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Beyond Projection & Shadow Work

Beyond Projection and Shadow Work Title Image with Geometry Drawing

Beyond Projection & Shadow Work: Introduction, Ego Consciousness, The Voice of the Lower Mind, The Voice of the Higher Mind, The Two Voices, Understanding Projection & Shadow Work, Transcending Projection, The Plan for Enlightenment, and Recommended Reading.

Introduction

Projection is the psychological phenomenon that underlies all interactions and perceptions in ego consciousness. Shadow Work is the practice of becoming aware of the phenomenon of projection and integrating the awareness.

Projection is the mechanism through which the ego disowns aspects of itself by projecting or seeing it in other egos. The ego is inherently unstable and changeable because it’s a temporary phenomenon that has no fundamental reality.

Ego Consciousness

Ego consciousness is the dimension of the thought and experience of separation from our Source. All expressions of consciousness are the domain of duality that originated with the thought of separation or the Big Bang. Everything within this temporary universe is the mental phenomenon of the thought of separation, which organizes itself into time intervals, degrees, dimensions, frequencies, and forms.

Part of this phenomenon are the seemingly individual minds that appear in various dimensions and forms. These individual minds reflect the idea (the mental thought) of separation, and they are the questioning aspect of the one divided mind. They experience duality in their own mind as the voice of the lower mind and Higher Self, or Higher Mind.

The Voice of the Lower Mind

The voice of the lower self, or ego, is the separated aspect that is based on the thought system of fear, pain, guilt, sin, judgment, attack, and every thought perception, or apparent experience that is the inevitable confusion and doubt that arises from the idea of being separate. The ego’s only goal is its own survival because, perceiving itself as separate, it cannot know wholeness, or unity.

The Voice of the Higher Mind

The voice of the Higher Self, or the Higher Mind, is the aspect that is connected to our Source, because complete separation is impossible. The voice of the Higher Self is the connected aspect that is based on the thought system of love, joy, and unity consciousness.

The illusion of separation is like a dream state, and the voice of our Higher Self is the inner guide and intuition that guides us back to rejoin our minds as one. Every single seemingly individual mind in every plane and dimension in all this universe is on this same dream journey, at various time intervals, to various degrees, and we all have one goal and one purpose, to return our mind to our one mind.

The state of One-mindedness is also called Enlightenment. This is our collective destiny that has already been completed, it just appears as if we are each experiencing it in our own timelines. Time collapses as each mind rejoins, and whenever it does anything to reduce the time it needs for the process by listening to the instructions from the Higher Mind to rejoin.

Time will end when we rejoin our Source in timelessness because there will no longer be any need for anything related to the thought of separation, including duality, and time. We return to a state of non-dualism.

The Two Voices

The two voices and their thought systems are irreconcilable. They do not recognize, hear, or validate each other in any way, they are in opposition, they are the duality.

The process of personal transformation and psychological integration that is part of psychotherapy, self-realization, and self-actualization is the step-by-step process to healing the divided mind by accessing the voice of the Higher Self and remembering who and what we are, as part of our source.

Enlightenment is the result of psychological integration and complete release of the ego’s thought system. The state of Enlightenment is One-mindedness where we only hear and listen to the voice of our Higher Self. In this state we transcend the belief in illusions and listen to the voice as it guides us to fulfill our part and purpose in rejoining our minds.

Understanding Projection & Shadow Work

Understanding Projection and Shadow is the first part of the process in recognizing the unreality of the ego and duality consciousness. It can also become a trap because the ego’s only possible desire is for its own survival, because of the fear associated with separation. It cannot understand Enlightenment and it will fear it because it appears to be its undoing, which it is. There is no end to projection for the ego because that is what it is. Once we understand the nature of the ego, we stop trying to integrate it into something it cannot be.

Transcending Projection

Transcending Projection is the process of giving up all investment in the ego’s thought system. In every moment we make a choice between listening to the voice of the ego, or lower mind, and the voice of our Higher Self, or Higher Mind.

There are two parts to this process. The first is true forgiveness. True forgiveness is the accurate response to the awareness of projection because it clears our mental field of the psychological debris associated with the belief in appearances and seemingly separate bodies and minds. To forgive truly simply state that you recognize what is happening is a projection, or ego consciousness, which you now know is a mental illusion, and being unreal you forgive the phenomenon and all you may have associated with it, like it never occurred in the first place.

