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Directory of Meanings Set 9: Process Archetypes
NOTES
1. Set 9 also involves archetypes – those of process. It is based on the proposition that all psychic processes evolve in the same manner, following a specific template. The nine cards of set 9 provide the template
2. Each entry is structured as follows: After describing the image, there is a general reflection on the place of the card in the set as a whole. This is followed by the section which deals with detailed meanings. The last item is a summarising list of the divination meanings for the card.
3. The treatment of each stage of the cycle is of a thematic, rather than strictly historical type. Our concern is not to answer questions such as the precise conditions of the origins of the psyche, but rather to provide a model of the stages which will be of practical value in divination.
73. Projection: group – spirit (1 violet/purple) [stage 1]
http://www.rainring.co.uk/Cards/Projection/73.aspx
The Image
It is night; perhaps the period just before dawn. In the left foreground a bearded man sits on the ground with knees drawn up and arms around his shins, gazing into a small fire. On the fire is a pot-holder in the shape of a globe, suspended by chains from a rod which disappears out of view in the right foreground. Behind the man, the shape of a wolf’s head can be made out, its eyes catching the firelight. In the middle centre of the image can be seen the silhouette of a figure sleeping on the ground. The landscape beyond is hilly, and there are a few faint stars in the sky.
The place of Projection in the Process Cycle
Projection: 1) stage one of the project: first movement of the spirit towards conceivable goals; 2) the distortion of what is by what is imagined, believed, felt to be
If Projection is the first stage of the cycle, the original Projection would logically correspond to the origins of the psyche. However, Projection represents only the beginnings of consciousness, so Projection must take account of a preceding stage: that of Crossing (out of the original Unconscious into consciousness). Crossing involves dislocation, disorientation, confusion and uncertainty, and in the cycle this forms the background out of which Projection arises.
Projection itself does not represent a stage at which there is no female polarity. Strictly speaking, we should consider Spirit and Will as constituting a co-equal first stage. The emotions of the Will open space for the light of Spirit to penetrate, but the shape or form of the universe is determined by the emotional responses (stage 2, Resistance) of the Will to the project first conceived by Spirit. So, our ‘first stage’ will be the study of this process of Projection.
The meaning
Projection: ‘a transforming change; the forming of a plan; the act of perceiving a mental object as spatially and sensibly objective’[1]
To reach the stage of Projection means that you have come out of Crossing. In Crossing, you get to a point at which you realise that your own unaided efforts are not going to carry you forward. When something is completed[2], there is an inevitable ending; Crossing thus involves a death of some kind. Only when this is accepted are the conditions in place for the new to arise. Projection is like the first sense you have, at the end of the night, that dawn is near. At that point, suddenly, your spirit lifts, the weight of the past is lightened, and you begin to plan for the new day which you know will soon be upon you.
In Projection, you experience elements of inner tension or contradiction. On the one hand, your plans induce a feeling of optimism and excitement – the thrill of taking the first, tentative steps upon a new path. On the other hand, there is a strong element of resistance. First, you cannot easily shake off the womb-like sense of protection and support which the Unconscious offers at the moment that you let yourself go and allow life to carry you wherever it will. After all, that is what you knew before consciousness and, as at the moment of your birth, part of you longs to remain in that original womb. Second, this stage of Projection is one in which you are essentially alone. You cast around here and there, trying to orient yourself in this unfamiliar landscape, to find some kind of theme, direction, raison d’etre which will give coherence and purpose to your movement.
Just as birth is associated with pain, or at very least drama, so this passage into the new cycle – for such it is going to be – is likely to cause upheaval and distress. The familiar is behind you, the unknown ahead, and there is hurt in this situation. In fact, what will oppose you in Projection is this aspect of yourself that does not want to have to go through the struggle of giving birth to a whole new cycle. The job position you have held for many years has long given you security - you are reluctant to leave. Now times have changed and there is nothing further for you in this post. But can you face the job market, with all the distress and tension which this implies? To move on will always be difficult in some respects. Relationships too will be disrupted: you lose respected and valued colleagues, will have to deal with entirely new ones.
To sum up, Projection is going to require that you achieve inner balance – both in order to go forward and in order to withstand the challenges which lie ahead of you: for the disturbance of the status quo, the elaboration of the new project – this essentially spirit work - is going to produce a backlash from the Will (stage 2)
Note that Projection can also come up with the standard meaning used in psychology: ‘the attribution of one’s own ideas, feelings, or attitudes to other people or to objects’ (Merriam-Webster online) – you misread what is outside you because you distort it in terms of what is within you.
Divination summary
a new start, the end of a period of confusion, uncertainty and loss of direction; plans, projects, schemes; first tentative steps; the loneliness of the pioneer; solitary meditations; being misunderstood and unappreciated; doubts, misgivings, hesitations over the way forward; difficulty in shaking off the comfort of old habits and routines; overcoming resistance to change.
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[1] Merriam-Webster online dictionary
[2] Logic here would force us to entertain the idea that in the Unconscious condition out of which consciousness was born, there must have been a process of some form which reached a fruition, as a result of which the Crossing into consciousness took place.
