Embodied Imagination South Africa

The theoretical background for Embodied Imagination® is based on principles  developed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung and draws specifically from his work on alchemy and transference psychology. Islamic mysticism, through the teachings and writings of Henry Corbin, form a second major pillar of the work.

This ancient perspective positions the imaginal realm as the source for dreaming and imagination. The Sufi’s believed that our capacity to imagine is facilitated by the soul, referring to it as the organ of imaginal perception. Therefore the development of soul is seen as a central tenant of Embodied Imagination dream work.

The third major contributor to the method is American Archetypal psychologist James Hillman. Hillman’s  principle focus on the ontological independence of the image in conjunction with his perspective that psyche comprises a simultaneous multiplicity of autonomous states relates to the Embodied Imagination® focus on the principles of alterity and complexity theory. Phenomenology, ancient incubation techniques and neuroscience complete the weave of one of the most exciting and rewarding methods of working with dreams in our modern times.