"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encompasses the world" (Einstein).
"Mathematics is the logic of imagination" (Leibniz).
The Imagination
Imagination is the most important human faculty because it is a faculty of the soul. The soul is a divine spark, the indestructible, eternal and timeless core of the human being. The soul is clothed in bodies to manifest itself on the different planes. The soul consists of consciousness and imagination.
Imagination is a faculty of the soul, like consciousness. Consciousness is clothed with imagination. Where imagination is, there is the soul because consciousness is clothed with imagination.
Therefore, imagination is on a higher level than the mental. Following the principle of descending causality, it is impossible to think without imagining. Thoughts are always supported by images.
In general, philosophers have paid less attention to imagination than to other human faculties. They have focused mainly on reason, the star faculty of philosophy. What is specifically human is considered to be rationality. Imagination has been reduced to the irrational or to mere fantasy or illusion.
For Hume, imagination is a faculty that generates complex ideas from other ideas. Imagination generates ideas but not beliefs. Reason relates ideas, but does not create new ideas. "Memory, the senses, and the understanding are all founded on imagination."
In recent times, imagination has leapt to the foreground, above the rational, thanks mainly to philosophers such as Jung, Corbin and Hillman. For these authors, imagination is a faculty capable of penetrating deeper than any rational, conceptual or abstract thought.
Characteristics of imagination
Foundation.
Imagination is associated with freedom, consciousness and the universal.
"There is only one thing: imagination, which underlies both ideas and things" (Schelling).
"Imagination is everything" (Einstein).
"Imagination is nature" (Goethe).
Worldviews.
There are many worldviews, but they are all within the imaginative framework.
Productive imagination vs. reproductive imagination.
Productive imagination is that which generates images that have not been previously experienced. Reproductive imagination is that associated with memory.
Generation of images.
When we think we are generating images. We don't think in words, we think in images. There are no "mental images" because the mind does not produce images. Nor are images seen with "the mind's eye".
A word or phrase (spoken or written) produces images in the receiver. "To utter a word is like playing a key on the piano of the imagination" (Wittgenstein. Philosophical Investigations).
Knowledge and meaning.
Imagination is the faculty that enables us to know. Human cognition is based on imagination. "Everything is known via the soul, which is our first nature" (Ficino). Meaning emerges from imagination.
Brain and mind.
The brain does not distinguish between the real and the imagined. The brain does not know the origin of the images because they come from a higher level. The brain circuits involved are the same. In neurology it has been proven that when we see a certain object, activity appears in certain parts of our brain, but when we imagine the object with our eyes closed, the brain activity is identical, the same neural networks are involved.
Nor does the mind distinguish the real from the imagined. We reason with the imaginary in the same way as with the real. Philosophers call this the "common code".
Another example is the mirror neurons, which are activated when we observe an action, exactly the same as when we are the executors of that action. And this is so because: 1) The real is a form of imagination, an induced or exogenous imagination, as opposed to the internal or endogenous imagination; 2) Imagination is the support of consciousness.
Present, past and future.
With imagination we are creating the present and future reality. To remember is also to imagine. Nothing can be created without first imagining it. "I saw the angel in the marble and sculpted it until I set it free" (Michelangelo).
The true reality.
Imagination is the true reality, for it is on the higher level. What we call "real," the physical world, is "imagination induced" by the physical world through perception.
The imaginal world is an internal world, and is much richer than the external world we call "real."
The imaginary can be stronger or more intense than the real experience. Real experience happens only once in space-time. An imagination can be repeated countless times.
Imagination allows us to relativize and transcend the real world, for it is only one more among the infinite possible worlds. Imagination makes us virtually free from the limitations of the real world, even the limitations of logic and reason. Imagination is more powerful than will.
The power of imagination.
Imagination has enormous power. Everything we imagine tends to come true, because imagination is on a higher level than the physical and mental world. This explains why memes (mental genes) are replicating factors of cultural transmission. Memes are transmitted by the imagination and are reflected or manifested in the mind.
Imagination is very powerful because it comes from the highest plane of being, being able to affect the lower planes (conscious mind, subconscious mind, feelings and even physical level).
It is not correct to speak of the "power of thought". The real power lies in the imagination.
