Those who are aligned with energies of darkness can become agents of deception through the belief in the persona that they have created, a persona influenced by forces of darkness.  The 'persona' is that aspect of someone's character that is presented to or perceived by others. Such forces can simultaneously separate individuals from the true feelings and values of their heart, while at the same time creating the illusion that they are speaking from their heart. Some who are so influenced may know the difference between sounding like they are speaking from their heart and actually feeling their heart. Some do not.

The persona, when strongly influenced by energies of darkness, and when accepted by the person themselves, can develop a life of its own and become an energetic agent in its own right with powers of its own, even when the person is not present and even when they are not actively trying to influence others.  It then acts as a projection, similar to a film that is projected onto a blank screen.  The image extends from the movie projector that houses the film footage and is projected onto the screen, or in this case onto the consciousness of others which operates like a  blank screen as it receives an impression.  The impression that is projected emerges from the persona of the person who is carrying the energies of darkness.  The projection takes these same energies and brings them outward so that they interact with others without their knowing it.

The capacity of consciousness to act as a 'blank screen' onto which images, thoughts, or feelings are projected comes from several places.

First, is the lack of awareness that such a projection of thoughts or feelings could possibly exist and the absence of alertness to this possibility. 

Second, because of 'projective identification' with specific qualities of the persona of another, a person may unwittingly hear what they desire to hear and feel what they desire to feel while merging with the persona being projected.  Such identification takes place when one's own psyche contains deep wishes to feel comforted, more secure, more optimistic, more empowered, and more capable of succeeding where one has failed in the past.  The psyche then identifies with the projected feelings of confidence which overcome feelings of helplessness, or the projected feelings of optimism which overcome the loss of hope.  That this is not real is not known to consciousness because the power of projection creates the illusion that the feelings are real, and that they are emanating from a real source of feeling, namely the heart.  The deception lies in the fact that the projected qualities of feeling are not coming from the heart connected with the soul, but from the ego and mind that seeks to achieve a certain effect on others.

How does one come to recognize a persona that appears to speak from the heart but actually does not, one that uses words from the heart but words that lack energetic depth and connection to the deeper levels of being?

The way requires deep clarity about one's own heart in its feeling state of love, truth, and the desire to help others.  Out of the deeper feeling qualities of one's own heart comes a recognition of the hearts of others that are truly present, and the words of others which may seem to represent the heart but do not.

That this is difficult is true for many who have habitually listened to the words of others primarily with their minds, not with their hearts, and for many who have not come to trust themselves and their own inner knowing. Both limitations can be overcome, however, through deepening one's own self-awareness and love, and through believing that it is possible to tell when others are being emotionally truthful and when they are not.  Each heart in its deeper layers is connected with the soul, and so each heart innately understands what true love feels like and what true humility, kindness, and the desire to help others feels like.  This is the way of defeating the power of deception, namely, through aligning with the heart connected with the soul, and through becoming able, as a result of the light of the soul, to remain aligned with truth.  In this way one avoids and disempowers the deception that masquerades as love but is not.

Related Writings:

Sphere of Mirages (Illusions)

Bridge to Soul Awareness: The 'True' and 'False' Self

Faithfulness

Article Section -  Purification

"Maintaining Alignment With Light"