By George A. Boyd © 2002
Level
|
Order
|
Others Form
|
Our Desires
|
Our Associated Emotions
|
Subhuman |
1 |
Devil |
Desire to destroy or murder
|
Hatred
|
2
|
Monster
|
Desire to flee
|
Horror, revulsion
|
3
|
Beast
|
Desire to control or repress
|
Prejudice, bigotry, anger, superiority
|
4
|
Centaur (man-beast)
|
Desire to bring out the humanness
|
Pity mixed with fear
|
Human
|
5
|
Child (infant)
|
Desire to teach or guide
|
Kindness, playfulness, fun
|
6
|
Older child
|
Desire to teach responsibility
|
Sternness, discipline
|
7
|
Adolescent
|
Desire to protect and control behavior
|
Confrontation, caring
|
8
|
Adult
|
Desire for love, romance or friendship
|
Intimacy, caring, love, romance
|
9
|
Older adult
|
Desire for guidance or a mentor
|
Deference, guidance-seeking
|
10
|
Old age
|
Desire to learn from their wisdom and to avoid
the deterioration of aging
|
Respect, sadness
|
Supernatural or
Superhuman
|
11
|
Ghost or spirit
|
Desire to avoid possession
|
Fear, suspicion
|
12
|
Angel
|
Desire to avoid supernatural wrath, desire to
behold supernatural beauty
|
Fear, awe, love
|
13
|
Archangel
|
Desire to avoid being dissolved or torn apart
by supernatural force
|
Fear, trembling
|
14
|
Archetype or Divine Form (Elohim)
|
Desire to abase oneself, to fall on the floor
in worship
|
Fear, humility, self-abasement
|
15
|
Divine Spirit (Shekinah)
|
Desire to submit oneself to the Divine Will and
to receive love and healing
|
Worship, ecstasy, gratitude and thanksgiving
|
16
|
Presence of God
|
Desire to contemplate beauty
|
Awe, wonder, rapture
|
17
|
Bliss of God
|
Desire to not leave the wonderful feeling
|
Bliss, peace, union
|
18
|
Peace of God
|
Cessation of desire, complete fulfillment and
peace (Nirvana)
|
Complete rest and satiety
|
Through labeling, and by political, religious and cultural
indoctrination, you come to view certain people as one of forms 1-10.
When political labeling casts someone as an enemy, it evokes the projective
mechanism of demonization. When cast in this way, you become ready and
willing to destroy that person who you see as demonic. Demonization is
a necessary precursor to indoctrinating others to fight a war.
Transmogrification, the identification of someone as
a monster, leads to your desire to avoid this person at all costs. The
fear of contracting disease or being injured by a savage or insane person
evokes the desire to stay far away from him or her. Labeling others with
a contagious, disfiguring disease (e.g., leprosy) or a severe mental illness
(e.g., schizophrenia) evokes this sense of dread and horror in people.
Viewing others as animals (bestialization) leads to
prejudice and exploitation. When you see them as an animal, you use others
as beasts of burden but deny them human rights and freedom. You control
them and use them. The institution of slavery cannot exist without bestializing
another person. If they are seen as beasts, then you see them as being
inferior, not possessing basic humanity or even souls.
Viewing others in theriomorphic form (part man, part
animal) evokes mixed emotions of pity and fear. You see the human part,
with which you can identify, yet see a dark, subhuman part. When you look
at others with an addiction, a personality disorder or know them to be
criminals, you sometimes may see them in this form containing much
that is human, yet with a deformed or subhuman part that we may fear or
distrust.
Viewing others in different aspects of their humanity
(forms 5-10) draws out different responses in you. This is not strictly
limited by chronological age. For example, you usually look to an older,
more experienced adult for guidance, but you may also seek guidance from
a skilled prodigy. Pedophiles project sexual and romantic feelings on
young children; people normally reserve these feelings for those who are
older who they view as eligible adults. Sublimation, moreover,
may turn a romantic interest into a platonic friendship or a mentor relationship.
Those who pray and meditate may have experiences with
elements of the higher unconscious within themselves through inner encounters.
However, sometimes you may glimpse the spiritual nature of others and
idealize them. We often speak of one whom you love as an angel. People
often idealize and visualize the forms of the higher unconscious in their
spiritual leaders. If you view your spiritual Masters radiant form
within, he or she may appear like an angel. If you glimpse the radiance
of the Master when he or she ministers the Light, then you may glimpse
the archangelic form or even the form of the Divine Spirit in your spiritual
leader.
You may see the archetypal form of your spiritual leader
or have a vision or his or her highly advanced Soul (seeing the presence
of God within him or her) in the experience of darshan. In deep meditation,
you may merge with your own Soul or that of your spiritual Master (Bliss
of God) or, even for a moment, touch the desireless shores of the Divine
Rest (called Nirvana by Buddhists, Moksha by Hindus).
Skillful manipulation by words, with music or graphic
themes creating an atmosphere of persuasion, can powerfully influence
your attitudes and draw out these types of projections. Through this subtle
sophistry, politicians cast themselves as saviors (as do cult leaders).
Cruel and abusive men may convince their paramours that they desire love
and romance and wish to protect and cherish them, when in fact they wish
to control and enslave them.
Meditate on these 18 types of projections.
Identify when you have had these experiences before
in your relationships with others.
Try to determine exactly what evoked the emotions
that you felt (what suggestions or environmental cues) and what you
wanted from that person.
Examine how politicians and religious leaders try
to portray themselves and see what these characterizations draw out
in you.
Cast someone in each of these 18 different forms and
notice how you react to them.
By learning to recognize these personal and transpersonal
projective mechanisms of the mind and how others can manipulate them,
you can gradually wean yourself from their influence. By doing this, you
can begin to see others as they are and not as you might wish them to
be, and live in reality instead of fantasy.