When we focus on something through imagination, we are encouraging it to manifest. Imagination is the tool to be used to manifest (or "awaken") the already existing (unmanifested or "dormant") possibilities of the collective unconscious. To imagine something is to invoke its manifestation. Since we can access the unlimited source of possibilities, we can say that we are unlimited beings. The limit is our imagination.
With imagination we could perform miracles such as: generate new alternative realities, speak foreign languages, obtain any knowledge we desire, produce parapsychological phenomena such as telepathy, telekinesis, remote viewing, etc.
What we are today is the result of everything we have imagined. And what we are imagining now is creating our future. We are the creators of our own universe and our destiny. We must be careful what we imagine because whatever we imagine tends to manifest. By imagination we self-limit or self-aggrandize. When we are aware of this mechanism at all times we have the power to control our life.
Self-observation.
We have to "observe" our thoughts from the higher level of the soul.... We are not the thoughts nor are we our mind, our feelings or our brain. Our true Self is in the soul. By observing our own thoughts we place ourselves on a higher level than the mental level and connect with our Self and our consciousness. When we observe ourselves, we are in the soul because we perceive (the soul does not think, it perceives). It is the "imagination of oneself". This implies an enormous power. From that level, what we imagine has a maximum force because it emerges from the deepest part of ourselves.
Intuitions.
Our true self, our authentic and profound "I" is the soul. The closest thing to the soul is the subconscious mind. The soul also manifests itself in the subconscious mind through intuitions. Intuitions are messages from the soul. "Intuition is the only really valuable thing; it is a gift from God" (Einstein).
Creativity.
Imagination is the basis of creativity and innovation. There can be no creativity without imagination. Creativity adds value. Imaginative and creative people were, for example, Leonardo, Mozart, Einstein and Tesla.
Imagination is essential for problem solving, as it allows us to see problems from different perspectives.
Imagination and memory.
When through imagination we conceive impossible objects, unexpected properties or establish absurd relationships, the more impact they have and the better they are remembered. This is precisely one of the techniques used to memorize. Examples of absurd relationships are: a swimming pool full of soccer balls, flying elephants, a soft clock, a boat with giant butterflies instead of sails, a 10-story bus, etc. Dali and Magritte are examples of artists with great imagination who reflected it in their works.
Imagination vs. belief.
A belief is a persistent imagination. Beliefs are like "attractors" of the imagination. We believe what is true. Truth is a function of culture, tradition or religion.
Cerebral hemispheres.
The left hemisphere is associated with the conscious, the rational and the past. The right hemisphere is associated with the unconscious, intuition and the present, where there is no time. It is also associated with the future, when we visualize a goal through imagination. Therefore, imagination is related to the right side of the brain. The future is associated with the right side. If we could not imagine what we want to do, we would be paralyzed. Everything we do has been imagined first.
Jung's "active imagination"
The expression "active imagination" was used by Jung to refer to a method oriented to consciously connect us with our true inner essence, with our essential nature. It is what Jung called "individuation process". But in the last years of his life he also applied this term to a different method, a method oriented to the achievement of personal goals and, in general, to manage the personal future.
The characteristics of active imagination are:
Active imagination as a technique of individuation.
Synchronistic thinking −the physical and psychic manifestation of an archetype− is usually subconscious. The technique Jung invented consisted in making synchronistic thinking conscious. It is a kind of "Western" meditation, a technique that can be practiced anytime, anywhere. The technique is very powerful and effective to relate consciously with the collective unconscious and is nothing more than the production of a synchronistic thought made consciously using the imagination.
Active imagination for goal attainment.
The collective unconscious is constantly influencing us through our subconscious, but we are not aware of it. Active imagination consists of consciously producing or generating images to communicate with the collective unconscious and take advantage of its full potential to achieve our goals, control our destiny and self-realize ourselves. Jung did not speak of predicting our future, but of creating it.
Through active imagination we control our destiny. We usually do not see our destiny because destiny is part of us. "Your destiny is the result of the collaboration between consciousness and the collective unconscious" (Jung).
Archetypes and the interpretation of reality.
An archetype is a psychological pattern (structural and functional) that acts as an intermediary between our subconscious mind and the collective unconscious. We adopt or choose (rather subconsciously) a different archetype for each situation we face. The archetype is like a role, an attitude, a disguise, a pattern, a social mask necessary to be able to participate in the game of life.
An archetype is also a paradigm, a certain way of seeing and interacting with the world. It is like a filter, like a glass of a certain color through which we perceive reality. We interpret reality. If we interpret reality differently, we would see a different reality and act differently. We interpret reality according to the archetype we adopt at any given moment.
