Journey from

9.15-12.1.23

This is a fun exploration of creative active imagination as
transformation.

Come embody the imagination in art.

This 10-week class activates your imagination to dialogue with your soul & the soul in the world, as we explore embodied creative practices through the lives & art of visionaries like Black Elk, Leonardo da Vinci, Carl Jung, Christiana Morgan, Frida Kahlo & more. At its heart, this art embodies soul as an archetypal visionary function.
Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution . . . Imagination will take you everywhere.
Albert Einstein

What is active imagination?

A meditation technique to translate the contents of the unconscious into images in art, narrative storylines & personified personalities, active imagination is an archetypal practice, named, explored & popularized by Carl Jung as a way to connect & communicate between the conscious 'ego' & the unconscious images.

Reverie facilitates contact with soul.

At the heart of active imagination is a liminal (dare I say magical!) state of reverie that opens the door to inner vision, intuition & insight within your body. Cultivating this state, akin to embodied visual meditation, is an essential skill & capacity that leads to soul guidance in the world. It is the point of contact that influences all creative life ventures once made. So, we will begin by creating an approach to reverie (soul).

Active imagination embodies soul.

On this path you activate your embodied imagination, moving ever deeper into yourself, soul & the Self through the body. The activating agent of the soul, the imagination is the soul's superpower . . . & ours, since we are our soul (believe it). An application of the intuition, imagination lets you reach places & knowledge otherwise unknown & unknowable. It is as if we enter & create a cathedral of soul in US.
Active imagination requires a state of reverie, half-way between sleep & waking. + In everyone some kind of artist is hiding...'man' in a higher sense--he is "collective man"--one who carries and shapes the unconscious psychic forms of mankind.
C g jung

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Activate Creativity

Activate Your Imagination in a class designed to support your creative transformation. Together we will embark on an imaginative journey that people have travelled through the ages with our soul as the guide. This is a journey of the embodied imagination that includes our body, a body of art & the world as the great work of art. Sometimes referred to as the holy imagination, our ability to animate or enliven ourselves & the world offers a powerful & ancient knowledge that can help us navigate our lives and our times. Reimagine yourself & life by activating your imagination.
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Learning, Transforming & Healing

The medium is the message, as Marshall McLuhan stated, & this coursework is designed & offered in a meaningful framework that reflects the nature of soul.

Embody Images

The content is embodied in a holistic whole brain & body format that accommodates diverse learning styles with an intuitive format & practice. 

Transcend Tension

Humans are half-way between atoms & stars with a lens of perception that connects & transcends opposites including macro & micro levels of scale.

Cultivate Reverie

An imaginal state in between conscious & unconscious, sleeping & waking, reverie is a receptive initiatory threshold, medium & function of soul.

Who is this path for?

This class is for anyone who wants to awaken the embodied imagination, entering into more intimate communion and communication with their soul and soul's way of knowing. No art skills or knowledge are required for this journey--nor do you need to believe in a soul as a metaphysical being. You are perfect just as you are. Here are some questions to decide if this is the right path: Do you seek a more intimate and imaginative knowledge of yourself, soul, others, and the world? Are you called to deepen your relationship and commitment to life and your life's calling? Do you like working with creativity, and are you willing to be self-honest? If the answer is yes, this is a path for you. 

Enter and go within. 

This is an inner journey.

The power of the imagination

Jung called active imagination many things from "the picture method" to "visioning" and the "transcendent function, but he also refers to it as the "magical value of art." Referring to Leonardo da Vinci, Jung speaks of this as
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Imagination is the language of the soul. Pay attention to your imagination and you will discover all you need to be fulfilled" and "Knowledge is limited, imagination encircles the world." Albert Einstein

What people are saying . . . 

