Up: [[Active Imagination]] Created: 2025-05-04 Updated: 2025-05-09 The first of the [[Steps of Active Imagination]] is to choose a starting image, called a seed. #### Any Modality The word ‘image’ makes many of us think exclusively of visual images, but all modalities are considered images produced by the psyche. So a seed can be in any modality: - visual - auditory - tactile - kinesthetic - olfactory - gustatory - haptic — any two modalities together #### Traditional Seed The traditional seed is a dream image. When dreaming, your ego is not present. A dream image is an ideal seed because it is a message from the unconscious, untainted by ego desires, expectations, or memories. As much as possible, you want to be using the images generated by your own psyche, so from dreams, daydreams, or visions. It’s psyche-generated images that are going to reveal your individual psychic structure — your particular vantage point for looking at both outer and inner worlds. #### But Any of These Other Image Sources Can Work - tarot cards - religious art, icons, statues - literature - drama - secular works of visual art - musical recordings, both sacred and secular