Perhaps the subconscious of the Roman soldiers [, who had seen a vision of the god Pan showing them a safe place to cross a river,] was perfectly capable of making lightning calculations as to the river’s depth and the speed of its current, but was unable to pass it to their conscious minds in the direct manner that modern brains employ. Could it be that the visions of gods or supernatural figures that populate our histories are projections, messages from an unconscious that was at the time unable to communicate in any other way?
— Alan Moore, From Hell (back matter)
I like to think about Alan Moore’s projection idea when I work with visualizations and self-guided meditations. Could it be that apparitions are a pretty good way to talk to your own subconscious?
The first visualization I learned, and still the main thing I do, is to ask to meet a particular character (a dream teacher, a life coach, a friend) and then ask that character questions. At first, all I could do was act out the scenes with my usual conscious mind, but with practice I am much more able to wait quietly until these figures take their own forms, and give me sometimes surprising answers. It feels more and more like asking my unconscious mind to meet up for a chat, and more and more like a mindfulness exercise where my task is to let my conscious mind get still.
The deepest insight I can currently get from these dream figures is on the level of “what should I ask you?” or “why am I anxious?”. In the beginning the answers were often things I knew consciously but didn’t want to admit. These days the answers are more opaque and strange, more like a dream. I am curious whether I could practice enough to get (correct) answers to questions like “where did I forget my keys?” or “is my body healthy?”– things I might know on some level, but can’t think of in my conscious mind. It occurs to me that when I ask to meet someone in a visualization, I should try asking for my unconscious mind itself.