Active Imagination - Miller

Active Imagination Iona Miller The practice of active imagination requires six steps: STEP 1: The preliminary phase
e requires focusing on your immediate life problems or aspirations. You establish the intent or goal of the operation. If there is a problem or issue, it should be identified. The excursion into imagination should have a well-defined purpose. STEP 2: Next, empty your mind, dropping into a reverie, or natural trance. Become physically and mentally relaxed. Assume a position where you are comfortable but will not fall asleep. Empty the mind of ego's train of thought. If thoughts crop up, just watch them come and go, dismissing them if they deal with your outer life. STEP 3: This is the phase of letting go to your unconscious stream of images and letting that absorb your attention. If you are pathworking, visualize the corresponding Tarot Trump at this point, and enter into its virtual scenery. Focus on this image, but not enough to arrest the activity taking place spontaneously. Don't make a frozen picture of it, but don't let it change too rapidly, either, or you will become overwhelmed. If that happens flow with the dizzying whirlpool and let it take you deeper and deeper, and find what is there. The point is to participate fully in the drama, rather than watching yourself like a movie. You must be there with your own values, intentions, wounds, and will. STEP 4: Active imagination requires an ethical confrontation with the archetypal forces to be truly transforming. You must enter the inner drama with your true personality, not as your ideal. Leave your images of heroism and grandiosity behind. Be the unique person you are in inner, as well as outer life. Once the imaginal experience begins, the ego is engaged and compelled to participate. Take advantage of the opportunity to ask these forces just what they are seeking from you as a mortal being. See if the god-form has any gifts or treasures for you to take back into the dayworld. STEP 5: The gifts of these forces take many forms, some of which are physically and emotionally healing. The idea of this stage is to apply what you have learned in the encounter and make it practical. The god-form may have ordered or asked for certain behavior on the part of the ego. If this does not contradict cultural, moral or ethical laws, you may experiment with these inner directions. Mostly they seek attention. In any event, the contact is established and you know where and to whom to return if there is further need of "discussion." STEP 6: If you have an intriguing inner journey, and meet the godform in imagination by directing the unfolding of the fantasy, give it some form of expression in your external life. For example, write it down in your journal of inner events or dreambook, paint what you saw, sculpt it, dance it, or play the music you heard there. NOTE OF CAUTION: There is the chance of repressed unconscious forces breaking through into daily life, overwhelming the ego. If you feel emotionally unstable, seek a therapist to function as a guide on your inner journeys. There is a great deal of energy locked up, or stuck in past traumas,
which needs to be released. Active imagination is a means of facing up to and dealing with these shadowy problems. Active imagination may bring unusual manifestations in its wake, including psychosomatic changes in blood pressure or heartbeat. These are from strong emotions and can be worked through by consciously relaxing yourself, or being physically expressive. Or, you might experience a strong sense of euphoria as the ego identifies with the archetypal forces during the event. There might be a reactionary let-down, but it won't last long. Synchronistic events, or seemingly magical, meaningful coincidences may appear. Don't let your judgment be blurred by excitement. This is a normal occurrence when working on the inner levels and provides additional insight on the dynamics at work. GUIDELINES FOR PRACTICE include the following: 1). Maintain a critical distinction between wish fulfillment and the experience of true imagination. 2). There is no rush to experience every god-form or Tarot Path via imagination. Take it slowly, learning and assimilating each new experience thoroughly before going farther. 3). Insure your freedom from interruption during your imaginal excursion. 4). Establish a time limit. It is a good idea to have a trusted friend nearby to monitor you. 5). Record results in your journal of self-discovery, including physical reactions and synchronicities. 6). Never do an active imagination which concerns living people. This especially includes intentional sexual visualizations. This is unethical from the magician's point of view, as it is an encroachment on their True Will. It is a misapplication of the technique. 7). Ground exercises in active imagination by applying the experiences gained in pathworking to daily life. 8). Try to establish contact with your personal "inner guide" who will always offer protection if requested and allowed to do so.

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Active Imagination Iona Miller The practice of active imagination requires six steps: STEP 1: The preliminary phase

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