Inner Gold: Understanding Psychological Projection

Robert Johnson's books are articulate and make the complex world of Jungian psychology understandable for any reader. The small paperback is easy to read in only a day or two- depending on how enthralled you get with it. It took me only a few days to read this book. His explanations reflect human experience like a mirror. As his other books, this one takes stories from literature (from various cultures) and uses them to illustrate behavior patterns in us all! In his usual forthright, calming tone, his explanation of projection and "inner gold" is both enlightening and uplifting. I always feel a deep bound with human experience when I read his books, as he has a way of normalizing human emotional struggles. I see my own transfer of "inner gold" now, but only because I read this book! I highly recommend this book to anyone in the counseling field, psychology field, or a lover of literature, myth and archetype. Inner Gold is a must read!!

This book is for the person who is looking for a positive understanding of projections, not for the person who is looking for pathology. It is easy to understand and has a premise that makes a lot of sense. It helped me to gain an understanding of how projections work and how they can teach you a lot about yourself and your own "inner gold". In looking at my past projections, I realized that the good qualities I was projecting on someone else were, in reality, my own inner traits. It is similar to the "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear". Too much is written about projections that deals with the negative consequences of projections and the pathology of the person doing the projecting. Excellent book. Maggie

This is one of those books that should be required reading for all humans. An owners manual for the human psyche.

This is a fine distillation of Robert A Johnson’s considerable learning, more thoroughly described in books like ‘Between Heaven and Earth’ with co-author Jerry Ruhl. His books with Ruhl seem more accessible, but there’s much gold in this little big book. Johnson is far from being the Crown Prince among Jung’s successors, but more like a Jungian pilgrim who is led by the slender threads sent by some divine synchronicity. He learned much about our inner nature, and of the ‘alchemical gold’ which is spilled willy-nilly all around us. For a longer read you can check out his books with Jerry Ruhl.

I have read criticisms of this book that it is very short and doesn't say very much.....I think it's one of the most profound books that I have ever read. Probaby it is the shortes - 4 chapters - but I can't think of any other book that has left me with a smile on the face when I have finished it, rather than wanting to read more. If you find it unsatisfying or short, then it's not the right moment or not the right book for you. At the right moment, this book is profound and will help you recognise your gold and help you value it and protect it.

This title 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/ Chapter 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 that 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, even less are able to recognise that they are projecting or that others are projecting on to them, even less to do something 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/ Chatper 2 = LONELINESS. This is my favourite piece. Again, there is a nostalgic feeling and 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 of 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 and life as a soul guide or psychopomp. A few pages sketching some wonderful thoughts, but, overall, superficial and uninspired. 4/ THE ONE AND FUTURE KING. This chapter is odd and intriguing at the same time. Johnson is deeply religious (and 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. ON THIS HARPER-COLLINS E-BOOK EDITION It is a shame selling a 92-page Kindle "book" at 9 bucks and then finding that the editor did not see obvious mistakes: > Typos P. 39, in a heading, not tet, (instead of not yet?) P. 47. Lonlinessdriveus P. 48 andthe trials p. 56 solider (instead of soldier) p. 72 in the heading, the Church and the Muss (instead of Mass?) > One of the links at the resources page does not work, and another leads to a general page not a specific one on Johnson.That is easy to fix in the e-book edition, but it has not been done. > I find the title misleading on purpose, for marketing purposes, as the book has 4 chapters (they are not chapters they are short essays, mind you) and just one of them deals with projection, and the book does not make you understand what projection is. > If the book had been edited for content, Johnson would have given us more of his wisdom and the book would have been better.

My wife and I read this book to better understand our marriage. I instead began to understand the relationship to my father and other mentor's I've had throughout my life. The language is simple to understand and the core concept, though abstract, seeped right through me like water. There are very few books and words that have a large impact on your thought processes as a whole, but this one found that sweet spot. It's a short and highly insightful read!

Lovely read. Prose poetry.

All Robert Johnson books are very helpful and easy to read.

A thought proving read. An easy read, very interesting, a different way to consider how we relate to ourself and others.

Excelente libro, gracias! Amigable y entendiblepunto de vista. Una explicacionmuy sencilla y entendible de la corriente jungiana gracias! gracias, gracias!

This is a great book, an easy read yet full of insight and wisdom that lifts the weight off of anyone struggling to own their projections. So often it sounds like a criticism, "You're projecting your own stuff onto that person!" and we sit there thinking "Gee, I'm a bad person for doing that, how do I make myself stop?". But Johnson's book has a light touch and actually shows the gift in projection, what it is we're unconsciously doing when we choose people to carry our projections, and that just shifts the need for guilt and opens up a whole new horizon, understanding what our projections are about and how to take ownership of them without diminishing the people we've projected our stuff onto. Hopefully we'll even start to get to really know our idols and our scapegoats as real people, instead of mere reflections of our own ego. I would recommend this book to anyone who's on a search for meaning, who has struggled with unrequited love or who finds themselves surrounded by "difficult people". This book will help you shift your perspective and free up a lot of energy for the things you really want to be doing!

A real gem! A quick read with profound wisdom and useful insight.