Crystals
Humans tend to project their own states of mind on non-human objects, like (stuffed) animals, personal assistant computers, and robots. We project that an animal loves us, that Alexa is being annoying on purpose if she ('it', if we would not project gender on objects) does not immediately understand our murmurings, and that human-like robots are our equals and friends with feelings and who might need rights. This starts at a young age already: growing up, I felt so much empathy for all my stuffed animals and gathered them all on my bed so none of them would feel abandoned and alone in the cabinet. But this practice of projection continuous when we grow up, for example many people give a name to their car or say sweet words to it to get through some extra kilometers without fuel. Another example of subjectivation of an object that I would like to discuss is the interpretation that crystals have intentions and emotions.
(Note: gemstones are polished crystals, so every gemstone is a crystal, but not every crystal is a gemstone.)
It is said that having crystals or gemstones in your surroundings, for example on your bedside table or as a piece of jewelry, allows for the energy of the crystal to flow towards you.
Every crystal has a special kind of energy, as can be seen on the figure on the right. Crystals are placed strategically: a jade stone connected to a roller to massage your cheeks in the morning to transfer youth, a peridot in your breakfast area to transfer energy that allows you to wake up positive and full of creation, and a necklace of rose quartz transfers love towards you the whole day long.
These working of the crystals is not scientifcally proven, but nevertheless I find it fascinating that these very extensive meaning guides emerged. Not all guides include the same energies per crystal, but the tendencies are alike.
So, lots of humans project human-like emotion and intention on stones. To take some: love, confidence, hope, grieving, spirituality, purpose, courage, and passion are all states of mind that we often only asign to humans.
To clarify: it is not projected that the crystal is loving or grieving, but it is believed the crystal possesses this quality and can transfer it to humans. So, the crystals do have those human qualities projected on them. Therefore I think crystals are a good example of human projection on objects.
Image: Overview of meanings for different Gemstones, made by beadage. Note that not all makers apply exactly the same meanings.
As a fun take-away, I made a Rebus:
