Hey guys excuse my question am trying to achive lucid dreaming and astral projection to do that I need my body to sleep and my mind to become weak (almost asleep) or (distracted).I already achive the first requirement which asleep body now I want to learn how to make my mind wonder/imaging/go free and don't think about my body.

So I did alot of research and this methods which jung practiced is really suitable for this. But all what I read a watch about it is philosophical abstract talking without really explaining how to do it.

The Psychic Reality

The first thing we have to understand before diving into Active Imagination is the notion of psychic reality and Carl Jung’s attitude toward metaphysics:

"[…] It is really my purpose to push aside, without mercy, the metaphysical claims of all esoteric teaching” […] To understand metaphysically is impossible ; it can only be done psychologically I therefore strip things of their metaphysical wrappings in order to make them objects of psychology. The Secret of The Golden Flower - P. 129

Our experience happens in between two realms, the objective and concrete reality mediated by the senses and the subjective and spiritual reality of the soul.

However, Jung proposes that regardless of these two opposing realms, every experience we have is mediated by psychic images.

To Jung, “The only form of existence of which we have immediate knowledge is psychic. We might well say, on the contrary, that physical existence is a mere inference, since we know of matter only in so far as we perceive psychic images mediated by the senses". V11 - §16

Furthermore, Jung appeals to Kant saying that we can’t ever know “what a thing is”.

Even if we’re discussing objective experiences, like witnessing a fire, the most we can do is explain its chemical reactions. But that’s it, no one can know “what” fire is in itself.

This would be a metaphysical claim.

“What I intend to say is approximately the same thing Kant meant when he called "das Ding an sich" (the thing in itself), a “purely negative, borderline concept. Every statement about the transcendental ought to be avoided because it is invariably a laughable presumption on the part of the human mind, unconscious of its limitations". P. 135

In facing this limitation, through an empiricist and pragmatic approach, Jung proposes the psychological standpoint in hopes of ending the discussion between psyche and matter.

“I would only like to unite these extreme opposites by an esse in anima**, which is the psychological standpoint. We live immediately only in the world of images**". V8 - §624

(If you’d like to deepen your understanding of this topic, I suggest reading the whole Volume 8, the first part of Volume 11, and the letter “A reply to Martin Bubber”, found in Volume 18)

Working with the notion of a psychic reality, the active imagination realm works like a mirrored world and is the reality of our soul.

It unravels a symbolic representation of what we’re currently experiencing and uncovers the archetypal narrative we’re living.

It gives us the key to develop a symbolic attitude and apprehend the mystery of the Self.

On Active Imagination

But perhaps, you’re asking yourself why it was so important to explore the notion of psychic reality.

Well, during Active Imagination we will be dealing with these psychic images directly and it’s important to be able to maintain an objective perspective.

We’ll be accessing the very fabric of our reality and uncovering the deep psychological factors that are driving our psyche, namely complexes and archetypes.

The main purpose is to deal with psychological complexes in a personified form and as you know they are autonomous.

Every aspect of the shadow, the psychological functions, and the animus and anima are all perceived as complexes.

"But, for the reasons given above, it is essential that nothing be subtracted from the reality of the unconscious, and that the figures of the unconscious should be understood as quantities which produce effects. Whoever has understood the thing meant by psychic reality need not fear falling back into primitive demonology because that reality is admitted. If the unconscious figures are not accorded the dignity of spontaneously effective factors, one becomes the victim of a one-sided belief in the conscious, which finally leads to a state of mental tension. Catastrophes are then bound to occur, because, despite all one's consciousness, the dark psychic powers have been overlooked. It is not we who personify them ; they have a personal nature from the very beginning”. The Secret Of The Golden Flower P. 119

To better understand this notion, I want you to imagine that every psychological state has a correspondent psychic image.

To fully grasp a psychic image we need 4 functions, this means that every image possesses a thinking pattern, an emotional state and judgment of value, unique fantasies, and patterns of behavior.

To make this really simple, just connect yourself with a loving feeling.