The second part of the process in transcending projection is the extension of Truth. The extension of Truth is the recognition that any apparent separate mind or body is a part of your one mind and that these are our equal parts, with one Source. This Truth is beyond belief because it is only in duality, or ego consciousness where beliefs are needed due to the inherent instability and uncertainty of the mental phenomenon.

The voice of our Higher Self only speaks for this Truth, love, joy, and unity. As the psychological debris are cleared this voice becomes clearer. It responds to us in every way, but it cannot relate to anything that is not part of the plan to return to one mind. When you ask it then it can translate what you think you perceive into Truth. It communicates without demands and any fear or other ideas that represent the division of fear like guilt, sin, pain, attack, anger, and judgement. It will also teach you how to be vigilant so that you will know the Truth of your Self, and everything we have inherited from our Source. To be vigilant means to always ask what the purpose is of any choice, or action, and if it is in accord with the Higher Mind. Anything in accord with the Higher Mind will be the experience of Truth, love, joy, and unity.

The Plan for Enlightenment

The voice of our Higher Mind or Higher Self knows every seemingly individual mind because it is it. It operates outside of the limitations of duality, time, and space. It recollected itself the instant of the thought of separation. What we experience is the idea of the return to One-Mindedness, which appears to be a plan orchestrated in time and space to help us find our Self, and heal our Mind, like a movie or a dream.

Every seemingly individual mind will find its way back, and each one has its own unique part and timeline to this Destiny. Fulfilling this purpose is the only that that brings true authentic happiness and lasting peace.

As we withdraw our investment and belief in ego consciousness and the dimension of separation, we receive all the guidance and evidence we need to motivate us beyond anything the ego could ever be capable of or conceive.

To join the plan, you must simply be willing to listen, learn, and do what is in accordance with our Higher Mind. This is somethings referred to as “choice-less awareness” because your choice is always for love.

To understand this concept better you can read A Course in Miracles, the Psychotherapy and Prayer Supplements that go with it, and The Disappearance of the Universe by Gary R. Renard. There are other books that have been written on the understanding of the mind in this way that is related to A Course in Miracles, but I have not read them yet, let me know if you recommend any specific one.

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The Game Setup

The Game Setup by Nathalie Strassburg
  1. Introduction
  2. Birth Design
  3. Spectrum of Consciousness
  4. Attachment Style
  5. Childhood Conditioning
  6. The Psychology of Projection
  7. Shadow Work
  8. Opportunities for Resolution & Expansion
  9. Rules of the Game
  10. Call to Adventure
  11. Transformation

Have you ever wondered why life is the way it is? Have you noticed the patterns and the cycles that keep repeating? Have you ever thought that something about life or yourself is fake? Did you ever wonder why we are obsessed with love? Do you wonder why we love games so much? Do you ever wonder why everything has a polarity? Do you wonder why fear seems illogical at time? Did you ever consider that life has no inherit meaning? Did you ever consider that life is a game of pretend and make beliefs?

The psychology of projection shows us that we are an actor to others, and play the movie director casting actors in roles in our own fantasy, created from childhood conditioning, fears, and desires. Read more about this in Life as a Game.

My experience taught me that we can learn to see the bigger picture, and play from a higher perspective that leads to emotional freedom, inner peace, authentic joy, and a deep sense of fulfillment.

Birth Design

When we are conceived there is an energetic signature as light combines. As we develop our being is conditioned by the energetic fields in the environment we are in. When we are born we come into a very specific set of energetic frequencies that form a part of our development as our physical bodies start to interact with the outside environment and relationships are formed.

Spectrum of Consciousness

Polarities form the basis of our existence, we can study the spectrum of light, and there is a set of parameters to all the things we can experience, feel, and see around us. We are each a full spectrum being, containing good and bad. Patterns exist everywhere and at all levels. Everything we do, think and say matters to the universe as it evolves through us. We have so much more power than we realize. We are at the edge of creation, creating.

Attachment Style

From birth we begin to respond to the relationship our primary caregiver has with themselves. We will mirror and reflect how they feel about themselves. This provides us with core traits, fears, and desires that create the setup for our subjective game.

This initial setup is referred to as Attachment Theory in psychology. There are videos and other research available on the internet. Keep in mind that emotional needs are absolutely vital for survival, as we learned in studies where babies actually started dying when only their physical needs were met.

