Imaginal
That hidden presence
which is only seen by the
eye of reverence
Tacitus (56 – 120 CE), Germania
First, the etymology of the words image, imagine, imagination, imaginative, imaginary, and imaginal. Then, a more detailed consideration of the word imaginal.
These six words have their origins in the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root aim- (to copy), in Latin imitari (to copy, to imitate), and in Latin imaginem (copy, imitation, likeness; phantom, ghost, apparition; idea, appearance).
When the noun image first appeared in English around 1200, it meant a piece of statuary or an artificial representation that looks like a person or thing.
The meaning of image as reflection in a mirror is from the early 14th century. The sense of a mental image in the mind is from the late 14th century.
The use of image referring to a public impression is from 1908. However, image did not become widely used in this sense until the 1950s, particularly the use of the term in the jargon of advertising and public relations.
The verb ‘to imagine’, from the mid-14th century meaning to form a mental image of something which is not present, came to English from Old French imaginer (to sculpt, carve, paint; decorate, embellish) and Latin imaginari (to form a mental picture). The use of imagine meaning to assume or suppose is from the late 14th century; for example, “So I would imagine that they would not have been at home at the time.”
The noun imagination meaning the faculty of the mind to form and manipulate images is from the mid-14th century.
The adjective imaginative used to describe someone given to imagining is from the late 14th century. Imaginative, describing something resulting from imagination, is from 1829.
The adjective imaginary, from the late 14th century, meaning something existing only within the imagination (for example, fantasy, illusion, hallucination), but not in a person’s external reality.
The adjective imaginal has various applications. The word imaginal, from 1638, describes the images and imagery—products of the imagination. Such imaginal products or devices, like similes and metaphors, are non-rational ways to comprehend the world and people. From 1877, the imaginal is also an idealized mental image of another person or self (1877).
The imaginal can be considered as an ‘artful’ way of responding to the world (and to the artfulness of the world). The world can evoke imaginal responses. The term ‘imaginal realm’ is used to describe the places from which and by which the creative imagination works. For example, “Movies, plays, poems, artworks, and songs depend upon our ability to interact with images and to feel alongside, or for, or against the images and characters we encounter. Our brains love to imagine things. It’s actually how our brains work” (McLaren, 2010).
In brief, the Imaginal is that which is created by the processes and ‘devices’ of the imagination as it engages with what the senses present to the mind.
[Note: In entomology (not to be confused with etymology!), the adjective imaginal refers to the noun imago—the final or adult stage of an insect (1797). There must be a metaphor in there somewhere when thinking of the imaginal and imagination!]
Some further thoughts on the imaginal
Sometimes we perceive or, perhaps more dramatically, encounter within our lives an ‘otherness’ or a ‘not-me-ness’, something that cannot be explained. For example, “I had this experience—what will I call it? How will I describe it to others?” We are invited or even compelled to chose how we will relate to this. How will we express to others (or to self) that which has happened?
Being in such an ‘imaginal realm’ can seem like being in an ‘other world’ in the midst of ‘this world’. We find ourselves in a liminal or ‘thin’ space between these two worlds (or realities). Such imaginal moments often evoke a sense of awe and wonder, even grace. Such moments can evoke a dramatic, “Aha!” At other times, perhaps, may they feel like a simple tap on the shoulder.
In any case, we are called to use our creative imagination in order to find ways to express or represent this experience and our relationship to this experience of ‘otherness’.
Such an otherness is neither a purely sensory empirical experience nor a purely intellectual understanding. Experiencing the reality of such otherness is both objective and subjective. These two elements of knowing are interdependent (Leloup, 2002, 16):
“Between [empirical observation and intellectual understanding] lies a vast intermediate realm of image and representation that is just as ontologically real as the worlds of sense and intellect. But this requires a faculty of perception that is peculiar to it alone … it is none other than the power of the creative imagination [which Henry Corbin so eloquently names as the imaginal]” (Leloup, 2002, 14). [Italics mine].
Such a realm is just as ‘real’ as a sensory or intellectual experience.
Some questions
Can developing and deepening connections with other people be considered in terms of ‘artfulness’? Consider a deep and enduring friendship, a sense of team spirit, a creating a positive learning environment with a group of learners, establishing an organizational culture? Are not the creations of such connections and relationships forms of ‘artfulness’?
Can nature act as a ‘device’ for the imaginal? For the creative imagination? Consider the artfulness of nature and the natural world. Nature, landscapes, plants and animals move us and inform how we ‘see’ the world. For example, David Attenborough’s Planet Earth television series. https://www.bbcearth.com/shows/planet-earth
Or, writers such as Robert Macfarlane and Barry Lopez.
