Carl Jung on “Active Imagination”

This process of active imagination is the making conscious of the material which lies on the threshold of consciousness. Consciousness is an effort and you have to sleep in order to recuperate from the task. ~Carl Jung, ETH Lectures, Volume II, Page 12.

The alchemistic development of active imagination broke off after the Middle Ages but such interruptions do not occur in the East. ~Carl Jung, Modern Psychology, Vol. 3, Page 14.

Children are full of active imagination but we think of it as a childish activity. This is an error, for we find it everywhere among primitives and in all ancient cultures all over the world. ~Carl Jung, Modern Psychology, Vol. 3, Page 12.

Active imagination is to be understood as a way or method, to heal, raise and transform the personality. ~Carl Jung, ETH Lecture, Pages 174.

Through active imagination the image is imprinted on the psychic essence of personality with the purpose of transformation. ~Carl Jung, ETH Lecture, Pages 174.

Active imagination is the intentional activating of a function which otherwise remains passive. ~Carl Jung, ETH Lecture, Pages 175.

We do not stop to think that nothing would exist, there would be no culture in the world, if it were not for active imagination; it is always the forerunner, everything springs from it. ~Carl Jung, ETH Lecture, Pages 175.

I have seen such cases where a second personality brings about an absolute change in character. It is this phenomenon which is made conscious here through active imagination. ~Carl Jung, ETH Lecture, Pages 106.

The meaning of this passage age is that through active imagination the Yogin succeeds in making his senses and functions independent. It is the purification of the senses. ~Carl Jung, ETH Lecture 20Jan1939, Page 59.

The unconscious comes into action through the attitude of the conscious in active imagination. ~Carl Jung, ETH Lecture 3Mar1939, Page 98.

The East understands active phantasying and its inner meaning far better than we do. ~Carl Jung, ETH Lecture 12July1935, Page 238.

If someone has a mastery of total critical evaluation, it is possible for him to reach the processes of the unconscious through automatic writing instead of through "active imagination." ~Carl Jung, Jung-Ostrowski, Page 18.

The technique of active imagination can prove very important in difficult situations -- where there is a visitation, say. It only makes sense when one has the feeling of being up against a blank wall. ~Carl Jung, Jung-Ostrowski, Page 18.

Active imagination is only legitimate if one is confronted with an insurmountable obstacle in a situation where no one can give advice. ~Carl Jung, Jung-Ostrowski, Page 18.

Active imagination and automatic writing, painting and carving pictures from the unconscious, are all indirect methods of finding out what the unconscious means. ~Carl Jung, Jung-Ostrowski, Page 18.

Passive fantasy […] is always in need of conscious criticism […] whereas active fantasy [,,,] does not require criticism so much as understanding. ~Carl Jung, CW 6, Par. 714.

I used the same technique [Active Imagination] of the descent, but this time I went much deeper. The first time I should say I reached a depth of about one thousand feet, but this time it was a cosmic depth. ~Carl Jung, 1925 Seminar, Page 68

The paintings initially started out as illustrations of the fantasies in the text, and thereafter could be considered active imaginations in their own right, at times referring to contemporaneous fantasies in Jung’s Black Books. ~Sonu Shamdasani, Introduction 1925 Seminar, Page xii