Insecure < > Secure < > Insecure

There are various classifications but in general there is a secure group and an insecure group (currently estimated to be 50% each in countries like the USA). Those who can form secure close attachments had their emotional needs met most of the time, feel they can trust others, and believe relationships are important and valuable.

The insecure group have developed relationship coping mechanisms in order to survive because they did not have their emotional needs met, do no feel safe, and do not trust to various degrees. The two extremes (about 25% each) are avoidant / dismissive and anxious. The two extremes do not know how to care for their own emotional well being. They come together in families and are attracted to each other in romantic relationships where they form dysfunctional and co-dependent dynamics. There is also a disorganized / disoriented classification.

Understanding this spectrum changed my life. We must understand that there is also an evolutionary purpose to this dynamic. In one study where they put a mixed group together in a room and then had smoke come out of a computer each group responded differently: The dismissive / avoidant left the room first without saying anything – these are the individuals who often bring new ideas into the world and dedicate their lives to achievement or excellence. The anxious group left the room next, but they first told some of the others there was a problem – these are often individuals who dedicate their lives to service. The securely attached individuals were the last to leave the room, some just following the others.

Childhood Conditioning

Our childhood conditioning provides us with the rest of the data that we will use to create our lives with. In order to fit into our family and the current culture we develop the relationship strategies and character traits that are approved of by our family and community, and we suppress, disown, reject or deny the parts of ourselves that our family/ community/ culture find less acceptable. These parts that are suppressed, disowned, rejected or denied will become the parts we see in others and the world until they are owned, accepted and embraced. To understand how this works study the psychology of projection, learn more about Emotional Well Being, and you can also read Life as a Game.

As we incarnate into this world we go through cycles of development and growth. For the first 7 years we experience the world primarily through our physical bodies, we absorb and explore.

We are literally in Theta brain wave state, and being programmed, like a form of hypnosis.

The second 7 year cycle is about emotional development and the third cycle is about intellectual development. The cycles then repeat throughout our lives.

For example, feeling powerless in any situation will remain with us for resolution. Anger masks fear and is a consequence of feeling powerless. Any experience during a cycle that we do not understand or that we are not able to integrate or resolve will remain in our system for resolution until the next opportunity or cycle.

The Psychology of Projection

What is in our mind will determine what we create, like a hard drive. This is why childhood conditioning is our toolbox with which we create, for better or worse, unless we consciously grow and expand our consciousness.

Images we see are desires and fears projected outward, and this is what we think we see, what we think is real and what we base our behavior on.

Everything we see is a projection from our mind. There is no objective reality. Everything we see reflects our own consciousness because we filter all information through our consciousness. This is the foundation of the psychology of projection, one of the primary tools that psychologists and therapists use today.

Everything we see in another is something we either acknowledge or suppress, reject, deny, or disown in ourselves. Anything someone else sees in us reflects their consciousness, otherwise they would not see it. Both positive and negative.

Shadow Work

Shadow work is the conscious process to understand what we see in others, how it reflects us, and what we can learn from it. I believe all relationships are meant for this purpose. Everyone is here to teach us something about ourselves so that we can fully integrate our consciousness.

Every bit of unresolved emotional pattern that we reintegrate is like a piece of gold that we mine. All parts are equally valuable in terms of consciousness integration, good and bad, because they are not real in themselves, they are just the basis of perception that creates the game.

When we are attracted to someone this is a clear indicator that we can learn something with that person. Nothing is random. Attraction does not mean we are meant to be together or compatible. We are like molecules that fit together. Through greater awareness and shadow work we can truly liberate our relationships.

Opportunities for Resolution & Expansion

I believe that there is no inherit meaning in the world and that we use our free will to assign meaning. While we think up all kinds of reasons for the things we do, we are really nature evolving itself. We live our purpose every moment of every day because every thought, word and action is an act of creation that expands consciousness. In other words we are always living our purpose.

For expansion to occur the universe integrates and unifies.

Evolutionary biologists see the dynamics of species as they evolve and to them it is clear that humans are currently in our young adult years where we learn how to work together and form beneficial relationships with those around us because conflict is no longer efficient. This means that allot of what we are doing here is cleaning up, integrating, releasing and refining. We are really learning The Art of Self Love. The relationship with ourselves come first, that is really what it is about, the relationship we have with ourselves will be reflected back to us. When we get to know ourselves we develop appreciation for the skills and traits we have. A personalized I Ching profile and report can be a great starting point for self exploration.

