Crenshaw's Books & Decks

I always find pearls of wisdom in anything Johnson writes, his approach to the world and our psychological humanity make me ponder, always. Besides, he is a kindred spirit, an humanist in the proper sense of the word,  always worth of my time, even though, too often, I end lamenting that he is keeping most of his secrets to himself.

This book is a collection of four small essays, one of them dealing with projection. Unfortunately, the common denominator of the articles is not projection, but rather inner work and the concept of Maya or illusion. That would had been a more honest title and descriptor. If you are looking for a in-depth book on psychological projection, or a basic approach to psychological projection, this is not your book.

1/ Inner Gold
Half memoir half  simple approach to  psychological projection, it is a lovely piece of writing, with a Memoir sort of tone that I love. 

We barely understand how much of what we perceive in others and the outside world are actually parts of ourselves. Please observe the energy investments you make. (p.30)

To understand what Johnson says, you need a basic understanding of what projection and shadow are. Johnson does not explain readers what projection is, how projection mechanisms work, why is formed, and how to do something he insistently tells readers to do: to reclaim our inner gold or to return it to somebody else. How do you do that? No answer. Most people have the level of consciousness of a thermostat, they do not know they project, nor recognise that they are projecting or that others are projecting on to them, nor know anything about it, so unless Johnson gives the "recipe", there is no way to go. You expect a recipe because Johnson was an active psychoanalyst, and he must have it! The beans must have been spilled in the Garden of Eden, not sure if my Animus can get there and bring me a few. 

2/ Loneliness
This is my favourite piece. Again, there is a nostalgic feeling and Johnson's memoir approach to it. I love the way he categorises loneliness in three varieties (loneliness for the past, loneliness for the future, and loneliness for being close to God). Johnson basically says that loneliness is a state of mind and the soul, an interior matter, if you feel lonely you have to do inner work to solve it, connect with your essence, restore your connection with your unconscious, ground yourself in the energy of the world, bear your pain and:

 If you can transform your loneliness into solitude, you’re one step away from the most precious of all experiences. This is the cure for loneliness.

Did you need of Jungian Psychology to learn this?  If I were feeling lonely, I would love to ponder on many of the things Johnson says, but I think that would not be enough to cure my soul. Perhaps therapy? 

3/ Love Story
This is a very short reflection of the figure of  Beatrice in Dante's Divine Comedy. Beatrice is presented as a  soul guide or psychopomp. There a few pages sketching some wonderful thoughts but, overall, they are superficial and uninspired. 

4/ The one and future King
This chapter is odd and intriguing at the same time. Johnson is deeply religious (an ex-Benedictine monk) and it shows here, as this is a reflection on the meaning of the doctrine of the Second Coming of the Christ from a non-literal and archetypal point of view. Even if you are not religious, you will enjoy his approach. I think some of the things he says are beautiful and spiritually soothing, and his reflection on literalism is brilliant:

Literalism knows no end, and literalism is the death of insight. But that sublime archetypal structure is always available in its true, interior way, for anyone who chooses to touch it and is capable of touching it. Sometimes the point of contact becomes accessible only in our deepest, darkest moments. (....) Speech is literal and rational and cannot easily contain the depths of the mystery. For that we need symbols and symbolic language. (...) We can discover within ourselves the capacity to sustain both the presence of the divine and the holiness of daily life. The two are, in fact, one. (pp. 75-76)

Johnson speaks of God often, so if you are an atheist or agnostic you have to decide what God means to you. I thought that he connects well with some of the teachings of the New Thought Church.