Graduate Research Library: A Library Guide to Jung's Collected Works: Active imagination

Reference publications: Active imagination

Definitions of Active Imagination

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Active Imagination. In International dictionary of psychoanalysis by Joan Chodorow
Call Number: Ladera: REF RC501.4.D4313
Publication Date: 2005
"Active imagination in Carl Jung's analytical method of psychotherapy involves opening oneself to the unconscious and giving free rein to fantasy, while at the same time maintaining an active, attentive, conscious point of view. The process leads to a synthesis that contains both perspectives, but in a new and surprising way. "The Transcendent Function" (1916b [1958]) is Jung's first paper about the method he later came to call active imagination. [Read more]
Active imagination. In A critical dictionary of Jungian analysis by Samuels, A., Shorter, B., & Plaut, F.
Call Number: BF173.J85 S275 1986
Publication Date: 1986
"Jung used the term in 1935 to describe a process of dreaming with open eyes (CW, 6, para. 723 n). At the outset one concentrates on a specific point, mood, picture or event, then allows a chain of associated FANTASIES to develop and gradually take on a dramatic character. Thereafter the images have a life of their own and develop according to their own logic. Conscious doubt must be overcome and allowance made for whatever falls into consciousness as a consequence. [Read more]
Active imagination. In Jung lexicon: A primer of terms & concepts by Sharp, D. (Ed.).
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Call Number: BF109.J8S53 1991
Publication Date: 1991
Available as a free download from the publisher
"A method of assimilating unconscious contents (dreams, fantasies, etc.) through some form of self-expression. The object of active imagination is to give a voice to sides of the personality (particularly the anima/animus and the shadow) that are normally not heard, thereby establishing a line of communication between consciousness and the unconscious. Even when the end products-drawing, painting, writing, sculpture, dance, music, etc.-are not interpreted, something goes on between creator and creation that contributes to a transformation of consciousness.
The first stage of active imagination is like dreaming with open eyes. It can take place spontaneously or be artificially induced." [Read more]

Active imagination. In Encyclopedia of psychology and religion (3rd ed.) by Leon Schlamm
Publication Date: 2020
"C. G. Jung’s development of the dissociative technique of active imagination, the visionary practice of “dreaming with open eyes,” arose out of his early experimentation with paranormal phenomena, especially mediumship, itself a dissociative technique of contacting the dead which traces its provenance to shamanism. His discovery of active imagination led him to associate psychological and spiritual transformation with the autonomous creation and manipulation of images."

ARTICLE CONTENTS:

Active imagination by Joan Chodorow, The handbook of Jungian psychology (pp. 215-243).
Publication Date: 2006
"To introduce the importance and overall relevance of active imagination in the Jungian opus, I can think of no better source than Jung himself. In a beautifully written passage, he reflects on the signicance of active imagination and at the same time conveys a bit of its magic: "My most fundamental views and ideas derive from these experiences. First I made the observations and only then did I hammer out my views. And so it is with the hand that guides the crayon or brush, the foot that executes the dance-step, with the eye and the ear, with the word and the thought: a dark impulse is the ultimate arbiter of the pattern, an unconscious `a priori' precipitates itself into plastic form." (Jung 1947: par. 402). [Read more]
"Active imagination" in A guided tour of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung by Robert H. Hopcke
Call Number: REF BF173 .J85 H66
ISBN: 9781570624056
Publication Date: 1999
"Active imagination was a technique developed by Jung to enhance  and develop one’s relationship to unconscious material,  particularly inner figures that had appeared in dreams or fantasies.  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. The  activity of active imagination is in contrast to dreaming, which in  Jung’s view simply occurs. Yet active imagination is not a  directive fantasy either, in which the individual pursues the thoughts and wishes of his or her own ego. As Jung developed it,  active imagination is intended to straddle the border between  passive, receptive awareness of inner unconscious material and  active, elective responding to this material in whatever form. June  Singer, in her book Boundaries of the Soul, calls her chapter on  active imagination “Dreaming the Dream Onwards,” which is perhaps the best summary description of both the technique and  its intent." (p. 37) [Read more]

