The Prosperity of Aliveness

Originally published in ImagiNews, Vol 31, No. 1, The Journal of Imagery International.  

When we hear the word prosperity, many of us think first of material abundance—money, success, possessions, or security. Yet in the practice of imagery, prosperity often reveals itself in a very different way. It appears not as accumulation, but as aliveness.

Aliveness is a word we use often in the practice of Deep Imagery. Early in the training, we meet what are sometimes called the chakra guides. Yet within our tradition we understand them somewhat differently. These are not abstract symbols or energy centers to analyze. They are living presences—what we call the Animals of Aliveness, our core living energies.

Each animal we meet carries a particular quality of vitality. They represent ways that life moves within us: instinct, perception, creativity, groundedness, vision, relationship. When we meet them in imagery, we are not simply learning about ourselves. We are entering into relationship with the living energies of the psyche.

Prosperity begins to take on a new meaning in this context. It becomes the abundance of life moving within us.

As the work continues, we encounter other guides: the animals of the senses, the animals of knowing, the guides of relationship. Each encounter deepens our awareness that the imaginal world is not empty. It is inhabited. The figures we meet are not symbols to decode but companions with whom we participate in our own aliveness.

Through these relationships, vitality often begins to return to places within us that have been quiet or forgotten or even have died.

People frequently describe imagery journeys in which the inner landscape begins to change. A dry field becomes green. Water begins to flow where the ground had been cracked and still. Animals appear unexpectedly, bringing companionship or guidance. Sound returns to places that had been silent.

These moments can feel deeply moving because they signal something essential: life is returning.

In imagery we discover that the psyche is not a static structure but a living landscape. Like the natural world, it moves in cycles. There are times when our inner life feels barren, quiet, or distant. Yet beneath the surface, vitality continues to gather, much like seeds waiting beneath the soil for the right moment to sprout.

Celtic traditions often understood the outer landscape in a similar way. The land itself was alive. Hills, rivers, trees, and springs were not simply features of geography but participants in a living world. Sacred wells, in particular, were places where healing and renewal were believed to arise.

Often found in quiet places—at the edge of a field, beneath an old tree, or where a path softened into moss and shade, People visited them not only to receive blessings, but to enter into relationship with the living spirit of the place, leaving small offerings or tying ribbons to nearby branches. The well did not create the water; it simply revealed what had been flowing unseen beneath the earth.

The imaginal world can be like this within us. When we enter that landscape with attention and respect, we come upon places where the waters of the psyche begin to rise. Animals gather. The land becomes green again. Something living stirs in the in-between spaces.

Like the sacred wells of the Celtic world, these encounters can become sources of renewal. In the quiet presence of the imaginal landscape, we discover that aliveness has been waiting beneath the surface all along.

This is a different kind of prosperity than the one our culture usually celebrates. It cannot be measured or stored. Instead, it appears as vitality, creativity, movement, and relationship.

When aliveness returns in the imaginal world, it begins to move outward into our lives as well. A sense of possibility replaces the heaviness of depletion.

We begin to experience prosperity not as having more, but as being more fully alive.

Perhaps this is one of the quiet gifts of imagery practice. Again and again, it reminds us that the psyche is inherently generative. Even in times when we feel depleted or disconnected, the imaginal world continues to hold seeds of renewal. Animals wait. Water gathers. Paths appear.

When we take the time to enter this world and listen, we discover that prosperity has been present all along—not as accumulation, but as the living richness of the psyche itself.

And in those quiet encounters, we remember that prosperity is not something we must acquire or strive toward. It is the moment when the hidden well of the psyche opens, and aliveness begins to flow again through the living landscape within us.

About Mary Diggin
Mary Diggin, Ph.D., is a cultural mythologist, Deep Imagery Trainer, Mythic Mentor©, and Transformation Life Coach. With over two decades of experience, Mary facilitates Deep Imagery workshops worldwide and provides individual guidance through the imagery

techniques developed by Dr. E.S. Gallegos. Mary is a trainer and Deep Imagery Guide with the International Institute for Visualization Research and runs the online Deep Imagery certification course. Her workshops often integrate aspects of myth, culture, and deep imagery. 

Journeying with the Seed: Embracing Potential and Uniqueness

Published in ImagiNews, the journal of Imagery International.

The First Journey: Meeting the Seed

In our Deep Imagery Training Certification process, the first journey we teach is the Journey to the Seed. Our approach to Imagery is one that honors the relationship between the journeyer and their inner guide. The human guide’s role is to hold a wide, generous space, gently keeping the journeyer connected to the guidance that emerges from within. The Seed journey opens this pathway, allowing our trainees to explore their own inner terrain and begin to embrace their unique presence as a guide for others. Why do we begin here, with the seed?

