the nature of psychological projection (props to monica)

[Plenum]

quite a while back, Monica made a reply to one of my posts. It was a really well thought out point of view, and probably didn't get the attention that it deserves.

I had originally made an observation here:

I am still prone to 'projecting'; ie, the subconscious is still throwing it's Shadow over the world, and interpreting how 'it' wants to interpret it.

I have a greater trust in this 'tuning' when I am in a balanced and joyful state; and then I know I don't have an axe to grind.

- -

and then Monica comes back with this essay-type response, drawing heavily upon personal experience! It is quite an amazing read; full of understanding.

I agree. I would say getting a perception about someone online is probably the least reliable way. Even in person, we project onto one another and thus may get distortion. How much more so when we have only typed words, without even their voice, without knowing what they look like, without facial expressions, etc.?

Edgar Cayce was particularly gifted and was able to get accurate info based on only a name and location. But, keep in mind that he did this while in a trance state. How accurate would he have been had he attempted to do it while conscious?

Awhile back, my husband and I got readings from a well-known psychic. She had a reputation of being very accurate.

A bit of background: My husband's mother was very abusive. True, those that abuse their children were usually abused themselves. True, compassion and forgiveness is the answer. Yes, that is a given. I'm happy to say that my husband was finally able to truly forgive her.

But the point is that his mother was the epitome of the wicked witch! A spiteful, vindictive shrew. NOT a nice person!

No, this isn't based just on his biases because he was abused by her. I kept trying to help him see the good in her, but when I met her, I realized why that was so difficult for him. Even I had a very difficult time seeing the good in her! I could tell you things this woman did that would make your skin crawl.

So, I go see this 'almost-famous' psychic, and a few days later my husband goes to her, without me present. She starts probing. She says a few things that might be true, but they're very general, so might just be good guesses.

Then she says to my husband: "I'm picking up some energy about your mother. I can see that your mother played a very important role in your life. I can see that she's a very, very sweet and gentle person. I'm sure that you love her very much."

!!!

This 'psychic' assessment could not have been more wrong! My husband was barely able to stay til the end of the reading, he was so disgusted. Needless to say, nothing the psychic said after that had any credibility whatsoever.

Was she really just a fraud? I don't think so. I think she really did pick up something...She picked up that my husband's mother's energy was hanging over him like a cloud. It was true that, at that point, he had not yet forgiven her, so there was certainly a neon sign over his head that read "I have some issues with my mother."

But she interpreted it totally wrong. At that point in time, he hated his mother with every fiber of his being. How could this psychic totally miss that? How could she miss something that was so thick, so strong, that it could almost be felt tangibly even by someone who wasn't even psychic at all? Was this psychic woman that bad at what she did for a living? How could she be so wrong? Not just a little off, not just a little wrong, but totally and completely wrong?

Here's my theory:

She did indeed pick up that there was a 'mother' issue. But, she interpreted it according to her own biases.

We all have biases. We all project onto one another. That's a given.

There might be more to it than that. What if this psychic picked up on the very opposite of what was really the case, in order to accentuate it?

Sometimes we attract other-selves who mirror to us what we're doing that we don't realize. Such as a selfish, greedy person attracting someone who rips him off, to show him his own greed. In this case, like attracts like.

But other times, we might attract other-selves who mirror to us what we're not doing, but is suppressed in us. Such as a totally unselfish person who gives and gives and gives, to the point of martyrdom, attracting a greedy, selfish person ripping her off, to show her that she's not selfish enough! In this case, it's the opposite: Like attracts unlike. The unselfish person attracted the selfish person, to show her that being too unselfish is just as much of an imbalance as being too selfish.

Now, if a psychic were tuning into either of these people, s/he might pick up the same issue both times: selfishness to the point of imbalance.

But because of the psychic's own biases and distortions, s/he might not grasp the nuances of the situation. She might give a totally wrong answer...the exact opposite of what is really the case. She might tell the unselfish, martyr person that she is too selfish and needs to give more! Which is the opposite of what she needs to do!

Since there are more 'too selfish' people than there are martyrs, it's understandable that the psychic would make this mistake.

