The Twelve steps to
successful imagery
By Jimmy Henderson
Hons (phil) MA (psychology) FRC
There are imagery centres and neural
pathways in our brains which require time to develop and the mastery of
visualisation or imagery actually begins with the development of simple skills
such as memory and recall and only evolves over time into the more powerful
forms of advanced spontaneous imagery. Developing this skill can involve up to
twelve steps and each has to be mastered before proceeding to the next. If we
follow this process diligently and correctly, we will eventually achieve
success and open ourselves to the hidden dimensions of our own consciousness
and even beyond that to the wonders of communicating with the universe of
shared consciousness.
Follow these twelve steps closely and
diligently over a period of weeks. Do not move on to the next step until you
have mastered the previous one. As you move from one step to the next, include
all the previous steps in your next visualization.
First Level: Practicing recall
Step 1
·
Obtain a colour picture of a household scene from a
magazine. The scene should contain furniture and a number of different objects
·
Study the picture for about half a minute
and close your eyes, trying to recall as many
of the features or characteristics of
the room and objects as possible
·
Practice this for a few days until you are
able to recall most of the objects and settings in the room in the picture
Step 2.
·
Now close your eyes and create a colour
image of the same picture in your mind and continue practicing until you are
able to hold it clearly in your mind for at least ten seconds. At this stage it
may still be two–dimensional
Level two: Basic Imagery (Keep your eyes closed for all further steps)
Step 3.
·
Enter the relaxed and quiet state of mind
required for meditation and set an intention to create an imaginary scene in
your mind
·
Keep your eyes closed and mentally create a
simple natural scene from memory or simply by using your imagination. For this
example I suggest a section of your garden with a few flowers, trees and a
pathway
·
Try to piece it together and hold it in your
mind for as long as possible. Once again, at this stage it may still be
two-dimensional
·
Holding a scene together can be tiring, and
as soon as you lose concentration, rather end the imagery. Do this in the same
way as you would for meditation (Moving your fingers and hands or
counting-down)
·
Continue with this exercise over a period of
days, using the same scene, gradually
filling in as much detail, form,
colour and texture as you
can
Step 4. Adding other dimensions to our mental creation
·
Once again, begin your
imagery with relaxation
and a quiet mind meditation
·
Close your eyes, set your intention and re‑create
your imaginary scene as before, but now try to view it three‑dimensionally
Step 5.
·
Add sounds, scents and movement to your
scene (see leaves moving, smell the flowers and imagine that you hear birds
singing)
Step
6. Placing living things in our scene
·
Place an image of an animal in the scene, In
other words, see your cat or dog walking
through the garden
·
Exit from your imagery slowly and
systematically. Do not abruptly end the session
·
Continue with this same exercise and scene
for a few more days, until you can perform all these mental tasks with ease
Step
7. Placing ourselves in the scene
·
Begin your imagery as
before with relaxation
and meditation. Set your intention and create an image of yourself in the
scene, as a separate figure. In other words, see yourself walking through the
garden. Remember to include all the previous steps of three-dimensionality,
sounds, scent, movement and animals. Seeing yourself at a distance in this way,
is called the third-person perspective
·
Exit from your imagery as before in the
proper manner. In other words, if you have woven a story into your scenario,
conclude the session as if you were bringing the story to a satisfactory
ending. See yourself leaving the garden and closing the gate behind you. By now
your unconscious mind would be getting used to this process of imagery and
ending the session abruptly could cause confusion and a breach of trust
Step 8. The
first-person perspective
·
Begin your meditation and create your scene as before but now strive
to project into the body you have created for yourself in your scene and look
through your ‘eyes’ at the grass beneath you and see only your feet on the
pathway as you move along. Switching
to this ‘first-person’ perspective is difficult and takes practice
·
Continue with this step for a number of days
until you are able to actually feel the ground beneath your feet, touch the
foliage with your hands and experience sensations
·
Once again, when concluding the exercise,
exit from the process slowly
and gently, by leaving the garden and closing the gate behind you
·
Once you have done this, set an intention to
return to normal consciousness, move your hands and fingers, or count down
Spontaneous imagery- The
Threshold of Inner Sight
(Level
three)
This is the third level of imagery and the most important. Unless we are
born with this gift, spontaneous imagery only occurs once we have been
diligently practicing for quite a while. At this time, symbolic images from our
own unconscious or even from outside of our own consciousness will begin to
spontaneously present themselves to us during our imagery. This marks our
passage to what I call, the ‘Threshold of Inner Sight’, and suggests we have
successfully established a close working relationship with our unconscious
mind.
This stage is very important, as you are learning the skill of creating
an inner visual field, a blank screen in your mind in which you can translate
sensations, impressions and feelings into images and naturally leads on to the
psychic ability of clairvoyance or spiritual sight.
