THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SATANIC CULT INVOLVEMENT: AN ...

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CHAPTER TWELVE
AN ARCHETYPAL OBJECT RELATIONS THEORY OF SATANIC CULT
PHENOMENA
Introduction
Each of the previous four chapters has presented an alternative depth psychological
discourse of demonic phenomena. At a general level, what they all have in common is
the basic assumption that demonic phenomena are unconscious symbolic representations
of intrapsychic contents that are personified, defensively disavowed, and externalised
through projective mechanisms. These projected aspects then wield an uncanny influence
over the rest of the personality in the form of obsessions, or invade and take over the
personality, resulting in the symptoms ofpossession. In the past, however, it has been the
incompatibilities that determined the relationship between psychoanalysis and analytical
psychology. The acrimonius termination of the personal relationship between Jung and
Freud accentuated and deepened their theoretical differences, giving rise to the school of
analytical psychology. The enmity between Jung and Freud, and the emphasis on their
theoretical divergences., has meant that these two depth psychological models have
traditionally been defined by their differences rather than their commonalties. The
emergence of object relations theory, however, has introduced the possibility of a new
theoretical exchange between psychoanalytical and analytical psychology. 'Exchange' is
perhaps inaccurate, as it implies mutual interaction or dialogue, whereas the relationship
between object relations theory and analytical psychology has been rather one-sided,
characterised by analytical psychology's appropriation ofobject relations concepts. There
is no reference to Jung in Klein's work, and most Kleinians would reject any conceptual
affinity with analytical psychology (Solomon, 1991). Fairbairn (1955, p. 144) was more
explicit when he stated that he chose a Freudian rather than a Jungian starting point for
his work, because, on comparing Freud's basic conceptions with those of Jung, "I found
the former incomparably more illuminating and convincing, and felt them to offer an
infinitely better prospect of solving the problems with which psychopathology is
concerned".