If we want to achieve a certain objective (synchronizing with the collective unconscious) through active imagination, we must first change the intermediary, the archetype capable of processing that objective.
The Shadow.
To evolve, we must discard the old archetypes to which we have chained ourselves and create new ones. The set of discarded archetypes constitute what Jung called "the Shadow". The Shadow is always lurking, trying to regain (by inertia) its lost role. The Shadow cannot be eliminated, we can only control it. The Shadow is necessary to evolve. To evolve and reach the inner realm, we must adopt the archetype of the Hero, who will control the Shadow in order to reach his destiny. Within that inner realm is treasure, freedom, power and truth. The wondrous inner realm we seek to reach is truly within us, albeit protected by a multitude of ghosts (the Shadow).
The Mundus Imaginalis of Henri Corbin
The French philosopher Henri Corbin, a great scholar of Arabic and Persian texts, an expert in Sufism and Persian mysticism, has transferred to the West the Islamic concept of the imaginal world.
The Mundus Imaginalis (imaginal world).
It is an intermediate world between the spiritual world and the material world, as in Neoplatonic cosmology. This intermediate world has its own consistent topography. It is constantly influenced by the two extreme worlds: the physical and the spiritual.
This realm communicates with human beings through images.
It is the world where archetypes dwell, where creative and synchronistic leaps happen, and where transcendental experiences occur.
It is a world inhabited by beings (gods, angels and daimons) who act as mediators between the spiritual world and humanity.
The imaginal world is more real than the physical world because it is a world superior to the material world.
The imaginal is what the theosophists of Islam designate as the "eighth climate" (the 7 climates refer to traditional geography) or "Na-koja-Abad", a Persian expression meaning "the land of nowhere". The organ that perceives this reality is the imaginal consciousness or cognitive imagination. The imaginal is a place where all things are, but it is not a concrete place. It is an inner world, beyond external reality. It is a superior world that has extension, dimensions, forms and colors. It is an immaterial intermediate world, of subtle bodies, but perceptible.
Corbin is in the line of Plato's followers, including Plotinus, Jamblichus, Ficino, Jung and Hillman. All of them believed in the soul of the world.
Corbin distinguishes between the imaginary and the imaginal. The imaginary are the fantasies we produce in the waking state; it is the opposite of the real, i.e., the unreal or utopian (that which has no location). On the other hand, the imaginal are the contents of the Mundus Imaginalis, which are real contents.
Active imagination.
Corbin also used the expression "active imagination". He may have borrowed it from Jung or coined it simultaneously. For Corbin, active imagination is a method of accessing, perceiving and exploring the imaginal world. It is the way to travel to other dimensions and higher realities instantaneously, as imagination is not restricted by space or time. Active imagination connects the objective and subjective worlds, the literal and the spiritual. "Active imagination is not a theory, it is an initiation to vision."
Through active imagination it is possible to produce changes in the physical world. What we call "miracle" is the result of bringing spiritual power into the material world, transcending cause-effect relationships.
The Archetypal Psychology of James Hillman
James Hillman has renewed and reinterpreted the Jungian conception of archetypes. He is the creator of the so-called "archetypal psychology" (also called "imaginative psychology"), one of the three post-Jungian currents into which Jung's analytical psychology was derived. The other two are the Zurich school (also called classical or orthodox) and the evolutionary school.
Hillman, unlike Jung, uses a phenomenological rather than an analytical approach, giving prominence to concrete images rather than psychological patterns. Archetypal psychology is a psychology based on the soul and its primary activity, which is the imagination.
The soul and the imagination.
The soul is imaginative possibility. The soul expresses itself in images, dreams, fantasies, myths, metaphors, speculations, etc. The soul fantasizes with images. Mythical fictions stimulate the imagination. The "beyond" is a mythical region accessible to the imagination.
Imagination cannot be formally defined. It cannot be conceptualized because imagination is on a higher level than the mental. Images cannot be reduced to concepts.
Imagination and image is everything. There is nothing to which they can be reduced.
The image possesses a radical polysemy and is above any concept. The soul cannot be apprehended, captured or reduced by the Logos. Psychology must not seek a Logos of the soul.
Soul of the World.
