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Copyright 2002 The Imaginal World The technique of active imagination A note on terminology In Jung's work there are two forms or phases of active imagination, which we will call inspection (Betrachtung) and confrontation (Auseinandersetzung). The two words are important. In inspection, one focuses on a visual image – it could be from a dream, vision, fantasy, even a photograph – until it becomes alive. As Jung stated in a 1932 lecture on visions, the verb betrachten means both inspect, examine, scrutinize and make pregnant. "And if it is pregnant," Jung says, "then something is due to come out of it: it is alive, it produces, it multiplies. That is the case with any fantasy image; one concentrates upon it, and then finds that one has great difficulty in keeping the thing quiet, it gets restless, it shifts, something is added, or it multiplies itself; one fills it with a living power and it becomes pregnant" (quoted in Chodorow, 1997, p. 7). In confrontation, one approaches this now living image, this imaginal person, and questions it: Who are you? Why are you here? What are you doing? What is your meaning to me? The word Auseinandersetzung captures this: it means "placing over against" and thus discussion, argument, altercation, conflict, showdown. In the English translation of Jung's writings, unfortunately, Auseinandersetzung is often translated as "coming to terms," which fails to convey, in my opinion, the face-to-face quality of the imaginal encounter. Inspection The first stage, inspection, requires the elimination of critical attention to produce "a vacuum in consciousness" (Jung, 1958/1997, ¶ 155, p. 50); it involves a suspension of the rational, critical faculties in order to give free rein to imagination, to "encourage the emergence of any fantasies that are lying in readiness" ( Jung, 1958/1997, ¶ 155, p. 50). Critical attention must be eliminated; there must be an expectation that an inner image will appear (Jung, 1958/1997, ¶ 170, p. 54). This is not at all easy. "It is almost insuperably difficult," Jung says, "to forget, even for a moment, that all this is only fantasy, a figment of the imagination that must strike one as altogether arbitrary and artificial" (Jung, 1928/1997, ¶ 351, pp. 64-65). But such suspension of disbelief is fundamental to the process. As the Ulanovs put it, "Letting our imagination be is both not so simple as it sounds and much simpler than we would expect. What we are after is noninterference. We must refuse to be hasty. We must put aside perfectionist or utopian pictures. There is nowhere we must get to; there are no prescribed images that must appear.… We allow whatever will come to us and open ourselves to it, whether it be in sight, sound, touch, taste, or smell" (Ulanov & Ulanov, 1999, p. 21). When one thus concentrates on a mental picture, says Jung, "it begins to stir, the image becomes enriched by details, it moves and develops" (Jung, 1935/1997,¶ 398, p. 145). As Jung describes the process, "[y]ou choose an image and concentrate on it simply by catching hold of it and looking at it.…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.… A chain of fantasy ideas develops and gradually takes on a dramatic character: the passive process becomes an action. At first it consists of projected figures, and these images are observed like scenes in the theater. In other words, you dream with open eyes" (Jung, 1955/1997, ¶ 706, p. 167; emphasis added; see also Jung, 1947/1997b, p. 164). Confrontation In the second stage, confrontation, the ego enters actively into the experience. "[T]he fantasy, to be completely experienced, demands not just perception and passivity, but active participation" (Jung, 1928/1997, ¶ 350, p. 64). Indeed, the now living image demands engagement. "The piece that is being played does not want merely to be watched impartially, it wants to compel participation. If the observer understands that his own drama is being performed on this inner stage, he cannot remain indifferent to the plot and its dénouement. He therefore feels compelled … to take part in the play" (Jung, 1955/1997, ¶ 706, p. 167). In other words, the imaginal persons must now be approached, confronted, questioned, engaged. "[S]tep into the picture yourself," Jung says, "and if it is a speaking figure at all then say what you have to say to that figure and listen to what he or she has to say" (Jung, 1947/1997, p. 164); "[m]ake use of the opportunity and start some dialogue" (p. 165). A natural response to such an encounter would be to follow one's surprise and put a question or two, Jung says. Treat the image as a person – above all, as something that really exists. "You must talk to this person to see what she is about and learn what her thoughts and character are" (p. 165). And such participation is not only intellectual. One patient imagined seeing his fiancée run out onto the ice of a frozen river. The ice cracked, a dark fissure appeared, and she jumped into the crack, while he stood by in sorrow (Jung, 1928/1997, ¶ 343, p. 62). In real life, Jung says, the patient would never remain an idle spectator while