Walking with the Inner Wild: An Introduction to Deep Imagery
By Dr. Denise Taylor
I’m writing to you today from my woodland in rural Gloucestershire, where the quiet of the trees invites deeper listening. I want to share something close to my heart, deep imagery, a gentle yet powerful way to access your inner world through the language of imagination.
What is deep imagery?
Deep imagery draws on the work of Carl Jung and was developed into a structured practice by Dr. Stephen Gallegos. Unlike academic or theoretical approaches, this work is rooted in experience. I trained for three years as a deep imagery guide alongside my doctoral studies. It was refreshing to learn something that required no reading lists, only presence, openness, and trust in what might arise.
You may have come across guided imagery before, where you’re led through a story, often a visualisation down a path, through a doorway or into a landscape. Deep imagery is different. As a guide, I don’t tell you what to see. Instead, I support you to connect with your inner self and what your own psyche wants to reveal. It’s not about control or analysis, but about relationship, with the inner figures, animals, and symbols that arise from within.
Many of us lose touch with this kind of deep imagination. As children, we may have known how to play and daydream, but were often told to “focus” or “grow up.” Over time, our intuitive knowing gets buried. Deep imagery helps us remember. It gently restores access to the inner landscapes where meaning lives.
Power animals
There are many doorways into this work, but one of the most accessible is through the discovery of power animals or spirit animals. These aren’t chosen from a list or assigned based on personality. They appear in the imaginal space, often through a state of relaxed awareness. Your animal might surprise you. People often hope for a majestic eagle or fierce wolf, but sometimes a mole, a slug, or a penguin appears.
Yes, a penguin. One of mine.
That may sound strange, but my penguin companion has stayed with me for years. I don’t need to go through the full relaxation process anymore. Penguin just arrives, offering quiet support and a sense of reassurance. Alongside Penguin, I have other animals that correspond to different energy centres or aspects of myself, sometimes called chakra animals. There’s a heart animal, a head animal, and so on. Each one offers its own wisdom.
How it can help
This work can be deeply personal. Once, during a painful breakup in the middle of COVID, when grief felt overwhelming, I sat, imaginally, with Owl, my heart animal. We didn’t do much. Just perched together on a branch. But that simple presence helped me move through the sorrow and toward healing.
Deep imagery isn’t only for emotional processing. It can help with physical symptoms too. I’ve guided people into dialogue with pain in their body, a stomach ache, a ringing ear, only to find that what emerges brings both insight and comfort. There’s no script, no fixed outcome. We follow what arises.
Some people meet with all their animals in what we call a Council of Animals. Others return again and again to one companion. A friend of mine once worked with a teenage boy who was being bullied. In his inner journey, he met a panther. Afterward, the boy began to walk differently, with more confidence. The bullying stopped. Something had shifted from within.
These experiences are hard to explain, but easy to recognise once felt.
As both a psychologist and a deep imagery practitioner, I find this work adds a profound dimension to how I support others. It weaves beautifully with my other work around rites of passage and later-life transitions. You don’t need any experience. Just curiosity and a willingness to explore.
Learn more
I offer an introductory session at a lower cost so you can try it for yourself. It works well over Zoom, I did all my training that way, with people from around the world and led by Dr. Stephen Gallegos and Dr Mary Diggin from New Mexico, but it can be even more special if you’re able to come here in person, among the trees.
If something in this speaks to you, let’s have a short conversation. You may find a companion waiting just beneath the surface, a quiet guide who’s been with you all along.