All of the Jungian and archetypal courses are grounded in deep experience, but they also come with a certificate, because they represent stepping stones that lead to an ability to apply this method in therapy and teaching. They lead to an upcoming class designed for this application as a last step .
Its beautiful the language that you use. . . I really feel that you have made such a huge contribution to our souls, to our artistic creative selves. . . You have come in and created a furthering of neuropathways and pathways for us to look at the artist, the archetypal artist, and give us a place where we can have soul. I have great appreciation for what you have done with your dissertation. I would like to have a lot more Jungian work like this.
Fanny Brewster, MFA, PhD, analyst, artist, educator,, and author
Heather is a masterful educator on how to heal and grow through art. Her presence is open, kind, wise and playful. She is skilled at creating an amazing and safe container for individuals to explore, go deep and have meaningful transformative experiences while guided by her. Her engagement with nature as a vessel for her work is powerful. Embarking on a journey of personal growth with her guidance will be blessing in your life.
Mary Gibbons, MD, physician, policy maker, educator, and facilitator
Heather is an exceptional teacher and group facilitator, as well as a beautifully soulful artist and person. She is gifted in leading persons in learning how art evokes the soul while also guiding them into creative exploration of their own inner images. Heather's depth and breadth of knowledge on Jung's Red Book is rare and is complimented by a graceful adeptness at teaching others how to journey into the spiral of their own depths through art and creativity.
Fanny Brewster, MFA, PhD, analyst, artist, educator,, and author
Heather clearly brought scholarship and art together to achieve a transcendent function in a really beautiful way.
Jennifer Leigh Selig, PhD, educator, speaker, and award-winning co-author of Deep Creativity
You and the work you are doing are an inspiration.
Susan Rowland, PhD, educator, speaker, and co-author of Jungian Arts-Based Research
Heather is a creative genius, making artists feel safe to explore and create.
Victoria Christiansen, MFA, MSW, therapist and award-winning author of Feminine Mysticism in Art

Deep Experience

All of the Jungian and archetypal courses are grounded in deep experience, but they also come with a certificate, because they represent stepping stones that lead to an ability to apply this method as a "healing" and "teaching" as Jung did. They lead to an upcoming class designed for this application as a last step .

Heather Taylor-Zimmerman, PhD

Following in the soul's footsteps

Heather experienced a soul's call to walk the transformative path of the Soul of Creativity. Having spent decades in self and soul-directed exploration as an artist and seeker, she has taught this process in college and workshops. Active imagination is at the heart of this work and is a capacity that Heather has cultivated over her whole life and in her art. With a doctoral degree in archetypal psychology on art as a transformative process (based on Jung's Red Book), she is passionate about the transformative power of art. Heather is a playful creative who combines eco, art, and play therapy in a path that is embodied and natural.

Activating Self-Awareness

Following those who have gone before

While Heather has researched the soul's creativity to walk and lead others on this path, your soul is your real guide. Combining cutting-edge science and ancient wisdom, this path's deep magic is the soul. It is the soul you follow and only you can connect to your soul (You). The heart of this path is your relationship with your soul that connects you with your greater Self.
Only in our creative acts do we step forth into the light and see ourselves as whole and complete. C G Jung

Active imagination is powerful.

When we activate our imagination we activate an inner way of knowing at the heart of creativity. Jung described this, saying, "Active imagination requires a state of reverie, half-way between sleep and waking. Without this playing with fantasy no creative work has ever yet come to birth. The debt we owe to the play of the imagination is incalculable."

This is a trailhead.

You walk on stepping stones that introduce fundamental concepts, quotes, and skills. These steps are patterned to help you follow your soul. Each week you will get a new video to watch, along with creative prompts, tutorials, and a written material. You journey held within a circle of support and aided by an alchemical partner, interacting in live zoom sessions and a private social media platform. The learning structure includes many unique features that help support you. Activities are woven throughout the coursework to help you bring your embodied imagination to life in YOUR LIFE--in your nature and nature.

