#Active Imagination | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fl0psygir1 · 3 months ago

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Active Imagination: Unlocking the answers from within yourself

Everything I have posted so far is as reminders for myself, but this one is for you, because it truly was a game changer for me. I haven’t heard of anyone talking about it yet, but I feel like if more people understood how to harness it, not only would you become enlightened on so many levels, but you would literally become a MASTER MANIFESTOR. I don’t gain much of a following on here so if you see this it might just be for you! Forewarning - this is a long ass read

I feel like we are told that the answers are within ourselves, but how do we access the truth? Fortune cards and other people’s guidance can only do so much, but who knows you better than anyone else on this planet? Who knows how your mind truly works, what you’ve been through, and what works best for you? YOU.

As someone with ADHD, if you put a gun up to my head and told me to meditate, I’d probably just tell you to pull the trigger bc I swear that shit is sooooo hard. But I guess active imagination is like a form of meditation, so let me get into that:

For starters, 2 books that are a MUST READ

1. The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle - I’m sure you’ve heard of it you’re a part of any manifesting community. Discusses the power of the present moment, and how to gain true consciousness and simply be.

2. Ecstasy: Understanding the Psychology of Joy by Robert A. Johnson - I swear nobody talks about this book but it quite literally changed my perspective on everything. It uses Dionysus, the Greek god of ecstasy and wine as an archetype, discussing the feeling of ecstasy, and how to obtain it, mentioning Active Imagination.

Eckhart Tolle emphasises being completely focused on the present moment. Every time you look back to the past, or imagine the future, you are borrowing time from the now to do so, therefore everything that ever was, and ever will be, is in the now. He also emphasises that YOU ARE NOT YOUR MIND. He asks you to look at your emotions and thoughts from this third person view ig, and recognise that they are not you. It’s hard to explain, so you’re gonna have to read it yourself. Why do I mention this? Because harnessing this gets you into a state of PURE CONSCIOUSNESS. The number of people I see complaining they can’t get into the void, as if it’s some unattainable location and literally not just a state of pure consciousness from within you is absolutely abysmal, but I digress. Pure consciousness is where your conscious and subconscious mind become one. To understand active imagination to its full extent, you have to understand pure conciousness!

Now, what the fuck is active imagination?

“Active Imagination, a technique developed by Carl Jung some decades ago, is a wonderful way to enter into the mythic reality while maintaining ordinary reality. In active imagination you can enter into a conversation with different parts of yourself that live in your unconscious….” “The imagination is neither conscious nor unconscious, but rather what lies between the two. Here, on the meeting ground of imagination, the ego and the archetype can speak as equals, each learning from the other.” - Ecstasy

The archetype he demonstrates with is Dionysus (obviously). In this state, you can talk to any deity or dogma you want, but if you’re like me, who doesn’t necessarily believe in all that (no shade, just personal belief - btw Eckhart Tolle emphasises that no matter what religion you follow, they all ultimately prove that the light is within oneself), my archetype is my highest self. She looks like the version of me I want, dream body and all, and I feel she lies within my subconscious, and my yet-to-be accessed potential. When I create a dialogue with her, she comforts me, she talks to me, and she tells me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear, all so I can be the best version of myself I want to be. Considering she is me, she’s sort of like my own personal perfectly curated therapist, because she always helps me understand the way I think, why, and what I’m supposed to learn.

When I started, I decided to journal it, so before I go into how to enter this state, I will give you personal examples of how the dialogue with you and your archetype may go (forewarning - it’s a lot of rambling but it’s relevant and makes sense to me, since active imagination is subjective):

My first time - “As i close my eyes i see a blue energy, and i find myself in the clouds, and a cloud next to me i see my highest self sitting on a cloud, watching below. I go over to her and say hi, she says hi back, i asked her how she is and she says she’s fine, and she asks me how I am, and i say i’m curious. She asks about what, i respond with anything and everything i guess, and she wants to show me something, she holds my hand and takes me to this wheat field. We walk through it, she tells me to follow along and i ask her about manifesting. she refers to me as child, i ask her why she would refer to me as that considering we are one, and she explains that it wasn’t supposed to be in a demeaning way, but that im curious and confused like one so it suits. I ask her if she is all-knowing, and she explains not necessarily, but she knows what the universe wants her to know for now. As we are walking through the fields i see these tall cute purple flowers. On the other side of the field there’s a small forest, just lots of trees, nothing significant, i ask her where we are going and she asks me to be patient and that it’s my ego talking or something, we are just going for a walk. We land at a sunny empty beach, she says we should just stroll and chat, so we do. I see dolphins in the sea, splashing around and she admires the beauty of them, while in my head all i think about is how dolphins are kind of weird, and i ask if there’s some symbolism behind this, what the meaning of them being here is. She tells me that there’s not any meaning behind them really, and i shouldn’t always look into everything so personally, i should just let things be. Like im on my path and everything that happens to me is for a reason, and the same goes for the dolphins so to just let them be. I tell her about my fears with manifestation, how part of me is always, even if it’s a little, afraid that it’s not coming true. She told me it’s natural, but what i didn’t notice about when i was in my “prime” to my current state is how before i was simply open to receiving, not having this need for control. How curiosity is something i should have, but not to be in control, but just simply know, yk? it’s a creative way of thinking, and that creativity and curiosity essentially go hand-in-hand, and that’s what makes me happy. I asked her how should i be creative and she said to draw. She could tell i liked those flowers and she knows i love the beach, so maybe draw something like that. If i want to be curious and creative, try that out instead of stencilling something. It keeps things fresh ig? She then summarised everything as we sit on the beach, bc she knows how i forget, by saying that the key to my manifestation is being open-minded, being curious and creative, but not to be in control, but just to simply enjoy and be happy. Be happy about knowing things, be patient, and be open-minded. she takes me back up to the clouds, I say thank you, she says of course and that i’m welcome to join her again any time.”

