The Projection Game: The Son Complex 🎭

Note: This blog post refers to a hypothetical character named RRC to illustrate this third and final chapter of the trilogy, closely inspired by real events. Names, details and events have been stylized for storytelling purposes.

The Narcissist According to Hermetic Law

Let us take a hypothetical character as we get ready to drill for some oil — let’s call him RRC. He is a textbook case of what Hermetic teachings might consider a deeply imbalanced, polarized masculine archetype — one who lives entirely out of harmony with Universal Law and yet believes he’s mastered it. That's the ego. Dressed in tight pants.

According to the Hermetic Principle of Mentalism, “All is mind.” RRC, in his fragmented mind, believes he can manipulate reality by simply rewriting the narrative. If he lies, it becomes true. If he cheats, he’ll just call it survival. If he gaslights, it’s merely “you misinterpreted.”

He doesn’t do accountability — he does monologues. Gaslight operas. Emotional contortionism.

In fact, he would write: “You think I’m a horrible human being and spin nasty narratives to your gang. Just remember the good times.”

That’s the Principle of Correspondence — inverted. Instead of “as within, so without,” it becomes “as convenient, so I’ll twist it.”

And he always talks about his pain. How he suffered. How he was there for you when you needed it most. Not once acknowledging exiting during critical times. Not once showing up sober. Not once being responsible — only performative. This is the Law of Cause and Effect — disrespected. He thinks if he speaks the words “forgiveness” and “communication” he can erase the effects of betrayal, theft, and trauma.

This is how narcissists distort spiritual law.

Let’s go deeper — seven patterns, seven shadows. 🗣️

1. The Law of Mentalism: All is Mind 
RRC creates fantasy worlds. He would write “You were the most important member of my world,” after not being there during severe health crisis. The mind isn’t used to create — it’s used to escape.

2.The Law of Correspondence: As Within, So Without 
He externalizes shame. Projects. Says, “Cutting people out is cowardly.”
That’s a mirror of his own self-abandonment.

3. The Law of Vibration: Nothing rests
His rage isn’t stable. It cycles. Highs and lows. Snorts ADHD meds to get high. Reels from crash to crash. Sends “loving” messages then blames for the silence. There are many highs which only lead to lows. Addiction.

4. The Law of Polarity: Everything has its pair 
One day, she’s his goddess. The next, he’s the victim. “You abandoned me!” he would cry like a pretend wolf.

5. The Law of Rhythm: Swings back and forth
 He plays therapist and tyrant in the same breath. “I went for therapy daily.” Also: “You insulted me like dirt.” Looks like the therapy isn't helping resolve any conflicts.

6. The Law of Cause and Effect: Nothing happens by chance 
Imagine living on an island and stealing data about say oil trades from a fellow colleague. Being discovered and put on a performance improvement plan and sent to another country to "improve" at the cost of losing annual bonus. But lying about it and spiraling.

According to him, these things “just happened.”

But do they?

7. The Law of Gender: Masculine and feminine exist in all
 RRC rejects anything that cannot be dominated. Hates women who say no. Loves “boys clubs.” Homophobic at the core, following his dear dad, yet will cling to anyone who can help play to his narrative

🔍 Character Map: RRC – A Hypothetical Narcissist Shaped by Patriarchy and Parental Dynamics

Core Traits:
- Emotionally dysregulated
- Addicted to image management
- Prone to emotional blackmail and covert manipulation
- Oscillates between grandiosity and victimhood
- Deeply insecure with a fragile core masked by performative gestures

🧬 Parental Imprint & Early Conditioning

Father Archetype:
Authoritarian, emotionally unavailable, traditional patriarch. Likely communicated worth through achievement and obedience. This kind of father creates a dichotomy: 'You are valued if you succeed in the system I created.'

All hail the Patriarchy!
(until it bites you to dust...)

Mother Archetype:
A covert narcissist or a collapsed enabler. Dominating in domestic space but disempowered socially and financially. Likely emotionally dependent on the son for validation (pseudo-partner dynamic) while subtly controlling through guilt and emotional neediness.

Resulting Dynamic for RRC:
- Learned to perform for approval (father’s conditional love)
- Learned to manipulate emotion and mask vulnerability (mother’s need for emotional enmeshment)
- Became hypersensitive to rejection, but outwardly arrogant to defend the fragile self

🧠 Psychological Constructs at Play

1. Narcissistic Wound + False Self Construction:
To survive the emotional neglect or conditional love, RRC constructed a 'false self' – one that is charming, successful, desirable. This is the version he performs. The real self is buried under shame and unworthiness.

2. Addiction as Self-Soothing:
The snorting of ADHD medication like recreational drugs is not just addiction, but an attempt to stimulate confidence and focus — temporary performance enhancers to support the false self.

3. Delusions of Grandiosity and the Savior Complex:
Repeated efforts to frame himself as the good guy while bypassing accountability — classic covert narcissism.

4. Homophobia + Selective Inclusion:
Performative friendship used as a mask. Mimics empathy while repressing inclusive values.

5. Victim–Martyr Flip:
RRC plays both roles — the wronged hero and the misunderstood soul — while avoiding true introspection or repair.

🧩 Defense Mechanisms

🪞 The Internal Landscape of RRC

Core Fear: Being truly seen, especially by someone who won’t buy the mask.
Desire: To be adored without being accountable.
Wound: Deep abandonment and lack of emotional mirroring.
Shadow: Resentment of powerful women.

🩻 So, Does RRC Love Himself?

RRC, the man who performs charm like theatre, writes long tragic soliloquies to escape accountability, and calls silence a “cowardly act” while trolling and not having the courage to see someone in the eye — is not a man at peace.

He is in a constant battle:

• Between the version he performs and the one he cannot sit with.
• Between the little boy still begging for his parent's approval and the man trying to assert dominance in relationships.
• Between the ghost of the father he’s trying to impress and the deep rage he feels at never being enough.
• Between the spiritual words he "borrows" and the energetic filth of his actions.
• And not being true to even his parents. Pretending to be a "good son" while he secretly only wants access to the will so he can take charge of all the inheritance vs other parties.

He is trapped. A prisoner of his own carefully curated narrative. And he knows it. That’s the haunting part. The deeper tragedy. He writes it. Over and over:

“I know I failed. I know I fumbled. I just didn’t know how to handle it.”
“You were the light. I was lost.”

But this apology also sounds like an inverted mirror — never quite clear. Always about how you didn’t understand him. He doesn’t apologize to heal. He apologizes to regain control of the image he’s losing.

💔 An Ending for a Man Who Cannot Breathe

He will go on, this man. Smiling in photos he filters like truths. Holding drinks he never remembers setting down. Following women who remind him of the life he almost had, if only he had courage to meet the truth.

He will lie his through meeting rooms, make powerful deals with the few he hasn't yet cut or cheated, sip neat whisky in hotel lobbies, and laugh with strangers at stories where he is always misunderstood, always the giver.

But when the room quiets…
When the city dims and no one is watching —
He cannot breathe.

Not fully.

Because to breathe is to be present.
To be present is to feel.
And to feel is to meet the gaping wound of the little boy who was raised to be a weapon, not a man.

So he gasps.
Not from lack of oxygen — but from too much truth.
The truth of his role and the lack of accountability.
The truth of the blood on his hands, of not one life but two.

The scar on his soul and something that can never be wiped off.

And the mask he holds, once charming and smooth, begins to crack.

But instead of setting it down…

He polishes it again.

Previous Posts:
> The Projection Game: Fool me Once, Troll me Twice
> The Projection Game: The Father Archetype
> The Projection Game: The Distorted Mother Archetype