enters actively into the experience. This part might begin with a spontaneous string of insights; the larger task of evaluation and integration remains. Insight must be converted into an ethical obligation — to live it in life. For Jung, the second stage is the more important part because it involves questions of meaning and moral demands. > —[[Ref. Chodorow (ed) 1997 - Jung on Active Imagination]], introduction > And your doubt can become a good quality if you ‘train’ it. It must become ‘knowing,’ it must become criticism. Ask it, whenever it wants to spoil something for you, ‘why’ something is ugly, demand proofs from it, test it, and you will find it perhaps bewildered and embarrassed, perhaps also protesting. But don’t give in, insist on arguments, and act in this way, attentive and persistent, every single time, and the day will come when instead of being a destroyer, it will become one of your best workers — perhaps the most intelligent of all the ones that are building your life. > —[[Ref. Chodorow (ed) 1997 - Jung on Active Imagination]], quoting [[Ref. Rilke 1929 - Letters to a Young Poet]] (Rilke 1903-8/1984, p. 102). [[Train your doubt to become criticism]] > a number of Jungian authors have proposed a subdivision of active imagination into four or five different stages. Marie-Louise von Franz (1980) was the first. She proposed: (1) Empty the ‘mad mind’ of the ego; (2) Let an unconscious fantasy image arise; (3) Give it some form of expression; and (4) Ethical confrontation. Later on she adds: Apply it to ordinary life. > —[[Ref. Chodorow (ed) 1997 - Jung on Active Imagination]], introduction > Johnson proposes: (1) The invitation (invite the unconscious); (2) The dialogue (dialogue and experience); (3) The values (add the ethical element); and (4) The rituals (make it concrete with physical ritual). > —[[Ref. Chodorow (ed) 1997 - Jung on Active Imagination]], introduction, citing [[Ref. Robert Johnson 1986 - Inner Work]] > But even before the break with Freud, he questioned whether every symbol should be interpreted in a literal, concrete, reductive way. To balance such a_ one-sided emphasis on the past, Jung developed a more imaginative, synthetic, constructive treatment of the unconscious, based on _ the © scholarly imaginative process of symbolic amplification. The dream or fantasy images of an individual are mirrored by association to similar themes that have appeared throughout the history of humankind. > —[[Ref. Chodorow (ed) 1997 - Jung on Active Imagination]], introduction > Jung’s understanding of active imagination developed over time. In his earlier works, active imagination is an adjunctive technique, and he speaks of active imagination and dream interpretation as two distinct psychotherapeutic methods. In his later years he says that his dream interpretation method is based on_ active imagination (1947, par. 404) and he describes active imagination as his ‘analytical method of psychotherapy’ (1955, p. 222). In his final great work, Mysterium Coniunctionis, he shows how active imagination is the way to self-knowledge (‘Know Thyself), and the process of individuation. From this mature perspective, he is describing much more than a specific meditative procedure or expressive technique. In the deepest sense, active imagination is the’ essential, inner-directed symbolic attitude that is at the core of psychological development. > —[[Ref. Chodorow (ed) 1997 - Jung on Active Imagination]], intro > It is time to tell the story of the rainmaker. Jung said to never give a seminar on active imagination without telling this story: > > There was a drought in a village in China. They sent for a rainmaker who was known to live in the farthest corner of the country, far away. Of course that would be so, because we never trust a prophet who lives in our region; he has to come from far away. So he arrived, and he found the village in a miserable state. The cattle were dying, the vegetation was dying, the people were affected. The people crowded around him and were very curious what he would do. He said, ‘Well, just give me a little hut and leave me alone for a few days.’ So he went into this little hut and people were wondering and wondering, the first day, the second day. On the third day it started pouring rain and he came out. They asked him, ‘What did you do?’ ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘that is very simple. I didn’t do anything.’ ‘But look,’ they said, ‘now it rains. What happened?’ And he explained, ‘I come from an area that is in Tao, in balance. We have rain, we have sunshine. Nothing is out of order. I come into your area and find that it is chaotic. The rhythm of life is disturbed, so when I come into it I, too, am disturbed. The whole thing affects me and I am immediately out of order. So what can I do? I want a little hut to be by myself, to meditate, to set myself straight. And then, when I am able to get myself in order, everything around is set right. We are now in Tao, and since the rain was missing, now it rains.’ > —[[Ref. Chodorow (ed) 1997 - Jung on Active Imagination]], intro > [!-cf-] [[Related notes]] > - [[Ref. Jung 1916 - The transcendent function]] > - [[Archetypal psychology]] > - [[Deliteralized world]]