What is the role of education and training in relation to the imaginal? Imaginal education is about changing / enabling or facilitating people’s images of themselves and the world—not just giving them facts and information (Dirkx, 2001, 68 – 70).
“The imaginal method seeks a deeper understanding of the emotional, affective, and spiritual dimensions that are often associated with profoundly meaningful experiences in adult learning. Journal writing, literature, poetry, art, movies, story-telling, dance, and ritual are specific methods that can be used…” (Dirkx, 2001, 70).
What are the ethical implications in all this? The ways in which I ‘see’ the world and by which I act in the world are products of my imagination as are the ways in which I choose to relate to the world and to act.
Some further related thoughts by other writers
“The Germans do not think it in keeping with the divine majesty to confine gods within walls or to portray them in the likeness of any human countenance. Their holy places are woods and groves, and they apply the names of deities to that hidden presence which is seen only by the eye of reverence.”
Tacitus (56 – 120 CE), Germania, written ~98 CE.
“We learned … through [improvising our parts in] the play,” I said. “We learned through the parts we were given. It is not something easy to explain. I am new to playing but it has seemed to me like dreaming. The player is himself [sic] and another. When he looks at the others in the play, he knows he is part of their dreaming just as they are part of his. From this came thoughts and words that outside the play he would not readily admit to his mind.”
Barry Unsworth, Morality play
on the edge of a wood
a moment’s hesitation
how will you conduct yourself
in the company of trees
Thomas A. Clark, Of words and water
References
Clark, T.A. (2008). Of woods and water. Pittenweem, Scotland: Moschatel.
Corbin, H. (1998). The voyage and the messenger. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 117 – 134.
Dirkx, J.M. (2001). The power of feelings: Emotion, imagination, and the construction of meaning in adult learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 89, 63 – 72.
Leloup, J.-Y. (2002). The gospel of Mary Magdalene. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions.
Lopez, B. (1986). Arctic dreams. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 199 – 200.
Macfarlane, R. (2012). The old ways. London: Penguin.
Macfarlane, R. (2015). Landmarks. London: Penguin.
McLaren, K. (November 2010). Imaginary or imaginal? https://karlamclaren.com/imaginary-or-imaginal/
Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
Tacitus, C. (2018). Germania. Franklin Classics.
Unsworth, B. (1995). Morality play. Kindle. Retrieved from Amazon.ca
which is only seen by the
eye of reverence
Tacitus (56 – 120 CE), Germania
First, the etymology of the words image, imagine, imagination, imaginative, imaginary, and imaginal. Then, a more detailed consideration of the word imaginal.
These six words have their origins in the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root aim- (to copy), in Latin imitari (to copy, to imitate), and in Latin imaginem (copy, imitation, likeness; phantom, ghost, apparition; idea, appearance).
When the noun image first appeared in English around 1200, it meant a piece of statuary or an artificial representation that looks like a person or thing.
The meaning of image as reflection in a mirror is from the early 14th century. The sense of a mental image in the mind is from the late 14th century.
The use of image referring to a public impression is from 1908. However, image did not become widely used in this sense until the 1950s, particularly the use of the term in the jargon of advertising and public relations.
The verb ‘to imagine’, from the mid-14th century meaning to form a mental image of something which is not present, came to English from Old French imaginer (to sculpt, carve, paint; decorate, embellish) and Latin imaginari (to form a mental picture). The use of imagine meaning to assume or suppose is from the late 14th century; for example, “So I would imagine that they would not have been at home at the time.”
The noun imagination meaning the faculty of the mind to form and manipulate images is from the mid-14th century.
The adjective imaginative used to describe someone given to imagining is from the late 14th century. Imaginative, describing something resulting from imagination, is from 1829.
The adjective imaginary, from the late 14th century, meaning something existing only within the imagination (for example, fantasy, illusion, hallucination), but not in a person’s external reality.
The adjective imaginal has various applications. The word imaginal, from 1638, describes the images and imagery—products of the imagination. Such imaginal products or devices, like similes and metaphors, are non-rational ways to comprehend the world and people. From 1877, the imaginal is also an idealized mental image of another person or self (1877).
The imaginal can be considered as an ‘artful’ way of responding to the world (and to the artfulness of the world). The world can evoke imaginal responses. The term ‘imaginal realm’ is used to describe the places from which and by which the creative imagination works. For example, “Movies, plays, poems, artworks, and songs depend upon our ability to interact with images and to feel alongside, or for, or against the images and characters we encounter. Our brains love to imagine things. It’s actually how our brains work” (McLaren, 2010).
In brief, the Imaginal is that which is created by the processes and ‘devices’ of the imagination as it engages with what the senses present to the mind.