his fiancée tried to drown herself; he would leap up and stop her. To behave in imagination as one would in reality is the way to take the imaginal seriously (Jung, 1928/1997, ¶ 350, p. 64). Humbert (1971, p. 104, quoted in Cwik, 1995, p. 152) tells the following story: A woman whom Jung was analyzing reported the following active imagination: "I am by the edge of the sea and I see a lion coming, but it turns into a boat." He replied: "That is not true. If you are by the edge of the sea and you see a lion coming you feel afraid, you tremble, you wonder what to do. There is no question of it turning immediately into a boat." Application Contemporary traditional Jungian analysts (e.g., Weaver, 1973; Hannah, 1981; Dallett, 1982; Von Franz, 1983; Johnson, 1986; Cwik, 1995; see Chodorow, 1997, p. 11) have expanded, modified, and supplemented this two-stage process in various ways. Interestingly, there has been a tendency to add an explicit step at the end. Marie-Louise von Franz says that an essential component of this end stage is "to apply whatever is said, ordered, or asked for in active imagination to ordinary life" (1983, p. 133). Jane Dallett (1982, p. 177) calls the final stage living it. What is being encouraged here is that the learnings and insights from the process be integrated into life and consciousness (Cwik, 1995, p. 154). And this must be something physical; von Franz talks about allowing the body to play. Robert Johnson speaks of incarnating active imagination – giving it a physical quality "to bring it off the abstract rarefied level and connect it to your physical earthbound life" (1986, p. 196). This requires a physical act – a ritual – that will affirm the message received in active imagination (p. 97). At its best, Johnson says, "ritual is a series of physical acts that expresses in condensed form one's relationship to the inner world of the unconscious" (p. 103). But anything that "keeps and honors the process" – making an apology, putting flowers on a grave – may be enough (Cwik, 1995, p. 154). References Chodorow, J. (1997). Introduction. In Chodorow, J. (Ed.), Jung on active imagination (pp. 1-20). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Cwik, G. (1995). Active imagination: Synthesis in analysis. In Stein, M. (Ed.), Jungian analysis (2d ed., pp. 137-169). Chicago, IL: Open Court. Dallett, J. (1982). Active imagination in practice. In Stein, M. (Ed.), Jungian analysis (pp. 173-191). LaSalle, IL: Open Court. Hannah, B. (1981). Encounters with the soul: Active imagination as developed by C. G. Jung. Santa Monica, CA: Sigo Press. Humbert, E. (1971). Active imagination: Theory and practice. Spring, 101-114. Johnson, R. (1986). Inner work: Using dreams and active imagination for personal growth. New York, NY: Harper Collins. Jung, C. (1997). Mysterium Coniunctionis. In Chodorow, J. (Ed.), Jung on active imagination (pp. 166-174). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Excerpt from Jung, C. (1953-1977). Mysterium Coniunctionis. In Read, H., Fordham, M., & Adler, G. (Eds.). Collected works of C. G. Jung (Vol. 14) (Hull, R., Trans.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1955) Jung, C. (1997). The Tavistock lectures. In Chodorow, J. (Ed.), Jung on active imagination (pp. 143-153). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Excerpt from Jung, C. (1953-1977). The symbolic life. In Read, H., Fordham, M., & Adler, G. (Eds.). Collected works of C. G. Jung (Vol. 18) (Hull, R., Trans.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1935) Jung, C. (1997). The technique of differentiation between the ego and the figures of the unconscious. In Chodorow, J. (Ed.), Jung on active imagination (pp. 61-72). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Excerpt from Jung, C. (1953-1977). The relations between the ego and the unconscious, in Two essays on analytical psychology. In Read, H., Fordham, M., & Adler, G. (Eds.). Collected works of C. G. Jung (Vol. 7) (Hull, R., Trans.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1928) Jung, C. (1997). Three letters to Mr. O. In Chodorow, J. (Ed.), Jung on active imagination (pp. 163-165). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Excerpt from Jung, C. (1973). Letters (Vol. 1). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1947) Jung, C. (1997). The transcendent function. In Chodorow, J. (Ed.), Jung on active imagination (pp. 42-60). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Excerpt from Jung, C. (1953-1977). The structure and dynamics of the psyche. In Read, H., Fordham, M., & Adler, G. (Eds.). Collected works of C. G. Jung (Vol. 8) (Hull, R., Trans.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1958) Ulanov, A., & Ulanov, B. (1999). The healing imagination: The meeting of psyche and soul. Einsiedlen, Switzerland: Daimon Verlag. Von Franz, M. (1983). On active imagination. In Keyes, M. (Ed.), Inward journey: Art as therapy (pp. 125-133). LaSalle, IL: Open Court. Weaver, R. (1973). The old wise woman: A study of active imagination. New York, NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons. | |||
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