Dialogue with the Soul: A Guide to Carl Jung's Active Imagination Technique

This mysterious passage, taking verbatim from an interview with one of the greatest intellectuals in the 20th century is what I aim to talk about in this essay. To tell, in other words, the story of Carl Jung’s invention of "Active Imagination".

Jung's own confrontation with the unconscious – these are his words, not mine – can be found in his Liber Novus. While experiencing visions, hearing sounds, talking to different beings that came from within, Jung came across the poetic truth that gave birth to all his scientific ideas. In his book, which is better known as The Red Book, Jung started to elaborate and to map out his own theory of the human psyche.

But it's not just the story of Jung's experiment that I'm interested in telling, although it's a fascinating one. Here I'm much more interested in providing a framework as to how we can all communicate with our deeper selves, which more often than not – it's a communication we're actually working hard to suppress.

In order to do that, first we need to set the scene.

Right around the breakup of his relationship with Zigmund Freud, in the pivotal year of 1913, 38-year-old Carl Gustav Jung started experiencing fearful visions of a looming catastrophe. For nearly a year, Jung believed that these visions were pulling him away from reality and into a realm of intense suffering and sorrow. upon learning of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, followed by the outbreak of the 'Great War,', Jung could breathe a sigh of relief. He wasn't going mad; his entire civilization was.

Contemplating his personal tragedy and the tragedy unfolding across Europe, Jung had a change of heart regarding the fantasies that flooded his mind. Now, he worked on inviting them in. To witness what comes and to record every sight and every sound in an effort to understand. Understand what exactly? He wasn't sure. The period which Jung would later term as his "Confrontation with the Unconscious" was about to begin. It will last until 1930, and then for a brief period in 1959 Jung will return to it, only to trail off in the middle of a sentence and so to leave the writing of his Liber Novus unfinished.

The method Jung developed in 1913-14, which he later called “Active Imagination”¹, harks back to Jung's own university days, when he was first introduced to spiritualism. As a young medical student with a passion for literature, history, and magic, Jung saw the application of scientific methods to explore the supernatural as the ideal synthesis, the golden path he had been seeking. Although he eventually concluded that the mediums he observed were not truly communicating with spirits, he found the alternative to be far more intriguing and enriching: they were revealing hidden, subconscious aspects of themselves.

Psychiatry provided Jung with a synthesis of his two primary passions at the time: the exploration of science and the humanities.

By the following decade, Jung had ascended as a prominent figure in his chosen field. Holding the presidency of the psychoanalytic society and serving as the editor of its scientific journal, Jung was already recognized as a rising star. However, despite Freud considering Jung his successor, it was precisely during this period that Jung began to assert his independence. Settling in his new home on the shores of Lake Zurich in Küsnacht, Jung curated a library stocked with works on mythology, folklore, and religion, indulging his profound love of myth.

Freud wasn't happy with what he saw as a troubling development. His so-call Protégé was dealing with material that could taint his own scientific method. In the face of Freud's concerns and pleas to desist, Jung persisted in his exploration of mythological material, a decision that ultimately led to the breakdown of their once-close professional and personal relationship.

From our vantage point more than a century later, it's tempting to view Jung's immersion in myth as laying the groundwork for his later confrontation with his unconscious. However, at the time of the rift with Freud, Jung experienced deep confusion and despair. Plunging into a period of depression, he turned inward in search of answers.

It is only when Jung embarked on what he termed his "most difficult experiment," that he encountered a plethora of mythological beings and symbolic representations of his own psyche and soul. From his perspective, he was a man of science in search of a myth.  

Jung had a hard time classifying what exactly was the nature of the experiment he is engaged in. Till that point, circa 1913, he saw himself as a man of reason. Despite meticulously recording every detail of his experiences, he recognized from the outset that the visions and dialogues he encountered each evening were not rooted in science. Yet, when a distinct inner voice, unmistakably feminine, asserted that what he was creating was art, Jung initially resisted this assertion.

Nevertheless, he persisted in his writing down of everything to occured, diligently transcribing his nightly experimentations into black leather notebooks. Later, he would transfer these writings into a much larger book with a distinctive red binding, supplementing them with commentary. He alternately referred to this work as "Liber Novus" or "The Red Book."

Since Plato perfected the literary form of the dialogue it became a "prominent genre in western philosophy"². But Jung's dialogues were with parts of his soul (or unconscious), with visions he understood to be only in his mind. His method of Active Imagination bears similarities to what the visionary poet and artist William Blake referred to as his "Two-Fold Vision" or "Double Vision." Blake, in a letter to a friend, described an heated argument he had with a thistle, wherein his imagination presented the innocent flower as a grumpy old man. Despite understanding that the thistle was merely a plant, Blake perceived it differently through the lens of his imagination.

A century before Jung, Blake grasped that all his visions were products of his own mind, existing within the realm of imagination—which he considered the most vital faculty of humanity.

Jung, as a scientist, elaborated on his method more systematically than Blake. In 1916, three years into his exploration of the unconscious, Jung wrote a paper titled "The Transcendent Function," which he did not publish until 1957. The paper delved into the meeting of the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind. Although he did not explicitly name it as such, in this paper Jung elucidated his method of Active Imagination for the first time.