Step 9. Simple spontaneous imagery
Once again, you should not attempt this level of imagery unless you have mastered the previous
steps. And for this level of work, I recommend refraining from alcohol, meat
and strong medication for the preceding twenty-four hours.
- Once again, begin your imagery
with meditation, a
quiet mind and closed eyes. Set your intention for your unconscious to
communicate freely with you during this exercise (it does this in the form
of impressions and images)
- Create an imaginary three-dimensional scene as
before. Keep it simple. Once again, just walk around in your visualised
garden. Move around in your scene using the first-person perspective until
you become fully accustomed to it. At this point you are still actively
generating the scene and images and holding it all together in your mind.
- Now slowly begin to release active control of the
scene until it sort of ‘floats’ lightly in your consciousness with minimal
effort. This opens your imagery to outside influences and your scene now
becomes an inner visual field. If you are successful, your scene will
remain more or less the same in spite of the fact that you are spending
less attention on controlling it
- As you move along, look for something appearing in
the scene which you are not actively creating. In other words, you may see
an object such as a rock, or an animal, appear which you did not
consciously place there. This is your unconscious mind beginning to
communicate with you using symbolic images. Once this happens, express
your gratitude, gently take back control of the scene and end the imagery and story-line as before
- Try and interpret the meaning of the object or
animal. At this stage it will probably be a communication informing you of
an obstacle (the rock in your path) or a state of mind (the animal) which
is affecting your progress. The spontaneous images are all symbolic and
you have to interpret them in terms of your own framework of thinking and
past experiences
- The message is usually hidden in the characteristics
of the object or animal. For example, a log or rock could represent a
stumbling block, and the attributes of the animal may suggest a
personality trait you possess that needs attention.
Step 10: Scene changes
- Begin your meditation and continue with your imagery
as before, setting your intention for your unconscious to communicate with
you and opening up your inner visual field by releasing active control
- A number of strange images such as objects, animals
or even people should start appearing in your scene (visual field), which
you are not actively introducing. This indicates that your unconscious is
taking over the scene. The ideal situation is to relax and let the process
flow on its own, allowing your unconscious to create and even modify the
whole scene as it communicates with you. Note the changes taking place in
the scene and once again, try to make sense of what is happening and the
hidden meaning behind the shifts
- Once again, always end the
visualisation
gently, by taking back full control of the scene, concluding the
story-line, setting an intention to return to normal consciousness and
slowly moving your hands and body or counting down
Step 11: The spontaneous presentation of entire scenarios
As I said, spontaneous imagery is a milestone in the development of our
consciousness. As we progress with this skill, we will find that the images
take on a life of their own, whole scenes begin to unfold spontaneously and our
imagery flows like a continuous dream.
- Begin your meditation and imagery as before, setting
an intention for an entire scenario to be presented to you. At this stage,
your eyes should still be closed
- See yourself opening a door or a gate and
immediately release control of the scene, allowing it to take form and
unfold without your interference. At this time, you may find
three-dimensional images of persons spontaneous appearing and trying to
communicate with you. These could either be aspects of your own
unconscious or spiritual brothers
beginning to manifest in the inner visual field you have now been
successful in creating
- Do not be afraid. In fact, you
may even attempt communication with the figure(s)
And if you do receive some sort of
message, give thanks and end the visualisation
gently, by taking back control of the
scene, setting an intention and returning to normal
consciousness
At this point when we reach the Threshold of
Inner Sight (spontaneous imagery), we have to start getting used to the new
ideas and terminology associated with energy, conscious beings or
‘consciousnesses’ which exist apart from ourselves, as some of the experiences
that take place during advanced spontaneous imagery can only be explained and
understood if one acknowledges their existence in some form or another. The
fact of the matter is that this type of contact is unavoidable as we increase
our knowledge and perception of reality, which is far more inclusive than we
may initially realise.
It may now also become clearer why it is
important during the earlier stages of this process, to deal with any doubts and fears and to be
able to move forward with complete confidence.
Level four: Inner sight
Step 12: The final stages of imagery
During
this final stage we may once again
find that when we enter into meditation and open our inner visual field, an
entire scene can assemble and play itself out spontaneously. However, this time
the experience is more real in that we can slowly begin to open our eyes and
find that the scene is superimposed on our present reality. At this level of presentation we may find
ourselves regularly interacting with our spiritual brothers and sisters or
angelic beings and even undergoing initiations in this way.
Jimmy
Henderson is a well-known metaphysical teacher and regular radio talk show
guest. He is the author of a number of articles as well as two self-help books entitled ‘Multi-Dimensional Thinking’ and Multi-Dimensional Perception which are available on Amazon, Kalahari.com and through his website. He
is also a facilitator with Metavarsity and based in Durban, South Africa.
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