PROJECTIONS ARE RAMPANT IN OUR “SCHIZOID” SOCIAL WORLD THESE DAYS. It’s become a truism, even a cliché, to observe how divided our society has become. Once upon a time, I felt our society was neurotic. Now, it is so split that our collective consciousness seems to be on the verge of a psychotic break.
As consciousness hardens and narrows, the split-off contents slip away, but they do not slip out of sight. The lost thoughts and feelings, now unconscious, appear to belong to “the other.” When “we” become absolutely and undoubtedly right and true, “they” surely must be wrong and false — and this neurotic dissociation is but a small step away from the violence of a psychotic break. Collectively, then, we find ourselves on the brink of insurrection, extremist violence, maybe even civil war.
Neither our self-convictions nor our perceptions of the other, however, are as unquestionably correct as we confidently believe they are.
In fact, “we” have become pots calling kettles black (or red, or “un-American,” or somehow less than us). The unspoken truth in the familiar metaphor is that the kettle isn’t black at all. It’s shiny copper, and it’s reflecting the black of the cast-iron pot. The pot sees its own reflection, but believes the kettle is the black one.
The pot-and-kettle metaphor is a parable pointing to the problem we now call psychological or unconscious projection — a dynamic symptomatic of dissociation. The antidote for this diminishment of personality is for each of us to commit ourselves to an honest pursuit of authentic self-awareness. True self-knowledge leads in turn to humility; and judging others gives way to appreciating their differences.
There is value in the shiny copper kettle, just as there is in the black iron pot.
Soul Spirit Wisdom 