THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SATANIC CULT INVOLVEMENT: AN ...

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argues in this regard that narrative is not "an alternative to truth or reality; rather, it is the
mode in which, inevitably, truth and reality are presented. We have only versions of the
true and the real" (p. xv). Internal objects, psychic structures and archetypes form part of
narrative schemas and do not correspond to, or contradict, some extra-discursive external
reality.
From this herrneneutic perspective, psychological research is not concerned with the
essential truth of a phenomenon but, as Kenneth Gergen says, with "crafting systems of
intelligibility" (Gergen, 1989, p. 257). In preceding chapters, it was argued that both
object relations psychoanalysis and Jungian theory provide coherent systems of
intelligibility. Hopefully, the Results Chapter has illustrated both the coherence and
usefulness of explaining Satanism in terms of a psychoanalytic theory premised upon the
intrapsychic manifestation and transformation of interpersonal relationships. However,
although the methodology and data analysis assumed an explicit object relations
perspective, to exclude analytical psychology - the other major historical depth psychology
tradition - would be to sacrifice a potentially rich dialogue. For this reason, the remaining
discussion will entertain a synthetic vision, one which seeks to integrate the historically
divergent discourses ofpsychoanalytic and Jungian thought.
15.2 An archetypal object relations theory of demonic possessive states
In Chapter Thirteen, it was argued that, despite theoretical differences between object
relations and Jungian perspectives, these approaches both complement each other and
have enough common understanding ofpsychodynamics to warrant integrating them into a
comprehensive interpretation of demonic phenomena. At this point, a brief summary of
the proposed archetypal object relations model will remind readers of the broad
interpretative parameters guiding the following discussion. The model's basic assumption
is that our polypsychic life comprises both integrative and dissociative tendencies, which
play them themselves out in shifting identity structures constellated around personified
archaic complexes. These, in turn, arise from the dialectical interplay of transpersonal
archetypal fantasies and personal experiences with significant others. The human