Projection

Projection

Projection is something all of us have experienced.  When you feel love at first sight, there’s a good chance you’re projecting your subconscious image of the perfect mate (anima or animus) onto someone who resembles the perfect mate in some superficial way.  For example, I have a visceral reaction to brunettes with dark eyes, especially wearing glasses and/or boots.  When you experience an irrational dislike or hatred of someone you barely know, that’s a projection of your subconscious shadow.  Relationships that start as projections often end badly, regardless of whether the feelings are positive or negative.

Sometimes we even project subconscious archetypes onto whole groups or nationalities of people.  This is one of the causes of racism and war.

Sometimes, instead of projecting a deep archetype, we project the memory of someone from our past (often a parent).  Psychologists call this type of projection transference, especially when it involves a patient projecting onto a therapist.  Therapists, being only human, may subconsciously encourage such projections, which is called counter transference.

Projections can damage the psyche of both the person projecting (the “projector”) and the person being projected upon (the “screen”).  As the poet Robert Bly wrote, “When one projects, one is really giving away an energy or power that rightfully belongs in one’s own treasury.  [For example] a man may give his feeling side to his wife.  Then he is rid of it, and when a feeling problem with the children comes up, he naturally lets her handle the problem.”

Indeed, a Jungian psychologist will often hurl the words “You are projecting!” as a damning accusation.  Yet Carl Jung’s own protégé Marie Louise von Franz once asked, “Why do we always assume projection is bad?  Sometimes projection is helpful and the right thing.”

Projection is certainly natural.  All of us do it, all of the time.  We're usually not conscious of it though. 

I think the sacred Other Within (HGA if you prefer) transmits powerful images and feelings 24x7 on many frequencies like a TV transmitter.  Most of the time those TV waves fly off into space, and disappear unseen and unheard.  But sometimes a "screen" comes into your life -- usually a person -- who clicks with one of the frequencies you’re transmitting.  The message on that frequency then becomes visible to you - embodied in that person.  Your reaction is powerful and immediate feeling of recognition, often accompanied by feelings of excitement, ecstasy, anger, love, or hatred.

When your projection comes into contact with a screen, life gets interesting and juicy.  Juicy is good.  Without juicy, life would be dull and dry.  Some people fear these projection events because they often end badly, but they don’t have to.  In fact, every projection is a wondrous gift from the Sacred Other -- if you know how to unwrap it.  Without screens to show us our projections, we would remain unconscious of our own hidden treasures and the growth opportunities they represent.

To see why projections often end badly, and how to avoid those pitfalls, consider the five stages of projection as defined by Jungian psychologist James Hollis:

1. I am caught up in a projection but I don’t know it yet.  Every attribute my psyche projects on the screen, I believe is objectively true.

2. I begin to notice discrepancies between characteristics I projected versus the screen's true personality.  This may come as a shock or cause for anger.

3. I begin to accept the screen as s/he really is.  I start questioning the basis of the relationship.  The projection begins to weaken.

4. I realize the whole episode has been a projection. I withdraw the projection.  The relationship w/the screen usually ends at this stage.

5. I recognize the projected characteristic represents a hidden part of myself I desire or fear (or someone I had an intense unresolved relationship with in my past).  I begin to understand what I was projecting and why.  I work consciously to integrate the unconscious shadow parts of myself so the projection truly ends.

Most people never reach stage 5, or even stage 4.  This is why projection based relationships often end so spectacularly, and then the same pattern repeats itself again.  (“She keeps falling for men who are wrong for her.”)  Only by performing the work of stage 5 does one receive the gift proffered by the Other Within -- so that it never again need be projected on an Other Without.

I was discussing this with a friend, and he suggested there might even be a sixth stage unknown to mainstream psychology:

6. I gain conscious control over my projections, sending out only what I wish to manifest in the physical world, and holding back that which I don’t.

Stage 6 is essentially how magick operates.

Projection is neither good nor bad.  It is natural.  It’s the way soul & psyche interact with the exosphere.  Whether it’s healthy or unhealthy depends entirely on how well we understand it and learn from it.