Adventures Through The Mind

·E211

MICRO: Projection of the Golden Shadow, with Justin Townsend

September 18
7 mins

Episode Description

Justin Townsend of MycoMeditations explains the "golden shadow" and why psychedelic facilitators need to be well-trained to hand that projection back rather than take it on.

The dark shadow is the unsavory stuff we don't want to admit to: the shame, the disgust, the fear. The golden shadow, however, is the beautiful stuff about ourselves: our strengths, our creativity and our capacities for success. However, the golden shadow can get buried and projected just as much as the dark shadow.

The way it shows up is as a kind of intense admiration for someone else. Putting them up on a pedestal, viewing them with all these beautiful qualities of ourselves that we're unable to see in ourselves. This could be a retreat leader, a therapist, a celebrity, or a guru.

In this clip from episode 170, Justin walks us through how projection of the golden shadow can happen in psychedelic therapy and the problems that his can cause for both the participant and the facilitator when that facilitator is not ready and willing to refuse that projection and instead help their participant integrate it. 

 

CHAPTERS

  • (00:00) What the shadow and the golden shadow are
  • (01:39) Spotting the projection, in retreats and in public
  • (02:14) The facilitator's job, and how followers build a guru
  • (04:31) Slow boil: how good people become the villain
  • (6:54) Outro

***This is a clip from 'The Business and Practice of Psilocybin Therapy in Jamaica | Justin Townsend ~ ATTMind 170', Adventures Through The Mind Podcast, episode 170***

FULL INTERVIEW

SUPPORT THE PODCAST

🥰 Support ATTMind and join the community on Patreon 

Other options

Connect with Me

See all episodes