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  Here are five examples of what simple active imagination/interpretive symbology compositions can look like.

  I’ve seen these kinds of prompts before for use in therapy contexts, but it seems the basic format can be applied neutrally for creative expression, like something more akin to a genre of poetry or a koan.

Having tinkered around with this basic format a little, I am presenting these without any description or explanation for how this kind of imagination engagement is supposed to work in order to give you the opportunity to form your own ideas about what kind of mechanisms are at work here.

I intend to write more on this topic in the future, but for now these are just some examples showcasing the format. Think of it as sort of a literary tech demo.

Tree House at Night

Imagine and describe the following things:

A tree house at night.

A means of getting up into the tree house.

What the interior of the treehouse looks like and who, if anyone, is present there with you.

Imagine and describe the following things inside the tree house, including how you and whoever may be with you interact with each of them.

A Piano

Light reflecting off of a CD or numerous CDs.

A projector that is projecting something onto curtains swaying in the breeze in front of an open window. 

A paint can with paint that attracts fireflies

A jar of marbles

A mailbox somewhere within or outside the treehouse. Investigate something that is delivered to the mailbox by a hawk.

Interpretations:

The treehouse represents your orientation towards being yourself

The means of getting up into the treehouse represents your spacious self, your orientation towards expansion. 

The interior of the tree house represents your attitude about allowing others to be themselves

The piano represents how you make peace

The reflecting CD or CD’s represent the ease with which you inhabit your personality

The projection on the curtains represents something your higher mind is trying to tell you

The paint that attracts fireflies represents the means through which you adapt to new social environments

The jar of marbles represents how satisfied you are with your personality, if you like who you are and why.  

What the hawk delivers to the mailbox represents the part of yourself you want to broadcast as widely as possible

Corn Maze

Imagine yourself now inside a corn maze. Describe the atmosphere of this place and how you feel about being here. 

As you roam this maze from time to time you encounter some object of interest in between stretches of empty pathways. Describe each of the following things including what context it appears in, and how you and any others present interact with them.

An ice fountain

A hologram of a bird’s nest

A lucha libre scarecrow

A dead end with an archery target

An office building constructed of bales of hay

A wild animal lost in the maze

A mummy in a coffin

Corn in chairs 

Interpretations

The corn maze: How you face the unknown

The ice fountain: How you face the irreconcilable and conflicting points of view that are completely incompatible.

The hologram of the birds nest: Your relationship to the universe

The lucha libre scarecrow: Your willingness to defend your beliefs in the face of uncertainty.

The archery target in the dead end: How you react to threats

The office building made out of hay bales: Willingness to find excitement in the mundane, because it brings humility

The animal lost in the maze: How you master your fears

The mummy in the coffin: How you handle failure

The corn in chairs: How you handle loss

Haunted Art Gallery

Imagine yourself now visiting an art exhibition inside a haunted gallery. Describe this place and how you and any others present feel about being here. Describe their interactions with the art and each other.

As you walk this gallery you encounter the following works of art on display. Each piece on display is haunted by a specific ghost. Describe each piece and the ghost that inhabits it, as well as how you and any others are reacting as they view it.

A pond with death masks

A painting of a battle scene

A statue of a hare

A globe of the earth hanging from a noose

A Tesla coil next to the globe in the noose. What happens when the Tesla coil shoots off multi colored lightning that strikes the globe?

An empty frame with spider webs and description

A collage of glitching cellphones

A broken window decorated with old love letters

   Interpretations

The haunted gallery: Something you think would never happen but how you would respond if it did.

The pond with death masks and its ghost: Value of the past. The lessons you learn from history.

The painting of the battle scene and its ghost: The value of the horrific, its purpose in existence, and what is revealed by it.

The statue of the hare and its ghost: How you cheat at the rules of life.

The globe in the noose and its ghost: What the end of the world will be like. How the world will end, or if it can at all.

What happens when multicolored lightning strikes the globe and how the ghost of the globe changes: How you feel about open contact with non-human intelligences. 

The empty frame with webs and a description and its ghost: How you make peace with the things you will never have the means to create. The value of the things you are unable to communicate

The broken window decorated with old love letters and its ghost: How you believe you can endure through aging.

Riding the Lazy River at the Water Park

Begin by imagining yourself walking through a water park. Describe this environment including details about general atmosphere, weather, time of year, what the rides are like, what the people are like, are you alone or with a group, etc.

You arrive at the line for the lazy river. Describe this. How crowded is it? How long do you wait?

When you reach the end of the line, you see that you begin the river by going down a tube slide. Describe the tube slide and your descent down it.

At the end of the slide you spill out into a river. Describe this new environment as you float down it.

As you continue on, the river carries you through a display of fake ruins. Describe.

Along the way as you are floating through the fake ruins, you reach a point where there is a large crack in the wall that is sucking in water. Describe.

Going through this crack, enter a concrete passage filled with pipes. Describe.

After going through the concrete passage, you find yourself swept down into turbulent rapids that happen to be crawling with many snails. Describe. 

At the end of the snail rapids you end up in another river that you can casually drift down. Describe.

Along the way you encounter a variety of things in the water. Describe the following things as you encounter them, including how you and others interact with them.

A robot in an inner tube

Underwater clocks

A floating phonograph

  Interpretations

The water park: what you want to leave behind for future generations

The line: The confusion you have no intention of stopping. Purposeful ignorance.

The tube slide: Trust

The river: your ability to share and communicate your experiences

The fake ruins: How you view the imaginations of others

The crack in the wall: Readiness to discover a new strength

The concrete passage with pipes: your orientation towards connecting people on a specific task

The snail rapids: your ability to pass through danger

The river you emerge into: how you think others would react to hearing the stories of your experiences.

The robot in an inner tube: how you act when you don’t want to work

The underwater clocks: How you delegate tasks to others

The floating phonograph: How you want to be appreciated for what you do.

Martian Schoolhouse

Imagine now a schoolhouse on mars. Describe.

Within this schoolhouse imagine and describe the following things, including how you and any others present interact with and respond to them:

A diorama

A hamster cage

A blue chalkboard

A Galileo thermometer

A panel of numerous light switches. Play with the switches. What does each switch do?

A window

A teacher and students building a puzzle

A battery printed with a map of mars.

Interpretations

The schoolhouse on mars: The part of you that belongs on the fringes of existence.

The diorama: How you imagine society could one day become.

The hamster cage: What you get out of simple tasks.

The blue chalk board: How you apply simplicity in the face of urgency.

The Galileo thermometer: Your Ideals of government.

The light switch panel and what the switches do: The secrets that you don’t know are already known to others.

The window and what you see through it: Your feelings about the deep future

The puzzle that the teacher and students are building: What will result from unified social groups.

The battery with a map of mars: What is required to carry you into the future.