Mirror musings

Projections are my favourite psychological phenomenon. The transfer of part of our unconscious content to another being.

That transfer of energy occurs from one part of our mind to another part of our mind. It is not really externalised. The external ‘hook’ does not demand projection, it mostly remains unaware. The part of our mind that the other person occupies (represents, ‘lightens’) creates a polarization, a tension in our mind, and ions flow en masse from other neurons to the new ‘hole’. The subject of our projection needs a touch of uncertainty, of idealization, even of adoration. A Muse. Locks are released, doors are opened, and the electric current flows with such freedom, with such force, that we can only feel an explosive, expansive joy. A liberation. As if we were the genie in the lamp who is let out after one thousand years to stretch his arms with a huge awakening. This is what we usually call to fall in love. Not just with a person, it could happen with a landscape, a little corner, a tree, a star.

It is curious that something outside must happen, the connection with someone, in order to create this imbalance of energy so that it can flow. It’s all in our mind. The object of our projection doesn’t ‘do anything’ except to act as an involuntary receptacle. Our muses must be idealized because if they were real, they would not function as muses. And that idealization is a projection of the anima or animus, of the soul. But what is the point of projecting to create an imbalance that then allows the flow of energy from the unconscious?

A gap is created that enables us to make conscious some unconscious contents. And for this we need the object on which we project, the mirror. But why can’t we reproduce it from rational consciousness? Why do we need deification, idealization? We need an ‘improvement’, a more beautiful reality than what we perceive as everyday life, something that is too good for us as mere mortal humans, superior. And so, it flows from ‘below’ to ‘above’. That higher entity, our muse, is created by us by projecting. It is an illusion, a reflection. Why do we need to see ourselves reflected in another for it to flow?

We create an idealization as a mechanism to bring up information from the unconscious. We project content that is hidden inside us and then flows from the unconscious upwards. In reality we are only a transit zone. A ‘well’ of ions is created, a strongly polarized zone, in an area of the mind that we perceive as distinct from the ego (because it is projected onto another being) and then the contents flow from the unconscious with an energy that we can hardly recognize or contain. We are mere spectators. The unconscious projects to create an energy imbalance that then enables our unconscious contents to pass in front of our eyes and be seen. Otherwise, they would pass underneath, and we would not be able to see them. It is not that they would not exist, we would simply not be aware of them.

The projection is necessary for the conscious ego to see what is underneath. For the stream to flow in front of us. For our hands to write it, to paint it. We simply watch the stream of light pass through us from our soul to our star, so it can be reflected. It is a form of communication, so that we can see ourselves. That energy passes through us. We cannot hold it back; we can only let it pass through so that it does not destroy us.

Watching it pass and wondering who is the one who writes these things, watching my soul flow, trying not to touch it, not to disturb it, to get out of the way… the guardian of the door… or the window. Between two waters, between two worlds. The light passes through me to reflect in a mirror on the other side and dazzles me. I marvel. This is the only way I can see it. That river of light that I carry inside and finally comes out. I am only the spectator. The passenger of such a powerful being, capable of producing this light, these words. Who can I be but its humble servant? The window dresser… It is comforting to know that within us there is such a beautiful light. That at least in part we are that light, that we are also that light.

Of course, we also use the same mechanism to project our shadow. It serves the same purpose, to become aware of it. Just as we are that light, we are also that darkness.