Until you make the unconscious conscious,
It will drive your life.
And you will call it faith.
This is a very popular quote by Carl Jung.
When Carl Jung used to analyze his patients,
Analyze the psyche of his patients,
He used to follow the method of dream analysis,
Also known as dream interpretation.
But then he realized that there is a shortcoming to this method and the shortcoming is that Not all patients would remember their dreams.
So he tried to discover some other method.
And he devise this method which is called active imagination.
This is actually an ancient practice but he called it active imagination.
But he did not realize it at that time that this will become such a powerful practice,
Not only for healing the psyche,
But also for deep mystical experiences and also most importantly for realizing the self or becoming whole realizing your true nature that is beyond the ego So this active imagination,
This is a way in which we can dream in a waking state.
Because it is through these visions that come up through our unconscious that we can truly understand ourselves.
So there are different ways in which active imagination is followed.
One way is to just allow any images from your subconscious or your unconscious to arise and you can close your eyes and allow these images to arise.
But there is also a specific way in which this can become really beneficial,
In which you can actually interact with the archetypes of your unconscious.
Now,
What are archetypes?
Archetypes are universal patterns.
That appear in our collective psyche.
These are things that appear in everybody's visions,
In their dreams.
These are some common patterns that appear.
In the whole human race.
Some examples of these archetypes are,
For example,
The hero or the heroine or the magician or the trickster or the hermit or the wise old man.
These are all archetypes.
And When we interact with these archetypes,
Or in other words,
When we interact with our own inner personalities,
Every interaction leads to transformation,
Some integration And this is how we become more and more whole We start integrating these different inner personalities And we become more whole So this is in short the practice of active imagination.
But I just don't want to tell you the theory of it and you know just kind of explain what this is.
I want you to experience it and so I invite you to join me for this short practice on active imagination.
And just a word of caution here Sometimes in the first practice nothing happens for certain people and I would say that's absolutely fine because this takes practice but This will be a guided active imagination,
So probably you will have some experience.
And let's do it then.
So allow yourself to be in your meditative posture.
You can Gradually allow your eyes to close.
And start with the breath,
Just become aware of the inflow and the outflow of the breath.
And through your mind's eye.
Visualize and imagine that you are standing at the entrance of a tunnel.
This tunnel will take you deep inside.
Into the unconscious.
You can make this tunnel as big as you want.
And now imagine that you are stepping into this tunnel.
And you are walking through this tunnel.
And every step you take through this tunnel.
You are going deeper and deeper.
Into the unconscious.
And now you see light at the end of the tunnel.
And you exit the tunnel.
And now you have arrived.
In your unconscious.
This is a place.
You can make it any place you want.
A place that you love.
A place that is a part of this world or a place that is imaginary.
Or maybe a place where you feel comfortable.
Just take a moment here to Visualize this space around you.
Make it really Realistic.
Notice the sounds in this place.
Notice how you feel in this place,
The sensations make it as real as possible.
And now You can.
.
.
Repeat this statement of invitation.
Silently in your heart.
I invite my inner wisdom to show up for interaction.
I invite my inner wisdom to show up for interaction.
And as soon as you say this statement you can notice there is a entity,
There is a figure,
A form that is approaching you.
Of being.
This entity could be a person It could be anything.
It could be an animal or non-human.
And as this entity is coming closer,
You can now see the form of this entity.
Now this entity is right in front of you.
You can clearly see this entity,
The features.
Facial expressions,
The body language colors.
Now I will be silent for a while.
As you allow yourself to interact with this entity.
You could ask any question you can maybe introduce yourself and see if it says something back to you.
So now I will be silent as you allow yourself to interact with this entity.
Now you can allow the vision to gradually disappear As you bring your awareness back to your physical body to your breath.
And slowly in your own time.
And allow the eyes to open.
As we bring this practice to its completion.
So now I hope that you have some idea of what active imagination is.
I invite you to practice this more.
Thank you so much for meditating with me today.
Take care.