Hillman adopted the ancient concept of Anima Mundi (Soul of the World), a concept that arose in ancient Greek philosophy (Plato and other philosophers) and was taken up by the Renaissance tradition (Marsilio Ficino and Italian Neoplatonism). The Anima Mundi is the totality of the universe conceived as an organism, a living being endowed with soul and intelligence that contains and connects all living beings, a unity in which all its elements are intertwined. Other interpretations of Anima Mundi are: the "form" of the universe, the ultimate and transcendental reality, the common essence of all things in the universe, the psyche of the world, the universal correspondence between microcosm and macrocosm, the supreme unity, the first organic principle of the universe, etc.
Everything is animated, everything possesses soul: the rocks, the trees, the streets, the fish, the furniture, etc. Everything participates in the Soul of the World.
We perceive the Soul of the World through the imagination. Objects and events manifest as souls as we contemplate them, as we take them into ourselves. "The psyche includes the world."
The Soul of the World is the supreme source of mental liberation and healing. One must imagine the World Soul as a spark of the soul, a seminal image that offers itself through every thing in its visible form.
Imaginal World.
The Imaginal World is the place where the archetypes reside, the fundamental structures of the soul, which transcend the world of the senses.
Metaphors.
Every image is profoundly metaphorical. All psychic content is reduced to metaphorical images. Reality must be metaphorized, deliteralized. Hillman calls this "revisioning". The aim should not be to make the unconscious conscious, but to metaphorize the literal, to transfer the real to the imaginal. Hillman thus renounces the Jungian individuation process.
We must move toward a metaphorical way of speaking. Words we must consider as metaphors, use them as ambiguities, with their original mystery. Language is multi-level and multi-meaning.
The imaginal is reality.
Any external or internal phenomenon acquires "reality" when it is constituted as an image. Images constitute the only reality that we apprehend directly. Images are real, as real as physical entities.
Imagination is the intermediary between mind and body, between person and World Soul, between conscious and unconscious.
Reality is always contemplated through a pair of glasses, a point of view. By changing the point of view through imagination, we can see reality in another way.
Experience.
The soul converts external events into internal experiences. From the soul you go deeper into experience. It "becomes soul" by living, by experiencing.
A good image is the one that makes the psychic movement stop temporarily and produces greater interiorization due to its metaphorical, numinous, mythical or archetypal power. Beauty is everywhere, in nature and in cities. Cities have soul, because they live archetypal patterns.
Freedom.
Imagination is something active and unlimited. Imagination is freedom. With imagination we can explore and experience psychic reality. Psychological activities belong to the realm of images.
Meaning and knowledge.
Imagination is the key to finding meaning in the totality of life. One must look for images in events that generate meaning. The soul makes all meaning possible. All knowledge can only be acquired through the recognition of images.
Conceptual categories are not the product of our individual imagination but of an imagination consensualized by social culture.
The "I".
It is necessary to relativize the "I", because ultimately it is only an image. The "I" is one of the imaginative psychological fantasies, among many others.
Hillman rejects the Jungian notion of "Self", of the deep "I". According to Hillman, the Self is beyond the individual, it is the interiorization of the invisible god. Instead of the Self, Hillman prefers to refer to the soul, the root metaphor of psychology.
To understand the psyche, we must explore images and describe them, not analyze them, explain them, rationalize them, or convert them into concepts or ideas, for all analysis implies reductionism and leads us to the superficial. Images take on meaning and lead us to the profound when they are contemplated without analysis. The source of true knowledge is not the rational, but the world of images in which the "I" dwells. We must be in the world more with the heart (the intuitive and the profound) than with the head (the rational and superficial).
Psychoanalysis.
Psychoanalysis should not be based on the passive and limited reductionism of interpretations and diagnoses. It must be based on the imagination, which is the language of the soul and the motor of psychic life. Psychoanalysis is not a science, but an art, an aesthetic, metaphorical and poetic activity or vision. The aim of psychoanalysis is not to seek answers and solutions to problems, but to deepen our experience of our own problems.
Archetype.
Hillman rejects the term "archetype," but retains the adjective "archetypal." And he rejects the distinction between archetype and archetypal images, because at the psychic level only images are found. Archetypal is a qualifier that can be applied to any image.
Archetypal psychology works with images (often mythical) that generate meaning or soul. Archaeotypal is synonymous with imaginal.
Traditional psychology vs. archaeotypal psychology.
