The unconscious, although resistant to exposure, needs to express and make itself known. Through projections the unconscious stays hidden while indirectly declaring itself by attaching its contents to others. Most of us are oblivious to the considerable amount of unconscious projections in our relationships. With today’s accelerated evolution, it’s imperative that we own our shadow by releasing projections in order to integrate all aspects of ourselves.
Is it even possible to withdraw projections that spring from such a deeply inaccessible internal place? Also, it’s hard to forfeit the satisfaction derived from disowning our shadow and watching it played out through others. But our relationships become so distorted with projection that we don’t ever get to know the truth of people. We inadvertently block and obstruct the flow of their nature through these cement fortresses of perception. To fulfill the new paradigm’s mandate to mutually enlighten each other, we must be able to hold a clear, projection-free space for everyone we know.
Relationships can be profound sources of insight provided we restrain the impulse to lay our thoughts, judgments, evaluations, fears onto the other person. When casting our illusions, we miss the opportunity to look in the mirror others hold for us. Because smug assumptions, based on projections, convince us that we know the other person, we rarely actually check in with him/her. Without a reality check we’re lost in presumptions about how others think and feel — usually because we’re afraid to face any discrepancies between the picture we paint of them and their actual truth.
To truly know someone we must hold a blank screen on which to clearly perceive both the dark and light aspects of that person. Often we project pretty pictures of others in an effort to block their unsavory shadow parts. Or we may deny their positive areas if we’re invested in seeing them negatively. This gets exhausting as we open up psychically. Then more denial energy through projection is required to ward off our intuitive knowings of the person. We become cleaved to our version.
When fixated on negative projections, we cling to judgments rather than open our eyes to the person’s soul shining through. Our positive projections supposedly prevent us from crashing to the earth when the person’s shadow pierces our bubble. We expect others to stay within our version of them and become very disappointed when their nature, light or dark, emerges beyond the thick veil of our projections. This forces us to adapt to their truth which always mirrors denied parts of ourselves. Heated arguments with beloveds ensue as we hurl projections back and forth
It’s so tempting to abdicate responsibility for our shadow by hiring others to carry it for us. But we become frustrated with their inability to change "their shadow" which is really ours. They can’t transmute a shadow that isn’t theirs. Disempowered, it becomes clear that we’re the only ones who can integrate/heal our own unconscious.
What’s the difference between projection and discernment? We’re heavily invested in our projections (which are loaded with judgments). Projections, messengers from the unconscious with the divine purpose to show our hidden self, carry intense psychic weight to which we react with adamant denial. Like trying to flick off a festering leech, we flip them over to the other person in an onslaught of justifications. Discernment, often a gut feeling, carries a persistent sense of the truth long retained after we have reclaimed our projections.
When our reality stems strictly from projections, we live in a self-created free-floating bubble of separation. Projections, a pervasive web that locks our channels of perception in a prison of distortion, cause us to act/react on false premises. As this fortress of aberration increases in density our sensitivity level dulls. Unable to pick up on people’s nuances, we forget to open to unadulterated receptivity and instead bully others into being our rendering of them. Unwilling to see the truth, our world becomes enshrouded in illusion.
In childhood our parents often dump projections on us. Much of our adult life is spent trying to live up to or shake off their assumptions. Emphatic parental projections cause us to doubt the truth of who we really are. This carries into our adult relationships as we "hire" people to carry on our parents’ views. We try to wear their projections and shape ourselves accordingly, eager to see ourselves through their eyes in order to sustain the connection. It seems more important to be loved/accepted than to be true to ourselves. Why risk the disharmony of making others uncomfortable by asking them to own their projections! Ironically, others’ projections cause us to lose true contact with them. We feel misperceived, lonely, stifled, confused and defensive — reliving our childhood experience of the onslaught of parental projections.
We can only know and love others when we accept the responsibility to explore/acknowledge all of our projections. It can be scary to withdraw projections and honestly observe the other. Glorified projections create glamour that keeps the relationship on a magic carpet until it drops to the earth. Then the real relationship begins. Otherwise we spend years tangled in projections — helplessly flailing about in a hotbed of frustration trying to get a purchase on the reality of the other while denying the truth of ourselves. If the relationship crumbles under the weight of this struggle, we bundle up our projections and continue to search for someone who will wear them (and carry our unconscious). Then we’re safe from the internal pressure to face ourselves at the deepest level.
If inclined to cling to diminished versions of ourselves, we project greatness onto others and relinquish our treasure chest of wealth. Cocooned in inferiority, we don’t have to take responsibility for our gifts. We pressure others to live up to our expectations — play out our magnitude — a setup for disappointment.
When we claim projections and bring compassion to the disowned parts of self, we can integrate these missing puzzle pieces to create a lucid self-image. Through this deep connection to ourselves relationships unfold to hold the vivid truth of both individuals. To become soul-based humans, all projections must be lifted to insure true soul connections with each other. We need to ask ourselves why we are denying these positive or negative parts of ourselves. What judgments are lurking there? To suspend projections for even a moment opens us to a blank slate of perception where we can view others from a new perspective.
Once we accept the human impulse to project we can explore our filter, with its unique perceptual grid that holds our biases, orientation, childhood conditioning, wounds and past life patterns. We need to adjust for this filter and ask what we objectively know about the other person. This allows us to embrace ourselves while holding a neutral canvas on which people can reveal themselves. We’re free to discover the truth of others while integrating our unconscious. This fosters rich, clear, fulfilling relationships. No longer needing to live up to the projections of others or disown and dump our shadow on them, we become independent, whole, clear-sighted and truly loving.
The Tibetan arrives to return my projections of greatness so that I can embody my own magnitude. He teaches:
"Humankind projects every aspect of its nature onto Source. Yet Source’s Divine Love is neutral. This provides a terrific playing field for students to create and project versions of divinity as they gather experiences that bring them closer to Source’s pure empty Beingness. All projections eventually fall away to reveal the true nature of the soul.
"Embrace the process of projection as an opportunity to witness self’s creative journey into enlightenment. Hold the projections lightly as vignettes of the moment that paint a vivid picture from which to explore self’s conjectures about others and Source. Students learn by momentarily believing and feeling these "movies" as true. Accept the projections from others as an opportunity to track and claim any inherent truth therein as well as enhance self-definition by rejecting the irrelevant projections.
"Rigid adherence to any perception indicates a fear-based projection. Long standing projections, entrenched in false beliefs, retard the learning curve because self is not receiving true feedback from others. Today’s accelerated energies are quickly washing away chronic projections and leaving the student baffled about what perceptions to believe. Refrain from criticizing self for the unconscious impulse to project onto others or for being baited by the other’s projection of self. This is an opportunity to experience the purification benefit of disillusionment — peeling away layers of distortion that block enlightenment.
"Rather than judge the projection process, remember that ultimately, after mastering the human condition, everyone is then called to create on a grander scale and will need to potently project intention/invocation. Students will have already run the gamut of trying on and discarding obsolete projections. These experiences will pave the way for humankind to refine the art of projecting force fields for creative purposes. Without the need to surmise a projected sea of judgments, evaluations and impressions, students will investigate, engage and savor the empty Cosmic Screen. Then this screen will display grand creations evoked from the rich soil of human nature — transforming from moment to moment — as this splendid out-picturing metamorphoses into exquisite displays of Source’s becoming process unfolding within the New Human Being."
Moriah Marston, soul mentor in private psychotherapy practice since 1983, combines tools of depth astrology and dream analysis with her intuitive blend with Ascended Master Djwhal Khul’s soul perspective. Moriah has a penetrating multidimensional approach to healing and transformation. She specializes in phone sessions for individuals and couples. Moriah also offers group seminar intensives through her educational center, The School of the Golden Discs, in Colrain, MA. She is author of Earth School (a compilation of 68 articles from her Wisdom column) and Soul Searching with Djwhal Khul, the Tibetan. 413-624-9606, moriah@transformationaltimes.com . Visit her web site: www.transformationaltimes.com.