This paper embodies a tentative application of the author's modified conception of infancy and repression to the ethnological field; it is an attempt to elucidate the psychological and cultural phenomena underlying the transition from Pagan-Teuton to Catholic and feudal culture in Northern Europe. It is suggested that the fundamental differences between cultures may be ascribed to differences in the type of repression maintaining them. Teutonic culture and religion are described as 'matriarchal' in character, the product of 'endogenous' (pre-oedipal or maternal) repression, whereas Christianity is 'patriarchal', associated with paternal Oedipus repression. Transition phenomena, such as the parallel development of witch cults and Mariolatry, are to be ascribed to oscillations between the two types of repression and to the aggravation of ambivalence towards the mother by Catholicism, which at the same time weakened her efficiency as a repressing agent. The author is convinced of the possibility of an Oedipus-free culture.