There is an inner wisdom that has long been lost. Not only has it been long lost but when it pokes its head into our awareness we have all learned to shun it, deny it, and to discount it. That inner wisdom is not a book, as our present intellect would have us believe. It is not a bank of knowledge, or a storehouse of formulas. It is a living dimension of our very selves, and in its livingness it is in the moment, so that in order for us to tap that ancient deep inner wisdom we must engage it directly in its aliveness, we must be willing to be present with it on its terms, we must be willing to let it teach us its language rather than demanding that it speak in our own.

– Eligios S. Gallegos, PhD., Discoverer of the Personal Totem Pole Process®

Deep Imagery & The Personal Totem Pole Process

The Personal Totem Pole Process©, a unique method of active imagery, is a means of accessing the deep imagination developed by Dr Eligio Stephen Gallegos.

The method was original named the Personal Totem Pole Process™ but as the work developed, the term “Deep Imagery™” came to be used more frequently.

The term “Deep Imagery” underscores the essential nature of the work: this method of working with the imagination allows us to experience a deep knowing about our innermost self. It reveals our own deep inner processes in a way that is accessible. Through working with the deep imagination, we develop relationships with our many alivenesses and so move more and more towards experiencing our own wholeness.

 

Deep Imagery™ and the Personal Totem Pole Process™ has been described as a unique blend of

  • the theory of active imagination  which was developed by Dr. C. G. Jung
  • the Eastern theoretical orientation which understands the human being as a system of interrelated energies or chakras,
  • and the Native American practice of speaking to and learning from the animals.

 

Deep Imagery/Personal Totem Pole Process (PTPP) is not the  type of imagery work often referred to as “visualization” whereby a guide is expected to lead the person undertaking the imagery work, down a fairly set path, with a prescribed goal in mind. That is, it is not the type  of visualization or imagery work that involves instructing the person to see or do specific things. e.g. “see yourself walking along a path in the woods” or “walk to the top of the mountain and see an old man sitting there” or even “see your blood cells fighting the infection.” Instead, it involves an open-ended interaction with the deep imagination. The Personal Totem Pole of deep imagery engages us in knowing our innermost selves.

PTPP™ and Deep Imagery™ Journeys

A Deep Imagery or PTPP® journey involves an open ended engagement  with the deeper levels of the imagination, where the  imagination itself is active. It allows the journeyer explore aspects of their consciousness through building a relationship with their own deep imagination. Because the activity of imagining is in the moment, alive, the PTPP™ does not involve learning preconceived ideas about either the path a journey needs to follow or its outcome. The work is about the present moment experience of the person undertaking the journey. The goal of PTPP™ is ultimately to help the person regain the central positions of aliveness, wholeness and balance in themselves.