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Encountering Jung
Jung on Active Imagination by C. G. Jung
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.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1996
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About the author
C.G. Jung
1,779 books11.1k followersCarl Gustav Jung (/jʊŋ/; German: [ˈkarl ˈɡʊstaf jʊŋ]), often referred to as C. G. Jung, was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology. Jung proposed and developed the concepts of extraversion and introversion; archetypes, and the collective unconscious. His work has been influential in psychiatry and in the study of religion, philosophy, archeology, anthropology, literature, and related fields. He was a prolific writer, many of whose works were not published until after his death.
The central concept of analytical psychology is individuation—the psychological process of integrating the opposites, including the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining their relative autonomy. Jung considered individuation to be the central process of human development.
Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts, including the archetype, the collective unconscious, the complex, and synchronicity. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a popular psychometric instrument, has been developed from Jung's theory of psychological types.
Though he was a practising clinician and considered himself to be a scientist, much of his life's work was spent exploring tangential areas such as Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, and sociology, as well as literature and the arts. Jung's interest in philosophy and the occult led many to view him as a mystic, although his ambition was to be seen as a man of science. His influence on popular psychology, the "psychologization of religion", spirituality and the New Age movement has been immense.
The central concept of analytical psychology is individuation—the psychological process of integrating the opposites, including the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining their relative autonomy. Jung considered individuation to be the central process of human development.
Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts, including the archetype, the collective unconscious, the complex, and synchronicity. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a popular psychometric instrument, has been developed from Jung's theory of psychological types.
Though he was a practising clinician and considered himself to be a scientist, much of his life's work was spent exploring tangential areas such as Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, and sociology, as well as literature and the arts. Jung's interest in philosophy and the occult led many to view him as a mystic, although his ambition was to be seen as a man of science. His influence on popular psychology, the "psychologization of religion", spirituality and the New Age movement has been immense.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 25, 2016
On Alchemy/Individuation:
- Know Thyself
- To be as honest as possible with myself
- I took great care to try to understand every single image, every item of my psychic inventory, and to classify them scientifically - so far as this was possible - and, above all, to REALIZE them in actual life
- There is no linear evolution; there is only a circumambulation of the self
- The years in which I was pursuing my inner images where the most important in my life - in them everything essential was decided.
- How does one come to terms with the unconscious?
- Getting rid of the separation between conscious and unconscious
- A way of attaining liberation by one's own efforts and of finding the courage to be oneself
- The secret of alchemy was in fact the transcendent function, the transformation of personality through the blending and fusion of the noble with the base components, of the differentiated with the inferior functions, of the conscious with the unconscious
- The centre of the total personality no longer coincides with the ego, but with a point midway between the conscious and the unconscious
- As I am, so I act
- It is of the greatest importance for the young person, who is still unadapted and has yet achieved nothing, to shape his conscious ego as effectively as possible, that is, to educate his will
- An INWARDLY stable and self-confident person will prove more adequate to his social tasks than one who is on a bad footing with his unconscious
- Mandala: the psychological expression of the totality of the self, a means of protecting the centre of the personality from being drawn out and form being influenced from outside, the squaring of the circle
- Chen-yen, the true or complete man, homo quadratus
- Find your individual way to the solution of your conflicts
- The process of coming to terms with the Other in us is well worth while, because in this way we get to know aspects of our nature which we would not allow anybody else to show us and which we ourselves would never have admitted.
The avowed purpose of this involvement is to integrate the statements of the unconscious, to assimilate their compensatory content, and thereby produce a whole meaning which alone makes life worth living and, for not a few people, possible at all. In myths the hero is the one who conquers the dragon, not the one who is devoured by it. And yet both have to deal with the same dragon. Also, he is no hero who never met the dragon, or who, if he once saw it, declared afterwards that he saw nothing. Equally, only one who has risked the fight with the dragon and is not overcome by it wins the hoard, the 'treasure hard to attain.' He alone has a genuine claim to self-confidence, for he has faced the dark ground of his self and thereby has gained himself. This experience gives him faith and trust, the pistes in the ability of the self to sustain him, for everything that menaced him from inside he has made his own. He has acquired the right to believe that he will be able to overcome all future threats by the same means. He has arrived at an inner certainty which makes him capable of self-reliance, and attained what the alchemists called the unio mentalis.