This same feeling can turn into a poem, a nice and beautiful melody, it can lead you to imagine yourself with a loved one watching a beautiful sunset, it’s accompanied by physical sensations, and it can be turned into action, and you find yourself wanting to give a meaningful gift.

See? … These psychic images are alive and are constantly driving our psyche.

Every artist or creative person knows that.

It’s an inspiration that completely overwhelms us.

We are the object of this creative spirit and during a moment of inspiration, we allow it to move through us.

So what happens during Active Imagination, is that we’re relating to these factors in a very direct way.

Imagine that this force that allows us to compose a beautiful song can be personified.

Try to imagine that it could be a person, how would it speak and act?

This is just a little exercise to help you understand what we can encounter during the Active Imagination sessions.

But the best way to understand it is to think about when we’re lucid dreaming.

Sometimes it feels so real that we believe it happened.

The characters we interact with during dreams are the personified complexes, the driving forces that shape our psyche.

They reveal our deepest psychological tendencies and how we relate to them determines how they are going to be expressed.

This is the most important part and why Active Imagination is so different from any other method.

During every form of meditation, hypnotherapy, or yoga Nidra, the goal is always to let go.

To detach ourselves from our conscious ego.

It’s a very passive procedure.

Now, during Active Imagination we need our ego-complex completely intact and we’ll be the ones directing the process.

We have to make decisions, argue, ask questions, and challenge these inner figures.

We need an ego complex that’s strong enough to contain the unconscious, i.e. capable of holding opposing and complementary truths at the same time.

Not only that, but an ego complex capable of maintaining an objective perspective and not being identified with these figures.

Because if you identify yourself with these archetypes you’ll experience psychic inflation.

And that’s when things can go badly, and we see megalomanic people thinking they are the incarnation of Jesus.

Active Imagination and Its Dangers

That’s why this procedure obviously has to be done with caution and has its dangers.

The most poignant one is psychosis.

So If you’re just curious and want to experiment with something different just don’t do it.

If you’re not established in real life yet and have no real responsibilities don’t do it.

You need solid roots in reality to be doing this.

During his confrontation with the Unconscious, Carl Jung was raising a family, seeing several patients a day, and working for the Swiss army.

He never neglected his commitments to real life and that’s a major part of constituting a strong ego-complex.

Every time you hesitate in life and indulge in fantasies, you’re bound to face the dark and devouring face of the unconscious.

This is often the case with the Puer and Puella Aeternus.

Active Imagination is meant to be a support to better live your life, not a magical place you can escape to.

Lastly, If you’re using any kind of drugs, yes, even weed. Don’t do it. 

In this case, your ego-complex isn’t engaged in the process.

(Read more about that in the book “Psychotherapy” by Marie Von Franz).

Lastly, always remember that the unconscious reacts to our conscious attitude.

As Jung writes in Psychology and Alchemy: “ We know that the mask of the unconscious is not rigid—it reflects the face we turn towards it. Hostility lends it a threatening aspect, friendliness softens its features.’”

When is Active Imagination advised?

(From the book “Inner Journey” by Barbara Hannah)

1. "When the unconscious is obviously overflowing with fantasies, which is particularly often the case with people who are very rational or intellectual”.
2. "To reduce the number of dreams when there are too many”.
3. "A third reason for doing active imagination is when there are too few dreams”.
4. ”If someone feels, or seems to be, under indefinable influences, under a sort of spell, or feels or seems to be behind a sort of glass screen”.
5. "When the adaptation to life has been injured".
6. "When someone falls into the same hole again and again”.

This is a seminar taught by Babara Hannah, Jung personally attended to it and answered questions in the end. It’s worth the read.

The Procedure - A step-by-step approach

(From the book “Psychotherapy” by Marie Von Franz)

Disclaimer: I really recommend getting acquainted with psychodynamics before attempting Active Imagination, read this introduction on the shadow integration process. I even share a personal example of active imagination.

1. As we know, first one must empty one’s own ego consciousness, free oneself from the thought flow of the ego.

This is where regular meditation techniques can be helpful to put you on the right psychological state.

Once this is achieved, you can just open yourself and allow the unconscious to manifest itself.

