PA109 SUMMER ESSAY 2015

Critically discuss how one or two psychoanalytic concepts (either Freudian or

Jungian) may elucidate a particular, cultural (be it political or religious)
phenomenon of your choice.
Cults, in varying forms, have existed for as long as religion as entered human

consciousness. The 1960s and 70s saw a rise in the number of violent and extremist

settlements throughout the US, with the establishment of the now infamous Manson

‘Family’. By definition, a cult is ‘A system of religious veneration and devotion

directed towards a particular figure or object:1’ Now, while this is both accurate and

fitting, it also makes us question what separates the neurotypical religious group

from the hazy neurosis of fanaticism, and what causes the former to mutate into the

latter. Here, we will be discussing psychoanalytical approaches that both Freud and

Jung have developed, and to what extent cults can be seen as the result of their

societal climate, carnal desires, or a cosmic conscious.

Many have attempted to identify what connects these kinds of settlements, in

attempts to stop further similar organisations from forming. And although there may

not be many aspects linking these groups, there are some psychoanalytical factors

which may suggest the reason for their beginnings; both of the need for a leader,

and the need for a following. It is impossible to discuss the happenings and

explanations of cults without, first, assessing the beginning of their leader; what lead

them to become the charismatic, controlling, and dark figures we are lead to view

them as.

Beginning with Freud’s most infamous psychoanalytical concept; The Oedipal

Complex, which he believed to be a standard part of maturing, for both boys and

girls. It imposes the need for the presence of both parents, and to fully realise the

complex is to mature, psychologically, into the self. Charles Manson was born to a
1
- (2015). Cult. Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cult (Last accessed: 23 April 2015).

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16-year-old mother. Unwed and an alcoholic, she became a prostitute, spending

very little time or attention on young Charles. A very short, failed marriage is where

he gets his surname name, although this was not his biological father, and would

continue to grow up in the absence of a father figure. Once his mother was arrested

and imprisoned for armed robbery, Charles spent his childhood being passed

around, living with various family members and friends, with a strong belief that his

mother would return to him. However, once she was released, she had neither the

interest, nor ability to look after him2.

The lack of a father figure, for Manson, meant that he had no-one, with which to

identify himself, meaning that he failed to develop full sexual maturity, leading to

permanent stunted sexual progression, leading him to sexual deviancy. This kind of

behaviour would lead to the criminal acts which saw him spending more than 15

years in prison before the age of 30, such as sodomy, pimping, and rape 3. This is

something which would continue on in the running of the ‘Family’. Here, Manson was

sexually involved with nearly all the women, and even used their sexual favours to

solicit food and drugs4.

Furthermore, the other male figures in his life, such as those who solicited his

mother, and her brother, with whom she was arrested 5, would likely form the basis of

his constant antisocial behaviour. Freud discusses the idea of ‘identification with the

aggressor’ in his case study of Little Hans6. Here, he suggests that little boys cannot

live in fear of castration for their lifetimes, instead, identifying and assimilating

2
Black, R (2007). Cannibals and Evil Cult Killers. London: Futura. Pg 454.
3
Black. Pg 455.
4
Fenske, S. (2013). 10 CHILLING NEW THINGS ABOUT CHARLES MANSON DETAILED IN HIS NEW
BIOGRAPHY. Available: http://www.laweekly.com/news/10-chilling-new-things-about-charles-manson-detailed-
in-his-new-biography-4175174 .
5
Black. Pg 454.
6
Freud, S. (1909). Analysis of a phobia of a five year old boy. Pelican Freud Library. Vol 8 (Case Histories 1). Pg
169-306.

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themselves with the figure who is seen as their rival, due to the Oedipal Complex.

Now, this may be because the boy wishes to better gain his mother’s affections by

closer resembling her chosen partner, or in order to assimilate themselves with said

figure, so that they would no longer be seen as a threat to them.

In relation to religious fanaticism, we may see this complex as one of its core roots.

