Unmasking the Devil: The Mystery of Scapegoating beyond Good and Evil

How the magical practice of atonement turned into a modern neurosis of unconscious defences, illusion, and projection, and how to heal from it by becoming a pharmakon.

This mega-essay is part 2 in my series on Scapegoating. I recommend you first read part 1, Scapegoating: A Myth for All Ages. To read more on this theme, check out my essays on evil, the shadow, and magicians and tricksters. If you want to explore this theme further, join me on 5 May for a 2-hour class on healing the scapegoat or register your interest for my upcoming experiential weekend workshop (TBA) focused on healing the complex.

---

When I first moved into my own flat in my early twenties, it was a momentous decision. My earliest attempts at emancipation from the family home had all failed in ways I couldn’t understand. For example, when most of my high school classmates applied for universities aboard, I failed to even fill in a single application, despite desperately wanting to leave and knowing that I had a good chance to be accepted into the creative or English programs I was eyeing up. No one told me not to go–but no one encouraged me either. Even though I had every chance to succeed and pursue a dream, it was like my willpower suddenly turned to jello. I stayed behind and completed a university degree I hated. And for a long time, I didn’t understand why.

But then, at 22, I was finally ready to leave the nest. I packed my car to the brim with my stuff, excited to settle into my little studio downtown, and tried not to pay too much attention to the fact that my parents had stopped talking to me and were watching this whole commotion with what I could only interpret as contempt. When I finally got in the car, I was so nauseous I could throw up. Even though a part of me knew that I had every right to live alone (I had a job, I would pay my own rent), another part was convinced that I was committing a crime and I would be punished for it.

Ironically, it didn’t take long for that to be confirmed: about half a mile into my drive, I happened to run into my aunt at a red light. Expecting that she’d be happy for me, I giddily shared what was happening, but was met with fury. It felt like time slowed down and swallowed me whole as she shamed me for my transgression from across the lanes, reassuring me that should anything happen to my parents, I would be entirely to blame.

I drove away confused, angry, terrified, and crushed by guilt. A part of me had always felt responsible for my parents’ wellbeing (or, better said, lack thereof) and having it confirmed so coldly only reinforced this belief. I lasted less than a year in that flat before I returned to the family home, where I felt miserable, but at least I didn’t feel as guilty anymore.

However, guilt followed me around like an old friend whenever I did something important for myself. It didn’t stop me from following my dreams, but it did keep me from succeeding at them as I always seemed to lose steam, become depressed, or lose faith in myself just as things were getting better for me. Looking back, I can see how my individuation was perceived as a crime against my origins–and when the punishment no longer came from outside, as contempt, silent treatment, shaming, or unfair accusations, it continued within, entirely unconscious.

I share this personal story because I want to illustrate how insidious the scapegoat complex can be. While there had been many instances when I had been explicitly told I was bad and to blame, there were more numerous times when blame was cast on me without words or explicit intention. The shadow was projected on me over and over, almost by magic.

Now, having studied the scapegoat complex in depth over the last few months, I realise that magic still has a lot to do with it–even in our desacralised, clinical, civilised world. What started out as a consciously performed ritual for the atonement of the community has been reduced in our rational world to nothing more than neurosis: projection, repetition compulsion, illusion, acting out, projective identification. But he DSM-V cannot protect us from evil–it can only pathologise it.

In this in-depth essay, I aim to shed a light on the complex archetypal dynamic of scapegoating through the Devil tarot card. I will explore the inner world of the scapegoat as a personal hell of unconscious guilt through depth psychology and alchemy, focusing on the lesser known aspects of the complex. Finally, I will focus on the scapegoat’s unique healing journey and why individuation looks different when you have a scapegoat complex.

“The goat belongs to God, so it is both the sin-carrier and the vessel for healing.”

(Liz Greene, The Dark of the Soul)