I have tried some of the exercises casually so far and the experiences have been entertaining, and interesting. For example, while reading about the "ascent to the masters" and the "exploring of the inner temple" I engaged casually with some weak visualisations and found my dog with me again (
having first appeared here, a few days ago) and this time whenever I encountered any of the character archetypes in a manner like what was described in the book, my dog would attack them. I felt content with this, I guess because it's an expression of both repressed aggression but also defiance.
To me this has felt important, because I found myself not particularly enjoying the "Paleopsych" chapter, although in retrospect it did have some interesting ideas. I might get into why I didn't like it so much at some point...
In any case, the main importance for me was that it prompted some non-conscious imagery to express some of my disagreement with some ideas, not only ideas mentioned by the book, but ideas I've considered myself. In a way, it's a relief because it suggests that my non-conscious mind doesn't have sabotaging intents towards the more "conscious" parts, something I've had some doubts about in the past and given some thought to. In the last year or two I've had my sub-conscious really try to motivate my conscious willpower forward.
You know, I have really wanted to finish reading this and still haven't. I thought I was going to be so turned off from reading after that chapter, but the chapters that followed have actually been interesting to read and I'm almost at exactly halfway into the book now and I'm actually quite enjoying this part, which I will probably be re-reading sooner rather than later.
I wanted to comment more but it's been a long day and I just wanted to report some progress on my reading so far. :D