As mentioned, an inner figure is a personification of a particular content of the unconscious, so that dealing with that figure is also dealing with the content in question. Just as, for example, one does not dream of a father complex per se but of a man in a three-piece suit who looks like one's boss, so in active imagination the inner content is

When doing active imagination work, the ego faces other dangers. The power of the unconscious should not be underestimated. Unable to maintain its own position, the ego could be deluged with the unconscious material and experience a psychotic episode. Or if the ego drops its perspective and buys into the unconscious too completely, the one-sided re

There is another power of the imagination to which Paracelsus referred. He wrote that the imagination had the power to penetrate the heavens, passing from star to star, overcoming and moderating heaven. On the one hand, this description refers to the process I have just discussed, because the power to moderate the heavens by moving from star to sta

For the transcendent function to operate successfully, the two opposites must be differentiated and have sufficient tension between them. The ego needs to be fully awake, and aware, and capable of holding its position while interacting with the unconscious image. The image created by the unconscious and the ego interact, and in this interaction, th

The latent self is a weak center, possessing only limited power to organize psychic life. With the latent self, the complexes and archetypes vie for control of the psyche; the intra-psychic situation is chaotic and difficult. The individual by no means experiences the chaos a psychotic patient does, but the individual's sense of self is tenuous. Th

One can experience inner figures in many ways. Active imagination connects individuals with inner figures which, while very powerful, are clearly imaginal and derived from the psyche. These figures feel as if they were coming from within oneself. Typically one experiences them with eyes closed, and attention directed inward. These are the psychic f

For example, he stated that the self as center must become the spiritus rector of daily life.1 Moreover, the experience of the self is almost impossible to practically distinguish from the experience of “what has always been referred to as ‘God.’”2 The experience of the self is from the perspective of the ego an experience of the Divine that presen

the ideal form of active imagination is a dialogue or interchange between an inner figure and the ego. The inner figure actually personifies the content of the unconscious we are attempting to engage, and it does so in a form that can speak and actively exchange information with the ego.

Moreover, the world is alive and vital, filled with magical possibilities and a numinous background that takes very little to activate. Individuals in such a state of being are present in the moment, and participate consciously in every situation. At the same time, however, the world of the unconscious is also present, and imaginal encounters close