Instructions for practicing Active imagination:
- Concentrate on the emotionally disturbed state until a visual image appears, a visual mood
- Choose an image from a dream, vision or fantasy and concentrate on it
- Choose a photo, picture or other object and concentrate on it until it comes alive
- Find the particular images which lie behind emotions
- I frequently imagined a steep descent. I even made several attempts to get to very bottom
- Make emotional state the basis or starting point of the procedure: make yourself as conscious as possible of the mood you are in, sink yourself in without reserve and note down on paper all fantasies and other associations that come up
- Visual type: concentrate on inner image
- Audio-verbal type: concentrate on inner words
- Other types: work with plastic materials, bodily movements, automatic writing
- Introduce as much fantasy as possible into the picture, for in that way the unconscious has the best chance of revealing its contents
- Vivid colors seem to attract the unconscious
- When you concentrate on a mental picture, it begins to stir, the image becomes enriched by details, it moves and develops. Each time, naturally, you mistrust it and have the idea that you have just made it up, that it is merely your own invention. But you have to overcome that doubt, because it is not true. We can really produce precious little by our conscious mind. All the time we are dependent upon things that literally fall into our conscious; therefore in German we call them Einfälle.
- Start with any image. Contemplate it and carefully observe how the picture begins to unfold or to change. Don't try to make it into something, just do nothing but observe what its spontaneous changes are. Note all these changes and eventually step into the picture yourself, and if it is a speaking figure at all then say what you have to say to that figure and listen to what he or she has to say.
- Step into the picture with your ordinary human reactions and emotions
- You choose a dream, or some other fantasy-image, and concentrate on it by simply catching hold of it and looking at it. You can also use a bad good as a starting-point, and then try to find out what sort of fantasy-image it will produce, or what image expresses this mood. The alterations must be carefully noted down all the time, for they reflect the psychic processes in the unconscious background.
- Don't let anything from outside, that does not belong, get into it, for the fantasy-image has everything it needs
- If you recognize your own involvement you yourself must enter into the process with your personal reactions, just as if you were one of the fantasy figures, or rather, as if the drama being enacted before your eyes were real. […] If you place yourself in the drama as you really are, not only does it gain in actuality but you also create, by your criticism of the fantasy an effective counterbalance to its tendency to get out of hand. For what is now happening is the decisive rapprochement with the unconscious. This is where insight, the unio mentalis, begins to become real. What you are now creating is the beginning of individuation, whose immediate goal is the experience and production of the symbol of totality.
- Know Thyself
- To be as honest as possible with myself
- I took great care to try to understand every single image, every item of my psychic inventory, and to classify them scientifically - so far as this was possible - and, above all, to REALIZE them in actual life
- There is no linear evolution; there is only a circumambulation of the self
- The years in which I was pursuing my inner images where the most important in my life - in them everything essential was decided.
- How does one come to terms with the unconscious?
- Getting rid of the separation between conscious and unconscious
- A way of attaining liberation by one's own efforts and of finding the courage to be oneself
- The secret of alchemy was in fact the transcendent function, the transformation of personality through the blending and fusion of the noble with the base components, of the differentiated with the inferior functions, of the conscious with the unconscious
- The centre of the total personality no longer coincides with the ego, but with a point midway between the conscious and the unconscious
- As I am, so I act
- It is of the greatest importance for the young person, who is still unadapted and has yet achieved nothing, to shape his conscious ego as effectively as possible, that is, to educate his will
- An INWARDLY stable and self-confident person will prove more adequate to his social tasks than one who is on a bad footing with his unconscious
- Mandala: the psychological expression of the totality of the self, a means of protecting the centre of the personality from being drawn out and form being influenced from outside, the squaring of the circle
- Chen-yen, the true or complete man, homo quadratus
- Find your individual way to the solution of your conflicts
- The process of coming to terms with the Other in us is well worth while, because in this way we get to know aspects of our nature which we would not allow anybody else to show us and which we ourselves would never have admitted.
The avowed purpose of this involvement is to integrate the statements of the unconscious, to assimilate their compensatory content, and thereby produce a whole meaning which alone makes life worth living and, for not a few people, possible at all. In myths the hero is the one who conquers the dragon, not the one who is devoured by it. And yet both have to deal with the same dragon. Also, he is no hero who never met the dragon, or who, if he once saw it, declared afterwards that he saw nothing. Equally, only one who has risked the fight with the dragon and is not overcome by it wins the hoard, the 'treasure hard to attain.' He alone has a genuine claim to self-confidence, for he has faced the dark ground of his self and thereby has gained himself. This experience gives him faith and trust, the pistes in the ability of the self to sustain him, for everything that menaced him from inside he has made his own. He has acquired the right to believe that he will be able to overcome all future threats by the same means. He has arrived at an inner certainty which makes him capable of self-reliance, and attained what the alchemists called the unio mentalis.