NOTES
1. Set 9 also involves archetypes – those of process. It is based on the proposition that all psychic processes evolve in the same manner, following a specific template. The nine cards of set 9 provide the template
2. Each entry is structured as follows: After describing the image, there is a general reflection on the place of the card in the set as a whole. This is followed by the section which deals with detailed meanings. The last item is a summarising list of the divination meanings for the card.
3. The treatment of each stage of the cycle is of a thematic, rather than strictly historical type. Our concern is not to answer questions such as the precise conditions of the origins of the psyche, but rather to provide a model of the stages which will be of practical value in divination.
73. Projection: group – spirit (1 violet/purple) [stage 1]
http://www.rainring.co.uk/Cards/Projection/73.aspx
The Image
It is night; perhaps the period just before dawn. In the left foreground a bearded man sits on the ground with knees drawn up and arms around his shins, gazing into a small fire. On the fire is a pot-holder in the shape of a globe, suspended by chains from a rod which disappears out of view in the right foreground. Behind the man, the shape of a wolf’s head can be made out, its eyes catching the firelight. In the middle centre of the image can be seen the silhouette of a figure sleeping on the ground. The landscape beyond is hilly, and there are a few faint stars in the sky.
The place of Projection in the Process Cycle
Projection: 1) stage one of the project: first movement of the spirit towards conceivable goals; 2) the distortion of what is by what is imagined, believed, felt to be
If Projection is the first stage of the cycle, the original Projection would logically correspond to the origins of the psyche. However, Projection represents only the beginnings of consciousness, so Projection must take account of a preceding stage: that of Crossing (out of the original Unconscious into consciousness). Crossing involves dislocation, disorientation, confusion and uncertainty, and in the cycle this forms the background out of which Projection arises.
Projection itself does not represent a stage at which there is no female polarity. Strictly speaking, we should consider Spirit and Will as constituting a co-equal first stage. The emotions of the Will open space for the light of Spirit to penetrate, but the shape or form of the universe is determined by the emotional responses (stage 2, Resistance) of the Will to the project first conceived by Spirit. So, our ‘first stage’ will be the study of this process of Projection.
The meaning
Projection: ‘a transforming change; the forming of a plan; the act of perceiving a mental object as spatially and sensibly objective’[1]
To reach the stage of Projection means that you have come out of Crossing. In Crossing, you get to a point at which you realise that your own unaided efforts are not going to carry you forward. When something is completed[2], there is an inevitable ending; Crossing thus involves a death of some kind. Only when this is accepted are the conditions in place for the new to arise. Projection is like the first sense you have, at the end of the night, that dawn is near. At that point, suddenly, your spirit lifts, the weight of the past is lightened, and you begin to plan for the new day which you know will soon be upon you.
In Projection, you experience elements of inner tension or contradiction. On the one hand, your plans induce a feeling of optimism and excitement – the thrill of taking the first, tentative steps upon a new path. On the other hand, there is a strong element of resistance. First, you cannot easily shake off the womb-like sense of protection and support which the Unconscious offers at the moment that you let yourself go and allow life to carry you wherever it will. After all, that is what you knew before consciousness and, as at the moment of your birth, part of you longs to remain in that original womb. Second, this stage of Projection is one in which you are essentially alone. You cast around here and there, trying to orient yourself in this unfamiliar landscape, to find some kind of theme, direction, raison d’etre which will give coherence and purpose to your movement.
Just as birth is associated with pain, or at very least drama, so this passage into the new cycle – for such it is going to be – is likely to cause upheaval and distress. The familiar is behind you, the unknown ahead, and there is hurt in this situation. In fact, what will oppose you in Projection is this aspect of yourself that does not want to have to go through the struggle of giving birth to a whole new cycle. The job position you have held for many years has long given you security - you are reluctant to leave. Now times have changed and there is nothing further for you in this post. But can you face the job market, with all the distress and tension which this implies? To move on will always be difficult in some respects. Relationships too will be disrupted: you lose respected and valued colleagues, will have to deal with entirely new ones.
To sum up, Projection is going to require that you achieve inner balance – both in order to go forward and in order to withstand the challenges which lie ahead of you: for the disturbance of the status quo, the elaboration of the new project – this essentially spirit work - is going to produce a backlash from the Will (stage 2)
Note that Projection can also come up with the standard meaning used in psychology: ‘the attribution of one’s own ideas, feelings, or attitudes to other people or to objects’ (Merriam-Webster online) – you misread what is outside you because you distort it in terms of what is within you.
Divination summary
a new start, the end of a period of confusion, uncertainty and loss of direction; plans, projects, schemes; first tentative steps; the loneliness of the pioneer; solitary meditations; being misunderstood and unappreciated; doubts, misgivings, hesitations over the way forward; difficulty in shaking off the comfort of old habits and routines; overcoming resistance to change.
______________________________________________________
[1] Merriam-Webster online dictionary
[2] Logic here would force us to entertain the idea that in the Unconscious condition out of which consciousness was born, there must have been a process of some form which reached a fruition, as a result of which the Crossing into consciousness took place.
