The Imaginal Realm: Gateway of Creation, Healing, and Inner Alignment

I often refer to a frequency band of consciousness in my work, and I call it the imaginal realm. It is not fantasy. It is not pretend. The imaginal realm is the subtle, creative field where thought takes form—the birthplace of vision, guidance, and transformation. It exists between the formless and the formed—a bridge between the invisible and the visible.

Across time and tradition, this realm has been named and known. Carl Jung referred to it as the “active imagination,” where archetypal symbols and unconscious contents rise into conscious vision. Indigenous cultures describe it as “dreamtime,” the timeless dimension where ancestors and stories reside. In mystical Christianity, it aligns with communion through the Holy Spirit. In Taoist and Eastern traditions, it parallels the flow of Chi. In quantum physics, it resonates with the zero-point field—the unified matrix of possibility beneath matter.

Author Cynthia Bourgeault, in The Eye of the Heart, describes the imaginal realm as an energetic bridge between the worlds—a realm of actual consciousness and intelligence that links seen and unseen, soul and body. Stephen Harrod Buhner, in The Secret Teachings of Plants, writes of receiving knowledge from nature through this realm—not in words, but in image, vibration, and felt-sense. It is the “language of the heart.”

The 12-Step tradition, particularly as practiced in Alcoholics Anonymous, also points us toward this realm. Step 11 says: “We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him.” Conscious contact isn’t about mental recitation—it’s about attunement. Presence. Openness to guidance. This is the posture that opens the imaginal realm.

Scripture affirms it, too. Jesus said, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). Children naturally live from the imaginal—they speak with invisible friends, dream vividly, imagine boldly, and trust the unseen. To enter the imaginal realm, we return to this innocence, wonder, and receptive curiosity.

This isn’t fantasy or delusion. This is how mystics receive visions. How artists channel music. How inventors dream up solutions. How prophets speak the truth. It is how the soul communicates when the mind quiets enough to listen.

What Is the Imaginal Realm?

To be clear, the imaginal realm is not the same as ordinary imagination.

Imagination is the mind’s faculty for visualization, projection, and simulation. It is personal, often shaped by memory, fear, ego, and desire. It’s okay to start here but just start. Start dreaming, and pay attention to what the underlying motive is. Are you dreaming of winning the lottery? Is it because you feel a lack in your life and think the money will fix it? Or is it coming from a feeling of abundance and play?  The imagination is the gateway to the imaginal realm, and it needs to be free to learn to flow.

The imaginal realm is transpersonal. It is a field of spiritual resonance and intelligent guidance. It is accessed through presence, openness, and attunement. It is where truth is revealed, not invented.

Imagination becomes a portal to the imaginal realm when used consciously, with love, surrender, and stillness. It’s not just what you imagine that matters, but the state of being you are in while imagining. The imaginal realm is accessed through frequency, not content alone. When your imagination arises from joy, curiosity, openness, or reverence, it resonates with the quantum field and becomes a bridge to higher guidance. If it arises from fear, anxiety, or control, it tends to loop within the mind, reinforcing egoic patterns rather than opening to Spirit.

That’s why it’s essential not to judge or analyze your imagination too early. Let it flow. Notice how it feels. Are you feeling light, inspired, and expansive—or are you imagining worst-case scenarios based on fear, shame, or global chaos? Are you creating from the joy of possibility or self-criticism and pressure?

You can use David Hawkins' Map of Consciousness to track where you’re creating from. If you’re below neutrality—caught in fear, guilt, or frustration—it’s likely the ego is hijacking your imagination. But even a "high-quality" imagination, full of grand visions, can still operate at a frequency of pride or control if it's not rooted in love and trust.

So instead of asking only what you're imagining, ask who in you is doing the imagining. Is it your wounded self, your protector, your ego, or your soul, your higher self, your divine spark? When you shift into presence, lighten up, and let your heart lead, imagination becomes revelation.

We are all capable of accessing this place. And many of us already have—often without realizing it.

Have you ever:

• Received a flash of insight that felt instantly true?

• Seen a symbolic dream that changed your life?

• Felt a message arrive in your heart, without words?

• Sat with nature and felt its wisdom enter your body?

• Imagined something beautiful that felt more real than reality?

This is the imaginal realm in motion.

Traditions That Affirm It

Nearly every mystical and wisdom tradition validates the existence of this realm:

Christian mystics speak of the “inner sanctuary,” the garden of the heart, and visions received in contemplative prayer.

Sufis enter the imaginal through ecstatic poetry, whirling movement, and dream encounters with the Beloved.

Buddhists practice visualization meditations that cultivate access to celestial realms and divine archetypes.

Kabbalists map the imaginal in the Tree of Life, where divine emanations flow from infinite unity into human form.

Quantum physicists describe a unified field where all possibilities exist—where attention shapes probability.

Shaman's journey into spirit worlds to gather wisdom, soul fragments, and healing visions.

Recovery communities speak of higher power guidance, intuitive thought, and spiritual awakening—all accessible through presence and imagination rightly aligned.

This is not fringe. This is ancient. This is your inheritance.

How to Know You’ve Entered It

Unlike mental fantasy, the imaginal realm feels:

Grounded and subtle

Symbolic and multidimensional

Uplifting, peaceful, or vibrationally rich

Quiet but vivid

Clear, not chaotic

Deeply known, not just imagined

Something outside of your normal mind/thinking is revelatory, new, expansive.

It’s not about control. It’s about receptivity. You do not command it. You enter it.

How to Cultivate Access

To deepen your relationship with the imaginal realm, you might:

Practice meditation and breathwork to quiet the mind and open inner space

Spend time with children and playing

Engage in sacred art, music, or poetry that opens your emotional-spiritual senses

Spend time in nature and allow images or messages to arise without analysis

Journal from your heart without censoring—let symbols and metaphors emerge

Ask questions out loud, then wait and listen for unexpected inner responses

Trust your body—pay attention to chills, tears, warmth, or resonance

The imaginal isn’t accessed by thinking about it.

It’s accessed by becoming still enough to feel it.

It may appear as a flash of light, a face, a color, an inner landscape, a memory that suddenly feels charged with truth.

You may not “see” anything at all, but you’ll know something is present.

And you’ll feel peace.

Final Words

The imaginal realm is not childish.

It is not optional.

It is a spiritual necessity for those who wish to live soul-forward.

It is how heaven speaks.

It is how the heart sees.

It is how the soul remembers.

Let us stop dismissing imagination as indulgence.

Let us remember it as an initiation.

And let us reclaim the imaginal realm as the sacred bridge it has always been.

Let your soul speak in symbols.

Let your Spirit guide through imagery.

 Let your body become the altar where heaven and earth kiss.

This is the imaginal.

 And it is always available. 

ust on the other side of stillness. 

Just beneath the noise.

Enter it.

And be changed.

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