Every single situation or experience is in truth for no other purpose than to purify our physical, emotional and mental bodies. Every experience contains a piece of gold. The people and situations in our life are not random, they cannot be because energy is magnetic, and what comes to us is for our evolutionary benefit. When we embrace this dynamic we no longer take everything personally and we can see life from a more holistic perspective.

Rules of the Game

There are principles, laws and rules to the game that are impersonal. These are laws that are fundamental to time/space physics and energy dynamics. Read The Rules of the Game for the whole list.

The path less traveled is the path to self fulfillment and self actualization.

There are two primary levels in the game, ego level and higher self level. All fears belong to the ego and are doorways to the higher self. The goal of the game is to clean our system so that we can host our higher self.

Nobody is a victim here, in any way. It is the victim mindset that we transcend when we learn to elevate ourselves above fearful reactions.

When we recognize that the source of all we have is life, that nothing really belongs to any of us it sets us free from worldly / material attachment which causes the experience of suffering.

Because perspectives and perceptions are learned we must learn to choose our beliefs and act accordingly.

Anything is possible when we believe wholeheartedly and act in harmony with life and our higher self.

Read The Rules of the Game for the whole list.

Call to Adventure

While many still live in denial of our higher spiritual nature, it is only a matter of time because it is what this whole game is designed for. Once our system is purified, we have expanded sufficiently to become the host to our greater energetic self, and this presence is unmistakable. Once we are no longer value the ego and the material world above our spiritual nature we enter into a different level of the game. Everything is designed to push us towards opportunities that will allow for the greatest expansion. There is allot of information about mythology, archetypes, and the hero’s journey because it is such an integral part of the game. We find these themes repeating in our movies, games, and fantasies because we are living them ourselves even if we are not aware of it.

A call to adventure is an experience or situation that requires us to open our mind, face the unknown, our limiting beliefs and fears. A call to adventure starts with a catalyst, it can be any emotionally charged situation, and end or a beginning, or when our ego has been wounded. For example: a death, a birth, a new relationship, end of a relationship, a vision, a visitor, financial or other loss, an accident, an illness, trauma, and global or regional events like a pandemic. The event charge must be big enough that it creates an opening for new awareness.

Accepting the call is another story because there is free will we always have a choice. Due to conditioning many of us avoid or fear pain and suffering without realizing that it is just as important as the good stuff. Suffering is really a gift for transformation and growth. Being depressed or unhappy is a sign that you are ready to move to a higher level but are refusing consciously or unconsciously. We will be presented with opportunities all the time because it is what we are here for.

Transformation

When we accept the call to expand, we enter a process of alchemy and transformation. This process is ongoing and unique for each of us. Through my own experience I have outlined the basic structure of the process. Read about the Process of Transformation.

The process of transformation is about moving from a frequency of fear to a frequency of love. The process includes a catalyst, a period of solitude, health and diet changes, a healthy environment, self-inquiry, expanding our perspective of life, releasing old thoughts, emotions and beliefs, learning self-love, growing in self awareness, regaining complete trust in life, inviting higher consciousness, experiencing inner peace, creating inner stillness, expanding our ability to experience gratitude and joy.

Personalized I Ching Profile & report

Take a look at the Personalized I Ching Profile and Reports that you can order on this website, it includes a large poster that you can print. The profile is based on astrology, and inspired by the I Ching, and systems based on the I Ching like Human Design, and the Gene Keys. The profile is a tool to get to know ourselves better. The I Ching is a wise book for contemplation based on binary (64 themes). Through this work we can expand our consciousness, integrate all aspects of ourselves and learn to trust life. Learn more about Self-Realization.


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Emotional Well-being

Emotional Well-being by Nathalie Strassburg

SHORTCUTS: What is emotional well-being?, Feelings guide us, Psychological Projection, The relationship with ourselves (self soothing, self care, self love, higher love)

We are each beautiful and whole on our own, even when we are not fully aware of it yet. Each of us have needs to meet in order to feel fulfilled and live an authentic life. Sometimes we can feel unhappy, lost, or unloved without realizing that it can be resolved within ourselves, regardless of our circumstances. Learn about The Art of Self Love.


When we are unhappy all that is happening is that we are choosing things that make us unhappy. Unhappiness is a state of confusion.

Depression can be a major catalyst for the Process of Transformation. Being depressed means you are ready to move to the next level!

