projections

Erich Neumann publicly proposed the concept of the ego-Self (or Self-ego) axis and began to sketch its implications in his 1952 Eranos lecture, "The Psyche and the Transformation of the Reality Planes. Edward Edinger popularized the concept writing, "It portrays the developmental relationship between the ego and the Self, Jung’s term for “the totality of the conscious and unconscious psyche [that] transcends our visions…” 

As infants, we embody an original wholeness, or Self-hood, out of which ego (a sense of “I”) gradually emerges. The connection to the Self may be damaged if the ego believes itself the sole source of identity and life or if the ego has been depleted through trauma. In either case, reconnection to the Self is essential to life vitality. A living relationship with the Self can be sought through work with the unconscious: we can attend to our dreams, develop self-reflective capacity, and learn to see meaning and magic in everyday occurrences. 

Here’s the dream we analyze:

“I was taking part in a marathon. At first, I was doubtful I could complete the race. As I started running, I realized I was not losing my energy too quickly, and my hope I would reach the destination was growing within me. Toward the end of the race, I still had plenty of energy, so I decided to accelerate a bit, even though I could see so many people were ahead of me, and I, therefore, had no chance of winning. As I reached the end, I checked the results and noticed I was around the 14th person to arrive. I was, however, the first among female participants. I was very excited and wanted my partner to see the results. Then I somehow started running back along the same route, still full of energy. While I was running back, someone was announcing the prizes, and I knew I would be offered a pram and could choose out of three types. One of the prams offered as a prize was a “German” pram that had a seat for the baby that could be turned around so that the baby is either looking forward or looking back at the parent who is pushing.” 

 REFERENCES: 

Linda Leonard. On the Way to the Wedding.

https://bookshop.org/books/on-the-way-to-the-wedding-transforming-the-love-relationship/9781570627118

Edward Edinger. Ego and Archetype.

https://bookshop.org/books/ego-and-archetype/9780877735762

RESOURCES:

Learn to Analyze your own Dreams:  https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/

The power of projections to hit psychic targets serves both defensive and integrative functions. Projections are a natural aspect of psychic functioning, as we know from watching children at play: we first see inner images “out there” in order to experience them internally.

Projections give shape to affects and archetypal images, from the hero to the healer, the derelict to the destroyer. We also tend to project our shadows outward, attributing disliked or undeveloped aspects of ourselves to others. In The Wizard of Oz Dorothy and her companions project the power to change their lives onto the wizard.

When they discover he is only “the man behind the curtain” they recognize their projections as illusions and are able to see the wizard more objectively. Withdrawing projections allows us to become more empowered and whole.

 

Dream

There is a group of young women/girls - I am either one of them or I am all of them (that’s the sense I get). There is the knowledge that one of us has to make a sacrifice for the group. The youngest is chosen – a beautiful girl (maybe age 10-12) with long dark hair in shiny curls. She is kind and willing to sacrifice.

She is led to an old stone building by two of the other girls (twins with bobbed dark hair and a harsher personality). Instructions for the sacrifice are in the building. The next day the girls/women return to find the sacrifice was completed.

The youngest has had to sacrifice herself to make a bowl of soup for the others. The red tomato and herb soup was made with her outer layers - skin and flesh. The sacrifice was made willingly and for the benefit of the group.

In this week's SYSK Select episode, yes, your brain may have just flash-dried from boredom at the thought of learning about maps, but it turns out they are a lot more than just tools for navigation. Maps are two-dimensional representations of how we imagine our world, with imagine being the operative word since every map in existence is riddled with errors.

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