Creativity Through Symbolic Expression

Carl Jung stated that “image is alive”—carrying not only symbolic information, but dynamic forces and potential energies for life. Images from dreams, imagination, fantasy and intuition are the languages of the unconscious, and we can learn to value these happenings, which are routinely dismissed by modern culture as “nothing but imagination.” Carl Jung’s process of active imagination allows us to apply creative symbolic expression to our unique inner images and foster a relationship with dynamic inner guidance through the soulful and courageous depth journey of individuation. Developing a relationship with the unconscious and its symbolic language of image is at the heart of the individuation process, as Jung discovered in his own psychological experiment of creating the The Red Book. This lecture and workshop will explore a contemporary experience in developing a relationship with the unconscious, reveal common mental blocks, and address the subtle devaluing we experience through cultural overlays on the profound and numinous nature of our invisible interior guidance. Contemporary examples paralleling Jung’s experience in The Red Book will be presented to demonstrate how the process within the unconscious is active, alive and accessible in our inner lives. Carl Jung’s discovery of active imagination as a psychological method of consciously working with images from the unconscious—dreams, intuition, fantasy, synchronicity and creative imagination—offers a method of dialogue with living forces inclined toward integrating one’s unrealized potential in the journey toward wholeness. Participants will work with personal images as a living inquiry, moving beyond ego’s fear of the unknown by creative participation in mystery, with the objective of integrating a new level of awareness via the transcendent function—the way in which conscious reasoning cooperates with the irrational, paradoxical wisdom of the unconscious, uniting the opposites and generating a third, healing potential. Lecture: Friday April 21th 7-9pm Eastern Workshop: Saturday April 22th 9am-1pm Eastern