My 3rd time - “I’m at a pond looking at the mushrooms and witchety grubs, its mystical forest vibes, very fairy. This time was a lot more causal than the others, I asked her if constantly coming back to her all the time for answers was excessive, and she was like not necessarily, like why wait to find the answers when they’re right inside of you? she speaks facts haha, i told her that this was a cute new location, and she was like ikr. I asked to rest my head in her lap and she allowed me, it was nice comforting myself yk? I ask her what is holding me back from my desires, and tells me i have all the answers in front of me i’m just asking the wrong questions, like “why am i not receiving?” instead of “why am i not allowing myself to receive?”. She reminded me that it had been less than 36hrs of me actively manifesting, and i’m there wondering why results aren’t coming easily. I haven’t given myself time to receive them, and im essentially forcing myself into this lack mindset. Like i keep feeling worried im going to return back to square one, but the issue is i’m playing the wrong game, i’m playing baseball instead of tennis. Baseball is exaggerated and all about control and shit when i should be playing tennis, and it’s me serving what i want to the universe and the universe serving it back. Like if i show the universe my self love then the universe will put me in more places and situations and give me more opportunities to love myself even more. Give it time and effort and allow my manifestations to reach me. She also told me about how i allow other to put me into this box i guess, or i determine my life and myself based on their expectations of me. Back when i really was in a manifesting mindset i kind of stuck to myself and anyone i wanted or i felt would encourage what i want, avoiding the people who didn’t make me feel like my dreams were achievable. Like these people weren’t necessarily actively telling me I couldn’t get the life I want, but i made it feel like they were. It was mostly an illusion, just like how comparison is, where comparison impacts the value of my life while the expectations i feel being held against me determine me. I’m not those expectations so stop allowing myself to be put in this box. Don’t allow the external to determine the value of my life and who i am.”

Now in these entries, although they aren’t grammatically correct in the slightest, you can see I have direct dialogue with my subconscious, although I recognise we are one. She is explaining to me how my mind works, truthfully, and what I can learn from it to become a better version of myself. It is quite literally my subconscious feeding what I need to know into my conscious mind.

Now you know what Active Imagination is, where do you begin?

“Active Imagination does not consist of ‘making things up’. You simply allow information that you already possess, but of which you have no conscious awareness, to come to the surface.” - Ecstasy

With pure consciousness and harnessing the power of the now, you do not plan these interactions. Before you enter, you’re not thinking of where you want to meet your archetype, all you need to do is focus on what you are seeing in your mind in that current moment.

Ecstasy states “Active Imagination has some similarity to dreaming, in that you don’t censor the flow of images; but during active imagination you are fully awake. Also, as the name implies, it is not passive fantasy. You do not watch an inner drama as you would watch a movie; rather, you become an actor in the drama. Your conscious ego actively engages in conversation with the symbolic images thrown up by your imagination.”

To enter Active Imagination, you will need to be in a quiet, private place. It’s also recommended to document what happens, like how I did, because you can easily forget.

Now back to The Power of Now. I mention this because when you enter this state, you need to “empty your ego mind of expectation, and let the images flow”. To do that, you must be focused on the present moment, in that state of pure consciousness. You need to separate yourself from your mind, your emotions, your thoughts, so your conscious can truly pick up what the subconscious is trying to put down.

As Ecstasy states, “You should not find yourself putting words in their mouths or directing the flow of the conversation.”

“If you relax and keep an open mind, the images of your Active Imagination will communicate effortlessly.” - with this, if you’re confused by something, don’t be scared to ask for clarification! In my first entry, I see the dolphins, and I ask my higher self what they mean, and she explains (their lack of symbolism to me, and to just let things that aren’t in my control just be).

Final thoughts:

Having open and open flow of communication to your subconscious is like having your own personalised ChatGPT! Don’t be scared of it, it is your safe space. I have gone there to interpret dreams, when I’m bored, to manifest, to learn, and if it has taught me anything, it is that I will always be there for myself. It has truly taught me self love and spiritual enlightenment to their fullest extents. Active Imagination is such an easy tool, and is so so so powerful!!

If you have made it this far and you decide to try it out, let me know how it goes! Even if nobody does make it this far or bothers trying it out, I’m now given comfort in knowing I’m using my knowledge for good. 💗

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