As the conscious mind, which is the rational side of modern men and women, usually reject what the unconscious tries to manifest to it, a dangerous split can occur. While we need our rational side – without which modern civilization is impossible to sustain – our deeper primordial part, the unconscious, is no less important. It can not only warn us of potential dangers and reveal our true feelings toward something or someone as Freud thought. according to Jung, it's main function is to enrich our spiritual life.

Jung offers a helpful framework for engaging in Active Imagination, particularly for those who may struggle to produce fantasies freely. He suggests that when engaging in this practice, critical attention should be suspended, allowing whatever emerges from within to manifest without judgment. I like to compare this concept to the image of the Buddha peacefully sitting beneath the lotus tree, inviting even the demons that attempt to scare him to sit beside him. This doesn't necessarily imply that the images or sounds that arise will evoke negative reactions; they could just as easily evoke positive or neutral responses. And similar to the story of the Buddha, these perceived "evil beings" may even transform into benevolent entities if given the opportunity to be heard.

While in this state of calm acceptance, Jung advises visual types to concentrate on expecting the emergence of inner images, while auditory types should anticipate hearing sounds or inner words, even if they initially appear as fragmented or seemingly meaningless sentences.

Recording everything that occurs in writing is crucial. It's a practice that is familiar to anyone who experimented with Lucid Dreaming or Dream Journaling. Writing down is a form of paying close attention, of training the mind to discover hidden patterns. While Jung suggested writing as the primary method, he noted exceptions, such as individuals who could invoke their visions through drawing or automatic writing. In his book "Inner Work", Robert A. Johnson tells a story of a patient who was a professional dancer that illustrates this point, as she expressed her visions through dance during Active Imagination sessions, later verbalizing and interpreting them.

Next, Jung turns to the question of what to do with the material obtained in Active Imagination. His answer: "Creative formulation" or "understanding". His inner voice may have said that he was making art, but he used the vast text he produced in another way. It gave him a new myth to live by, which he then used to elaborate and develop his own understanding of the human psyche.     

At this point you might be thinking what I thought when I finally finished reading Jung's description of Active Imagination: Is that it? All I have to do is sit somewhere quiet and invite images or sounds in a sort of meditative state?

I'm both happy and sorry to say: yes.

Please don’t give up

Jung's method of Active Imagination wasn't developed in isolation but rather emerged from a rich tapestry of experiences, experiments, and influences throughout his life. His early exposure to spiritualist circles, experimentation with automatic writing techniques, deep meditation practices, and extensive reading on myth, magic, and mysticism all played a role in shaping his approach to the exploration of the unconscious.

Indeed, Jung's receptiveness to the visions that flooded in during his exploration can be attributed in part to his familiarity and comfort with the workings of his own imagination. This underscores the notion that to effectively work with one's imagination, one must first live with it, becoming intimately acquainted with its nuances and depths.

It's fascinating and somewhat surprising to many that experiences akin to Active Imagination are likely more common than realized. Moments of creative inspiration during morning pages, transitions between wakefulness and sleep (hypnagogia), or even daydreaming during moments of boredom can all be seen as instances where the imagination is allowed to wander freely. Instead of allowing these images and sounds to evaporate, Active Imagination encourages exploration and engagement with whatever emerges, opening doors to deeper self-discovery and understanding.

Just like many meditative methods, practice is key. I can say that what works best for me is a combination of a few minutes of focusing on my breathing, not trying to chase away any thoughts or images like we're usually taught to do in mediation but instead to concentrate on anything that comes up. right next to me I always put a notebook and a pen, and when something grabs me, I begin to jot it down. I'm usually more interested in artistic expression than in seeking understanding, and so let the words flow as if I'm writing a fictional story – but without any censorship.

Points to remember and to experiment with

1. Start by clearing your mind. Jung recommended that you do that by sinking in your current mood, which doesn't have to be negative (but it can). Do it in a quiet place, set time for it so nothing could distract you.

2. You can either wait for an image or a sound to arise naturally, or you can "choose an image from a dream, vision or fantasy and concentrate on it"³.

3. Note down in writing what comes up. If you prefer it you might paint, sculp, dance or use any other creative form that comes natural to you.

4. When you're done, you're faced with two option: You can continue and explore the materials you've got from your session artistically or you can analyze it to find out deeper feelings, hidden thought you might have, things you maybe hide from your conscious self. You can do it alone or with someone. But if you involve another person you need to trust him or her not to discourage you.

Last thought/ recuring warning

There's a recuring warning I found in all writings on this subject, starting with Jung, that I feel oblige to include here. Jung continuously contrasts his experiments in The Red Book to what happens to someone who suffers from psychosis or schizophrenia.

Active Imagination is Jung's way of invoking and essentially willing visions from the unconscious into being. And yet, this method could be overwhelming to some. In very rare cases it could even be said to trigger psychotic episodes. So, if you're going to try it: Be smart. Be safe. And maybe think about reaching out to a therapist who has experience with Active Imagination, or similar technics.

1 Jung tried out different names for his technic, settling on Active Imagination in 1935 when he delivered the Tavistock lectures in London.

2 Prof. Sonu Shamdasani’s introduction to "The Red Book".

3 Joan Chodorow, Jung on active imagination, p. 29