Perhaps the lack of a father figure is what causes such neurosis in many of the cult

leaders. David Koresh, leader of the Waco settlement, belived he was the new

Messiah sent by God7, and Manson was viewed as a reincarnation of Jesus Christ

who was going to save his Family from the prophesised impending Armageddon 8.

Such disconnections from reality may come from the development of

overidentification with the Christ Figure. In both cases, it was said that they found

solace in religion, both having being raised in religious households. For Manson,

religion appeared to be the only constant in his life, and for Koresh, he was praised

for his knowledge of the scripture9. Perhaps we may suggest that, in the absence of

a male figure, both leaders attached themselves to the only one they found approved

of; Jesus Christ. Which means that they saw him as boys see their father when

realising the Oedipus complex; as a figure of authority, and of rivalry. Thus,

identification actualises itself, and they take on the attributes of Christ. However, this

not only means they admire or assimilate themselves with him, but, in turn, actually

place themselves in his place, in an attempt to gain the position of admiration they

saw him to have within their familial structure.

However, while such factors may be useful in the discussion of the sons of the

wealthy, which Freud was used to treating, it fails, entirely, to take into account the

7
Black. Pg 322.
8
Black. Pg 463.
9
Black. Pg 319.

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many social, economic, and environmental factors, which can, and often do, lead to

the presence of antisocial behaviours in children. Many of these are exhibited in the

raising of Manson as a child, such as poor parental discipline, considering his mother

being mainly absent, family conflict, with the lack of stability, and largely, alienation 10,

to which Charles was not a stranger to, for it is said that ‘completely friendless and

with no stability or continuity in his life, begin to turn to crime and his own imagination

for company11’.

Now, at the core, Freud believed in the tri-structure of the psyche, including the ID,

ego, and superego, and these may be useful apparatus in the understanding and

exploration of the deeper motivations behind many cult events. The ID, based purely

on instinct, is an inaccessible part which houses our carnal desires 12. The superego

regulates what parts of the ID are main available to the ego, and is mainly formed of

socialised norms and standards, with the ego being the conscious part of our

psyche, and being seen as the most reasonable of them all 13. While we are not

conscious of all of the ideas and suggestions within our minds, many still find their

way into our conscious, whether this be as fully-fledges ideas, or simply watered-

down suggestions.

Manson’s highest belief was that of the ‘Helter Skelter’. Taken from the title of a

Beatles’ song, this was meant to mark the beginning of the ultimate race wars in

1969, whereby black people would wipe out white people. Manson would protect the

Family by leading them to Death Valley to wait it out, and return to conquer the

remaining black population, taking them by surprise 14. Now, while he said this idea

10
-. (2015). Why does Anti-Social Behaviour happen. Available:
http://www.sholland.gov.uk/policing/antisocialbehaviour/Why+does+Anti-Social+Behaviour+happen.htm .
11
Black. Pg 455.
12
Freud, S (1933). New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis. London: Penguin Freud Library. Pg 105–6.
13
Freud, S (2010). The Ego and The Id. London: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
14
Black. Pg 456-457.

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came to him when listening to the song, we may suggest that it already existed in his

unconscious, and only entered into his conscious via this idea at this point.

His past shows a predisposition to violent racism, which may be within the carnal

desires of the Id, under the hostility to authority and/or sexual rivals. The Family had

first killed a man by the name of Gary Hinman, in an attempt to obtain money for a

new settlement. Once executed, they marked the walls with the Black Panther

Movement’s paw logo, in an effort to shove blame onto them 15. Perhaps this was a

pre-emptive endeavour to create a rising hostile climate to start off the race war.

Now, while such behaviour may come from the unconscious of the Id, it is the

superego which has allowed this to pass through into the conscious psyche. This is

where we can actively see the societal effects on the conscious of the individual.

Since the superego itself is a product of socialisation, it allows into consciousness all

that is deemed to be acceptable by cultural standards. Here, we can see how

Manson’s superego could have possibly been framed with the racial tensions of the

1960s and 70s. While major progress was being made at this time for civil rights,

there was much moral panic amongst white people of what this would mean for the

future of their own race; whether it would be wiped out or forced into submission as

they had once tried to do to African-Americans. So, taking this into account, we may

suggest that the Family had be socialised in such a way that racially motivated

violence was allowed to be passed into the ego, and, thus, that the phenomenon of

cults are one which reflects the moral issues of the time, for it is this which enables

such psyches.

Similarly, the Tate-LaBianca killings can be seen to reflect what Freud believed to be

the true essence of man; carnal desires, here, manifesting themselves as violence.
15
-. (2015). CHARLES MANSON AND THE MANSON FAMILY. Available: http://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-
library/charles-manson-and-the-manson-family

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PA109 SUMMER ESSAY 2015

Four of the Family members were instructed, on 9th August 1969, to go to the

residence of Sharon Tate, and create a scene which was shocking enough to finally

begin the Helter Skelter16. That evening they were to murder her, her unborn child,

Abigail Folger, Voytek Frykowski, Jay Sebring, and Steve Parent. It was reported

that the victims had been stabbed over 100 times 17. It is this kind of excessive and

mindless violence which supports Freud’s idea on the contents of the unconscious

Id, for if it were not to contain such primitive urges, then ‘mindlessness’ would not be

known as synonymously with violence in excess.

Furthermore, this is supported by the events of the following day. Frank Struthers

had returned from a camping trip to discover that his parents had been gruesomely

murdered. Rosemary and Leno LaBianca had been stabbed a combination of 67

times, with a carving knife being left inside the body of Leno 18. Again, this kind of

violence is unnecessary in the objective of killing someone, and, so, must have

derived from some other part of the Psyche; one which was unknown, uninhibited,

and unrestricted.

However, we can question the use of this event, instead, as a guise. The house,

although the residence of Sharon Tate, was actual owned by Terry Melcher, who

had previously ended Manson’s ambitious and early music career, something which

left him devastated19. So, while Freud’s idea is not baseless, in this instance, it may

not be the completed explanation of that night’s events.

In conclusion, Freud has much to offer us in the discussion on the origins of cult

settlements and our understandings of the motivations of groups such as Manson’s

16
Black. Pg 457.
17
Black. Pg 459.
18
Black. Ppg 459-461.
19
Black. Pg 458.

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‘Family’. While his approaches allows us some limited insight into the swirl of the

unconscious, we can also attest that such organisations are as much a part of an

ideal social and political climate as they are of human neurosis.

Bibliography

Black, R (2007). Cannibals and Evil Cult Killers. London: Futura.

Fenske, S. (2013). 10 CHILLING NEW THINGS ABOUT CHARLES MANSON

DETAILED IN HIS NEW BIOGRAPHY. Available: http://www.laweekly.com/news/10-
chilling-new-things-about-charles-manson-detailed-in-his-new-biography-4175174 .
Last accessed 23rd April 2015.

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PA109 SUMMER ESSAY 2015

Freud, S. (1909). Analysis of a phobia of a five year old boy. Pelican Freud Library.
Vol 8 (Case Histories 1).

Freud, S (1933). New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis. London: Penguin

Freud Library.

Freud, S (2005). Civilization and Its Discontents. Buckinghamshire: Chrysoma

Associates Ltd.

Freud, S (2010). The Ego and The Id. London: CreateSpace Independent Publishing
Platform.

Straker, D. (2002). Jung's Archetypes. Available:

http://changingminds.org/explanations/identity/jung_archetypes . Last accessed
22nd April 2015.

Wulff, D (1997). Psychology & Religion. 2ND Edition. NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

- (2015). Cult. Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press.

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/cult (Last accessed: 23 April
2015).

-. (2015). Why does Anti-Social Behaviour happen. Available:

http://www.sholland.gov.uk/policing/antisocialbehaviour/Why+does+Anti-
Social+Behaviour+happen.htm . Last accessed 23rd April 2015.

-. (2015). CHARLES MANSON AND THE MANSON FAMILY. Available:

http://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/charles-manson-and-the-manson-family .
Last accessed 23rd April 2015.