Traditional psychology is based on considering the world as something external to the subject. It is a dualistic view: the world as not-self. It also considers things to be dead, since they do not experience sensations, have no memory or intentionality.
Archetypal psychology is based on the soul and the imagination. The soul is the metaphorical root of psychology.
Disorder and therapy.
A patient's alleged disorder is not in himself, but in the world, which needs therapeutic attention. It is things that have acquired psychopathology.
All therapy must be based on imagination, so that we can see the same old problems differently. A "therapy of ideas" must be carried out. The ideas that we have and that we do not know we have, have us.
The soul also manifests itself in psychopathology, in the symptoms of psychological disorders. Illness is a vital part of the soul's journey.
Psychopathology is a state of being, an ontology of the soul. Symptoms are the speech of the soul. The purpose of therapy is the cultivation of the soul. One should not apply a causal model and analyze the causes. The connection between the soul and things is found in the symptoms. Pathology always leads us into unknown terrain. Through pathology we find salvation.
By contemplating the images, by paying attention to them, a therapeutic process occurs that Hillman calls "soul-making," a deepening of the soul in experience and meaning.
Dreams.
Dreams are not to be analyzed. Dreams tell us where we are, not what to do. The dream is the basic model of the psyche.
Supreme discipline.
For Hillman (as for Hegel), psychology is the supreme discipline, for it is concerned not only with the psyche of humanity, but with the Soul of the World, the soul that is at the core of all meaning and the soul that manifests itself in all human activity. Psychology cannot be considered a science separate and distinct from literature, art, philosophy, politics, religion, natural science, etc., because all these disciplines arise from the imagination.
Images and visualization.
Images are not necessarily visual, that is, they do not need to be seen. The notion of "visibility" tends to literalize images. Images are not things that are seen, but are a perspective, a way of seeing. Imagination is a way of seeing rather than something seen. One does not see an image, but rather sees through images.
Fantasy vs. Phantasy.
We must distinguish between "fantasy", which is the imagination of the waking dream, from "phantasy", which is the imaginative activity underlying all thought and sensation.
Creativity.
The creative process is really a misnomer because creation is finished, for all we do is manifest what already exists. We are not creating solutions to problems, we are just manifesting something that already exists.
Independence.
Images are shared, they belong to the public sphere. Images are independent of the subjective imagination that perceives them. Images speak for themselves, and cannot be encoded in a literalized scheme of understanding. Images are autonomous and operate according to their own will, at their own pace, in their own context.
Non-persistence.
An imagined object does not persist as a normal perceived object. We have to constantly re-imagine the object to keep it in our mental gaze.
No symbols.
The goal of archetypal psychology is not the symbol, but the image, since symbols can only appear in images and as images. Symbols are abstractions of the psyche. Images are neither symbols nor representations.
Heart and aesthetics.
The soul is located in the heart, the seat of our feelings. The heart thinks aesthetically. It is the heart that allows us to feel the world and interact in a meaningful way.
It is aesthetics that moves the heart. The heart is the organ that perceives beauty and the sacred. Psychology must approach the soul through aesthetics, from a perspective that appreciates beauty. Beauty is the supreme theophany, the divine self-revelation. Beauty is the manifestation of the soul.
Non-duality.
There is no dichotomy between the conscious and the unconscious. Imagery and imagination encompass the subjective and the objective, the human and the divine, the individual and the collective.
"Oppositionalism" is the habit of thinking in terms of oppositions or dualities. This is literalizing the imaginal. The way to overcome oppositionalism is to abandon the literal way of seeing, knowing and ordering. The practice of categorizing and labeling things is sterile. Psychology is sick of literalism.
No principles.
Archetypal psychology is not a closed system of ideas; there are no dogmas or fundamental principles. It is a system open to speculation and points of view, based on imagination and its infinite possibilities. Therefore, there are potentially many archetypal psychologies.
Hillman suggests a polytheistic paradigm as opposed to monotheism, identifying it with the literal, the rational and scientific. He is not in favor of unification, of a single knowledge, since he considers it totalitarianism. He identifies with diversity, with what he calls "polytheism", because "where a single God reigns there is no room for controversy". According to Hillman, every image is inhabited in its depths by a god and has telos (an objective, an end). The telos is expressed by the movement of the image, a type of manifestation of the inner god, a movement that must be followed without analysis. Each god has its own sphere of consciousness.
