Sometimes, One Has to Create a Memory Through Acts of Imagination: In Conversation with C. A. Davids

In this essay, I want to pivot the topic of C. G. Jung and “reading” into a bold argument about the evolution of academic disciplines (and later about evolution itself ). Relatively recent forms of academic study, such as psychology, were constructed by dividing a heritage along lines of “respectable” proto-scientific ideas versus esoteric practices better forgotten and darkened. After all, how we read Jung and why concerns not just reading The Collected Works of C. G. Jung, but also how such work might affect reading texts of all kinds. The act of reading might be defined as interpreting words and other signifying material such as dream images. This definition opens up large spheres of knowledge: hermeneutics; the study of imaginative literature; and, in pre-Enlightenment eras, reading arts such as alchemy and magic. My core proposition is that Jung proposed a method of working with unconscious images – “active imagination”, he called it – that was simultaneously an act of liberation and repression. Comparing active imagination with its historical parallel from the discipline of vernacular literary studies, “close reading” makes visible its structure of reduction and expansion. As offered by Jung, active imagination represses its nature as an art, while proposing an expansion of reading sorely needed by literary studies. In turn, an examination of close reading and its antecedents reveals a structurally similar and opposite repression, that of the creative psyche, while expanding the role of reading as an art of making. In this way, Jung’s psychology and literary studies may re-form each other to show both active imagination and close reading as acts of magic for the twenty-first century. We begin by recognizing that positing an unconscious subverts conventional assumptions about reading. Words and images are not unproblematically paired with “meaning” if a part of the psyche resists conscious control. Therefore, Jung devised active imagination to “read” images generated primarily by the unconscious as symbols. Suggestively, active imagination arises contemporaneously with another development of reading from another recently founded academic discipline. Because literature was traditionally a staple of universities, albeit in Latin and Greek, the newness of literary studies or “English” as a degree in higher education has often been overlooked. However, literary studies, a degree subject invented in the late1890s, differs radically from the classics in constructing vernacular literature as a basis for knowledge. My essay argues that Jung’s method of subjecting unconsciously generated symbols to the process of active imagination has a deep historical relationship with literary studies and its originating research method, known today as close reading. By examining the roots of close reading and active imagination in hermeneutics, Renaissance philosophy, and magic, I explore how Jung re-oriented the reading of symbols in the service of cultural transformation. Furthermore, I show that this cross-disciplinary comparison allows active imagination to be reimagined as a skill to be practised. In effect, I am suggesting that active imagination be regarded as magic, for it becomes an imaginative reweaving into the body of the earth.

Jung stated that active imagination is a fundamental component of the second phase of an analysis that can continue even outside the analytic setting. Since it can be conveyed through various expressive techniques, such as writing, drawing, and painting, it is possible to argue that all forms of psychotherapy based on art (e.g., poetry, dance, and theater) originate from Jung's contribution about active imagination. This paper focuses on Sandplay Therapy as one of the forms of expression rooted in active imagination. Apart from some critical differences between the two analytic processes (e.g., active imagination is usually prompted in the last phase of the analysis, while Sandplay Therapy might be used since the first sessions), there are several convergences. Among the principal analogies, consciousness lends its expressive means to the unconscious, which decides what to depict. Also, the resulting image is determined from both the consciousness and the unconscious and is related to the person's conscious situation. Finally, I suggest that Sandplay Therapy-aside from contributing to the subsequent development of active imagination itself (as suggested by Dr. Carducci)-might also be used to practice active imagination in a "facilitated" and protected setting. It would help let the unconscious come up while creating the image in the sandtray, and it fosters the confrontation between the unconscious and the consciousness through the contemplation of the image in the sandtray.

This study explored basic steps of active imagination and looked at related topics such as free association, imagination, signs and symbols in order to reveal the characteristics of Jung’s active imagination. According to the results of the exploration, active imagination is not a reductive way to understand the mental images that emerge from the unconscious. In active imagination a patient should go beyond a superficial understanding of her image and experience the transcendent power contained in that image. The key to active imagination is restraining the conscious waking mind from exerting influence on internal images as they unfold. There must be an effort to resonate the archetypal atmosphere in the unconscious. There must be an effort to challenge herself by conveying a message of humanity overflowing with images that goes beyond just trying to fulfill repressed impulses and memories hidden behind images. Active imagination intentionally seeks to relate to the contents of the unconscious. Its starting point is an image in the mind. Starting from the beginning to the unconscious power of the abyss, active imagination requires uncritical consciousness, amplification, constructive interpretation, and contact with the transcendent function inherent in the symbol.

