Intuiton + Projection, Part II
In Part I, I described the differences between intuition + projection from an intellectual perspective. So very much more can be said, and I hope some of my observations encourage you to embark on your own lines of inquiry. This really is such a rich and nuanced topic, and one that can have a lasting and transformative impact on many areas of Life.
In this second part, I’m going to outline some energetic signatures and textures that can help you to decipher between intuition + projection from the exploratory terrain of your body. This is where intellectual understanding can actually become an experiential process, making it more subjective and unique to you and your nervous system, which is what allows us to dance with the many-armed goddess called Life.
The Swan, No. 12 by Hilma Af Klint
Intuition
The main point to remember from part I is that intuition is a child of the present moment, and the language of the soul/the unconscious, usually arising in the body.
As such, intuition is the mythic “still, small voice of knowing.” Because it is the voice of the timeless present, it is way, way bigger than the ego and its grasping, aversion and manifold other attachments connected to survival - none of which is wrong, incidentally. It’s the way that the ego has been colonized to make meaning and operate.
When your intuition is speaking, you will notice that it isn’t pushing or pulling for any particular outcome. It usually conveys its message as gestalt - which is to say that the whole thing is communicated at once, much like looking at a painting or picture - and is connected to the right hemisphere of the brain sending signals through the body’s perception.
As your intuition arises from your larger Self, or your soul, which is inextricably connected to the timeless now and therefore locates itself within a larger context of meaning, it is unconcerned with the game of right + wrong, or with whether or not you follow its guidance.
I often relate to my intuition as the voice of the archetypal wise elder within: as old as Kronos or Time, and a keeper of the wisdom tradition of time as a spiral, with past + future always spontaneously present in the now, which is all there ever is.
If you have ever encountered a profoundly wise elder who imparts their knowing to you, you’ll notice that they offer it as a gift, and not as an obligatory imperative.
Take it or leave it.
This is the energetic signature of intuition. It is always here with us, as our guide, our ally, our lifetimes-long- inner-other; and because it loves us unconditionally - outside of and beyond time - and is part of the vast Mystery that we are, it is not interested in the grasping and aversion related to its own survival-based meanings.
And this non-linear, spontaneously arising, gestalt language of intuition speaks most frequently in our waking life through the body.
As such, intuition belongs to the Unconditional Now.
Projection
The energetic signature of projection pools itself in the survival-based reptilian brain, and the structures of the ego that feel constantly under threat from the past or future.
Projection is deeply attached to being right, and to not being wrong. As such, when we’re unable to metabolize any meanings that make us “wrong” in some way, we project it out to the world, to external sources.
What I mean by "metabolize meanings" is creating the space and capacity in our bodies and nervous systems to allow the highly charged sensation of feeling “wrong” to be present, to allow it without becoming identified with it - and therefore rejecting it.
Feeling wrong is just one example. We project when we feel under threat from any sensation - including being seen and valued.
We project when we see someone embodying a particular quality that we reject or suppress in ourselves.
For example when we witness a person giving themselves full permission for their unique and imperfect, death-rebirth soul expression, and we don’t allow this in ourselves - usually through no fault of our own, we’ve been colonized into fearing our wild souls - we project all sorts of distorted meanings onto that person.
We can recognize this as projection when we feel affronted, insulted or threatened if another person disagrees with our projection. (If it was an intuition, we wouldn’t mind either way).
In this way, the texture of projection in our bodies can feel highly charged or even inflamed, making it harder for us to create capacity in our nervous systems to tend to this sensation like an upset child, giving it the spaciousness of compassionate witnessing to resolve in its own time.
As I mentioned in Part I, projection is usually concerned with the past + future, it belongs to the conditional past + future.
And we can begin leaning into recognizing and relating to our own projections without self-judgment in the truth of the unconditional now, as and when they arise.
As ever, so much more to be said on this but I don’t want to end up writing a thesis on this topic (!) so I’ll stop here, trusting that this has given you some tools with which to continue further explorations.