This is an ethnography of the Mekeo of Papua New Guinea. Based on 20 years of fieldwork, this detailed study of Mekeo esoteric knowledge, cosmology, and self-conceptualizations recasts accepted notions about magic and selfhood. Drawing on accounts by Mekeo ritual experts and laypersons, the book demonstrates magic’s profound role in creating the self. It also argues that dream reporting provides a natural context for self-reflection. In presenting its data, the book develops the concept of autonomous imagination into a new theoretical framework for exploring subjective imagery processes across cultures.