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This article is an electronic version of an article originally
published in Cultic Studies Journal, 1992, Volume 9, Number 2, pages 190-205.
Please keep in mind that the pagination of this electronic reprint differs from
that of the bound volume. This fact could affect how you enter bibliographic
information in papers that you may write.
The Appeal of the Impossible and
the Efflorescence of the Unbelievable:
A Psychoanalytic Perspective
on Cults and Occultism
David A. Halperin, M. D.
Abstract
There has been a tremendous efflorescence of interest in the occult, the
supernatural, and the satanic. On the level of popular culture, widespread
popularity has been earned by books that embody themes of magic, the magical,
and the afterlife. In vulnerable individuals, this interest has encouraged an
affiliation with groups that propound magic(k) and occult rituals as serious
solutions to severe personal problems. This article presents brief descriptions
of the more significant writers whose work has led to the formation of occult
groups and to an increased interest in Satanism. Relevant aspects of their work
and its appeal to adolescents are examined from a psychoanalytic perspective.
Finally, case histories are presented to illustrate these issues.
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