[Note: In entomology (not to be confused with etymology!), the adjective imaginal refers to the noun imago—the final or adult stage of an insect (1797). There must be a metaphor in there somewhere when thinking of the imaginal and imagination!]
Some further thoughts on the imaginal
Sometimes we perceive or, perhaps more dramatically, encounter within our lives an ‘otherness’ or a ‘not-me-ness’, something that cannot be explained. For example, “I had this experience—what will I call it? How will I describe it to others?” We are invited or even compelled to chose how we will relate to this. How will we express to others (or to self) that which has happened?
Being in such an ‘imaginal realm’ can seem like being in an ‘other world’ in the midst of ‘this world’. We find ourselves in a liminal or ‘thin’ space between these two worlds (or realities). Such imaginal moments often evoke a sense of awe and wonder, even grace. Such moments can evoke a dramatic, “Aha!” At other times, perhaps, may they feel like a simple tap on the shoulder.
In any case, we are called to use our creative imagination in order to find ways to express or represent this experience and our relationship to this experience of ‘otherness’.
Such an otherness is neither a purely sensory empirical experience nor a purely intellectual understanding. Experiencing the reality of such otherness is both objective and subjective. These two elements of knowing are interdependent (Leloup, 2002, 16):
“Between [empirical observation and intellectual understanding] lies a vast intermediate realm of image and representation that is just as ontologically real as the worlds of sense and intellect. But this requires a faculty of perception that is peculiar to it alone … it is none other than the power of the creative imagination [which Henry Corbin so eloquently names as the imaginal]” (Leloup, 2002, 14). [Italics mine].
Such a realm is just as ‘real’ as a sensory or intellectual experience.
Some questions
Can developing and deepening connections with other people be considered in terms of ‘artfulness’? Consider a deep and enduring friendship, a sense of team spirit, a creating a positive learning environment with a group of learners, establishing an organizational culture? Are not the creations of such connections and relationships forms of ‘artfulness’?
Can nature act as a ‘device’ for the imaginal? For the creative imagination? Consider the artfulness of nature and the natural world. Nature, landscapes, plants and animals move us and inform how we ‘see’ the world. For example, David Attenborough’s Planet Earth television series. https://www.bbcearth.com/shows/planet-earth
Or, writers such as Robert Macfarlane and Barry Lopez.
What is the role of education and training in relation to the imaginal? Imaginal education is about changing / enabling or facilitating people’s images of themselves and the world—not just giving them facts and information (Dirkx, 2001, 68 – 70).
“The imaginal method seeks a deeper understanding of the emotional, affective, and spiritual dimensions that are often associated with profoundly meaningful experiences in adult learning. Journal writing, literature, poetry, art, movies, story-telling, dance, and ritual are specific methods that can be used…” (Dirkx, 2001, 70).
What are the ethical implications in all this? The ways in which I ‘see’ the world and by which I act in the world are products of my imagination as are the ways in which I choose to relate to the world and to act.
Some further related thoughts by other writers
“The Germans do not think it in keeping with the divine majesty to confine gods within walls or to portray them in the likeness of any human countenance. Their holy places are woods and groves, and they apply the names of deities to that hidden presence which is seen only by the eye of reverence.”
Tacitus (56 – 120 CE), Germania, written ~98 CE.
“We learned … through [improvising our parts in] the play,” I said. “We learned through the parts we were given. It is not something easy to explain. I am new to playing but it has seemed to me like dreaming. The player is himself [sic] and another. When he looks at the others in the play, he knows he is part of their dreaming just as they are part of his. From this came thoughts and words that outside the play he would not readily admit to his mind.”
Barry Unsworth, Morality play
on the edge of a wood
a moment’s hesitation
how will you conduct yourself
in the company of trees
Thomas A. Clark, Of words and water
References
Clark, T.A. (2008). Of woods and water. Pittenweem, Scotland: Moschatel.
Corbin, H. (1998). The voyage and the messenger. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books, 117 – 134.
Dirkx, J.M. (2001). The power of feelings: Emotion, imagination, and the construction of meaning in adult learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 89, 63 – 72.
Leloup, J.-Y. (2002). The gospel of Mary Magdalene. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions.
Lopez, B. (1986). Arctic dreams. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 199 – 200.
Macfarlane, R. (2012). The old ways. London: Penguin.
Macfarlane, R. (2015). Landmarks. London: Penguin.
McLaren, K. (November 2010). Imaginary or imaginal? https://karlamclaren.com/imaginary-or-imaginal/
Online Etymological Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/
Tacitus, C. (2018). Germania. Franklin Classics.
Unsworth, B. (1995). Morality play. Kindle. Retrieved from Amazon.ca
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