Maybe I was reading too much into your question about distinguishing between the psychological and the supernatural.
I understand... I just threw "psychological" coping mechanisms in there on impulse, but in the OP, Xenu just leaves it at coping mechanisms.
It is a subject that interests me a lot, having examined my mind both in meditation and in therapeutic contexts.
There is a lot more going on in our minds than meets the casual glance. We possess great powers, both beneficial and destructive, that work in hidden ways.
Regardless of whether we attribute these to natural or supernatural causes, the question remains why we would acknowledge only the beneficial ones for being exceptional?
We shouldn't. The destructive powers have an important role to play, in my opinion. Sometimes I feel like I have a foot squarely in both in "heaven" and "hell", both abyssal, having no bottom. What I see there depends on how much I am able to take, or perhaps, according to the measure of grace I have received. My measure has it's limits. If I attempt to get ahead of the process, it creates an imbalance. If I become too self-righteous, the shadow will say, not so fast buddy, take a look at this. If I give in to only the view of the darker aspects of the shadow, I would be overwhelmed with despair. It's through the conflict, sort of a conjunction of opposites, that refinement emerges. And I have a long way to go.
I think, perhaps crazily, of the movie "Jacob's Ladder", in which the protagonist was caught between the two worlds, and the quote which was not a quote, very loosely based on Eckhart according to the screen writer, but still quite profound:
Louis: "If you're afraid of dying, and you're holdin' on, you'll see devils tearin' your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freein' you from the world. It all depends on how you look at it."
These darker aspects are presented here as a refiner's fire, taking away the things that are unnecessary, freeing us from our attachments to this world of form and illusion.
None of us are free from suffering, and as John of the Cross points out, especially in the dark night of the spirit, that suffering can become incredibly intense. And yet, the poem which inspired his commentary is without a doubt a love poem. And so, within the context of this suffering, he is able to exclaim, "Oh happy chance!", knowing what the result will be, having passed through it himself.
In certain schools of psychology, acknowledging the "shadow" is essential.
In strictly religious language, which words do we choose? Demonic interventions? Divine interventions with negative consequences?
I've read some Jung, beginning with Man and His Symbols, which was intended to reach a lay audience which would ordinarily not bother with Jung's rather complicated psychological theories. I still regard it as an important work.
But to answer the last question concerning Divine interventions with negative consequences, I can only give my view. Divine intervention will often lead you right into the center of the struggle, to the front lines, so to speak. The "death" experienced there, in its myriad forms, is a necessary part of the journey.
This is how I view my experience in fundamentalism. I always say it was a mixed bag, but I remain thankful for it, even for my fall and subsequent struggles. I view it, paradoxically, as an invaluable experience through which I was divested of many harmful things. Faith is still there, hope is there, nothing really important has been lost.
Perhaps we are over-complicating Xenu's OP. Perspectives were asked for, along with the perplexing question of whether his/her experiences could be separated into divine intervention vs. coping mechanisms. Although I could give no answer due to the subtleties at play, I believed the divine can be more clearly seen in the experiences which alter the course of life from its natural trajectory; ultimately, for the good. Whether the circumstances at play are good or bad, one is forced onto new ground which the person might not have chosen on his or her own. But this is my own perhaps incomplete view, using the poor tools at hand (words), and is of course subject to question.
I hope Xenu will come back at some point and elaborate more on the situation.
