The final class for my specialization in Jungian Depth Psychology was on the technique of active imagination that Jung developed when he created the Redbook. This video shares an example of the magic available within these techniques. We are humming together (sorry, it is a little difficult to hear me joining in) as an experience of integration. This represents the integration of aspects of the psyche (unconscious) that become available for our conscious choices. I am very grateful to Charo Pinilla for sharing this experience!
I want to share my favorite quotes below from the best book I've found on Archtypal Music Psychotherapy in 'Jungian Music Psychotherapy' by Joel Kroeker:
Quotes:
"When musical symbols arise within analysis, the analyst would do well to respectfully lean in, listen close and mindfully attend. For those with ears to hear, these sounds from within are the resonating deep psyche beginning to sing one of the most authentically human discourses of the soul."
"... organized sound, which we sometimes call music, there is a self-generated creative component regarding how discrete sound units become meaningful sound, which then triggers a series of images and associations within the psyche. Within Archetypal Music Psychotherapy, we work toward re-claiming this creative perceptive act through bringing the personal unconscious aesthetic assumptions into consciousness in order to come in contact with core complexes and the archetypal core images that drive them."
"...aesthetic aspect relates to the principle of perception as a creative act. The act of perceiving sound as music (as opposed to other non-musical sounds that occur over the course of time) opens us up to unconscious processes that are experienced through the lens of our creative filter. This filter is heavily mediated by cultural, social and personal historical forces, just as complexes, defences and transference patterns are. Just as a powerfully active (but unconscious) family myth can continue to drive a patient’s neuroses throughout their life, similarly an unexamined aesthetic assumption can cut one off from a potentially potent and fulfilling channel of expression."