Potential of possibilities.
Hillman, in his landmark works "The Soul Code" [1998] and "Re-imagining Psychology" [1999], explains his "acorn theory" of the soul. Each individual has a potential of possibilities, just as an acorn contains the potential pattern of an oak tree. There is a unique soul energy within each human being, which unfolds throughout his or her life.
Patrick Harpur: imagination is reality
The English philosopher Patrick Harpur has gained notoriety with his work "The Sacred Fire of the Philosophers. A History of the Imagination" [2006]. According to Harpur, with Cartesian rationalism came the literalization of reality and a vision of the world, considered as the only true reality. But this vision is only a vision, not the world. There are many ways of contemplating the world.
Since ancient times, the world was considered to be animate. It was the Anima Mundi. The soul participated in the soul of the world because it was connected. So there was no distinction between the physical and the psychic. Descartes separated subject (animate and thinking) from object (inanimate and non-thinking). Rationalism has endeavored to deny all non-rational mental activity.
Everything participates in the soul of the world.
It is only possible to contemplate the world from an imaginative perspective, a perspective that is usually associated with the prevailing myth in the culture in which we are immersed.
The world we imagine we are in is only one of the infinite ways in which the world can be imagined.
From the imagination spring all myths and all archetypes. Myths are imaginative templates that make sense of the world.
Imagination is reality. From imagination comes everything.
Psychology is the myth of modernity. Mythology is the myth of antiquity.
Science is superficial, rational and literal. The imaginative is the profound, the intuitive, the metaphorical and the daimonic.
Mathematics and imagination
Learning mathematics involves the development of a particular kind of imagination: the mathematical imagination. "Imagination and mathematics are not opposed; they complement each other like the key and the lock" (Borges).
Imagination is fundamental in mathematics to create new abstract worlds and produce creativity. Imagination is also implicitly present in:
Irrational numbers. They are imaginary in the sense that we must appeal to the imagination because we cannot capture or rationalize or access or represent them. We cannot represent from the superficial (our system of numerical representation) the deep. Irrational numbers belong to a transcendent and imaginary realm.
Infinity. It is also necessary to appeal to the imagination because it transcends the world accessible to reason, which is the finite. The infinite takes many forms: the infinite terms of a series, of a sequence, the numerical infinite, the infinitely small, etc.
Computers and Imagination
Artificial Imagination
Artificial imagination, also called "synthetic imagination" or "mechanical imagination" is an artificial simulation of the human imagination using general-purpose computers. Among the features that it is intended to simulate are: creativity, artificial vision and hearing, digital art, emotions, etc. The idea is for computers to be able to automatically create new scenarios or new worlds attractive for learning and entertainment.
MENTAL and Abstract Imagination
Imaginal World and possible expressions
The imaginal world is the set of all possible images that we can access. These images already exist and are in a dimension superior to space and time. Everything imaginable already exists, although in another dimension: the imaginal dimension. Images are not created. What we do when we imagine is to contact pre-existing images. We cannot imagine what does not belong to the imaginal world.
Similarly, all possible (well-formed) expressions that can be formed with MENTAL already potentially exist, already exist in , the universe formed by the infinite possible expressions, the absolute expressive universe. When we refer to an expression, we are visiting something already existing. To describe something, perform an operation or solve a problem, what we do is to select among the already existing expressions. The evaluations of expressions are, in general, paths within the universal space of expressions, paths that also exist previously. An illustrative example is that of the natural numbers that already exist and that we "visit".
Imagination in MENTAL
Since one cannot think without imagining, the question arises as to what kind of imagination is involved in MENTAL.
When we are using (manifesting) the primary archetypes of MENTAL, we are evidently thinking and we are also employing imagination. In this case, it is abstract or primary imagination, an imagination that is of a metaphorical type.
MENTAL is an archetypal and metaphorical re-imagining of science. It allows to see old problems in a different way by looking at them from a higher, archetypal and imaginative point of view. It is a "therapy of ideas," as Hillman says.
MENTAL is the Magna Carta of possible worlds, which are imaginative worlds.
MENTAL is a language that operates from the intuitive (where the primary archetypes dwell) to the rational. Being connected with the archetypes makes us more aware of the structure of reality and possible worlds.
MENTAL is the deep structure of the imagination. MENTAL is the common structure of all imaginative contents.