The Power of the Seed

At the beginning of any journey of growth and discovery, we start with the seed. Though the seed may appear small and unassuming, it holds a quiet, potent mystery. It is brimming with creativity, lightness, potential, and power. Within this tiny vessel lies the profound truth: everything it is meant to become is already inside it. Whether a tree, flower, grass, or cactus, all of its future form and function are held within. The roots, the stem, the blossoms—every part exists in a hidden state, waiting for the right moment to emerge.

This is one of nature’s most exquisite mysteries. The seed is a perfect metaphor for life itself, showing us how something so small and humble can cradle such immense promise.

The Seed Within Us

This mystery deepens when we consider the human experience. The single cell from which we developed was present in our mother when she was born, waiting patiently for its time. That cell held within it the potential for us to become who we are today—not a mere copy of someone else, but an entirely unique being. There is a quiet magic in this, a sense of destiny and inevitability, as if a divine blueprint existed within us long before we took form.

When we journey with the seed, we are asking ourselves: What is the seed within me that needs to reveal itself? We turn to the deep imagination—the wellspring of our inner knowing—trusting that it holds wisdom about what we are meant to learn from the hidden dimensions of our being. This process of discovery is not just about understanding what lies within; it is a living dialogue with the potential that calls us forward, inviting us into a fuller sense of aliveness.

A Pull from the Future

Carl Jung beautifully illustrated this concept. He suggested that we are not only pushed forward by the past—by cause and effect as science often proposes—but also pulled from the future. There is a beckoning from ahead, a whisper of our fullness and wholeness that draws us forward.

It is not merely our history or external circumstances shaping us; it is this inner calling, this sacred pull toward becoming the person we were always meant to be. This pull is already present within us, just as the full-grown tree exists within the seed, waiting for the right conditions to unfold.

Embracing Mystery and Imagination

Science may struggle to explain this phenomenon, and perhaps it is not meant to. There is a dimension of life that belongs to mystery—a sense of the magical and the unexplainable. Language, logic, and our usual ways of understanding may never fully capture it, for this knowing belongs to the realm of the soul.

Experiencing this mystery is not the same as thinking about it. It is a felt sense, a quiet communion with the unseen. Yet, our culture often limits this kind of deep imagination, especially in children. Too often, we prioritize logic and conformity, dismissing a child’s unique experiences as fantasy, falsehood, or mere invention.

When we impose our awareness onto others, expecting their experiences to mirror our own, we dim the light of their individuality. This is one of the great losses in our society. Each of us arrives in this world not as a replication but as a distinct expression of life, with a unique purpose and gifts to offer.

Honoring the Unique Seed in Each of Us

When we ask someone to measure up to external standards or imitate others, we risk wounding their very soul. Too often, our education systems value conformity over individuality, shaping children to fit molds rather than nurturing their true essence. Yet, as we look to the future with hope, there is a growing recognition that each person is a marvel—a sacred, unrepeatable being. Honoring this truth could guide us into a world where individuality is not only accepted but celebrated as the miracle it truly is.

Just as a seed needs the right conditions to grow, so do we. Each of us needs a space where we can gently explore and uncover the full richness of who we are. When children are allowed to remain connected to their origins and their uniqueness, they carry a sacred continuity within them. This is the wonder of life: every person is unique, and every soul brings its own gifts. When we honor this, we create a community where each of us can share in the beauty of those gifts, contributing to the world in ways only we can.

When we invite someone to journey with the seed, we begin to build again our relationship with our unique expression of what is is to be human. As we encourage the journeyer to be present with the seed —to listen, to ask what it needs, to enter into relationship with this quiet carrier of potential — we allow them reconnect with their deepest self . The hope is that the seed will find a place to be planted, though this is not always guaranteed. Where it is planted matters, as does the nature of the seed itself. A seed often appears small and unassuming, its mystery hidden from sight. What it holds may be completely unknown, and it may grow into something we could never have predicted.

The seed represents a dimension of ourselves that longs for connection—a deeper part of who we are that calls out to us. Each time we journey to the seed, we might meet a new seed, an unknown aspect of our inner world seeking relationship and recognition. Equally true is our need to connect with this inner seed. Without it, we risk living only on the surface, becoming a pleasant social presence but lacking the depth, creativity, and natural gifts that bring our souls to life. When we engage with this deeper part of ourselves, we nurture a natural presence, allowing our true gifts to shine through.

The Sacred Unfolding

By journeying with the seed—both in nature and within ourselves—we open to the profound wisdom that calls us forward. It draws us not only through where we have been but also into the future, toward the fullest expression of who we are meant to be. There is a sacred mystery in this process, an unfolding that reveals our truest, most vibrant selves, allowing us to live with depth, purpose, and a sense of the magic that resides within us all.

The seed teaches us that within the small, the humble, the hidden, there is a world of possibility. It whispers to us of our own potential, urging us to trust in the unfolding, to honor the mystery, and to walk our path with the gentle knowing that everything we are meant to become already lives within us, waiting to bloom.

©Mary Diggin, PhD