Projection has become one of many popular psychotherapy 'buzzwords' used in the online space during this age of information. A word that 10 years ago was mainly used by psychotherapists has now become a generalised 'pseudo-psychotherapy' term that is used to describe people who basically judge others before looking in the mirror.
Projection, the mental process by which people attribute to others what is in their own minds.
Before this blog post proceeds into the murky waters of 'projection', please consider the following. WE must continue to question and research more about the things we see and read in 'online social media posts' for safety and harmless interactions. Recognize that the average person online is not a trained therapist, psychologist, coach or professional and therefore cannot provide the ethical standing and safe practice that these fields require.
We must also continue to question our beliefs and what we've been told and taught, particularly from mainstream institutions and Eurocentric theories established on the roots of colonisation.
As many of these concepts were pushed into the collective to advance western ideologies and colonisation and to nullify indigenous and alernative ways of being. Anything can be used to harm rather than help if we don't have the full picture.
The question should be with anything, "how can we take a concept and use it to benefit and serve rather severe, judge, bolster our position in society and proove ourselves right!
One way of exploring a concept is to look for other perspectives and angles from different areas of thought, fields and researchers. Not to nullify it's significance, but rather to open up exploration and gain an in depth understanding.
Accordingly, this blog post is here to offer up another perspective of Projection, that stems from a soul-centric, shamanistic and spiritual perspective.
The word and concept of projection gained traction through the works of the Western-based Father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud.
However, although projection is a Eurocentric ideology, which stems from a neuro-scientific lens, we will explore other angles that may offer up a more in-depth and soulcentric understanding of how projection can benefit our healing journey.
What is Projection?
The concept was introduced to psychology by the Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), who borrowed the word projection from neurology, where it referred to the inherent capacity of neurons to transmit stimuli from one level of the nervous system to another (e.g., the retina “projects” to the occipital cortex, where raw sensory input is rendered into visual images). In contemporary psychological science the term continues to have the meaning of seeing the self in the other. This presumably universal tendency of the human social animal has both positive and negative effects. Depending on what qualities are projected and whether or not they are denied in the self, projection can be the basis of both warm empathy and cold hatred. https://www.britannica.com/science/projection-psychology
To break it down further, the general western idea of projection goes a little something like this: what we identify in others, is how we see ourselves, what we judge and criticise in others is our judgement and criticism of ourselves, what we feel we lack in ourselves we will search for in another to compensate and feel whole.
An alternative view
Projection is intrinsically connected to our shadow and ego and there is so much potential in it to expand our consciousness, heal and grow. But first we must recognize if we are the ones projecting when we point a finger and blame projection for every little criticism, disagreement, conflict and challenges to our way of thinking that we encounter online, because the online space is where projection can be witnessed the most.
Receiving feedback, being challenged and experiencing conflict are all necessary and inevitable components for growth, healing and reintegrating ourselves back into whole and coherent beings. These experiences help us to self-reflect, teach humility, empathy, gain perspective. (This can become tricky in online spaces because we are looking at a screen not a mirror). The ego however, sees any form of challenge to it's existence as an attack and tends to react and defend.
Every person and every experience we encounter is a reflection of our inner-mirror, according to projection. So, there is really no way to avoid or suppress projection in this world. All we can do is see it as an opportunity to awaken, heal and grow.
If we always come from a defensive and deficit standpoint, we will always find reasons to attack and point out what is wrong in others.
We look inside first, decide what kind of world we want to see and then project that world outside making it the truth as we see it
A Course in Miracles
There is no denying the idea of projection, but not one of us walking this earth is exempt from projecting the shadow or unrealised parts of ourselves onto others so why do we frame it as a negative thing?
If we perceived projection as soul exploration, it becomes an opportunity to deep dive into shadow work and unlock another facet of self..
What people in the online space forget to identify, explain & understand is that projection also has a positive and beneficial side, just like everything in this world and we can use it to benefit and heal ourselves.
The Soul-Centric perspective of Projection
Bill Plotkin is a well known depth psychologist, ecotherapist and wilderness guide. He is the author of 'soulcraft' which crosses the boundaries of psychology into the depths of mysticism and shamanism and provides an experiential guide into the wilderness of the soul.
His work on the ego, shadow reclamation and soul retrieval offers us a soul centered perspective that is more beneficial to our growth.
From his work with thousands of individuals and copious amounts of experiential research he provides three motivational ideas for withdrawing projections.
By becoming conscious of disowned experiences and projected qualities and accepting them as part of us we are less likely to act them out
Some keys to our soul powers are buried in the repressed material
Many of the capacities and resources we need to live our soul qualities are also buried here.
But, Plotkin goes even further to explain projection from a different perspective, another possibility from the lens of the soul.
There is this irrepressible urge within each of us toward wholeness, some would say this is why we incarnated, to become more fully who we are in our deepest essence....The soul cant make us wake up, but it can and does see to it that we project. That way we are likely to run smack into the wall of our own unlived potential. If we can recognize our projections, then we can embrace the painful opportunity to both heal and whole ourselves.
So we project. Apparently there is no way to avoid it even while there are limitless ways to ignore or deny it.
Bill Plotkin
Robert Bly says that projection is actually a fortunate thing. Without it we may never have an opportunity to regain the fragmented and buried parts of ourselves. He reaches even further into the enigma of the soul to reveal hidden gems and discovers that there are actually two main ways in which we project onto others.
We project our own unrecognized personal qualities (potential)
We project the qualities of someone from our past onto people in the present, which is also known as 'transference' in psychologist terms.
Not only do we project the hurt & our unhealed wounds, but we also project by perceiving our hidden potential that the soul recognizes as itself. What we see as competition is really just our own inner-qualities that haven't been explored, raised up into the conscious mind and cultivated within ourselves.
We may see someone as a threat to our sense of security because we sense their presence and personal power, but rather than attack and try and pull that person down, we can explore that same quality within ourselves.
Transference gives us an opportunity to discover how we have unwittingly created many of the dysfunctional relationships (both old and new) in our attempts to protect ourselves from abandonment or emotional annihilation as children....
Here's the real gem, our soul recognizes opportunity! Yes! our soul actually wants us to revisit these old hurtful relationships and experiences that have caused fragmentation, separation and suppression so that we can heal and reintegrate back into wholeness.
The only thing we need to do is recognize and realize that we are projecting and that takes courage to clean our own inner-mirror. The resistance is felt when the ego self just doesn't want any part of it, so it resists and keeps justifying it's projections through othering, blame, justifications, excuses, minimisation, victimhood, defensiveness and attack.
One way the soul gifts us opportunities to heal, recover and awaken is by arranging experiences & events in our lives, very similar to the idea of magnetism and attraction. It draws people (major players), places and interactions from the past into our current field so that we can HEAL these karmic bonds. People in our lives become the 'protagonist' main actors/actresses to help us see what it is that needs healing.
We recognize in others what the soul knows to be a part of ourselves, whether positive or negative, buried or just unrecognized.
The only way to see others and this world clearly, is if we recognize, realize and retrieve the unhealed parts of ourselves, so that we can step more into our own potent power and presence.
The question is, are you willing to step in front of the mirror instead of hiding behind a screen pointing fingers about who is projecting?
Mauri Tu Mauri ora! Thank you for your presence..
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