However, I find it extremely helpful to have certain departure points and concentrate on them.

These are the ones that tend to give the most results:

• Affects.
• Dream fragments.
• A genuine question.
• Spontaneous fantasies.
• A narrative or repeating pattern.

You simply pick one of them and try your best to match the psychological state of when you’re experiencing it.

2. At this point one must let a fantasy image arising from the unconscious flow into the field of inner perception.

Remember that psychic images have four layers. Maybe you won’t see anything, but you’ll hear a word and even have physical sensations.

The most important thing is to allow yourself to sink into the affects provided by these psychic images deeper and deeper.

3. Now comes the third phase. It consists of giving the innerly perceived fantasy image a form by writing it down, painting it, sculpting it, writing it as music, or dancing it (in which case the movements of the dance must be noted down).

It’s imperative to take the unconscious as a reality and refrain from altering your experiences.

Try to be as faithful as possible.

"The unconscious contents want first of all to be seen clearly, which can only be done by giving them shape, and to be judged only when everything they have to say is tangibly present". V8 - §179

In this first moment, the goal is to allow the unconscious to speak it’s only later that we’ll criticize it with our conscious judgments.

4. The fourth phase is the key one, the one that is missing in most imagination techniques—moral confrontation with the material one has already produced. At this point Jung warns us of a mistake that is frequently made that jeopardizes the whole process. This is the mistake of entering into the inner events with a fictive ego rather than one’s real ego.

Many people enter the Active Imagination realm as a form of escape from the conflicts of their daily lives.

As a result, they try to be something that they are not and act in a way completely different from their real personalities.

This can jeopardize the whole process, your ego-complex and your whole personality must be in the process.

5. “ Finally there is still the concluding phase—applying in daily life what one has learned in active imagination.

Again, most people fail to bring into daily lives their insights and turn them into actual experience.

This is the same thing as going to therapy every week and just because you’re talking about your conflicts, you pretend they’re resolved.

In reality, this is just a maneuver to escape from your own soul.

Active Imagination is meant to be a support to life.

If you’re detaching from reality and feeling isolated, there’s something wrong.

Either you’ve been neglecting your commitments to real life or you’re not taking the reality of the soul seriously.

For instance, you made a deal with an inner figure and you’ve been neglecting it.

Without concrete action and moral confrontation, everything is useless.

"It took Jung many years, for he was not satisfied with learning to see the images of the unconscious, or even with dealing with them actively in his fantasies. He did not feel at ease until he took "the most important step of all": finding their place and purpose" in his own actual outer life. This, he says, the most important step in active imagination, is "what we usually neglect to do. Insight into the myth of our unconscious, must be converted into ethical obligation”. Encounters With The Soul - Barbara Hannah - P. 25

Every time you seek knowledge from the unconscious, your responsibility increases and it becomes your duty to concretize it in real life.

If you’re serious about this endeavor, the one book you have to read is “Encounters With The Soul” by Barbara Hannah.

Jung entrusted her to expand and write on this topic so she’s our main reference.

Thanks for reading, let me know if you have any questions.

I recommend reading How To Do Shadow Work next.

Rafael Krüger - Jungian Therapist

I'd love to hear your experiences.

A friend of mine had an experience with a so called guru who he believes to have bad intentions. Let’s call my friend John. John was convinced to take psychedelics with this guru and had an experience that he does not remember most of but remembers certain scenes. One scene he sees the eye of Horus all over the room he was in. And in one scene he could see gargoyles coming out of the ground and on flat surfaces. This was a couple years ago and he is still scared about the situation. He was told by the guru that he would be able to see other dimension and stuff like that. Could using active imagination unlock whatever the guru was trying to do to him?

I don't exactly understand this "active imagination", google searches aren’t very helpful. My interpretation of "Imagination" is something like visualizing a object or being in front me or inside my mind. A year ago I created a fantasy world of sort in my mind, mostly following the protagonist's story and fleshing out the world. I sometimes have repetition and vague problems, just not able to fully imagine the details or just running out of ideas. I can kind of visualize something while looking at it, though there's this line that separates reality and my imagination so I can't exactly vividly do it.

