There is a realm that is neither purely inner (imagination, fantasy, projection) nor purely outer (material, consensus reality, measurable). It is the realm of active imagination, of dreams that are genuinely meaningful, of symbolic reality, of the visionary encounters that mystics report.
Medieval Islamic philosophers called this the mundus imaginalis—the imaginal world. It is not imaginary (which implies unreal). It is imaginal—it exists in imagination but is genuinely real in that realm.
When you dream vividly, when you have an internal vision, when you encounter a presence in meditation or prayer, you may be encountering the mundus imaginalis. It is real but not material. It operates according to different rules than consensus reality but is not therefore illusory.
Kalsched's specific use: the soul-child lives in this intermediary realm. It is not purely inner (it has its own autonomy, its own reality) and it is not purely outer (it cannot be found in the material world). It exists in the imaginal realm—accessible through imagination, through dreams, through visionary experience.
For many trauma survivors, access to the imaginal realm is crucial. The material world feels hostile or unreal. The purely inner world is a prison of persecutory thoughts. But the imaginal realm—accessed through art, dream, meditation, imagination—can be a sanctuary where healing becomes possible.
Islamic Mysticism: The mundus imaginalis (Hurqalya in Persian Sufism) is the realm of spiritual realities. It is where angels and spiritual presences exist. It is more real than the material world because it is closer to divine reality.
Neoplatonism: The intelligible realm (the world of eternal forms or ideas) is more real than the material world. It is the source and truth of all material things. It is accessed through imagination and intuition rather than sensory perception.
Celtic and Indigenous Traditions: The Otherworld, the Dreaming, the spirit realm—these are imaginal worlds that are fully real, fully inhabited, fully accessible to those with the capacity to perceive them. They are not separate from material reality; they interpenetrate.
Christian Mysticism: The cloud of unknowing, the inner spiritual ascent, the imaginal encounters with divine presence—these describe entry into the imaginal realm where encounter with the sacred becomes possible.
Tibetan Buddhism: The visualizations in Tantric practice are not imaginary but imaginal. The deity you visualize is a real presence in the imaginal realm, a face of actual spiritual reality.
The imaginal realm serves several crucial functions:
As Sanctuary: For a person whose external world is hostile and whose inner world is a prison of persecutory thoughts, the imaginal realm can be a sanctuary. Art, music, dream, vision—these are ways of accessing the imaginal realm where healing and wholeness are possible.
As Communication: The imaginal realm is where the soul-child can communicate with consciousness. It is where dreams speak, where symbols carry meaning, where the unconscious makes itself known not as pathology but as wisdom.
As Transformation: In the imaginal realm, what is fixed in material reality can be transformed. A traumatic memory can be re-imagined, not falsified but genuinely transformed through imaginal work. The person can encounter the wounded child in imagination and offer what could not be offered in the material world.
As Connection to the Transcendent: The imaginal realm is the natural habitat of spiritual experience. Mystics and visionaries access the imaginal realm. Artists draw from it. Shamans journey through it. It is the realm where the sacred becomes experientially accessible.
Specific therapeutic modalities recognize the imaginal realm:
Active Imagination (Jung): The person enters an imaginal state and allows images to arise spontaneously. They dialogue with figures that appear. They journey through imaginal landscapes. The images are not random; they are communications from the deeper psyche.
Image Work (in trauma therapy): The therapist guides the person into imaginal encounter with their trauma. The person re-imagines the traumatic scene. They allow their adult self to enter the child's experience and offer protection or comfort that was not available at the time.
Visualization and Imagination: The person imagines a safe place. They imagine meeting their soul-child. They imagine being held by a wise presence. These imaginal practices are not "just imagination." They are real encounters in the imaginal realm that have genuine healing effects.
Shamanic Journey: The shamanic journey is a guided movement through the imaginal realm to encounter guides, wisdom, healing. Many trauma survivors find shamanic work profoundly healing because it provides structured access to the imaginal realm.
It is crucial to distinguish healthy engagement with the imaginal realm from pathological imagination:
Imaginal Reality:
Pathological Imagination:
A person with healthy engagement with the imaginal realm can distinguish between imaginal and material reality. They can be in imaginal vision and still know they are meditating. They can work with imaginal figures and still recognize the material world as real.
For artists, the imaginal realm is native territory. They spend their professional lives working in and translating from the imaginal realm. Great art is the imaginal realm made visible—the imaginal translated into material form (music, paint, word, movement).
The artist's struggle is often to overcome cultural pressures to dismiss the imaginal as "unreal" or "just imagination" and to trust the reality of the imaginal realm. When an artist can fully inhabit the imaginal realm while remaining grounded in material reality, their art becomes most powerful.
Eastern Spirituality: Mystical Consciousness and the Numinous — Mystical experience often occurs in the imaginal realm. The sacred encounter is real but imaginal, not material.
Psychology: Transitional Space and Play — The transitional space is a kind of imaginal realm where the child plays—where imagination and reality coexist and are not distinguished.
History: Understanding the imaginal realm explains the universal human production of art, myth, religion, and visionary culture. These are not delusions. They are expressions of access to the imaginal realm.
The Sharpest Implication: If you can access your imagination, you can access the imaginal realm. If you can dream, you can journey there. If you can create art, you are working in it. This realm is not less real than material reality. It is a different order of reality where different rules apply, where healing is possible, where your soul-child can be encountered. Do not dismiss your visions, your dreams, your imaginal experiences as "just imagination." They may be some of the most real encounters you have.
Generative Questions: