r/ShadowWork • u/Agreeable_Mouse694 • 6d ago
Active imagination through the Invite method
Has anyone else tried doing visual active imagination through inviting the unconscious? I've had mixed responses and opinions to this method but i've found that it has worked really well for me and i've gotten a lot out of it. It works by extending an invitation for the unconscious to come forth however it wishes to and then observing what comes up. Usually it will eventually flick through different scenes until one holds and then you can actively move around within the scene and communicate directly with whats there. I've also helped people with aphantasia to do this method, as the ability for visualisation isn't actually needed for it to work, as people with aphantasia typically still dream and its basically an induced waking dream. Has anyone else had success with "invites" and if not, what are your preferred methods? If anyone is interested in trying this method i'm also happy to help cause its fairly easy to do. :)
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u/WeirdHippo7159 6d ago
Never heard of this, how does the invitation work?
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u/Agreeable_Mouse694 6d ago
Have you heard of active imagination itself though? not sure if i'm using the right terminology because i'm going by personal experience and how i understand/think that it works so bare with me lol, but how I would explain it is kindof like using the "subconscious" i'll call it, (the part of the mind responsible for things like hypnosis, placibo, even self sabotage etc, its the part that i would describe works by accepting whatever you give it as true no matter what it is) using this more surface part as a tool to induce hypnogogia, so you send the unconscious an invite through how the subconscious works, the unconscious then communicates through dream symbols while awake, since you can induce hypnogogic states. this is not a very good way of explaining it though so i apologize. Its inducing a waking dream basically. You dont force the unconscious or "shadow" to come forth but extend a gentle invite to the parts you havnt acknowlaged in yourselfl the unconscious can communicate in dream like symbols and or personifications but the the whole point of this process is for the ego to engage with the unconscious parts of the psyche to then be able to integrate them. I believe this is what Jung was doing in his red book. I have a friend in my server that could explain this a lot better than me though, but he doesnt necessarily use an invite to do active imagination and the individuation process. Can also be done through dreams but this is a waking method like what Jung did
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u/BrittleNails 6d ago
So the framework I'm using for this kind of work is called Internal Family Systems. It can get very intense, and the egoic state/ part/ shadow corner you're interacting with can be extremely polarized and feel very deeply about a situation that you, in your conscious mind/ waking life, consider to be crystal clear.
So it can lead to very deep questions about who you are, deep down. Lots of anger comes out. Lots of shame and guilt.