THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SATANIC CULT INVOLVEMENT: AN ...

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about one's future and safety in the cult, and the personal or vicarious trauma of abusive
satanic practices. Leaving the cult, however, does not seem possible. The belief that
Satan is an omnipotent and omniscient internal presence, who would sooner kill apostates
than allow their escape, together with the fear of physical retribution, harassment and
blackmail by loyal cult members, makes leaving the cult appear untenable. At this point,
tormented and despairing, the disaffected cult members contemplate, or actually attempt,
suicide as a desperate means of escaping the savage intrapsychic attacks by the destructive
subpersonality (Satan). The only remaining avenue of escape lies in the redemptive power
of a supernatural being more powerful than Satan. As a consequence, the recusant
Satanists throw themselves on God's mercy, and undergo exorcism procedures to rid them
of possessing demons. This attempt, by ceremonial means, of extruding the destructive
subpersonality, results in classical psychological and physical symptoms of involuntary
demonic possession. Successful exorcism of the destructive self aspects occurs when the
destructive subpersonality is expelled in fantasy, and God, a new idealised paternal partobject,
is identified with, resulting in a dramatic personality transformation. In many cases
this divine salvation promotes adaptive life-style changes. However, insofar as it
perpetuates splitting defences and projective identification, and undermines psychic
integration, it appears to be a pathological solution based on the formation of another
narcissistic subpersonality.
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