The Demons and Monsters of Everyday Life: The World of Journey to the West

The World of Journey to the West

The world of Journey to the West: ordinary people, monsters, demons, ghosts, misshapen beings, spirits, true persons, gods, and immortals.
Associate only with ordinary people, true persons, gods, and immortals. Do not get involved with monsters, demons, ghosts, or misshapen beings. Spirits can be beguiling, so be wary.

Horror comes from life. Monsters, demons, ghosts, and misshapen beings are not legends; they are part of everyday life.

Monsters embody obsession and animal impulses, such as greed, fame, profit, lust, and desire, with encroachment and appropriation as their defining traits. Thugs, crude local bosses, “streetwise types,” and local bullies often fall into this category. Their targets are external possessions and objectified people. Monsters often establish a stronghold in a particular territory.

Demons suck blood, feeding on other people’s mental and emotional energy—the NPD types and their ilk. Their targets are “blood bags,” people who shower everyone with warmth and attention, and vitality. Many parents also suck their children’s blood. Being a parent is a “dangerous” role: for an unhealthy person, faced with a child brimming with vitality who obeys their parents unconditionally, it is hard to resist the temptation to feed on and torment them.

Ghosts embody harm, hostility, and resentment. They want to project their own pain outward, make others feel their pain, reproduce their pain, and enjoy a sense of power through inflicting harm, creating a vicious cycle. The intergenerational transmission of trauma and karma in many families falls into this category. Their target is the humanity in others that is capable of suffering. Ghosts often struggle to survive independently and tend to attach themselves to others. In large organizations and corporations, many lower- and middle-ranking managers are like daughters-in-law who endure mistreatment until they become mothers-in-law themselves, then take pleasure in tormenting others. This is the nature of ghosts. Many online trolls and compulsive arguers are like this; see the earlier article “A Psychoanalysis of Internet Trolls: Toilet People.”

Many people combine several types, such as monster-demons, demon-ghosts, or ghost-monsters. Power can satisfy the demands of monsters, demons, and ghosts, and the arena of power is often a demonic lair for all these beings. Ghosts often serve as demons’ ghostly accomplices—in other words, the flying monkeys and enablers of NPD types.

Demons and ghosts harm those who are susceptible to their harm. Their main method, PUA-style psychological manipulation, can only harm those susceptible to it: children, young people, and those with vulnerabilities in their inner lives, weak boundaries, little skill in protecting themselves, and little self-love but a great deal of self-attack.

Children and healthy people brim with vitality and possess innate wholeness. Misshapen beings, by contrast, represent the damage to an otherwise whole person: their seven souls and six spirits scattered, utterly bereft. This is what psychology calls neurosis. Misshapen beings usually take shape when people are harmed by monsters, demons, ghosts, and other misshapen beings. They can also deteriorate into any of these forms. Psychological healing means restoring wholeness to the personality. Further development can lead toward gods, immortals, Buddhas, or the Way—different paths of growth.

Different countries have different archetypes of horror. American horror often features monsters and ghosts: harm and encroachment. Japanese horror often features ghosts: harm and hostility. Chinese horror often features demons and ghosts: the familiar red lanterns, red bridal veils, embroidered shoes, oppressive little courtyards, and people-devouring feudalism. Thai horror often features ghosts and monsters: brutality and bloodshed. These differences are rooted in their respective social and cultural backgrounds. Why is Journey to the West one of the Four Great Classical Novels? Because it documents reality.