Instructions for practicing Active imagination:
- Concentrate on the emotionally disturbed state until a visual image appears, a visual mood
- Choose an image from a dream, vision or fantasy and concentrate on it
- Choose a photo, picture or other object and concentrate on it until it comes alive
- Find the particular images which lie behind emotions
- I frequently imagined a steep descent. I even made several attempts to get to very bottom
- Make emotional state the basis or starting point of the procedure: make yourself as conscious as possible of the mood you are in, sink yourself in without reserve and note down on paper all fantasies and other associations that come up
- Visual type: concentrate on inner image
- Audio-verbal type: concentrate on inner words
- Other types: work with plastic materials, bodily movements, automatic writing
- Introduce as much fantasy as possible into the picture, for in that way the unconscious has the best chance of revealing its contents
- Vivid colors seem to attract the unconscious
- When you concentrate on a mental picture, it begins to stir, the image becomes enriched by details, it moves and develops. Each time, naturally, you mistrust it and have the idea that you have just made it up, that it is merely your own invention. But you have to overcome that doubt, because it is not true. We can really produce precious little by our conscious mind. All the time we are dependent upon things that literally fall into our conscious; therefore in German we call them Einfälle.
- Start with any image. Contemplate it and carefully observe how the picture begins to unfold or to change. Don't try to make it into something, just do nothing but observe what its spontaneous changes are. Note all these changes and eventually step into the picture yourself, and if it is a speaking figure at all then say what you have to say to that figure and listen to what he or she has to say.
- Step into the picture with your ordinary human reactions and emotions
- You choose a dream, or some other fantasy-image, and concentrate on it by simply catching hold of it and looking at it. You can also use a bad good as a starting-point, and then try to find out what sort of fantasy-image it will produce, or what image expresses this mood. The alterations must be carefully noted down all the time, for they reflect the psychic processes in the unconscious background.
- Don't let anything from outside, that does not belong, get into it, for the fantasy-image has everything it needs
- If you recognize your own involvement you yourself must enter into the process with your personal reactions, just as if you were one of the fantasy figures, or rather, as if the drama being enacted before your eyes were real. […] If you place yourself in the drama as you really are, not only does it gain in actuality but you also create, by your criticism of the fantasy an effective counterbalance to its tendency to get out of hand. For what is now happening is the decisive rapprochement with the unconscious. This is where insight, the unio mentalis, begins to become real. What you are now creating is the beginning of individuation, whose immediate goal is the experience and production of the symbol of totality.
June 22, 2021
Jung’s writing is not easy to read. It was described to me today as writing in the symbolic feminine, meaning that he associates, amplifies, meanders and spirals, rather than laying down steps 1-27 towards a pre-determined goal. But if you put in the time and effort, it is so worthwhile to read Jung. The man was a genius with profound insights into the human psyche.
This Encountering Jung series is, I’ve discovered, a great way to read Jung. While so much of his work jumps from one idea to another (see spiralling and meandering above!), these volumes collect his writing on a specific theme, and there’s an introduction by another analyst that does a great job of contextualizing what the reader is going to find. This is my first ‘Encountering Jung’ title but it won’t be my last. I have three others on order.
This Encountering Jung series is, I’ve discovered, a great way to read Jung. While so much of his work jumps from one idea to another (see spiralling and meandering above!), these volumes collect his writing on a specific theme, and there’s an introduction by another analyst that does a great job of contextualizing what the reader is going to find. This is my first ‘Encountering Jung’ title but it won’t be my last. I have three others on order.
April 16, 2025
This book is a fascinating document and insight into Jung’s point of view.
While it is instructive and useful in its advice on accessing the unconscious mind; Jung’s insistence on interpreting these images is something I grate against.
While his resistance to Freud’s particularly narrow point of view was revolutionary for psychological practice at the time; Jung manages only to offer a clumsily communicated ‘Mythological’ lens through which to understand these images; this being within in the context of his larger idea of ‘collective consciousness’.
As is understood by contemporary critical thinkers; any one image can be understood through an almost infinite number of critical lenses.
If the practice of interpretation is essential (which I don’t think it is), it should probably be done on the terms of the image and the philosophical questions which it presents, with the use of various critical lenses to further understand, and break the image down.
The emphasis should really be on identifying and understanding these philosophical questions, and using straightforward dialectal techniques to understand and manage the emotional distress these conflicts are causing.
The book has extended sections on Jung’s interpretations, without much regard for the actual process of interpretation. To be completely fair, Jung gives enough to gain a handle on his approach, so that you do not get completely lost.