MENTAL is a profound way of seeing and contemplating the world. It is necessary to contemplate the world from the deep: the imaginative, the intuitive and the metaphorical.
The literal, the rational and the real are the superficial. The deep is the metaphorical, the intuitive and the imaginative. In the deep is the truth.
The primary archetypes necessarily appeal to imaginative activity. First of all because they are archetypes of the consciousness (a faculty of the soul) and because the consciousness needs to clothe itself with imagination, which is of a metaphorical or abstract kind.
MENTAL is Hillman's "acorn," the mental Big Bang from which possible worlds arise.
To program one must imagine the goal, that is, use active imagination, imagination as a combinatorial or relational faculty. Imagination in MENTAL is pure combinatorial possibilities.
Active imagination and the mind-computer analogy
Within the context of active imagination as a method for achieving goals, there is a clear analogy between the mind and the computer. The correspondences would be as follows:
The collective unconscious is the universal source of energy.
The subconscious mind (or personal unconscious) is the energy of the computer.
The "I" is the core of the operating system.
The primary archetypes are the computer's instructions.
The goals, the conscious synchronous thoughts (active imagination) are the computer programs. Imagining is programming our subconscious to manifest what we imagine.
The type of archetype we adopt at each moment, so that the corresponding objective can be processed, corresponds to the degree of freedom we must choose so that the program can be implemented and executed.
Moreover, the computer is the medium in which we can apply our imagination to create all kinds of virtual archetypes (environments, objects and relationships): create worlds with different laws, create impossible objects, fly, realize instantaneous spatio-temporal shortcuts, modify global properties, and so on. The limit is the imagination. In the computer there are no limitations. The computer is a space of freedom.
Person
Computer
Collective unconscious
Universal source of energy
Personal Unconscious
Computer Energy
I
Hardware
Primary archetypes
Instructions
Goal
Program
Addenda
Active imagination as a process of individuation
Jungian active imagination is a method of inner exploration, a way to descend to the unconscious, to the deepest part of oneself. It is done through a dialogue or negotiation with the unconscious, to gain knowledge of our archetypes, control inner tensions and achieve balance. Jung describes active imagination as "a dialectical discussion with the unconscious in order to come to an agreement with it".
Active imagination is self-referential, it is communicating with ourselves. It is like daydreaming, but it is not a dream, but the opposite. Jung said: "Who looks outward, dreams, who looks inward, awakens".
The ultimate goal is to achieve individuation, that is, to achieve the undivided, the union of the conscious and the unconscious. According to Jung, this process of individuation is a descending process in an endless spiral, because we enter a field where time and space do not exist.
The Jungian method consists of the following steps:
First, relax the body and calm the mind (for example, by self-perception of the body and breathing).
Concentrate on some image (coming from dream or fantasy or visualized spontaneously).
Observe, let yourself be carried away, submerge yourself consciously in the transformations that take place in the image or the information that emerges from the unconscious. It is necessary to observe what happens internally as if they were objective phenomena. And one must maintain an uncritical attitude, without intellectual or ethical prejudices. Nothing should be analyzed intellectually. We must occupy ourselves, not worry. Worry activates conscious thoughts and distances us from our link with the collective unconscious.
Subsequently, or at the same time, pour out externally these internal experiences by means of some expression (taking notes, making drawings, etc.).
According to Barbara Hannah, disciple and collaborator of Jung, Jung "discovered" (not "invented") the active imagination, because this is a form of introspection that man has always used, since the innate tendency of the psyche is to go towards its center, its inner self. The active imagination is descending. Passive imagination, on the other hand, is ascending: it corresponds to the imaginative processes that we have unconsciously and that emerge into the conscious without any control on our part.
Jung's writings on the active imagination
The active imagination as a process of individuation was practiced by Jung, by his disciples and his patients, recommending it until the end of his life. He began to work on it in 1912, although the name "active imagination" came later (1935). In many of his writings he refers to active imagination, but it is in "Mysterium Conjunctionis" −considered by Jungians as his main work− where Jung explains his method at length.
Active imagination, as a technique for achieving goals and controlling our destiny, does not appear in any of Jung's official works. He only left manuscripts and drawings in the so-called "Red Book" and "Black Book", written during the last years of his life (which were the most fruitful), guarded by his closest collaborators and scarcely divulged. A recent disclosure of this "secret" theory is found in the book "The Butterfly Effect" [by Saint-Aymour, 2007].
