Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 16
independence, which feels out of control, self-annihilation may seem like the less terrifying
of two evils.
Those who become self-annihilating often turn to self-injurious behaviors. However,
annihilation of self is only one side of the attempt to overcome unbearable feelings of
powerlessness. There is an alternative to outright self-destructiveness which bears more
directly on the subject of cults:
The other side is the attempt to become a part of a bigger and more powerful
whole outside of oneself, to submerge and participate in. This power can be a
person, an institution, God, the nation, conscience, or a psychic compulsion.
By becoming part of a power which is felt as unshakably strong, eternal, and
glamorous, one participates in its strength and glory. One surrenders one‘s
own self and renounces all strength and pride connected with it, one loses
one‘s integrity as an individual and surrenders freedom but one gains a new
security and a new pride in the participation in the power in which one
submerges. One gains also security against the torture of doubt (Fromm,
1965, p. 177) (italics mine).
Fromm calls the power one submerges oneself in the ―magic helper.‖ When one feels
helpless and hopeless to express and realize one‘s individual potential, dependence on a
magic helper provides a solution which shifts the emphasis off the self, which is experienced
as empty and worthless, to the magic helper. The magic helper, in our fantasy, has all the
answers, can take care of everything, and loves and accepts us perfectly, thereby
confirming and validating our existence. Merging with the magic helper banishes emptiness,
loneliness and anxiety—and magical security is established. Then separation, individuation,
and its accompanying terrors can be averted altogether. One can join a cult and effect a
kind of separation from one‘s family and background—but the actual task of individuation is
not undertaken. The pseudo-separation attempt degenerates into a regression to deeper
levels of dependence and enmeshment.
Before further elaborating Fromm‘s concept of the magic helper, it is important to note that
Fromm, who was himself deeply interested in spirituality and religious mysticism, did not
intend to suggest that the idea of God is always and only a delusional, masochistic idea. On
the contrary, Fromm saw the magic helper concept as a perversion of spirituality and did
not intend his concept to be used as an argument against spirituality or religion.
In the relationship to the magic helper, ―the question is then no longer how to live oneself,
but how to manipulate ‗him‘ in order not to lose him and how to make him do what one
wants, even to make him responsible for what one is responsible oneself‖ (Fromm, 1965, p.
199). Paradoxically, obedience and goodness are among the most common methods used
to attempt to manipulate and control the magic helper. Yet the enslavement to the magic
helper that is then experienced is resented and creates conflict. This conflict must be
repressed in order not to lose the magic helper. Additionally, people who pose as magic
helpers eventually and inevitably demonstrate their imperfection, if not their complete
fraudulence. Thus, the underlying anxiety about the authenticity of the magic helper, or
about losing him through not being worthy, constantly threatens the security sought for in
the relationship. This is a real double bind. As Berger (1967) notes, ―the masochistic
attitude is inherently predestined to failure, because the self cannot be annihilated this side
of death and because the other can only be absolutized in illusion‖ (p. 56).
Kliger (1994), in her study of devotees of a leader named ―Guru,‖ demonstrates that it is
precisely this conflict in the devotees that results in the high degree of somatization she
found among them. Unhappiness and dissatisfaction amongst members was considered by
Guru to be hostile, a threat to the community. Guru demanded that devotees show a happy
face at all times, claiming that their unhappy faces made him physically and psychically ill.
independence, which feels out of control, self-annihilation may seem like the less terrifying
of two evils.
Those who become self-annihilating often turn to self-injurious behaviors. However,
annihilation of self is only one side of the attempt to overcome unbearable feelings of
powerlessness. There is an alternative to outright self-destructiveness which bears more
directly on the subject of cults:
The other side is the attempt to become a part of a bigger and more powerful
whole outside of oneself, to submerge and participate in. This power can be a
person, an institution, God, the nation, conscience, or a psychic compulsion.
By becoming part of a power which is felt as unshakably strong, eternal, and
glamorous, one participates in its strength and glory. One surrenders one‘s
own self and renounces all strength and pride connected with it, one loses
one‘s integrity as an individual and surrenders freedom but one gains a new
security and a new pride in the participation in the power in which one
submerges. One gains also security against the torture of doubt (Fromm,
1965, p. 177) (italics mine).
Fromm calls the power one submerges oneself in the ―magic helper.‖ When one feels
helpless and hopeless to express and realize one‘s individual potential, dependence on a
magic helper provides a solution which shifts the emphasis off the self, which is experienced
as empty and worthless, to the magic helper. The magic helper, in our fantasy, has all the
answers, can take care of everything, and loves and accepts us perfectly, thereby
confirming and validating our existence. Merging with the magic helper banishes emptiness,
loneliness and anxiety—and magical security is established. Then separation, individuation,
and its accompanying terrors can be averted altogether. One can join a cult and effect a
kind of separation from one‘s family and background—but the actual task of individuation is
not undertaken. The pseudo-separation attempt degenerates into a regression to deeper
levels of dependence and enmeshment.
Before further elaborating Fromm‘s concept of the magic helper, it is important to note that
Fromm, who was himself deeply interested in spirituality and religious mysticism, did not
intend to suggest that the idea of God is always and only a delusional, masochistic idea. On
the contrary, Fromm saw the magic helper concept as a perversion of spirituality and did
not intend his concept to be used as an argument against spirituality or religion.
In the relationship to the magic helper, ―the question is then no longer how to live oneself,
but how to manipulate ‗him‘ in order not to lose him and how to make him do what one
wants, even to make him responsible for what one is responsible oneself‖ (Fromm, 1965, p.
199). Paradoxically, obedience and goodness are among the most common methods used
to attempt to manipulate and control the magic helper. Yet the enslavement to the magic
helper that is then experienced is resented and creates conflict. This conflict must be
repressed in order not to lose the magic helper. Additionally, people who pose as magic
helpers eventually and inevitably demonstrate their imperfection, if not their complete
fraudulence. Thus, the underlying anxiety about the authenticity of the magic helper, or
about losing him through not being worthy, constantly threatens the security sought for in
the relationship. This is a real double bind. As Berger (1967) notes, ―the masochistic
attitude is inherently predestined to failure, because the self cannot be annihilated this side
of death and because the other can only be absolutized in illusion‖ (p. 56).
Kliger (1994), in her study of devotees of a leader named ―Guru,‖ demonstrates that it is
precisely this conflict in the devotees that results in the high degree of somatization she
found among them. Unhappiness and dissatisfaction amongst members was considered by
Guru to be hostile, a threat to the community. Guru demanded that devotees show a happy
face at all times, claiming that their unhappy faces made him physically and psychically ill.
