All the World an Icon
All the World an Icon: Henry Corbin and the Angelic Function of Beings (2012) is Tom Cheetham’s profound meditation on Henry Corbin’s philosophy of the imaginal and its relevance for contemporary thought. Cheetham is Corbin’s most important English-language interpreter, and this book offers both an introduction to Corbin’s complex vision and an argument for why the imaginal matters now — as a way of resisting the reductive materialism and instrumentalism that dominate modern consciousness.
Central Themes
Cheetham begins with Corbin’s central claim: there is a third realm between pure intellect and sensory matter — the mundus imaginalis, the world of images that is neither imaginary (unreal) nor material but genuinely ontological. This is the realm accessed through the himma (active imagination), the heart’s capacity to perceive subtle forms. The imaginal is not inside the mind; it is a dimension of reality itself.
Corbin’s philosophy is grounded in Islamic mysticism, particularly the Ishrāqī (“Illuminationist”) philosophy of Suhrawardī and the visionary recitals of Ibn ‘Arabī and Avicenna. For these thinkers, the imaginal realm is populated by angelic presences, subtle bodies, and archetypal forms. To encounter the imaginal is not to fantasize but to perceive — and this perception transforms the perceiver.
Cheetham emphasizes Corbin’s warning against reducing the imaginal to psychology. James Hillman adapted Corbin’s concept for archetypal psychology, but Hillman “interiorized” what Corbin insisted must remain ontological. For Corbin, the imaginal world is not a projection of the psyche but a real domain that the psyche can learn to perceive. Cheetham writes: “If there is a single first step on the road to the cosmos that Corbin invites us to enter, it may be the simple, passionate refusal to accept the understanding of ourselves and the world that dominates modern secular consciousness.”
The book also explores the angelic function of beings — the idea that every being has a subtle, imaginal dimension that is its truth and beauty. To perceive the world imaginally is to see beings as icons — transparent to the divine, not opaque objects.
Influence and Relevance
All the World an Icon has become essential reading for anyone interested in the imaginal tradition, Corbin’s thought, or the intersection of mysticism and phenomenology. It provides the clearest English-language account of why Corbin matters beyond specialist scholarship: the imaginal is a mode of knowing and relating that modernity has lost and desperately needs.
For practitioners of active imagination, contemplative practice, or relational work, Cheetham offers both validation and challenge. The imaginal is not a therapeutic technique but an ontological reality; cultivating imaginal perception requires discipline, openness, and the willingness to resist the reductive habits of modern thought.
Key Themes
- The mundus imaginalis — The intermediate world between intellect and matter; the domain of subtle forms.
- The imaginal vs. the imaginary — Real perception vs. fantasy; Corbin’s insistence on ontology.
- The angelic function — Every being has a subtle, imaginal dimension; the world as icon.
- Corbin’s sources: Suhrawardī, Ibn ‘Arabī, Avicenna, the Ishrāqī tradition.
- Hillman’s adaptation and its limits — Interiorizing the imaginal risks losing its ontological status.
- Refusal of modern reductionism — The imaginal as resistance to materialism and literalism.
Connections
- Tom Cheetham — Author.
- Henry Corbin — Primary subject.
- The Imaginal — Central concept.
- Mundus Imaginalis — The imaginal world.
- Active Imagination — The practice that accesses the imaginal.
- James Hillman — Adapted Corbin for archetypal psychology.
- Neoplatonism — Philosophical framework for the imaginal.
- Mysticism — Corbin’s sources are Islamic mystical traditions.