We, too, can make similar mistakes when we think we are 'tuning into' people. If this happens frequently even in person, how much more so does it happen when we start assessing people we're met on the internet?

What I'm suggesting is that we keep this in mind, when we get impressions about others, or when they tell us what they 'picked up' about us. They/we might be well-intentioned, but nonetheless quite wrong.

I just thought I'd offer that up for your consideration, as it is quite a beautiful read.

thanks Monica!

[Monica]

Oh wow I just now saw this!! Thanks plenum! I'm glad someone got some value out of something I said!

[Unbound]

So, in what case should you trust another individual's accuracy? If it's based entirely on correlation with your own expectations, then how can we say any psychic is "accurate"?

Seems to me to render the whole psychic exercise pretty pointless.

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My point here being that "accuracy" is kind of an empty idea when it comes to psychic impression, as symbolic sight isn't always very direct.

[Monica]

So, in what case should you trust another individual's accuracy?

In my opinion, never.

If it's based entirely on correlation with your own expectations, then how can we say any psychic is "accurate"?

Seems to me to render the whole psychic exercise pretty pointless.

Yeah, pretty much.

I personally consider psychics' offerings the same way I consider any channeled works, books, whatever. Consider it with an open mind, being willing to consider perspectives outside of our preconceived ideas and expectations. Then, when we are in that receptive state, does it resonate?

I would never take any psychic's opinions as absolute or authoritative. They, too, are mirrors to us, although they might see an expanded vision of what we see.

Example:

I had past life memories as a child. When I was around 19, a psychic spontaneously confirmed my past life memories, and filled in some important details. I felt she was accurate. Why? The way it happened, so spontaneous...and it served the purpose of expanding my thinking. So much good came from that, so much introspection and, ultimately, forgiveness, that I don't even care whether it was accurate or not!

Example:

My husband had memories of a lifetime during WWII. He did a conscious regression and remembered more details of that lifetime. His memories were quite tangible. Later, he asked a psychic to delve more deeply into that lifetime, but got she got it totally wrong! She said he was on the opposite side in the war, and totally missed his main memory, which was really huge! Her version completely conflicted with his.

He chose to trust his own memories, instead of what she said. I thought that was wise.

We both have had additional readings, in which the scenarios told to us triggered a great big shrug. We just didn't feel anything. Nothing. Nada. So either we'd already cleared all the baggage from those lifetimes, or...the psychic was picking up on who knows what, but it wasn't us.

I've had much better results with my own regressions, because they come at time that is relevant. For example, when I had issues with a family member and meditated on it, I got a clear vision of a past life with that family member. This was meaningful to me, much more so than some arbitrary bit of data from some psychic.

I think, for a psychic reading to have value in a practical way, the psychic must be able to tune into what is currently relevant to the person, not just read the Akashic Records at random, because doing that may pick up on snapshots into lifetimes that aren't currently relevant to what the person is experiencing.

---

My point here being that "accuracy" is kind of an empty idea when it comes to psychic impression, as symbolic sight isn't always very direct.

I'm not a psychic per se, but I have been given what I call 'dream visions' about other people, many times, that they found value in, in a symbolic way. In some cases, they appeared to be glimpses of past lives, and in other cases, just purely symbolic, like a dream. In all cases, I was able to get the vision only when I was in a state of compassion and caring for that person. Many times, they would pop up in my mind spontaneously when I was praying for the person.

In a few cases, the vision turned out to be accurate. The person told me that I had zeroed in on something that had really happened to them (that I hadn't previously known about). In other cases, they were clearly just symbols.

This indicated to me that the value of a vision, reading, or past life memory isn't whether it's literally accurate, but whether the archetypal energies depicted are helpful to the person at that time.

[BrownEye]

I like my buddy that can use the grid to pop up right next to you. He doesn't look into timelines unless there is a specific need.


A psychic that just has images appear in their head has to translate with the brain. I have no trust in someone that uses the brain for interpretation. It's no better than your own dreams, if you can't translate properly it's worthless.

[Unbound]

Aha Truthfully I don't really just get images myself either, I was just using that as an example.