THE PSYCHOLOGY OF SATANIC CULT INVOLVEMENT: AN ...

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While Cavendish confines his observations to the cult of Dionysus and the medieval
witches, most of these parallels may be extended to include modem Satanic cults. Of
particular significance in all these cults is the orgy, the anthropological significance of
which was discussed in some detail in Chapter Two. However, the dissolution of all
boundaries, and the consequent union of opposites (coincidentia oppositorum) has
psychological significance as well. It may be said to represent the integration and
reconciliation ofthe conscious and unconscious psychic realms, whose normal antagonism
is a constant source of psychic pain and tension (Russell & Wyndham, 1992). The sexual
orgies of the witches and Satanists reveal a collective protest against contemporary
religious and social situations, underpinned by the psychological wish to recover "a lost
beatific perfection, namely, that of the fabulous 'beginnings', a beatitude that haunts the
imagination, particularly during catastrophic crises" (Eliade, 1976, p. 91).
4.4. Dysfunctional family dynamics
Not surprisingly, a number of psychological studies have investigated a posited link
between Satanic involvement and negative familial interaction. A variety of family
characteristics have been- posited in this regard: high levels of family disruption, exposure
to familial violence (Bourget et aI, 1988; Moriarty and Story, 1990), parental emotional
withdrawal at critical developmental stages (Moriarty & Story, 1990), parental double
standards (Moriarty & Story, 1990), marital separation or divorce (Bourget et aI, 1988),
parental abuse, and maternal and/or paternal psychopathology (Bourget et aI, 1988).
Correlations alone, of course, do not constitute explanations, and so the parental conflict
theory must establish why negative adolescent-parent interaction would predispose
adolescents to Satanic involvement. Moriarty & Story (1990) suggest that parentadolescent
conflict may interfere with the adolescent's acquisition of moral reasoning
skills. The consequence is a diminished sense of morality, based essentially on selfgratification,
and an inclination to 'immoral' Satanic ideology. Furthermore, conflictual
parental relationships may result in general emotional detachment and consequent