The Psychoneuroimmunology of Shadow Projection
An Evening with Tim Lyons: April 16, 2021
“…it is love, warm human love, blood, warm red blood, the holy source of life, the unification of everything separated and longed for.” C.G. Jung, The Black Book, vol. 5, p. 266
In this evening’s talk, we will explore how early object relations concepts and infant attachment theory can provide a framework for understanding the root development of shadow projection. When we are triggered to project our shadow, a cascade of psychological, neurological, endocrinological, and immunological processes are transmitted through the flow of blood and energy pathways in our bodies and create an alchemical reaction. This symphony of processes is directly related to our capacity to develop adaptive immunity to disease, psychological resilience, and the trajectory of conscious and unconscious individuation throughout our life cycle.
The psychoneuroimmunology of early-life stress, internalized in the infant’s psyche and body, may predict later patterns of biological and psychological inflammation. These thermal fluctuations grow out of the infant’s conflicted feelings of attachment and separation from love objects. Autoimmune defensive adaptations to this stress can produce attachment to the bad object and seed future self-destructive codependent relationships, dissociations, and addictions.
Understanding these dynamics can help us to navigate the current personal psychic and biologic, collective and cultural dualities that may trigger intense projections. Unconscious navigation tends to create inflammation; conscious navigation tends to be anti-inflammatory. We will explore ways to support healthy outcomes given the limitations of our conditioning. Integrating projections with conscious intent can lead us to awaken the embodying experience of unification and primal wholeness in new and nourishing ways.
Timothy Lyons 