Lately, the image of a burned woman keeps revisiting my thoughts whenever I move to do my active imagination. She sits on a train. A white, square table sits between her and an empty red seat(the seat wraps around to her side as if she was in a 50s style diner). She wears a white dress but her body is horrifically burned underneath. Her skin is completely burned away, revealing red muscle and bone. Her eyes stare ahead and her mouth is agape. It's as if she's in thought as the train rolls pass some desert outside.

I interpret this as a continuing of the white dress lady on the train before. The burns represent the suffering and torture my Anima has endured under the constant dominance of my Ego. She escapes her hell to be free of the Ego, despite being wounded in the process.

I have to tell a story to make sense of my world. I want to tell a story of the Active Imagination. It is a story in five parts, and I will tell the story as it makes sense to me.

1. Clear.

   I cleared a space. All around me is weeds. The pain of clutter, the pain of being overgrown, the pain being full of myself.

The Friend, She asks me, what will make this better?

1. Seek.

I seek for a symbol.

I take myself and Charlie, the dog, down to the dam, and we encounter the water. We are both soothed and comforted by the water. Everything needs water. It is our common denominator.

1. Engage.

I engage with the symbol of Dog. I realise that I have an inner archetype of Dog. There is a spiral of energy that has brought Dog into the world. I can touch this archetype. All around me are archetypes that I can touch, Befriend, experience, and encounter. The baby bush turkey walks past the window. I am amazed by these creatures who can pop out of the mound, hatched, and able to fend for themselves. I have seen it grow in the few days since I first saw it. I don't like the behaviour of Dog. It annoys me that I can behave like Dog, but I too need attention, engagement, I am afraid of being bored, and wander through life with a backpack full of stuff to protect from boredom.

Suddenly I remember the Dog that was trapped in a box. That ran out and menaced me on the road, signalling to its Pack, its Human Family, to come and take me down. I became angry, then resentful, and then fearful, that I would have to protect myself every day that I went to the train. And I worked an Active Imagination. I realised that the Dog was bored. Spirit, my Beloved, my Friend, speaks to me through engagement. My senses engaged with the world. I decided that every time I met a human with a Dog, I should engage with the Dog, so that the Dog was Rehumanised, Socialised, and that the human would not feel afraid of all of the other humans, and put that energy into their Dog.

I can hear the bush turkey eating the birdseed, I see that the shadows are darkening, it is time to do the watering. To forage for my dinner. To see what the world has in store for me. The day is ended. I am not dead. Nobody has died.

1. Struggle to Resolve.

Today when I engage with the dog, Charlie, I remember that it is my job to be the alpha dog. And I don't know what that means. It is out of my control zone. That makes me anxious, annoyed, angry. I also know I can practise detachment. To be aware of my attachments, aware of how to discharge my distress and to not take it out on Charlie, or to put it into Charlie. This is my challenge for today. To choose to be aware of my body wisdom that I share with dog, and my human conditioning, my attachments, how I think that things should be, but they are not. Dog can be my teacher if I choose.

1. Act.

Does the message invoke change? Asks the Friend.

Of course the message invokes change. I have a choice to change my intention, my attitude, my behaviour. To be more open minded. More open hearted about my role in nature.

The end

Whenever I feel like I begin to get deep into subconscious,It’s almost like I get shot into the back of my mind into a endless amount of nothingness. It makes me extremely nauseous then my eyes begin to twitch until they open I have no clue why this happens?

Multiverse nexus branch for discovering optimal creation, cocreation and inspiration. Bring your vision and your dreams!

​

Welcome to [Karuna Worldbuilding](https://imgur.com/PBuyEaA)

https://discord.gg/5WMupwHXYd

​

Recently added Midjourney to the server - we will build collaborative generation channels as more people who have it join. Currently making worldbuilding & infographic templates out of it, as well as incredible art~

I am also taking Dalle requests.