Jung Quotes on creativity and imagination

Creativity and the Imagination. In The quotable Jung (pp. 226-246.). by C. G. Jung
Publication Date: 2015
"Take the unconscious in one of its handiest forms, say a spontaneous fantasy, a dream, an irrational mood, an affect, or something of the kind, and operate with it. Give it your special attention, concentrate on it, and observe its alterations objectively. Spare no effort to devote yourself to this task, follow the subsequent transformations of the spontaneous fantasy attentively and carefully. Above all, don’t let anything from outside, that does not belong to it, get into it, for the fantasy-image has “everything it needs.” In this way one is certain of not interfering by conscious caprice and of giving the unconscious a free hand. In short, the alchemical operation seems to us the equivalent of the psychological process of active imagination." Mysterium Coniunctionis (1955– 56), CW 14, para. 749.
Read more Jung quotes on imagination

Jung on Active imagination

Jung's essays on Active Imagination from the Collected Works:

To Begin

The transcendent function (pp. 67-91)
Jung, C. G. (1969). The transcendent function (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 8. Structure and dynamics of the psyche (2nd ed., pp. 67-91). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1958) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850952.67
Tavistock lecture V (pp. 135-182)
Jung, C. G. (1976). The Tavistock lectures: On the theory and practice of analytical psychology. Lecture V. (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 18. The symbolic life (pp. 135-182). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1935) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400851010.1

To go deeper

A study in the process of individuation (pp. 290-354)
Jung, C. G. (1968). A study in the process of individuation (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 9 pt. 1. Archetypes and the collective unconscious (2nd ed., pp. 290-354). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1950) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850969.290
Individual dream symbolism in relation to alchemy (pp. 39-224)
Jung, C. G. (1968). Individual dream symbolism in relation to alchemy (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 12. Psychology and alchemy (2nd ed., pp. 38-223). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1936) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850877.39

Related works

The theory of psychoanalysis (pp. 83-226)

Jung, C. G. (1967). The theory of psychoanalysis (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.). In H. Read et al. (Eds.), The collected works of C. G. Jung: Vol. 4. Freud and psychoanalysis (pp. 83-226). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1955) https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400850938.83
See especially chapter 9, I, "Therapeutic principles of psychoanalysis," pp. 181-203

Suggested readings adapted from Hopcke's (1999) A guided tour of the collected works of C. G. Jung, pp. 35-36.

Available from Ebook Central.

From the index (CW 20): "active imagination":

Vol. 6: 722n
Vol. 7: 366n
Vol. 8: 166-75 (term not used), 403, 414, 599
Vol. 9i: 101, 110, 263n, 319, 398, 528, 581, 622, 623n, 698
Vol. 9ii: 382
Vol. 11: 137, 875
Vol. 12: 123, 357, 448
Vol. 13: 86n, 210n, 374
Vol. 14: 345, 706 (term not used), 736, 752-5
Vol. 16: 400
Vol. 18: 4, 390, 392, 395, 399, 400, 1253, 1787, 1789
—and alchemical operation, 14 446, 749
—and anima/animus contents, 9ii 39
—archetypal motifs in, 18 480
—dangers of, 14 755
—and mandalas, 9i 627
—symbols in, 9i 344, 14 128, 146
—and symbols of wholeness, 9i 351
—and transformation process, 9i 621

