Spiritual Imagination - Projection

Thomas Moore » Blog Archive » Is Psychological Projection a Good Idea?
These days I frequently quote a passage from Thoreau’s Waldenwhere he says he saw blue angels in the shimmering waves of Walden Pond. Does it serve us to say that he was projecting angels into the water? I don’t think so. I’d rather understand Thoreau as a mystical person who could look at something physical and have his spiritual imagination waken and come into play. The mystical explanation is richer and is a practice we could all emulate. Projection pathologizes the experience. It also reduces an enchanted world to the problematical mind of the person beholding a spiritual dimension in ordinary life. We move from an animated world to a projecting person. We hyper-subjectivize our experience, to use an awkward word. So, in general I prefer to avoid the word “projection” altogether and instead use more informative and precise language for what is going on.