Page 11 - My Indigo Sun September-October 2025

The Goal of Friendship
In the chapter titled, “Best Friends in the Age of
Aquarius,” I suggest that friendship is the
relational archetype for our time. The Piscean
Age exalted fusion, sacrifice, and projecting the
Numinosum onto the Other — what Jung,
borrowing from Rudolf Otto, from The Idea of
the Holy described as the overwhelming
experience of the sacred or divine. In love, this
often meant unconsciously making the partner
carry the God-image, mistaking human
relationship for transcendent salvation. But in
doing so, we burdened them with a role no
human being can fulfill. Too often, this came at
the cost of idealization (a defense mechanism)
and codependence. The Aquarian Age, by
contrast, calls us to freedom, authenticity, and
companionship.
The new paradigm of love is not rescue or
possession but friendship: two sovereign beings
choosing to share the road of life. Friendship is
the vessel strong enough to hold differences
without breaking. It does not abolish romance;
it redeems it. When love is rooted in friendship,
two people can stand side by side, neither
fused nor estranged, but free and connected by
choice.
Shadow work is the gold of this process.
It does not promise the intoxicating giddiness
of a perfect romance, but the enduring bond of
two conscious partners willing to grow together.
When both partners make the commitment to
do “the work,” projection becomes a dialogue,
resentment becomes repair, and love becomes
an alchemy of mutual becoming.
Ultimately, the gift of this path is simple but
profound: when we love each other as
friends, we stop orbiting around the Other
to find happiness through them. Instead, we
walk alongside them, each with our own
connection to the inner light. Friendship is
the great equalizer. It brings love down to
earth without diminishing its mystery.
The Journey Forward
When the Other Is You: Love Beyond
Projection is a guide to this journey — from
projection to presence, from illusion to
friendship. It offers insights, practices, and
questions to help not just couples but
individuals to reclaim what belongs to them,
begin their individuation, and share their
planetary energies consciously. You will
discover the Gold of true love. Beyond
projection, beyond illusion, lies the simplest
truth: the Other is never just the Other —
the Other is YOU.
A Poem that has always inspired me is:
Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow,
Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead.
Walk beside me and be my friend.
Rebeca Eigen
My Indigo Sun -11