Carl Jung and The Definition of Demonism
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Demonism (synonymous with daemonomania = possession) denotes a peculiar state of mind characterized by the fact that certain psychic contents, the so-called complexes, take over the control of the total personality in place of the ego, at least temporarily, to such a degree that the free will of the ego is suspended.
In certain of these states ego-consciousness is present, in others it is eclipsed.
Demonism is a primordial psychic phenomenon and frequently occurs under primitive conditions. (Good descriptions in the New Testament, Luke 4:34, Mark 1:23, 5:2, etc.)
The phenomenon of demonism is not always spontaneous, but can also be deliberately induced as a “trance,” for instance in shamanism, spiritualism, etc. (Cf. J. Hastings, Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics; Schiirer. “Zur Vorstellung von der Besessenheit im Neuen Testament,” Jahrbuch fur protestantisehe Theologie, 1892.)
Medically, demonism belongs partly to the sphere of the psychogenic neuroses, partly to that of schizophrenia.
Demonism can also be epidemic. One of the most celebrated epidemics of the Middle Ages was the possession of the Ursulines of London, 1632.
The epidemic form includes the induced collective psychoses of a religious or political nature, such as those of the twentieth century. (Cf. G. le Bon, The Crowd, a Study of the Popular Mind, 1896; Otto Stoll, Suggestion und Hypnotismus in der Vbikerpsychologic, 2nd edn., 1904.) ~Carl Jung, “The Symbolic Life,” Page 648.
There are the winged demons, bats in the belfry
Problem of the Puer Aeternus, The
Speaking in spatial terms, if we are objective we have to admit that there is a field of the unconscious both above and below us.
This same duality applies to the symbolism of the house.
The cellar often represents the unconscious in some form, the area of the drives, the instincts; there are innumerable dreams in which coal is in the cellar and there is a fire, or awful animals are in the cellar or
For instance, a crazy person, overwhelmed by the unconscious, has “bats in the belfry” or “mice in the attic.”
So up in the attic, where it is dark and full of cobwebs and we are a bit crazy, there is just as much a realm of unconsciousness as in the cellar.
People frequently dream of thieves getting in from the roof or of demons sitting up there and taking off the tiles, and so on.
We must therefore look at the above and the below from a different standpoint and see if there is any kind of qualitative difference between representations of the unconscious powers above and the unconscious powers below.
There are exceptions, but it can be said that in general the above is associated with what is masculines—ordered, light and sometimes spiritual—and the below with the feminine—fertile, dark (not evil; there are no moral designations in the original mythological counterpositions), chaotic, and the realm of the animals.
The sphere above is connected with birds and angels—with winged beings which have to do with the spiritual world.
For instance, if in a dream something comes from below, you might expect it to come up in the form of an emotion or a physical symptom such as sleeplessness, or some affective disturbance of the sympathetic nervous system.
Or it comes in the form of synchronistic occurrences in the outer world.
If an invasion from the unconscious comes from above, it can take the form of an enthusiasm for Communism or Nazism; such an “above” unconsciousness erupts into the system in the form of a collective idea.
If it is characterized as positive, then it can be said to be the Holy Ghost; if it is considered negative, then there are the winged demons, bats in the belfry, and other pernicious winged creatures—that is, destructive ideas.
Whether constructive or destructive, such ideas have a strong collective energy of their own.
Dynamic representations belong to the “above” aspect of the unconscious and the emotional, instinctive representations to its “below” aspect.
~Marie Louise Von Franz, The Problem of the Puer Aeternus, Pages 13-14.
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