ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of certain transformations demonic images have undergone since very ancient times and discussion of the hold the image of the baby has on modern consciousness. Western symbology had adopted the snake of all creatures as most expressive of demonic qualities. The demonic aspect of the self mocks more serious, heartfelt tendencies that it seeks to debase and enslave. V. Tausk's understanding of the transmitting machine as an effigy of the live body incompletely captures the demonized dualism implicit in this delusion. Demonized ego structures found in individuals reflect the texture of the times and make their own historical input. The romantics both idealized and demonized infantile experience, degenerating it at times to rank sentimentality and gothic horror. One may begin to side with the aggressor and identify with unconscious demonic aspects of the mother or father, or become cynical and confounded by self-doubt when caught in chronic double-bind situations that reward perverse mental operations.