Many of us never learned how to care for our emotional well-being and find our joy. Nobody here is a victim in any way whatsoever, we are here to learn together.

What is emotional well-being?

Emotional wellbeing means you feel good, about yourself, your life, the people around you, what do you, what you say and everything in between. It is a state of inner and outer harmony. Emotional wellbeing is only authentic if it does not depend on an external source.

Negative emotions create disorder in the body and positive feelings such as gratitude create increased order resulting in improved digestive, cardiovascular, immune, hormonal, cognitive, and other functions like intuition.

To learn more about this visit www.heartmath.org.

Feelings guide us, they are our compass.

Our feelings guide us. They are our direct feedback system designed to let us know in which direction to go. All feelings are valid because they need to be allowed and understood if we want to integrate all parts of our consciousness.

Many people are raised in unhealthy emotional environments, this is part of our evolution, but it needs to be understood because it creates characters who do not know how to be honest, trust themselves, the world, others, or their feelings, and who suppress, deny, and reject parts of themselves that their parents or caregivers were not able to accept or love because they have their own unresolved emotional wounds. Emotional immaturity is passed down unconsciously because people are not aware of it.

Psychological Projection

Everything we see is a projection from our mind. Read more about it in Life as a game. The mind has an image of what it desires, judges as valuable and then seeks to find it. These images are projected outward, and this is what we think we see, what we think is real and what we base our behavior on. Therefore, what is in our mind will determine what we create. This is why childhood conditioning is our toolbox with which we create, for better or worse, unless we consciously grow and expand ourselves continuously. 

It is important to learn to distinguish between love and guilt. Codependent relationships are fear based and present guilt as care or love. In codependent relationships we project our unresolved emotional issues onto those around us. Codependent relationships can become clingy because without someone else holding our emotional baggage for us, we have to deal with it ourselves, which is what leads to growth.

If we grow up in an environment where the parents are not able to care for their own emotional well-being, we will not know what unconditional love is and without resolution we will recreate the same patterns in our own relationships because we will not be able to discern between guilt and love. Be aware of how prevalent these patterns are, for example, organized religion can be a codependent relationship based on fear.

The relationship with ourselves

There is ultimately only one relationship that is important. Any other relationship we have will reflect the one we have with ourselves, whether we are conscious enough to notice it or not. The relationship with ourselves is about The Art of Self Love and the foundation of the Process of Transformation.

Self Soothing

First, we learn to accept every feeling, and choose to consciously move ourselves to a better frame of mind, every time it is needed. This is what emotionally mature parents teach their children. All emotions want to, and need to, be seen, felt, heard, and understood. We only judge things that we do not understand. In order to integrate our consciousness all aspects are brought into balance and harmony. We give ourselves compassion for being human and learn through every experience. Every experience contains a piece of gold, pain is our greatest teacher.

Self Care

As we accept ourselves more, we become more honest with ourselves and make decisions that lead us to peace and joy. What we eat, where we live, how we live, who we spend our time with, and how we spend our time become a real priority and we take the steps necessary to care for ourselves in every way possible, one step at a time. When we choose peace then things become allot simpler. During this stage we start to trust life because we have real evidence as we achieve manageable goals.  

Self Love

Love seeds love. Through self care we embrace ourselves, we show ourselves love through the actions and thoughts we now choose. We notice how our beliefs are changing, and we realize that others reflect the love we have for ourselves. We open our minds to see the incredible gift that we are and that life is. We realize that love is something we grow inside of ourselves. We realize that we can only give to others what we have. As we grow in love for life and ourselves we are able to feel compassion for others and choose to understand before judging. We choose to forgive, all the time, because it sets us free. Because we are no longer fearful we can be fully present to the moment, whatever it offers us.

Higher Love

As we become more intimate with ourselves and life we expand our consciousness through the integration of seemingly opposite ideas. We create inner peace. Our vision is no longer obscured by fear and we embody our true authentic self more every day. The love we give ourselves is now continuously being refilled by life, we have surrendered, we live in love, we feel love in everything and everywhere, and see it in everyone now because we understand what the journey of life is really for. We live free and at peace, and the world around us reflect this. We choose to share this higher love in whatever situation we find ourselves because there is nothing else that compares. Life now lives through us.

Recognize that the source of all we have is life, nothing really belongs to any of us. This sets us free. Give to life what we want to receive.

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