The Importance of Active Imagination

Okay, I usually do a lot of speculative, theoretical stuff and/or critique in this blog, however, I thought I'd share some of my work with active imagination.

The problem of the inferior function, Jung thought, was a tough one. In most cases, not even the auxiliary fully came into its own, but rather worked in only a slightly differentiated way to aid in the aims of the dominant function. If a person really worked at it, and most likely had the help of a skilled psychoanalyst (though von Franz does say at one point that certain people may be self-aware and honest enough to do it on their own)then they could conceivably work through the functions. This would mean living fully as the dominant, then the auxiliary, then the third, then finally, hopefully, integrating the inferior function. It was only when the dominant and the inferior were integrated that a person could become whole. Otherwise, they'd remain in a very split, one-sided state.

The importance of integrating the inferior function can't be overemphasized. von Franz thought that not only was it necessary in order for the personality to become integrated, but it was a social responsibility as well. She described the inferior function as where "the devil comes in" and so while it may start in the individual, if left unchecked, it would grow into social ills. She believed, for example, that Nazi Germany was able to happen because of people's inferior function. Hitler, she explained, could read a crowd well and knew how to play on the inner demons of the unconscious. The inferior function isn't just something we're not good at, it's something that is incredibly intense, something which not only houses secret passions but secret terrors as well, and when those things aren't recognized and integrated,can be manipulated in horribly destructive ways.

Still, Jung grew skeptical about most people doing this, and at one point suggested that for most people, it could really only be tackled through active imagination. Von Franz describes typical creative activities for all of the types except for the feeling types. Thinking types can work through their inferior function through painting or dancing, intuitive types through clay and sensing types through creative writing. So, I figured this would be a nice starting point for myself. Now, I enjoy painting, I'm a fairly skilled character writer, but true to von Franz's description, clay has long since tended to be the bane of my existence. So, I decided, while looking at some dalek figurines that we picked up in England, to do a little bit of working with clay. (I looked at an actual object since typically my imagination is given very free rein when I'm doing artwork, so I thought working from observation would be more suitable to my aims.) Here's what I came up with. Now, if this doesn't exemplify one's inferior sensing, I don't know what does:

My Clay Dalek