The Practice of Ally Work: Meeting and Partnering with Your Spirit Guide in the Imaginal Realm (Jung on the Hudson Books) [Paperback]

Jeffrey Raff (Author)

Book Description

Series: Jung on the Hudson Books | Publication Date: August 2006

Jeff Raff has written about the ally (which has been called many different names in different traditions) in his books Jung and the Alchemical Imagination, Healing the Wounded God, and The Wedding of Sophia. Here, he shares with readers the techniques he has developed and taught in his workshops and lectures for achieving intimate contact with the divine. The ally is a divine being—a face of God—that is unique to every being. It appears in the imaginal realm to partner with a specific person; but it has to wait for its human partner to seek it. The person has to learn how to enter the imaginal realm to meet and relate with the ally, and to that effect, Raff has designed a progressive series of exercises. Starting with imagination-building practices, he takes you through learning how to identify your ally, learning its name, and obtaining guidance from it. Intermediate and advanced exercises teach you how to deepen your relationship with the ally and bring it into everyday life. A relationship with your ally is a two-way street in that your attention to its existence in the imaginal realm makes it manifest in the material world, while the ally helps you achieve self-realization and gnosis in the literal sense of the word.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jeffrey Raff received his B. A. from Bates College, a Master’s in Psychology from the New School for Social Research, and a Ph.D. in Psychology from Union Graduate School. He attended the C. G. Jung Institute in Zurich from 1972 to 1976, graduating as a diplomate Jungian analyst. He has written several articles on shamanism and alchemy from the Jungian perspective, and has been in private practice as a Jungian analyst in Littleton, Colorado since 1976. He also teaches classes, seminars, and workshops all over the country on Jungian psychology and alchemy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 191 pages
• Publisher: Nicholas-Hays (August 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892541210
• ISBN-13: 978-0892541218
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #359,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars spiritual renewal, May 21, 2010

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john yuknalis "axiomofmaria" (N. America) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Practice of Ally Work: Meeting and Partnering with Your Spirit Guide in the Imaginal Realm (Jung on the Hudson Books) (Paperback)

The author expands our ideas about spiritual renewal
through contact and connection with the beings who
exist in the realm above and beyond our ordinary senses.
Make no mistake about it. This is not a book for flippant new agers
or folks who want an easy fix. Reaching back into the time tested principals if Alchemy, it requires the reader to work for their own redemption.
St Benedict's model was work and pray - I think that motto applies to this book but with another eventual aspect - play.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A purpose and practicality-oriented discussion, December 8, 2006

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Practice of Ally Work: Meeting and Partnering with Your Spirit Guide in the Imaginal Realm (Jung on the Hudson Books) (Paperback)

Jungian analyst Jeffrey Raff, Ph.D. presents The Practice of Ally Work: Meeting and Partnering with Your Spirit Guide in the Imaginal World, guide of techniques for achieving intimate contact with the divine through allies - spirit guides unique to each human. Imagination-building practices, ways to identify one's ally and learn its name, methods for receiving guidance from it, and advice for navigating the two-way street in which both human and ally provide for each other's needs fill this soberly written roadmap to spiritual self-help. A purpose and practicality-oriented discussion of the metaphysical and sacred rewards of reaching out to God's divine manifestation.