Additional resources on Active Imagination

Jung on active imagination by J. Chodorow (Ed.)
Call Number: BF173 .J6623 1997
Publication Date: 2015
All the creative art psychotherapies (art, dance, music, drama, poetry) can trace their roots to C. G. Jung's early work on active imagination. Joan Chodorow here offers a collection of Jung's writings on active imagination, gathered together for the first time. Jung developed this concept between the years 1913 and 1916, following his break with Freud. During this time, he was disoriented and experienced intense inner turmoil --he suffered from lethargy and fears, and his moods threatened to overwhelm him. Jung searched for a method to heal himself from within, and finally decided to engage with the impulses and images of his unconscious. It was through the rediscovery of the symbolic play of his childhood that Jung was able to reconnect with his creative spirit. In a 1925 seminar and again in his memoirs, he tells the remarkable story of his experiments during this time that led to his self-healing. Jung learned to develop an ongoing relationship with his lively creative spirit through the power of imagination and fantasies. He termed this therapeutic method "active imagination." This method is based on the natural healing function of the imagination, and its many expressions. Chodorow clearly presents the texts, and sets them in the proper context. She also interweaves her discussion of Jung's writings and ideas with contributions from Jungian authors and artists. [Read more]
Alchemical active imagination by Marie-Louise von Franz
Call Number: BF175 .F73 1997
ISBN: 9780877735892
Publication Date: 1997
"A leading Jungian psychologist reveals the relationship between alchemy and analytical psychology, delving into the visionary work of a sixteenth-century alchemist. Although alchemy is popularly regarded as the science that sought to transmute base physical matter, many of the medieval alchemists were more interested in developing a discipline that would lead to the psychological and spiritual transformation of the individual. C. G. Jung discovered in his study of alchemical texts a symbolic and imaginal language that expressed many of his own insights into psychological processes. In this book, Marie-Louise von Franz examines a text by the sixteenth-century alchemist and physician Gerhard Dorn in order to show the relationship of alchemy to the concepts and techniques of analytical psychology. In particular, she shows that the alchemists practiced a kind of meditation similar to Jung's technique of active imagination, which enables one to dialogue with the unconscious archetypal elements in the psyche. Originally delivered as a series of lectures at the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich, the book opens therapeutic insights into the relations among spirit, soul, and body in the practice of active imagination."
"Analytic methods revisited" in Analytical psychology: Contemporary perspectives in Jungian analysis by Joseph Cambray & Linda Carter
Publication Date: 2004
Abstract: This chapter brings emergentist models of the mind that are informing recent reformulations of Jungian theory to the subject of analytical methods. Reassessing Jung's innovative clinical methodology that stems from his formulation of the transcendent function, we argue that amplification, active imagination, and work with dreams can all be enhanced by incorporation of research findings from multiple perspectives, including from cognitive science and neuroscience as well as attachment and complexity theories in conjunction with the narrative traditions associated with mythology and story-telling.
Inner Work: Using dreams and active imagination for personal growth by Robert A. Johnson
Call Number: BF1078 .J57 1986
ISBN: 9780062504319
Publication Date: 2009
"Johnson discusses dreams in relation to Jung's model of the unconscious, the evolution of consciousness, the ego in the midst of the unconscious, the inner life, the process of individuation, seeking the unconscious, alternative realities of the world of dreaming, the realm of imagination, archetypes and the unconscious, conflict and unification, inner work through dreams, and active imagination techniques. He provides four-step approaches to dream work (association, dynamics, interpretation, rituals) and to active imagination (invitation, dialogue, values, rituals) that can help in the effort to integrate one's ego and the unconscious and work toward wholeness."
—Abstract from "Human Development & Individuation" in Cross-Currents of Jungian Thought: An annotated bibliography by Donald R. Dyer.
"Jung, reading, writing: signs, symbols, close reading as active imagination, alchemy" In Jungian Literary Criticism by Susan Rowland
Publication Date: 2018
"Jungian literary criticism is inevitably about reading and writing. While literary studies may specify what we read, Jungian psychology can contribute to how we read. These two disciplines converge on words on the page. How far may a Jungian notion of the psyche alter or reveal literary reading practices? Furthermore, could literary study shift what Jungian psychology says about the activity of reading its core material, images? Chapter 3 brings Jungian work with images, and especially those images he called ‘symbols’ into a partnership with the literary methodology known today as close reading. Specifically, I will suggest that Jung’s therapeutic technique known as ‘active imagination’ is already aligned with close reading, and ready for further adaptation to literary critical use. Moreover, I propose that this unacknowledged parallel in the two disciplines, between literary studies treating words on the page as images from an-other, and Jungians relating to images and symbols as manifestations from the other, implies equal and opposite repressions in disciplinary construction." (p. 31) [Read more]
"On Active Imagination" In The inner journey by Barbara Hannah; Dean L. Frantz (Ed.)
Call Number: BF173.J85 H328 2000
ISBN: 9780919123892
Publication Date: 1999
This talk was given in Zurich on September 25, 1967, at a Special Lecture Series for the C.G. Jung Educational Center of Houston, Texas.
Reading Jung for magic: “Active imagination” for/as “close reading” In How and why we still read Jung by Susan Rowland; Jean Kirsch & Murray Stein (Eds.)
Call Number: BF109.J8 H69 2013
ISBN: 9780415686488
Publication Date: 2013
Abstract: "Jung's imaginative and symbolic writing is neither a literary device nor an embellishment, but is his psychology's most complete expression, according to Susan Rowland. Closely examining what Jung wrote about his foremost therapeutic method, which he called 'active imagination', she intuitively grasps its family resemblance to a method of literary criticism called 'close reading'. In this essay, Rowland carefully traces the nature of each method, approximating their analogous contours, and bridging the gap between them where fruitful exchanges might begin to occur for their mutual enrichment. By holding the two methods face to face, Rowland creates magic. She inspires the literary scholar to gain familiarity with Jung's writing and thus enhance his or her skill as a critic and the Jungian analyst to contemplate the dual nature of his or her work and narrative competence. She does so with her own imaginative and symbolic writing."
"Peregrinations of active imagination " In Jungian Psychoanalysis by Sherry Salman. (Murray Stein, Ed.)
Call Number: BF173.J85 J887 2010
Publication Date: 2010
Abstract: "In addition to working with dreams, active imagination was a preferred method employed by Jung for coming into contact with the unconscious. In this chapter, the author connects this traditional Jungian method with contemporary discussions on Jungian psychoanalysis and postmodern perspectives and reviews traditional and contemporary forms of using this technique in analysis" [Read more]
The Archetypal Imagination by James Hollis
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ISBN: 0890969329
Publication Date: 2000
"What we wish to know, and most desire, remains unknowable and lies beyond our grasp". With these words, James Hollis leads readers to consider the nature of our human need for meaning in life and for connection to a world less limiting than our own. In The Archetypal Imagination, Hollis offers a lyrical Jungian appreciation of the archetypal imagination. He argues that without the human mind's ability to form energy-filled images that link us to worlds beyond our rational and emotional capacities, we would have neither culture nor spirituality. Drawing upon the work of poets and philosophers, Hollis shows the importance of depth experience, meaning, and connection to an "other" world. Just as humans have instincts for biological survival and social interaction, we have instincts for spiritual connection as well. Just as our physical and social needs seek satisfaction, so the spiritual instincts of the human animal are expressed in images we form to evoke an emotional or spiritual response, as in our dreams, myths, and religious traditions. The author draws upon the work of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, particularly his Duino Elegies, to elucidate the archetypal imagination in literary forms. To underscore the importance of incarnating depth experience, he also examines a series of paintings by Nancy Witt. With the power of the archetypal imagination available to all of us, we are invited to summon courage to take on the world anew, to relinquish outmoded identities and defenses, and to risk a radical re-imagining of the larger possibilities of the world and of the self.