However,
In my opinion, the act of rendering these images through an artistic medium is a more than adequate form of interpretation. Contained in the single act of artistic expression, are the sub-steps of:
1. Accessing the unconscious image.
2. Identifying and understanding the fundamental philosophical question presented or indicated by the image.
3. Utilising various critical lenses and dialectics to further clarify and elaborate upon the image.
4. Create a clear, physical record of this process, for future reference.
To me, this is what all the truly great works of art through history achieve. This is David Lynch making Erasorhead and Blue Velvet, it’s Jeff Mangum writing In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, this is Michelangelo chipping at David, this is Bosch painting the Garden of Earthly Delights, this is Dostoyevsky writing Notes from Underground.
If individuation (I.e. behaving in a way that you intentionally decide to, and not just in the way that you are compelled to by your circumstances); requires separating from, and understanding oneself both internally and in the context of society as a whole; then the creation of these works are, if not in themselves this very act, at least an essential practice in the striving towards this ultimate individuation.
The next part is very much conjecture on my part.
This is why I think that the act of experiencing art is important. When one identifies with an artistic work of the nature detailed above, the work of interpreting these internal conflicts has been done. This allows the viewer to quickly access their own relationship to the philosophical conflict being explored and to reflect on it. This in itself is generally accepted to be highly therapeutic. This is also why artists often replicate works they identify with, as a means of identifying the moods, emotions and evocations, to then elaborate on in their own work.
While it is instructive and useful in its advice on accessing the unconscious mind; Jung’s insistence on interpreting these images is something I grate against.
While his resistance to Freud’s particularly narrow point of view was revolutionary for psychological practice at the time; Jung manages only to offer a clumsily communicated ‘Mythological’ lens through which to understand these images; this being within in the context of his larger idea of ‘collective consciousness’.
As is understood by contemporary critical thinkers; any one image can be understood through an almost infinite number of critical lenses.
If the practice of interpretation is essential (which I don’t think it is), it should probably be done on the terms of the image and the philosophical questions which it presents, with the use of various critical lenses to further understand, and break the image down.
The emphasis should really be on identifying and understanding these philosophical questions, and using straightforward dialectal techniques to understand and manage the emotional distress these conflicts are causing.
The book has extended sections on Jung’s interpretations, without much regard for the actual process of interpretation. To be completely fair, Jung gives enough to gain a handle on his approach, so that you do not get completely lost.
However,
In my opinion, the act of rendering these images through an artistic medium is a more than adequate form of interpretation. Contained in the single act of artistic expression, are the sub-steps of:
1. Accessing the unconscious image.
2. Identifying and understanding the fundamental philosophical question presented or indicated by the image.
3. Utilising various critical lenses and dialectics to further clarify and elaborate upon the image.
4. Create a clear, physical record of this process, for future reference.
To me, this is what all the truly great works of art through history achieve. This is David Lynch making Erasorhead and Blue Velvet, it’s Jeff Mangum writing In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, this is Michelangelo chipping at David, this is Bosch painting the Garden of Earthly Delights, this is Dostoyevsky writing Notes from Underground.
If individuation (I.e. behaving in a way that you intentionally decide to, and not just in the way that you are compelled to by your circumstances); requires separating from, and understanding oneself both internally and in the context of society as a whole; then the creation of these works are, if not in themselves this very act, at least an essential practice in the striving towards this ultimate individuation.
The next part is very much conjecture on my part.
This is why I think that the act of experiencing art is important. When one identifies with an artistic work of the nature detailed above, the work of interpreting these internal conflicts has been done. This allows the viewer to quickly access their own relationship to the philosophical conflict being explored and to reflect on it. This in itself is generally accepted to be highly therapeutic. This is also why artists often replicate works they identify with, as a means of identifying the moods, emotions and evocations, to then elaborate on in their own work.
November 17, 2011
Although I like the concept of finding artistic inspiration through your dreams and unconscious, I did not like this book as much as "Dreams" by Jung. His theories almost seem to turn into his own religion and he appears to have an answer for every possible question. He states his concepts as though they are facts and does not bother to give the reader an explanation of how he comes to his conclusions.
October 7, 2024
Fick det jag ville ha ut av boken i guess men kan inte säga att det va speciellt kul läsning. Hur ”active imagination” fungerar / vad det är var det som drog mig till boken och det skulle jag säga besvarades. Mycket av boken består dock av analys av patienter och hur deras upplevelser relaterar till obskyra myter eller alkemi. Inte den mest spännande boken men fanns absolut jätte bra delar. Också lite om Jungs take på taoism finns med i boken.
