Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?

- Lao-tsu

Jung understood that wholeness results from establishing a working relationship between the conscious and the unconscious levels of the psyche. The psyche, he believed, is purposive. If the material arising from unconscious levels is carefully attended to, it can move us toward greater balance, health, and creativity. "The crux of the Jungian attitude," Karen Signell writes in her discussion of active imagination, "is to respect the unconscious and the guidance of one's center-the source of one's deepest intuitions, feelings, and values" (1990, pg. 22). The ego does not abdicate its role in this process. It is needed to maintain a coherent sense of self that is not overcome by an uncontrolled upwelling of unconscious contents. It exercises a selective function, choosing what to attend to, and deciding when and and in what way to act. Thus the conscious and unconscious levels of the psyche enter an ongoing dynamic relationship with each other in which both are essential. Active imagination is a wonderfully creative way of enabling and deepening this inner dialog.

In his own process of confronting unconscious material, Jung drew upon a variety of approaches, including dialog with inner figures, painting (especially of mandalas), and the construction of a model village (Jung, 1963). Out of this experience came the analytic technique of active imagination, a method for developing a relationship with different aspects of the unconscious. Jungians have expanded the media of active imagination to include a variety of verbal and nonverbal expressions, such as work with clay, poetry, automatic writing, visions, music, dance and movement (Chodorow, 1991), ritual (Johnson, 1986), and sandplay (Kalff, 1980; Weinrib, 1983). Some analysts see aspects of the therapeutic relationship as an ongoing form of active imagination. Davidson (1966) describes the transference as an imaginary dialog between the individual (the ego) and a figure who appears to be the analyst but who comes primarily from the inner world (the unconscious). Sometimes this dialog takes place within the individual; at other times it is a shared process of active imagination.

Jung found active imagination particularly useful as a way of working with dream or fantasy figures. Robert Hopcke writes: "With active imagination, Jung intended the individual to take a receptive but active role in encountering and confronting various unconscious archetypal elements within his or her psyche (1989, pg. 56). Active imagination is neither dreaming nor guided fantasy. Hopcke continues: "[It] is intended to straddle the border between passive, receptive awareness of inner unconscious material and active, elective responding to this material in whatever form."

Active imagination differs sharply from daydreaming, in which the conscious mind simply watches the show without participation or reflection. Rix Weaver notes that idle fantasy "can actually lead an individual away from reality, for such fantasies can be more fascinating and less demanding than the outer world" (1973, pg. 3). In contrast, the process of active imagination is a demanding one requiring "the full cooperation of the participating ego" (ibid, pg. 3), even when the ego does not understand. Robert Johnson also emphasizes the active involvement of the ego: "[In active imagination] the 'I' is always there . . . It is not active unless you are participating in the drama with your feelings and emotions . . . The 'I' must enter into the imaginative act as intensely as it would if it were an external, physical experience" (1986, pg. 141). Joan Chodorow notes that "you open to the unconscious and give free rein to fantasy; at the same time you maintain an alert, attentive, active point of view" (1991). In a vivid thumbnail description, June Singer calls active imagination "dreaming the dream onward" (1972, p. 272).

Chodorow, J. (1991). Dance therapy and depth psychology. London: Routledge.

Davidson, D. (1966). Transference as a form of active imagination. In M. Fordham et al., eds., Technique in Jungian analysis. London: Heinemann, 1974.

Hopcke, R. H. (1989). A guided tour of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung. Boston: Shambhala.

Hall, J. A. (1983). Jungian dream interpretation: A handbook of theory and practice. Toronto: Inner City.

Johnson, R. (1986). Inner work: Using dreams and active imagination for personal growth. San Francisco: Harper.

Jung, C. G. (1963). Memories, dreams, reflections, trans. R. and C. Winston, ed. A. Jaffé. New York: Pantheon.

Kalff, D. (1980). Sandplay: A psychotherapeutic approach to the psyche. Santa Monica: Sigo.

Kast, V. (1993). Imagination as space of freedom: Dialogue between the ego and the unconscious. New York: Fromm.

Signell, K. A. (1990) Wisdom of the heart: Working with women's dreams. New York: Bantam.

Singer, J. (1994). Boundaries of the soul. New York: Anchor Doubleday.

Weaver, R. (1973). The Old Wise Woman: A study of active imagination. Boston: Shambhala.

Weinrib, E. (1983). Images of the Self: The sandplay therapy process. Boston: Sigo.