Jung stated that active imagination is a fundamental component of the second phase of an analysis that can continue even outside the analytic setting. Jung began to practice active imagination in 1913, and the method was established among Jung’s students (sometimes with skepticism) in 1927. However, it became less frequently used in later years. Since active imagination represents a core method of Jung’s analytical psychology and might be practiced through different forms (e.g., poetry, dance, sandplay therapy), this paper aims to provide a clear and thorough presentation of active imagination. First, it introduces the core points of Jungian theory. Then, it describes active imagination, its features, and different forms of expression. Finally, it presents the historical roots of active imagination. In conclusion, this paper has the merit to favor the re-discovering (and use) of Jung’s method not only among Jungian analysts but – thanks to its clear and comprehensive presentation, including its different forms of expression – among other psychodynamic and art-based psychotherapies to favor the confrontation between the consciousness and the unconscious.

At some point, successful interpreters step inside the make-believe world of the text before them, whether in film, novel or game format. No matter how we configure the question of narrative, the gamer, or the viewer or the reader ‘engages in an act of imagination’ (Ryan, 2007, p. 13), and my study explores similarities and differences in how this act of imagination is performed with different media. I suggest that exploring overlaps and contradictions in the invoking of make-believe in fictions presented in different media can enhance our understanding of all these media, and of the act of make-believe itself.

Contemporary psychoanalysis needs less reality and more fantasy; what Michael Vannoy Adams calls the 'fantasy principle'. The Fantasy Principle radically affirms the centrality of imagination. It challenges us to exercise and explore the imagination, shows us how to value vitally important images that emerge from the unconscious, how to evoke such images, and how to engage them decisively. It shows us how to apply Jungian techniques to interpret images accurately and to experience images immediately and intimately through what Jung calls 'active imagination'. The Fantasy Principle makes a strong case for a new school of psychoanalysis - the school of 'imaginal psychology' - which emphasizes the transformative impact of images. All those who desire to give individuals an opportunity to become more imaginative will find this book fascinating reading.

The term active imagination is sometimes applied rather uncritically to describe all forms of creative activity that take place in depth psychology. Whilst there are many forms of expression that evoke or are evoked by active imagination, they cannot automatically be classed as active imagination. In this article investigation of visualized mental imagery, dreams and art reveals three distinct forms of image-based psychological activity. Integrated and mediated within the transference and countertransference dynamic, it is proposed that the engagement in active imagination reflects and is influenced by the transference. Distinctions between sign and symbol, simple and big dreams as well as diagrammatic and embodied imagery clarify the differences. Examples from clinical practice demonstrate each mode in action within the analytic frame.

This study considers aspects of personality development present in the autobiographical visual narratives of childhood created by Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean in the graphic works Violent Cases (1987) and The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr. Punch (1994). In particular, Carl Jung's theories of individuation are implemented to investigate the use of light and shadow in the presentation of childhood memory and adult narrative perspective. Archetypical expressions, such as the shadow and the trickster form the basis of dialogue between the conscious ego and the unconscious psyche in the works. This dialogue results in transcendent symbols of interrelationship between the ego and the psyche. Exploration of the graphic narratives illustrate the ways in which early childhood forms an identification with the shadow, while later childhood and adulthood assimilate the personal shadow and reject the shadow's collective aspects in order to regulate society. The sequential narratives present Jungian 'active imagination' in motion through the adult contributions of narrator and artist, illustrating development towards balanced selfhood. An investigation of the 'dark reflections' present within these works results in a deeper understanding of imagery associated with individuation and affirms the process of visual narrative as a mode for psychological exploration. The place of psychological autobiographical graphic narratives within the wider genre of autobiographical graphic narratives is also discussed, highlighting a need for further consideration of genre classification.

Our traditional Western worldview is often unconsciously based on a polarized, dichotomous perspective. However, many of Jung's ideas hint at a deep interrelation between opposites, such as inside and outside, which are, as the principle of synchronicity shows, rooted in a conceptualization of psyche and matter conceived as intertwined. Another pair of philosophical concepts, traditionally considered as opposites, needs further investigation: that between imagination and reality. If we are lucky in our daily practice as analysts, we can use imagination as a powerful tool to help people discover themselves as individuals and to get in deeper, more lively and responsible touch with reality. This paper explores the difference that Jung outlined between 'active imagination' and 'passive fantasies', and the transformative power of taking an active part in what imaginatively happens - he called it 'active participation' - rather than being passively overwhelmed by invasive fantasies. It is argued that it makes a great difference whether we become the actors and not just the spectators of our lives, and this is linked with the core of the individuation process in which, if individuals discover their particular place and meaning in the universe, they can live an 'active life', playing a heartfelt and responsible role in the collective world to which they belong. These ideas are at the heart of Jung's work, and they represent one of the roots of Jungian social activism.