Active imagination to achieve individual goals
To achieve individual goals and shape our future, we must connect, tune into the collective unconscious through active imagination. As everything already exists simultaneously, there is already a parallel version of yourself with the goal already achieved. The only thing we have to do is to favor its manifestation. To do this, the following steps must be taken:
Establish with clarity the objective you want to achieve.
The objective can be short, medium or long term.
A short-term goal could be to get the house I want. A long-term goal could be, by starting a multi-year course of study, to complete it successfully. A long-term goal can be subdivided into several sub-goals.
The goal must be achievable, even if we see it as difficult to achieve.
The goal can even be related to our physical body. For example, to lose weight.
Choose the most suitable archetype with respect to the objective you want to achieve.
The archetype is the psychic infrastructure necessary for the goal to manifest. It may be your current archetype, but in general it will be necessary to change archetypes in order for the goal to "fit" into your personal psychic environment.
We internalize to quiet the mind. Different techniques can be applied, but the most effective way to calm the mind is to observe it from the soul. We place ourselves at the higher level of the soul by contemplating our mind. By the mere fact of contemplating or perceiving, thoughts are withdrawn. In general, when we perceive we are at the level of the soul, for in the soul there are no thoughts.
Use the imagination by visualizing internally the chosen goal and archetype.
We must focus on the objective, without making any effort to make what we desire happen. The power of imagination is enough. Everything in the universe is effortless. Making effort implies assuming that there is a distance between us and the goal. It is precisely effort that keeps us separated from the goal.
We must imagine the goal as if it has already been achieved. It is "as if" psychology. It is bringing the future into the present. During wakefulness, keep the goal in the mind constantly and continuously, but without forcing, as a background image.
We must have an attitude of total and absolute faith, of firmly believing that the objective has already been achieved. Doubt settles us in the mind and separates us from the image of the objective. If we are able to settle in the soul, there is no need to keep faith because in the soul the goal has already been achieved. Faith is replaced by certainty, certainty that will bring liberation from effort.
The goal must be visualized from all possible angles. If the visualization is dynamic, the better.
If we add feeling to what we desire, the energy we emit is greater. Of all possible feelings, love is the most powerful energy, that which connects most deeply with everything. Love is the level of oneness, of non-duality, where the individual being becomes a complete fractal replica of the whole.
The last step is to be attentive to the response of the collective unconscious, which has to automatically restructure or reorganize itself so that what we have imagined manifests. We put the "what" and the collective unconscious responds with the "how".
We must be attentive to the possible appearance of synchronic events, as a response to our imaginative activity. We must also be aware of the intuitions (the messages from the soul) that we receive through our subconscious. The intuitions we perceive connect us more deeply with the objective.
Other themes of active imagination
The Isaiah effect.
The Dead Sea Scrolls or Qumram Scrolls, so called because the first scrolls were found in a grotto located in Qumram, on the shores of the Dead Sea, are a collection of almost 800 manuscripts written in Hebrew and Aramaic by the Essenes, a spiritual community to which Jesus Christ is said to have belonged. One of these scrolls, attributed to the prophet Isaiah, speaks of the way the Essenes prayed, a way of praying different from today. Instead of asking for "something", the Essenes visualized what they wanted to achieve as already achieved and realized. This is described by Gregg Braden in his book "The Isaiah Effect. Decoding the Lost Science of Prayer and Prophecy."
NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming).
NLP also uses this visualization technique to achieve any goal. In this technique, the word plays a key role in creating reality.
Therapy.
Active imagination is being used in medicine to cure or alleviate diseases, visualizing the sick person as already cured.
Sports.
In sports it is frequent to see players (for example, in rugby and basketball) visualizing the strategy to be applied and imagining themselves as winners before a match. Also in individual sports (such as long jump, high jump, pole vault, etc.) the athlete performs visualization or simulation exercises, since it is not possible to perform the jump without having visualized it clearly beforehand. It is also a technique used by coaches to motivate players.
"The Secret," by Rhonda Byrne.
Rhonda Byrne, the author of "The Secret", states that "like attracts like" (the law of attraction) and "positive thoughts attract positive and negative thoughts attract negative".
Actually, it is not about thoughts (activity of the mind), but about imagination (faculty of the soul), which is on a higher level. The "Secret" is not the Universal Mind, but the imagination.
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