June 15, 2025
I found this book on my phone, downloaded sometime in 2020-2023, never read it though, as my interest in Jung slowly faded over the years. Some essays are worth reading, others are merely for the psychologists among us, alas not me. Sigh.
January 23, 2023
Active Imagination (AI) is essentially a method of art therapy pioneered by Carl Jung. I became interested in it after hearing a lecture on the topic by Jungian hypnotherapist Gus Cwik. Jung never wrote a book devoted to AI nor ever gave a complete written explanation of how it works. This book is an anthology of every essay or letter CG Jung wrote where AI is discussed. Taken together it provides a pretty complete picture of how Jung practiced AI and what it meant to him. Good read if you're interested in art therapy, psychology, or the personal life of Jung.
January 28, 2019
The author has collected what Jung had to say about active imagination. Thank you.
June 2, 2023
Insightful tidbits from Jung himself, which really hone in his theories on active imagination. There were a couple moments where I found some of the excerpts more dense than other Jung readings I have encountered, but to the Jungian who admires what he himself has had to say about his practices, this is insightful.
Jung postulates that in allowing oneself to engage in the fantasy-dream of active imagination, and sitting with the vision until it changes, the person will inevitably witness a change; and once, having chosen to engage in the fantasy-dream as an active participant, the individual will learn what the figures of the unconscious are revealing.
A worry of mine regarding the theory of active imagination has been something along the lines of “how would I know if I am making this up or if it really is the unconscious?” Jung addresses this head-on, by saying that the visions that come from the unconscious will of course be scrutinized by the conscious mind because of the natural fragmentary nature of the unconscious, but the conscious is not able to produce such images at will. So long as the individual is willing to be an active participant and play with the fantasy-dream, the images will flow from the unconscious, but it is up to the individual to face the visions and interpret their meaning that is specific to the individual and his/her life.
Jung postulates that in allowing oneself to engage in the fantasy-dream of active imagination, and sitting with the vision until it changes, the person will inevitably witness a change; and once, having chosen to engage in the fantasy-dream as an active participant, the individual will learn what the figures of the unconscious are revealing.
A worry of mine regarding the theory of active imagination has been something along the lines of “how would I know if I am making this up or if it really is the unconscious?” Jung addresses this head-on, by saying that the visions that come from the unconscious will of course be scrutinized by the conscious mind because of the natural fragmentary nature of the unconscious, but the conscious is not able to produce such images at will. So long as the individual is willing to be an active participant and play with the fantasy-dream, the images will flow from the unconscious, but it is up to the individual to face the visions and interpret their meaning that is specific to the individual and his/her life.
March 17, 2025
Wonderful stuff on the very specific topic of active imagination. Jung sees active imagination as a means of extrapolating projections of the unconscious, which he uses - and writes about - as a method in his psychoanalytical therapy.
Don't expect to be provided with tips on how to leverage your active imagination c.q. be more creative - as I foolishly did. I would recommend this book to people who really want to get into the nitty-gritty of Jung's methods of psychoanalysis. There are other books which provide a more comprehensive or essential view of his thoughts.
Don't expect to be provided with tips on how to leverage your active imagination c.q. be more creative - as I foolishly did. I would recommend this book to people who really want to get into the nitty-gritty of Jung's methods of psychoanalysis. There are other books which provide a more comprehensive or essential view of his thoughts.
December 29, 2023
I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t really learn anything.
November 3, 2024
This is a compilation of Jungian excerpts. I would recommend reading the full books instead, Jung is a very talented writer with many different ideas not fully captured here
November 6, 2008
Although I think the concept is amazing, and what Jung did to bring non-mainstream concepts and practices to mainstream attention is not to be underestimated, I don't find this book to be the best place to start to get information about it. He rambles a lot -- I often find it's easier to read books about him by his students, although Memories, Dreams, Reflections is a good book.
February 21, 2012
Certain moments that he shares with his readers. Like how one just knows things sometimes. I would like to believe we all have strong intuitions. The idea of a collective conscience- that we are capable of causing activity even to the seismic level. its all TOO much to handle at once. But for those of you reading magic realism and mysticism- Read JUNG before it ALL.
February 19, 2011
Good anthology. would have preferred some more obscure references.
December 22, 2015
Very illuminating. It helped round out my knowledge and my conception of a topic that I'm already well practiced in.
June 13, 2015
Very rich selections
Some of Jung's best writings of any kind, not just on active imagination. I must read it again at least once though. The veins are so vast of Jung's best.
Some of Jung's best writings of any kind, not just on active imagination. I must read it again at least once though. The veins are so vast of Jung's best.
January 25, 2016
A compilation.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews