Imagination: Sacred Instrument

When I was little, I spent hours in imaginary worlds. Acted out the scenarios with dialogue and all. There were characters, social systems, landscapes, homes I’d decorate, and meals I’d cook. They were complete worlds with their own stories so vivid to me, I was not merely pretending, I was there.

As I got older, my love of books filled the space of imaginary worlds. I’d get lost in the stories with clear images playing out in my mind’s eye of what I was reading. I’d even stay up all night reading a book because I always wanted to know what would happen next. The worlds and stories those books described were so vivid, I enjoyed them more than I did television shows.

As an adult, images portrayed via electronic means have replaced the ones I could ‘see’ for myself. While enjoyable, those forms of storytelling lack a specific essence of enjoyment that can only be achieved when my mind has the space to create. Eventually, those forms replaced my own imagination and became the images that seeded what I began to believe life should be.

Child: Imaginative Exploration

The importance of an active imagination has been understated. As a child you are free to dream and create; As an adult, you forgot how fun and free it feels to allow your mind to explore, without expectations or conditions. Perhaps, when life presented its challenges, you put away ‘childish behaviour’ and became what you were told an adult was, serious and purposeful. 

Yet, the society you live in celebrates and even rewards creative imagination. Every material thing that exists in the world began in someone’s mind as a thought, or image. Maybe you have become very strategic about what you imagine, only really using it to visualize something you intend to manifest. This isn’t to say that you should stop, but to acknowledge that with greater awareness and intentionality, imagination can be used for so much more.

Imagination is not just a tool for entertainment and creativity, it is an instrument, a bridge, that connects you with your own higher consciousness. It can be used to heal yourself, connect with spiritual guidance and benevolent beings, even loved ones that have moved on. It is what allows for compassion to be acknowledged and expressed. It is how mystics and visionaries receive divine truths, prophetic messages, and enter spiritual realms.

In hypnosis, imagination plays a foundational role as the language of the subconscious. The subconscious does not communicate in linear thought, but with images, sensations, emotional experiences, symbols and stories. Imagination bypasses the critical analytical part of the mind and allows experiences to be accepted as real by the subconscious.

Adult: New Exploration

Professional athletes and performers are known to use visualization, a.k.a. imagination, to practice success in their minds. This works because the subconscious accepts it as a real experience, bypassing resistance.

Instead of telling yourself “I should be more confident”, imagine yourself living a life as a confident person. Your brain will actively create new neural pathways effectively reprogramming your subconscious mind. This is a powerful imaginative tool that can not only be fun but will change your life.

As always, courage and practice are required. Repetition solidifies those neural and energetic pathways. Use your imagination for whatever you decide feels best but don’t limit it to just entertainment and creativity. Use it, with intention, to expand your reality.

Imagination is not a product of the mind but sacred technology. It is the interface between the soul and the world, a connector between the seen and the unseen.