Active imagination and synchronicities
“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls.”
As a remarkable psychoanalyst, even in death, Carl Jung continues to captivate the minds of those who wish to gain a deeper understanding of themselves.
Throughout his life, Jung contributed immensely to the field of psychology, especially by giving birth to the concept of archetypal figures.
Archetypal figures are recurrent personalities that reveal themselves in all cultures, typically depicted as sophisticated but familiar characters that are immediately recognizable to people. These figures dwell in what he described as “The Collective Unconscious” which is the very element that makes them recurrent.
Examples of archetypal figures are The Hero, The Rebel, The Jester, The Sage, and The Explorer.
As you’ll have noticed, these characters are vague yet very identifiable, as there is really nowhere in fiction entirely devoid of these figures.
Yes, they are made much more nuanced and sophisticated through the writer's process of making them unique, but the overall template usually remains the same.
Harry Potter clearly shows archetypal figures and one of the main reasons that this series experienced such a monumental rise to fame was because of the inherent human connection to this conceptual universe.
Each person has an intrinsic relationship with the collective unconscious and the connection is so deep, in fact, that these figures (and other, more personal figures) reveal themselves inside the minds of everyone.
The unconscious mind often opens the floodgates to significant figures and important images when dreaming, as it is given free reign to show you potential dangers and problems.
That is why recurring images in dreams often convey a deeply important meaning, as there is unresolved conflict within the person’s life that their mind wants them to resolve.
It is really quite amazing how avoidant we can remain despite being in the midst of a chaotic storm.
These images do not just manifest themselves within dreams; Jung began a deeply personal practice known as “Active Imagination” in which he would allow his mind to be filled with the various representations of archetypal figures in an effort to understand himself.
Jung was an intensely imaginative and spiritual person, and through his mind freely wandering and allowing figures of different sorts to occupy his psyche, he came to some remarkable conclusions regarding who he truly was, as well as universal truths about humanity.
This open attitude he had toward experience gave him unique opportunities to delve deep within the recesses of himself and unearth discoveries about human potential.
The Practice
Active imagination can be somewhat likened to meditation, however, there is a major difference, that being, the goal.
There are many variations of meditation, but meditation’s goal in the classical sense is typically to focus intently on breathing, some other bodily sensation, or sound. One attempt to clear the mind of thoughts and continually redirects focus upon the mind’s naturally drifting into a wave of thought.
This assists tremendously in a feeling of wholeness and peace, partially by disassociating your thoughts from your identity which is a common hindrance to well-being.
The universal inability to control our minds is something almost everyone unnecessarily suffers from.
Everyone is aware of how awful it is to be plagued by memories of the past, and this usually just results in a never-ending cycle of repression, continuing to worsen the problem.
What is worse is that there is virtually no teaching of this in any broad institution, despite its MASSIVE impact on satisfaction.
Active imagination is a more introspective and self-reflective process and there is not a clearly defined goal other than communication. One may have a specific dream image or figure that is recurrent that they wish to engage in dialogue with, but this is not necessary.
The aim is really to open a dialogue with sub-personalities that could be arising for a variety of reasons.
A MAJOR aspect of this process is NOT forcing anything.
Because it is your mind, there is potential for you to consciously alter the image or figure, and this immediately taints the interaction you are trying to have.
The goal is to create a dialogue, or exchange of concepts or ideas with a representation your unconscious mind has conjured up, not to intentionally manipulate the dynamic.
It is akin to dreaming in the sense that when you are dreaming, you never consciously manipulate the outcome or environment of the dream (unless you are lucid dreaming).
You are simply engaging in a realm that you believe to be synonymous with the state of reality you engage in while conscious, and therefore upon engaging with a figure, there is obviously no attempt at altering the figure or dialogue in a particular way as you would if you were aware of the fact you are asleep.
“One cannot individuate as long as one is playing a role to oneself” — Carl G. Jung
Allow yourself to be lost and taken wherever the encounter desires and allow the only goal to be understanding, integration, and ultimately, individuation.
Jung believed this to be a key element in the process of becoming complete and is done by accepting all the elements of the psyche and integrating them.
Only then can a person reach true wholeness.
Constant repression and rejection of drives and desires have become an increasingly terrible problem in society, as people are demonized for having ambition.
This relates to another Jungian concept, “synchronicities”.
These are occurrences often found in dreams (or dream-like states) that on the surface appear to be nothing but coincidental, but demonstrate themselves as meaningful to the person experiencing them.
He refrained from dispensing with any series of phenomena that characterized humanity's history and had an intensely impartial view of ideas.
Just because he was unable to explain a phenomenon did not mean he denounced it or doubted its impact.
He described synchronicity as when intensely meaningful connections transpired upon the individual’s internal, psychological world mirroring actualized reality.
Jung had countless experiences that fit this description.
Throughout his childhood, he had what seemed like visions of the future.
There was even a time in which he saw: “The death of countless thousands…” before the First World War occurred.
Loud noises followed by objects destroyed in an incomprehensibly strange manner such as a solid table being split and a bread knife breaking into many pieces caused him to become interested in the occult.
One of the most preposterous instances of this occurring was during a discussion with Freud, in which he refused to acknowledge the existence of the various phenomena Jung was discussing.
Following Freud’s dismissal, Jung became extremely agitated and enraged, and the bookshelf which was in close proximity to them both expelled a loud noise.
They were both extremely shocked by this and following Jung explaining that this was exactly what he was talking about, Freud refused to acknowledge the reality of what had just happened. Jung was becoming understandably more frustrated, at which point he predicted there would be another resounding noise, and there was.
“To this day I do not know what gave me this certainty. But I knew beyond all doubt that the report would come again. Freud only stared aghast at me. I do not know what was in his mind, or what his look meant.”
Carl Jung: Memories, Dreams, Reflections
The processes Jung derived with the intention of expanding each individual’s capability were simply astonishing, as was his personal life.
His ability to visualize and dream up intensely complicated scenarios, and then use words to deconstruct the fundamental symbolic reality that undergirded his experience was absolutely unparalleled.
This secured his spot as one of the most imaginative and influential psychoanalysts to ever exist.
References:
Jung, C. G. Memories, Dreams, Reflections. Translated by Richard Winston and Clara Winston, Fontana Press, 1995.
