Your shadow is a necessary aspect of self that brings focus to thoughts and actions that conflict with your desires so that you may address them. Both shadow inflation and shadow deflation invalidate your own power and perpetuate suffering.
Your shadow is an aspect of you that inflates and deflates others. Shadow inflation happens when you think that you can’t get what you want and you project onto others who seem to have the power to do so. In this way, you project your own lack of power onto someone else who seems more powerful than you. Shadow deflation happens when you project onto others that they are bad, flawed, or lacking in some way. In this case, you project your dislike of your own flaws and lacks onto another. That’s right: you recognize the flaws but misidentify them as belonging to someone else.
The way you would know what shadow projection you are partaking in would be to imagine a place of beauty. Let’s say that into the place of beauty walks an individual. Who will this be? Who will walk into your most perfect world? How will you respond? Will you respond with loving words? Will you respond with hating words? We suggest that the individual that lives in your perfect world would indeed tell you much about your shadow, so trust that your response will indicate whether you are shadow inflating or shadow deflating. For your shadows will indicate a need in you that needs to be addressed.
For example, when your president of your United States walks into your world, what would you say to him? You might introduce your personal views of how he could do better. You might approach a subject like this through your intuition, and your words would be loving and constructive. Or you might approach the subject from a place of thinking the president is bad or lacking in some way (shadow deflation) or they are too powerful or perfect to even consider your views (shadow inflation).
Shadow deflation
The way you would know that you are projecting your shadow of deflation would be simple: are you allowing yourself to treat him with disrespect and resentment? If so, why would you treat another individual like this? There are ways to express resentment, but not in hateful ways, for the way of spirit would not be hateful. The way of spirit would always trust itself to say the right things, not interest itself in saying the wrong things. So why would you spit hatred at this individual?
Your shadow will allow you to address the things that make you project shadow of deflation. Trust that your shadow will often point things like this out to you in the effort to help you realize where you have inner strife and need to trust and love yourself more.
Shadow inflation
The way you would know you’re projecting your shadow of inflation, you would be hanging on every word, allowing yourself to distrust what you would have to say, allowing yourself to not speak up on a variety of important issues that you’d want to speak up about, and allowing yourself to generally bask in the glow of this individual.
Both actions are related in the same way: they impose on others to express your desires, when you have the power all along. When you allow your shadow to be in charge, you immediately invalidate your own power.
Before you deflate someone and their choices, remember that they need you to be a friend in the truest sense. For as surely as they want in their lives only the people who appreciate them, they will find you in beautiful ways. For finding the beauty in their choices is the point—not deflating them—and to feel truly happy for others provides the deepest joy and purpose you can imagine. So when you deflate someone or their choices, remember they need you to not do that.
This most important spiritual practice is also the easiest: Address your Beliefs (IDEA).
Push back on bullies with wisdom and compassion
You also need to watch out for the shadow projections of others, for they also need to be corrected, and sometimes you will need to be the one doing the correcting. Sometimes you will need to stand up for yourself and others. In doing so you, will feel the love of the Universe working through you.
The way of spirit will provide you the means to, when needed, invoke your Personal God to take on your bullies in your marketplaces, in your banks, in your governments, and in your everyday life when required.
For more information on the shadow in your life and in the world, and pushing back on bullies, read The Way of Spirit: Teachings of Rose.
