Definition
The term daimonic, having its source in Greek literature [literally, the daimonion], refers to the inner urgings and warnings from the Gods, the pointer to the living out of one’s character or destiny. It was sometimes used also as a guiding spirit (thus external, but operating internally) sent at birth to accompany one throughout life.
May (1969) likened it to the urgings of one’s inner nature, akin to an aspect of the life force, saying “The daimonic is the urge in every being to affirm itself, assert itself, perpetuate and increase itself…[the reverse side] of the same affirmation is what empowers our creativity” (p. 123). Depending on the way an individual related to the power of the daimonic, May postulated it could be a force propelling one to the fulfillment of his or her potential or driving them in excess toward their ruin.
Hillman (1996) described it more as a callunique to each person, his or her “fate” or genius. Hillman believed that each person has a destiny,...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Bohart, A. C., Held, B. S., Mendelowitz, E., & Schneider, K. J. (Eds.). (2013). Humanity’s dark side: Evil, destructive experience, and psychotherapy. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Diamond, S. (1996). Anger, madness, and the daimonic: The psychological genesis of violence, evil, and creativity. Albany: SUNY Press.
Diamond, S. (2013). Anger, madness, and the daimonic: The paradoxical power of rage in violence, evil, and creativity. Kindle edition. Book Nook Biz. http://amazon.com.
Hillman, J. (1996). The soul’s code: In search of character and calling. New York: Random House.
May, R. (1969). Love and will. New York: W. W. Norton & Co..
May, R. (1972). Power and innocence: A search for the sources of violence. New York: W. W. Norton & Co..
May, R. (1982). The problem of evil: An open letter to Carl Rogers. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 22(3), 10–21.
Plato. (2012). The symposium. (B. Jowett, Trans. Public domain). Amazon Digital Services (Kindle edition).
Ratner, J. (2015). Rollo May and the search for being: Implication of May’s thought for contemporary existential-humanistic psychotherapy. Journal of Humanistic Psychology. doi:10.1177/0022167815613880.
Rogers, C. R. (1982). Reply to Rollo May’s letter to Carl Rogers. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 22(4), 85–89.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Ratner, J. (2017). Daimonic (May). In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1461-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1461-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences