Archetypal psychology, associated particularly with psychologist James Hillman, places image, imagination and myth at the centre of psychological inquiry.
Instead of asking only what a figure stands for, it attends to the particular figure. What is it doing? What surrounds it? How are you relating to it?
Look at the guard before declaring yourself blocked.
In an imagined scene, someone refuses to let you pass. "Resistance," you decide.
Perhaps. But is the guard hostile, frightened, tired, dutiful? Does the doorway lead somewhere you actually want to go? The scene contains more information than the first label.
This interest in the detail of an image is relevant to I AWAKE’s imaginal experiences. It doesn’t make every creature a fixed psychological code. A symbol has a setting, a history and a person encountering it.
James Hillman introduces the thinker behind this approach. Symbol explores why a meaningful image can offer more than a tidy one-word translation.
The James Hillman Collection at OPUS Archives introduces Hillman’s preserved work. It is a way towards his own writing when you want more than a quick list of archetypes.