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An Imago (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠more than a summary of lived experience: it marks the start of reversibility toward action, from a record of the past to a means of dealing with the future.

An Imago (n.) turns ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a discontinuous series of lived episodes into a continuous spectrum of possibilities between two opposed poles, so that experience becomes a universal mode of access to its object.

The Imago (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠experience packed like a large molecule: from outside it is nearly neutral, so a weak push can move it, but inside it holds a huge charge of past life, released when it is put to use.

An Imago (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠an unconscious representation that organizes images and thoughts, a nexus of contradictory forces: for Lacan, the one below the weaning complex is the maternal breast.

An Imago (n.) puts ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠two successive moments into one simultaneous couple: the mother as source of life and the mother as the annihilation of the child's individuality, held in tension.