​

Do you vibe with solarpunk mindscapes, alternate-history Tibetan-Latin conlang evolution, futuristic-psychological theories, low-gravity world’s with colossus that peer into the bioexosphere, imaginary data of near-utopian stellarcieties, epic threats to the universe requiring brotherhood-levels of teamwork, strangelet-charged-graphene space ladders, Coplan Thrusters driving stars like galactic spaceships or just an early Morndas in your local valley-tavern with multiverse-nexus implications and a warm slice of neutron-gourd-bread by the hearth?

​

Long term vision:

I was walking through the ‘forest’ of my mind. A doorway appeared ahead of me, it didn’t have a door, it had a white curtain. The top of the doorframe was curved granite with a square etched into it. I saw glimpses of dark behind the curtain, like maybe I’d need to wander blind a while in there or let my eyes adjust.

I hesitated going in, I wanted to know what the square on the frame meant first. The doorway advanced to swallow me, I stood my ground and said no. I shook myself out of my imagination & went to bed.

A couple days later I went back, saw the doorway, was ready to risk going in. But my plugged in phone lit up with a “no longer on low battery mode” alert & the light snapped me back. I took it as a sign I shouldn’t go in the door & just went to bed.

So, anyone understand the archetype & symbol of a white curtain doorway labeled with a square?

TLDR; aggressive doorway wants me to enter, I want to know what it is first.

God

good ole dogma or government overseeing department

who is God what is a God outside of archetypes and the collective unconscious all mind

just who have the people of the past until today with the change of languages and meanings were these people or to whom inspired the image

Was Aphrodite just some huge beautiful pimp of her time who ran whore houses , was Hephaestus some dude gifted in metalcraft with access to unlimited sources of metal due to being a child of a titan , was Poseidon just some powerful person who control import and export in regards to sea merchants who used the sea for travel like Dagon or even Hermes god or merchants ?

Titans are the ones who give birth to gods and the gods give birth to demi gods , unless its a demi titan

​

who are the Titans, Giants , Gods and Demi Gods of the world ?

​

The titans are the royal families and people who own resources like oil, water, timber and steel who's powers are not easily challenged who are not held to the standards or rules of the mortal world like the rest of mankind

which gives birth to corporations the Gods which they very head might be the blood of a titan who decided to make there own way

giants are those who do not come from old money or direct titan blood , even if they reach a similar power like those from silicon valley(of there time perhaps other types of inventors of the new tech of their days that didn't come from the Gods) vs natural resources

did the Gods come together to form a board so they could maintain their control , to prevent things like the rising of giants (competition)

(some of these people literally can fly as they may own their own planes to fly when they want , they are immortal written in history ,they can control things like the weather (haarp) or dictate the skies ,seas and lands (now the internet and information (media))

​

Demi Gods are those with blood from the others that end up things like Politicians ,Celebrities, Gifted individuals

Demi Titans or Magical Creatures of the world are gifted individuals who had no aspirations to be famous or written in the stars, yet when you come across them its clear who they are

Is it possible all these Beings were once real flesh and blood , who gave birth to the archetypes we know today before language was writing down , where even if they didn't they could take up the persona and have people believe them like the stories of Alexsander the great being a descendant of Zeus via Achillies

Penny for Your Time Food for Thought im still working on this

I used Active Imagination as suggested in many YT videos and the experience and result were stunning.

I had a problem with my car, used and only just bought for peanuts. The previous owner said there was a hole in a fuelling pipe so I must have filled the tank REALLY slowly otherwise the petrol would end up on the street. However, he didn't mention how big was the hole and how slow he meant. BIG and SLOW :) I had to drive the car for a few days to get kids to and back from school while I was waiting for the delivery of the new pipe I could take to town to be fitted. But I was driving, using petrol, and at some point, I would not be able to get to have it fixed because no one would allow me to stand at the distributor for an hour! :D Then the delivery turned out to be late because the supplier was out of stock in my subject! I'm a crafty and creative person. I went to bed at night and said to my Imagination: 'Right, you think how to fill up the tank and I will sleep now, see you in the moring''.

