What is sacred imagination? Without looking at a reference, I would define it as the creative spark in us that knows the Way, our intuition with a twist. In times when we feel locked out of our own happiness, blocked by social expectations that rob us of our joy and beaten down by the burden of living, the sacred imagination gives us the hope we need to thrive again, every time. All we need to is allow ourselves the space and permission to dream.
The sacred imagination is a reset button. It is a different place, idea and energy for each person, but it holds one commonality; it’s your own. The imagination is the place where all ideas are born so how can we expect to live an authentic life without it? Circumstance is the killer of the sacred imagination because it makes us feel like the cards have already been dealt, there’s no way out and therefore no sense in dreaming of a different outcome. The sacred imagination is the gift at the seat of your soul that breathes life into circumstance, pulls you up and out of pain and suffering and changes direction just by quieting the mind.
I think the key word here is Sacred. To even acknowledge this word you have to believe that there is an energy flowing through, within and around you that connect you to the mystery of something greater than your own knowledge, the life force that pulses from above and below. This reverence need not only be felt through religious practices, no, all it requires is your attention, more specifically, your attention to nature and to your own body. Anyone, regardless of your faith, age, capacity or faculties, can find wonder and awe within the natural world. If you’re not feeling like you can see anything wonderful or worthy of awe, try grounding.
Grounding is a practice of centering your mind, relaxing your body and regulating your breath which ultimately connects you to your sacred imagination. I’ve recorded a guided meditation that may assist you in grounding yourself  if you’d care to try it, just click the Meditate tab on my website. Grounding can extremely difficult for people at first, but with practice, even the most high strung and unfocused folks can get the hang of it. Guided meditation is one way but not the only way to ground. In fact, many people find it distracting to hear someone else’s voice guiding their thoughts, interrupting their sacred imagination. Any way that you can achieve the “quiet body, quiet mind” is the right way for you to ground and center yourself. When you can root yourself to the Earth, connect your sense of awe with the Cosmos, gaze at the Moon with reverence, become enchanted with the tiny shoot you notice emerging from the dormant flower bulb lying upon a pile of stones, forgotten but not dead by any stretch, then you are on your way to finding your way out of a rut and into a life you want to be living. Sound too simple? Impossible? Perhaps you are yearning to hit the reset button in your own life and are making or have made some New Years resolutions to improve your circumstances. Lovely! I only urge you to be wary of how you’re going about making these changes. Is it through self deprivation or force? What are your motivations for the changes you want to make? This is where your sacred imagination can be of utmost help. If truly felt and experienced I believe your imagination can guide you to where you’re supposed to be in your life, through love. Thriving on a frequency of self acceptance, forgiving any past mistakes or grievances may sound “woo woo” and even stupid depending on how tightly you’re wound, but it is the way to heal. You are the only one who knows what you need to heal and where you want to go and who you want to become and the motivation behind it.  I hope you choose to become the beautiful version of yourself that lives in your sacred imagination. Don’t sell yourself short and don’t give up or give into any way you chose to live yesterday. Today is a new day and all the answers you need to navigate it are already inside you.
We all lose our way, go off course and experience disappointment. Getting back up after a fall is easier for some than others and discovering what we really want out of life can be equally as challenging. For some of us, experiencing joy can be a stretch. I’ve been and continue to journey down my own road of self discovery and simply by putting my thoughts out there for whomever cares to read is a practice of my own sacred imagination. Be who you wish to become. It is my wish to be a light for you if I can.

Bright blessings,
Stellaluna

Reading suggestion: A book I would suggest to support this topic would be Sacred Heart, Sacred Soul by John Philip Newell. Celtic wisdom for reawakening to know what our souls know and healing the world.