The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche first appeared in the Collected Works in 1960. In this new edition bibliographical citations and entries have been revised in the light of subsequent publications in the Collected Works, and essential corrections have been made. The book traces an important line of development in Jung's thought from 1912 onwards. The earliest of the papers elaborates Freud's concept of sexual libido into that of psychic energy. In those that follow we see how, Jung, discarding one by one the traditional 'philosophical' hypotheses, gradually arrived at a concept which is even more controversial than psychic energy was in its day ^DDL namely, psychic reality. The book contains the first mention of the archetype in Jung's writings as well as his later views on its nature. There is also a valuable account of the therapeutic uses of 'active imagination' first described in an essay written in 1916.

Active imagination is at the heart of Jung's elucidation of depth psychology. Yet, in the discourse of present day analytical psychology theory it is not always given the serious attention accorded to some other Jungian concepts. Active imagination emerges spontaneously within the 'third' area--the imaginal or dynamic field--in-between patient and analyst. It is commonly regarded as the patient's experience but I am proposing that, looked upon as the analyst's experience as well, active imagination offers a distinctly Jungian way of understanding some forms of countertransference. I am describing what I think many present-day analytical psychologists already do in their clinical practice but, as far as I know, it has not been theorized in quite this way before. The intention is to exploit the unique contribution of our Jungian heritage by reframing certain profoundly symbolic countertransference-generated imagery as active imagination. In this article these are differentiated from other less complex forms of imaginative countertransference through examples from clinical practice. The point is that such countertransference experiences may activate the symbolic function in the analyst and thus contribute to the mediation of emergent consciousness in the analysand.

The term Active Imagination is sometimes applied rather uncritically to describe all forms of creative activity that take place in depth psychology. Whilst art in psychotherapy may evoke or be evoked by active imagination, it cannot automatically be classed as active imagination. In this article, investigation of the distinction between visualised mental imagery and art reveals two distinct forms of image-based psychological activity. Integrated and mediated within the transference and countertransference dynamic, it is proposed that the engagement in active imagination reflects and is influenced by the transference. Distinctions between sign and symbol, as well as diagrammatic and embodied imagery clarify the differences. Examples from clinical practice demonstrate each mode in action.

This book presents the serial killer as having 'imagopathy' - that is, a disorder of the imagination - manifested through such deficiencies as failure of empathy, rigid fantasies, and unresolved projections. The author argues that this disorder is a form of failed alchemy. His study challenges long-held assumptions that the Jungian concept of individuation is a purely healthful drive. Serial killers are unable to form insight after projecting untenable material onto their victims. Criminal profilers must therefore effect that insight informed by their own reactions to violent crime scene imagery, using what the author asserts is a form of Jung's 'active imagination'. This book posits sexual homicides as irrational shadow images in our rationalistic modern culture. Consequently, profilers bridge conscious and unconscious for the inexorably splintered killer as well as the culture at large.

ABSTRACTGertrud Kraus was an interdisciplinary artist. She created in various media, such as dance, music, and the visual arts, and thought of art and dance in interactive terms, based on her imaginative acts and on poetically experiencing an active correspondence between the senses. Dance thereby became a special poetic space in which she blended art forms, and the kinesthetic and the visual dwelled intimately together. In this essay I consider key properties of Kraus's dance and visual works in order to explore her interdisciplinary creativity as a distinguishing element of her artistic persona, incorporating what Gaston Bachelard has termed the poetized I. Drawing on this notion, I unfold Kraus's creative process and discuss how she turned reverie and its poeticizing power into a creative method of experimenting and exploring unfamiliar possibilities and new potentialities. Poetic reverie and imaginative acts became an artistic requisite for Kraus, and the source and inspiration for her staging of dance works. As an experimental space, reverie allowed Kraus to delve into the interactivity and interchangeability among the arts and thereby to foster her interdisciplinary approach.

Until The Red Book: Liber Novus was published in 2009, we knew of C. G. Jung's personal adventure with the psyche and its influences on his life, as he described them in his chapter “Confrontation with the Unconscious” in Memories, Dreams, Reflections. He called it the “prima materia for a lifetime's work” (1963, pp. 170–199). But without The Red Book, it would have been impossible to imagine how deep and torturous Jung's descent into the world of his inner images really was. The full extent of his interactions with the figures that manifested on this journey he would later call “active imagination.” My initial reading of The Red Book elicited feelings of awed respect for the density, complexity, and daring of the text and paintings. Closer exploration was followed by a sense of new freedom related to my own experiences with active imagination. It was especially Jung's admonitions and warnings to experience one's own inner world as unique and incomparable to any other that gave new breadth and meaning to my personal experiences with active imagination. This feeling of expansion became the inspiration for this article, in which I describe my own encounters with images of the unconscious and their influence on both my inner and outer lives.Figure 1. Incubation—Sleeping in the Temple, 2009 (acrylic painting on linen-covered panel, 10″ × 10″) by author.