When you close your eyes, what do you see? Try it now… Go ahead, there’s no time here in this article, so I can wait. Close your eyes now and notice what you see.
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Ok, you back yet? Well, what did you see? Don’t keep me hanging….Report to me telepathically by thinking back to when you closed your eyes, and describe what you saw in as much detail as possible. As you do so, you might notice that very scene, even if it was just a plain boring darkness, re-presenting itself in your minds eye, even while reading this very article.
Congratulations, you’ve just built a feedback loop, and have taken the first step to the life changing practice known as image streaming.
What if I told you, you could close your eyes and see–near instantly–worlds and pictures beyond your currently perceived imagination? Yes it would take much practice, but you can learn this amazing skill by building these visual feedback loops like superhighways to your non-physical and non-linear self.
I learned this technique at a time when I thought I had aphantasia. Aphantasia is a term used by people who don’t consider themselves to be able to see pictures in their mind’s eye. It turned out that, at least for me, I could “see” quite well, I had just let this ability atrophy since childhood. Image streaming is one of the best techniques I’ve found to exercise this atrophied visual muscle.
Image streaming was “discovered” and outlined by the late Wen Wenger in his book The Einstein Factor as a way to use active imagination as a learning aid and to increase IQ which he claims is a benefit of this practice. I don’t even know my IQ score or take stock in it’s assumptions, but I can tell you that image streaming changed my life and ability to see beyond what my physical eyes choose to show me. It is a practice that is as surprisingly simple as it is relatively complicated, and I’ll let you in on the big secret early on: this practice is a bunch of doing and learning that is really teaching you to unlearn everything you know about the dark screen when your eyes are shut, and to let go into imaginative flow. You can also practice this with eyes open in a pitch black room or wearing an eye-mask.
It begins by simply describing what you are seeing in either your mind’s eye or directly what your physical eyes are experiencing in the darkness (or eyes closed). You must describe in as much detail as possible (all available senses) and teach yourself to describe non-stop without taking a break. This shuts off your analytical mind so that eventually you may eventually tune out what you are saying (describing) and focus directly on the images themselves. That would be huge achievement in this practice.
But assuming we are starting out at zero, and you see nothing but ‘boring darkness’ when you close your eyes, no matter how long they stay closed, then just describe what you see. It’s never just truly black, right? At least for me, there’s always variations of shadowy, smoky undertones that are always moving, swirling, forming. Then comes the flashing pinpoints and streaks of light ☄️ Well? Which ways do the comet-like streaks flash across the not-so dark screen? Try it again, close your eyes and begin describing whatever you see, no matter how much or how little that is. Don’t worry, I can hear you. Do this now…
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You back? I forgot to add that Mr. Wenger suggests describing out loud into a voice recorder, and then replaying it immediately after the session to let the same images spring up again, perhaps with more intensity or detail. This adds a third layer to your feedback loops- an audible one. However, I know successful practitioners who chose to do all of their describing telepathically.
You can jumpstart some intriguing imagery by pressing the bottom of your palms lightly into your eyes for a few seconds. This produces lots of light phenomena and geometric designs–plenty to describe but merely a physical phenomena involving phosphenes. When you are making progress in this practice, you are looking for images in the mind’s eye, not physical light shows. But luckily we can use the phenomena to encourage the inner pictures to attend this not-so dark theater of inner vision.
Whatever you see, at any point of the session, describe in full detail as much and as quickly as possible. You’ll notice that sometimes, even if the image you are currently describing has faded away, the mere act of visually remembering it in your descriptions will cause it to return, perhaps brighter, or in more detail. This is a great achievement because it’s your first step into the flow of imagery. It’s called image streaming because your main goal is to literally witness a stream of images which can either be observed or manipulated into lucid daydreams.
Once you’ve learned to observe the flow, then you can ask questions and observe the following images as either direct answers or interpretive ones. You can even use it for remote viewing by holding the target in mind and accessing the image stream, but again the pictures may be interpretive instead of literal.
This article is only meant as an introduction to image streaming and merely scratches the surface of how to do the practice and its amazing benefits. Please Google “image streaming” for more info, and this Facebook group which is associated directly with the late Wen Wenger is an excellent source of information:
Use the comment section below to log your practice! Copy and paste this session log, then fill it out as much as you can.