Frantz, G. (2016). Active imagination and mysticism. Psychological Perspectives, 59(3), 291–292.

PsycINFO

Hannah, B. (1953). Some Remarks on Active Imagination. Spring, 1953, 38–58.

Library Archives

Hull, R. F. C. (1971). Bibliographical notes on active imagination in the works of CG Jung. Spring, 1971, 115–120.

Library Archives

Humbert, E. G. (1971). Active imagination: Theory and practice. Spring, 1971, 101–114.

Library Archives

Jordan, M. (2015). Active imagination: A passport to the soul. Psychological Perspectives, 58(2), 210–230.

PsycINFO

Kast, V. (2014). Complexes and imagination. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 59(5), 680–694. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-5922.12113

Academic Search Premier

Keller, T. (1982). Beginnings of active imagination: Analysis with C. G. Jung and Toni Wolff, 1915-1928. Spring, 1982, 279–294.

Request article from the library

Literski, N. S. (2018). Engaging the Paleolithic Images of Chauvet Cave. Psychological Perspectives, 61(3), 361–374. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332925.2018.1495921

PsycINFO

Raff, J. (2019). The alchemy of imagination. Psychological Perspectives, 62(2–3), 276–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/00332925.2019.1626669

PsycINFO

Schaverien, J. (2005). Art, dreams and active imagination: A post-Jungian approach to transference and the image. Journal of Analytical Psychology, 50(2), 127–153. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0021-8774.2005.00519.x

PsycINFO

Stephens, S. (2016). Active imagination and the dead. International Journal of Jungian Studies, 8(1), 46–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/19409052.2015.1111842

Brill Journals

Taveras, M. (2015). A Jungian aesthetic: Art, active imagination, and the creative process. Quadrant, 45(2), 23–36.

Library Archives

von Franz, M.-L. (1976/2016). Confrontation with the collective unconscious. Psychological Perspectives, 59(3), 295–318. (2016-44047-003).

PsycINFO