This conversation would hardly be complete without introducing the concept of projection. For those who may not be familiar with the term, I'll try to use an example that readers will likely be able to identify with.

Imagine that I am an individual who has never known someone who carries the diagnosis of schizophrenia. In this way, I'm largely ignorant of the realities but I may have read some stories in the newspapers and seen some movies about "crazy people" so I have an idea, an image of what a "schizophrenic" is.

Now, imagine that you introduce yourself to me and you note that you are a "schizophrenic". At this point, chances are very good that you will trigger the image I carry of what a "schizophrenic" is. Now, this image of my creation comes to life and stands between us. I no longer see you, I only see my image, my perception, and this is what I relate to instead of you. I am engaged in the psychological act of projecting. Within Buddhist terms this might be referred to as maya -- an illusion. Many of you may know it a little more intimately as "stigma".

In order for a projection to be held in place there must be a common ground, a "hook" must be presented. In this case, the "hook" would be your admission that you are "schizophrenic". The "hook" is what holds my perception in place between us. If you had introduced yourself as a "Baptist" you might have triggered an entirely different projection as based on my understanding of what "Baptists" are but that is neither here nor there.

Understanding how the psychological function of projection works may help an individual to dismantle their "hallucinations". A case in point...

A "schizophrenic" I once knew told me the following story. He wanted a hamburger so he drove to the nearest take-out. As he was paying the cashier, her face suddenly turned into the face of "the devil" and he became enormously frightened; he wondered if he needed to take any action to protect himself.

It would take a bit of knowledge of that man's personal history to know that his first wife had cheated on him and later dissolved the marriage. This was something that had been deeply humiliating and traumatic to him and in his mind, she was the equivalent of "the devil". The hapless cashier had unknowingly triggered a projection as a result of some common ground she shared with his first wife. Maybe the name on her name tag was the same as his first wife's, maybe she styled her hair in a similar manner... Whatever it was, with that common ground in place she presented the "hook" for him to hang his projection upon. An illusion was created and he stopped relating to who she really was and instead, began to relate to his projection.

For the man to unravel that particular "hallucination" he needed to accept that the cashier was not his wife. She wasn't going to leave him, or shame him, or break his heart -- she was just a college student in a part-time job who was hoping for a tip. Ideally, he would also work through any remaining grief or shame as related to the demise of his first marriage so he would no longer be at risk of becoming "hooked" again.

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Although the imagery is of a general, archetypal nature (imagery that pertains to all men and all times), it also symbolizes the key issues of the individual undergoing the crisis. Therefore, once lived through on this mythic plane, and once the process of withdrawal nears its end, the images must be linked to specific problems of daily life. Thus, the archetypal affect-images await a reconnection to their natural context: to the personal psychological complexes (which tend to be externally projected).

Source: Psychosis as Purposive: The Far Side of Madness

In my own situation, the first blow to my ego structure came when my mother died but the one symptom that wasn't covered in Kubler-Ross's standard descriptions of the grief process was terror -- I couldn't understand where mine had come from. In order to understand why my mother's death would produce terror in me it would be necessary to know that my birth father was extremely abusive. My mother left him the night he tried to kill his children but for many months after, he continued to stalk her and she lived in fear of her life and the lives of her children.

All of this occurred in my own life at a pre-verbal state which might be why voices did not play any significant role in my experience. All I knew was that my mother died and the world suddenly became a very frightening place. This included being frightened of a very specific kind of male -- the kind who would share some characteristic in common with my birth father and thus present me with a "hook" that I could project all my unaddressed fears upon. For me to get well, I had to address the root cause and come to terms with my past. My world is no longer a terrifying place as a result.

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Whatever you see, however terrifying it is, recognise it as your own projection; recognise it as the luminosity, the natural radiance of your own mind.

Source: The Therapeutic Psychology of the Tibetan Book of the Dead

As a general rule of thumb, and using the Jungian model above, if your "hallucinations" produce negative emotions -- fear, terror, shame, horror -- they are likely arising from the territory of the shadow or the negative anima/animus. If your "hallucinations" produce positive emotions they may be arising from either the positive anima/animus or the Self. Bear in mind that the unconscious contains relics from both your personal unconscious and the collective unconscious which in turn, may produce an internal image that can be triggered and projected upon something else in your environment. A person, a sound, a smell... that's the common ground that can produce a "hook". When the image and the hook get together a projection is created in your internal or external world that appears to be real -- even if it's just an illusion.

If anything in the above rings true for you, you may want to explore the concept of psychological projection in more depth. It may be helpful to work with a therapist, possibly a Jungian if you can afford one and can find one in your geographical location. In some cases, a therapist with a good grounding in trauma theory may be more appropriate.

If anything I've said has been useful to you, I suggest you pick it up and carry it with you. If it wasn't, I suggest you leave it where you found it.

~ Namaste

See also:

- Major Archetypes & The Individuation Process

- Shadow Projection: The Fuel of War