Active Imagination: The Effective Factor in the Practice of Psychotherapy
Sonia Regina Lyra
Abstract—The desire for unequivocal clarity is understandable, but this can make one forget that things of the soul are experiential processes, or transformations, which should never be designated unilaterally if it is not wanted to transform something that moves, a living thing, into something static. Among the so-called ‘things of the soul’ there are especially spontaneous fantasies, that emerge during the processes, as a result from the use of the active imagination technique, for when fantasy is not forced, violated, or subjugated by an illegitimate, intellectually preconceived idea, then it is a legitimate and authentic product of the unconscious mind. This is how one can gain access to unadulterated information about everything that transcends the conscious mind. However, it is vital to discern between ego and non-ego, because this principle will result in a release of energy and a renewal of life, which will come to have meaning. This study will deal with the active imagination as a knowledge that depends on the individual experience of the therapist because the patient will be taken just to reach where the unconscious of the therapist was assimilated to his own conscience. In this way, the therapist becomes the method itself, being his personality, a fundamental part of an effective factor. Keywords—Active imagination, effective factor, symptom, transformation. I. INTRODUCTION ET us immediately take up some of Jung’s considerations, which are certainly well known to many, but which is always good to point out, especially when our central theme is the effective factor. The first consideration is that, “the unconscious is neutral rather like nature. If it is destructive on the one side, it is as constructive on the other side. It is the source of all sorts of evils and also the matrix of all divine experience and, as paradoxical as it may sound, it has brought forth and brings forth consciousness” [1]. Any aspect of the unconscious communicates with us: “[...] it usually communicates with man through the medium of the soul, in other words, our unconscious, or rather through its transcendental ‘psychoid basis’”[1], thus allowing recognition that religious experience, while accessible to the human mind, cannot be distinguished from so-called unconscious phenomena. When depreciated, the unconscious blocks the channels through which “[...] the aqua gratiae flows [...]” [1], and such obstructions begin to manifest in the body through its effects, i.e., the symptoms. Experience shows us today that in this case, the obstructions work and keep working as if they had forgotten to disable their Sonia Lyra is with ICHTHYS Institute for Analytical Psychology, Curitiba, PR, Brazil (phone: +55 41 3357-9895; e-mail: contato@sonialyra.com.br). function. They act as forms of protection at certain times of life and, subsequently, once they are installed they do not unblock as well as they obstruct the passages of “aqua gratiae”, creating obstacles and resistance to the flow of the libido, without which, there is no possibility of the creation of consciousness. Jung explains: “I don’t presume to know what the psyche is; I only know that there is a psychic realm in which and from which such manifestations start. It is the place where the aqua gratiae springs forth, but it comes, as I know quite well, from the immeasurable depths of the mountain and I do not pretend to know about the secret ways and places the water flows through before it reaches the surface” [1]. Then, the manifestations of the unconscious are in general ambivalent or ambiguous; firmness and the ability to discern are of the utmost importance. It is at this point that it is important to prevent the patient from blindly rejecting the data of the unconscious or submiting himself or herself to it without critical sense. Robert Johnson in his book, Inner Work: Using Dreams and Active Imagination for Personal Growth [2], systematized active imagination, and denominate this understanding “ethical content”. Nowadays, unsuspecting individuals try to attempt to dominate the unconscious by the most illicit means possible, including indiscriminate use and abuse of psychiatric medication and other drugs. In this case, says Jung: “There is no development at all but only a miserable death in a thirsty desert if one thinks one can rule the unconscious by our arbitrary rationalism” [3]. Not dominate and not be dominated, therefore, is the great process valid for the relationship of consciousness, either with the intrapsychic content, or with interpersonal or with suprapersonal content. A process that leads to satisfactory results can also be difficult because, as a rule, says Jung, “If he (the individual) finds the task too difficult, he will usually fail right at the beginning and never get through the dangerous impasse […] due to the possibility of triggering some psychosis. However, if it has got so far that the patient can do active imagination and shape out his fantasies” [4]. Then, there will hardly be any serious danger. The danger, therefore, which prevents the individual from going further, whether the analyst or the patient, is in the fear of the unconscious, “[…] because voluntary participation in the fantasy is alarming to a naïve mind and amounts to an anticipated psychosis” [4]. These comments by Jung are very
