Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association: James Clark Moloney. 'Mother, God and Superego.'

Mothers who are not emotionally attuned to their infants are liable to disturb the natural infantile rhythms—the need for food, warmth, and protection. This can lead to a conflict originally between the child and mother and later between the individual and his superego (the internalized mother). Sometimes this struggle is given up and the individual may experience a theophany or kenosis—a blinding flash of inspiration which seems to point the way to a resolution of inner conflicts. The individual concerned becomes an advocate of the mother's authority which he originally attempted to destroy. Theophany is an expression of the submission of the self systems (as opposed to the mother systems [superego]). This is accompanied by a regression to the period of infantile dependence on the mother. After describing a method of experimentally induced theophany used in the training of Buddhist priests the author gives an account of instances from theological history of theophany and kenotic experiences. Nearly all contain the phenomena of light and/or a sudden loud noise. Both neurotic and psychotic patients undergo experiences very similar to theophany and kenosis. Although superficially different, there is an underlying similarity between psychotic, kenotic, and theophanic phenomena. Such experiences as theophany and kenosis must be traceable to some previous occurrence. The effect of this is such as to make the individual seek an explanation which will allay his anxiety. Spiritual meanings are therefore often ascribed to these experiences. To what extent these manifestations should be considered the product of a rational or irrational mind depends on the extent to which the ego renounces its contact with reality. Theophany represents a return to the precognitive period. There is a fusion of the precognitive mother with the superego forming a powerful component of the personality. The superego is an intrusion and an extension of the precognitive diffuse mothe