A 10 week journey

While 10 weeks may seem like a long time compared to a weekend workshop, Jung took years to create his Black and Red Books. These course steps are designed to provide a minimum of support and time to embark on a circuitous journey home to the soul and Self. They balance the need to go deep and live in the world, offering creative isolation along with partner and group work to simulate elements of the students Jung taught, following his own process and soul. In walking this path you are activating your imagination beyond art, as you enter into the Great Work of Art of the transformation of your life and the world.

Removes Block

Step 1

Introduction to active imagination and basic skills and practices.

Black Books

Step 2

Exploring active imagination in Jung's Black Books.

Morgan

Step 3

Embodying the imagination of Christiana Morgan in art.

Blake

Step 4

Playing with earlier examples from William Blake to Einstein.

Red Book

Step 5

Painterly elaboration and active imagination in The Red Book.

Leonardo

Step 6

Creating art to embody and world soul.

Nature

Step 7

Connecting your nature to nature through the imagination.

Totem

Step 8

Participation mystique or the mystical participation with nature.

Frida

Step 9

Healing by embodying emotions in art like Frida Kahlo.

You

Step 10

Bringing it all together in your own unique practice.

Journey of the imagination.

As you walk you activate your imagination and open to the symbolic guidance of the soul in synchronicity, dreams, and visions. You are dreaming yourself awake and learning to see the waking world as if in a dream through the symbolic sight and insight of your soul. Opening to an archetypal perspective, you will begin to perceive the mythic story that underpins your life, guiding you on a path both within and without. As you move through the coursework, each week's lesson will "show up" and reveal itself in living images and experiences to deepen your insight. 

Follow in archetypal footsteps.

While we follow the voice and vision of Jung to guide us upon our way, we also follow in the footsteps of artists and seekers from the past and present who have trod this soulful path through the ages. Integrating different examples from different traditions helps us explore and experience the breadth and depth of the soul's archetypal pathway as a creative form of transformation. While we follow in the footsteps of Jung, Christiana Morgan, and others, we ultimately find our way through the interweaving of synchronicity and story that reveals our own unique passage and images. 

Coursework and play . . .

Each week your content drops down for you, but you don't have to finish in a week. Go at your own pace and find you own way and rhythm.

A structure to CONTAIN the process

This process is contained by your soul but also by 3 circles of support that expand with you as you create your opus. Each is designed to offer a different level of containment as you individuate into yourself and group.

Alone

You travel alone.

like Jung
To really get to know yourself and soul, you need to walk alone. So, this journey is primarily between you and You.

Partner

A partner helps to mirror you.

like Jung's patients with him
Jung viewed his patients art and worked with them one on one. So you work with a power partner to help contain you.

Group

A circle to discuss and reflect.

Like Jung's inner circle together
Jung led his inner circle on this path, creating a container for group growth. So, we meet in monthly zoom circles.

Your soul brings you a vision 

Jung said that you cannot go directly into the unconscious but if you create unconsciously with your hands your soul would bring you a vision. Imagination has the roots magi for magic & image, & it is the heart of this visionary path. As you walk you are activating your imagination & remembering how to play with your soul's images that guide you. Open your eyes, heart, and mind to a new way of seeing and being. Learn to navigate by starlight through the dark night of the soul.

Sign Up 

Sign up for additional support if you need it.

Soul advice: "drop into your heart"

In our modern world we have become head-centered, dismissing emotion & intuition as inferior feminine ways of knowing. In a very real way, this path leads from head to heart, reconnecting inner masculine and feminine ways of knowing in a union or coniunctio that alchemically unites above & below, spirit & matter. This is a path to wholeness that integrates all parts of our being in newly discovered yet ancient embodied ways of knowing rooted in the earth.

The soul speaks in images

The soul's communication is symbolic and imagistic, embodied and imaginal. Jung said that his soul did not have speech centers and let her use his to speak, and studies have found that during spiritual experiences speech is not generated in normal speech centers. Nor is core wounding reached by speech. Both are accessed through the imagistic and embodied language of the soul. So, this soul path combines visual and verbal imagery in the way of the soul (the picture superiority effect) in which words are symbolic and metaphoric images, combined with visual art.