Date:
Predetermined session length:
Session number:
When I closed my eyes, immediately I saw:
Something that surprised me while describing what I saw:
I saw the following images clearly during the session:
I felt like I went into flow ____ times.
March 19, 2022 @ 6:04 pm
I wanted to present this session done last year as an example. It was spoken into a recorder, and then later typed.
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7-31-21
(Prior to this, I activated the phosphenes by applying very light pressure to the eyeballs. )
My blue blob is dancing like an electrical, pulsating thing in the center of my vision. Much, much bluer than when I say the bluish white static field I see whenever I close my eyes, this is definitely blue. And its doing lots of things in the center of my vision.. Its way hard to describe… some triangular forms.
At one time I thought it kind of looked like someone sitting in the middle, like an angel form sitting in the middle. And as I’m saying that, I’m getting the black outline form of someone sitting in lotus pose like with their arms stretched out doing mudras. And that just popped up in the center of my vision. Basically the whole form was black and was outlined in the bluish blob color. It’s faintly coming up as I’m describing it now.
Now it kind of looks like a crow. Now like an eagle. I see like wings spread out like an eagle… I can almost see individual feathers on the right side, and on the left. Looks like the eagle on the Hylian shield.
(please note that the images above were not super clear, although the individual feathers on the eagle wings were pretty distinct. All of the above images were more like faint “impression” images. The following images were super crisp, clear, and in full color.)
Ok so I just saw a row of houses, and I was across maybe a yard, and they were up high a little bit with a fence in front. I don’t know what architecture, maybe something from Miami or bahamas. Like a row of townhouses with columns in front of the doors, and maybe it was like 3 or 4 bluish and yellow painted… I dunno.. And as I keep describing it I can see triangular forms… are they called eaves? Over where the columns would be. I can see a bit of the roof too.
My pet bunny just thumped at me and now I just saw an outline of like a chocolate bunny. Now I see a more realistic bunny ear.
So the houses, I could make out windows I think, in the front of each one. It was such a quick thing.. It was like out of a dream. It had a wall in front of it. I was maybe standing across the road or something. I can kind of see the wall with little shrubs in front of it… probably a different wall but I’m seeing some kind of wall with cast iron bars above it… its just a very faint impression.
Ok I feel like I’m in like a honeycomb, or in some kind of nebula or something. Mosaic, ethereal.
I kind of saw Hobbes from Calvin and Hobbes when he does his cute little jazz dancing, but it was a mirrored image from top and bottom. It was very small and faint. But definitely Hobbes.
OK I saw a girl with pink hair, and I just saw like the top half of her face, from the nose up. Not even the bottom of the nose, just up to her eyes and then up to her pink her, and then her hair came down longer than I could see her face. It was like she was looking at me through a mailbox slot or something.
I just saw a dog… I was right up in its face. It was a terrier. I could see its triangle ear on the right side of my vision, and its face on the left. Then it turned to lick my face. When it licked me there was like a black dot on the triangle ear. The black dot lingered as the dog faded away.
Ok I saw a tractor– at first it was a lilac field but then it was a dirt road that a tractor might go down. And very cartoonish man and woman riding on the tractor. Just a quick flash, but yeah. And then a little fence beside the dirt road they would have been going down. And as I’m saying it I’m seeing the little country road with the two little dirt paths and the green grass growing in between where the tires go. And I.. it’s fading but… yeah its basically gone. The couple were caricature heads on the tractor. It went by real fast but it was cute. At first I though I was seeing a lavender field, and then I saw the tractor, and then the lavender field turned into that tractor road with the fence along it.
I was trying to see mickey mouse, but instead I saw a cat right as I looked up a bit. When I looked up, it lost focus and the cat faded. It was real quick flash.
(ended session)
March 20, 2022 @ 1:52 pm
That’s interesting about aphantasia. I never knew there was a word for someone that can’t visualize. What an excellent way to power up your imagination. Thanks so much for sharing your session. That’s a good example to learn from.
April 4, 2023 @ 10:43 am
Justin, this has been one of our very popular posts on SA. I hadn’t realized how many people have issues being able to visualize. Your post has helped a lot of people!
April 5, 2023 @ 3:52 pm
Wow that’s great! So many views! I just looked at episode 8 of “stars of clay” and its doing well too!