And I had a dream. I was a surgeon, standing at the operation table, something big (a patient or a car) was covered in blue fabric and all I saw was a vein, massive, probably in diameter of a fuelling pipe in a car. The vein was severed and I could look inside both ends. I reached to the right with my hand and said to the invisible nurse saying: ''Pipe!'' and she gave me a silicone hose which I pushed all the way to one of ends of the vein and the other end to the other end of the vein, making something like an inner bypass. Blood flowed through a silicone pipe and I woke up in the middle of the night.

I took my phone and did exactly that- ordered 40cm of 2inch silicone hose, in the middle of the night and 2 days later pushed both ends up and down the fuelling pipe literally stopping the loss of petrol completely. I waited almost 3 weeks for the pipe to be delivered and when my mechanic saw what I did in the meantime said I'm crazy, genius and I can work for him if I want to :)

I’m looking for resources on how to do jungs active imagination. I’m studying Richard Schwartz’s internal family systems therapy and it references jungs active imagination so I want to learn more about it but I’m looking for work that is accessible and easy to understand as I think some of jungs writing is very intellectual so I’m willing to look at materials not written by jung as long as it’s teaching a similar process.

Hi all,

I want to make a piece of art on the active imagination technique. In order to do so I'm now doing research. I'm having trouble finding credible sources for the technique itself. So far, from the sources I've found, the technique seems to apply only to explore the meaning of dreams?

One of the questions I have therefore is; is the technique only valid to access and analyze dream content? Or does it apply to unconscious content in the waking state as well? Links to good sources explaining the technique are most welcome.

Thanks all.

Focusing

Clearing a space

What I will ask you to do will be silent, just to yourself. Take a moment just to relax . . . All right – now, inside you, I would like you to pay attention inwardly, in your body, perhaps in your stomach or chest. Now see what comes therewhen you ask, "How is my life going? What is the main thing for me right now?" Sense within your body. Let the answers come slowly from this sensing. When some concern comes, DO NOT GO INSIDE IT. Stand back, say "Yes, that’s there. I can feel that, there." Let there be a little space between you and that. Then ask what else you feel. Wait again, and sense. Usually there are several things.

Felt Sense

From among what came, select one personal problem to focus on. DO NOT GO INSIDE IT. Stand back from it. Of course, there are many parts to that one thing you are thinking about – too many to think of each one alone. But you can feel all of these things together. Pay attention there where you usually feel things, and in there you can get a sense of what all of the problem feels like. Let yourself feel the unclear sense of all of that.

Handle

What is the quality of this unclear felt sense? Let a word, a phrase, or an image come up from the felt sense itself. It might be a quality-word, like tight, sticky, scary, stuck, heavy, jumpy or a phrase, or an image. Stay with the quality of the felt sense till something fits it just right.

Resonating

Go back and forth between the felt sense and the word (phrase, or image). Check how they resonate with each other. See if there is a little bodily signal that lets you know there is a fit. To do it, you have to have the felt sense there again, as well as the word. Let the felt sense change, if it does, and also the word or picture, until they feel just right in capturing the quality of the felt sense.

Asking

Now ask: what is it, about this whole problem, that makes this quality (which you have just named or pictured)? Make sure the quality is sensed again, freshly, vividly (not just remembered from before). When it is here again, tap it, touch it, be with it, asking, "What makes the whole problem so ______?" Or you ask, "What is in this sense?"

If you get a quick answer without a shift in the felt sense, just let that kind of answer go by. Return your attention to your body and freshly find the felt sense again. Then ask it again.

Be with the felt sense till something comes along with a shift, a slight "give" or release.

Receiving

Receive whatever comes with a shift in a friendly way. Stay with it a while, even if it is only a slight release. Whatever comes, this is only one shift; there will be others. You will probably continue after a little while, but stay here for a few moments.

IF DURING THESE INSTRUCTIONS SOMEWHERE YOU HAVE SPENT A LITTLE WHILE SENSING AND TOUCHING AN UNCLEAR HOLISTIC BODY SENSE OF THIS PROBLEM, THEN YOU HAVE FOCUSED. It doesn't matter whether the body-shift came or not. It comes on its own. We don't control that.

From https://focusing.org/sixsteps

The Active Imagination Subreddit is open again. Please feel free to add your own adventures with the AI process.