In the No Jumper Interview, Onfroy freely admits to how desperately dependent he became to his girlfriend, Geneva Ayala, relying on her for his sense of stability and nurturing. XXXTentacion expresses the extremity of this dynamic in his song “SAD!” in which he says of this relationship, “Suicide, if you ever try to let go.”

In the development of a healthy personality, the psyche begins in a complete “unity” with the mother; he is totally dependent as an infant. Gradually the personal mother’s nurturing gives way to the nurturing of the larger environment. Eventually, the child’s ego and identity begins to consolidate and strengthen, so that a sense of their own independent desires and abilities develops. As a teenager, the psychic energy available to the ego — the libido — moves from attachment to mother (psychologically associated with the the familiar environment of the home) to a love-interest and goals in the world. The love relationship and work accomplishments become a vehicle for the development of the personality as separate from the parental or adolescent stage. [23]

However, if from a very young age, as in Onfroy’s case, the child’s nurturing is not only unsatisfactory, but insufficient or unstable, the adolescent ego will depend on the unconscious for all varieties of protective measures which nonetheless leave the individual a neurotic. In Onfroy’s case, as Bolen describes is typical of the Dionysus type, he will project the original need for the nurturing of the mother onto girlfriends. In a severe case, as with Onfroy, the dependency on the other is so complete that he feels sure of death if a separation were to happen. This extreme emotional tendency leads inevitably to one form of abuse or another, by seeking to control the other based on real, or fantasized abandonment. We will return to this more later, but, suffice to say now that the mother, as a personal and archetypal influence, plays a central role in this predicament.

What is important here is that the experience of an unstable nurturing and threatening world, will emphasize the negative aspect of The Great Mother in a man’s psyche, This means that the ego-personality has not overcome the mother complex, and his psyche is more-so familiar with “world” as unsupportive of life, than as worthy of his trust and productive engagement. In fact, a tendency towards chaotic and violent states, caused by early conditioning and familiarity, may be so strong, as is the case with Onfroy, that the fragile ego is easily overcome with a death wish, fantasies of abandonment, rejection, self-hatred and all other sorts of self-immolating, or castrating moods. Outwardly, he may seek out girlfriends and success, but the experience of his childhood will cause him to always unconsciously expect the world to injure him, and he will experience a totality of unworthiness despite any accomplishments. [24] Additionally and unfortunately, his expectation often becomes a reality, as he will tend to self-sabotage and act out of an unconscious tendency to hurt others or himself.

A man with this psychological state will have a mother complex and anima that are fused, or undifferentiated. The “anima” in this context represents an aspect of the total personality which can readily overcome the ego. All men are susceptible to the anima possessed state, of which Edward Edinger explains:

“When a man is anima possessed, a condition that usually comes and goes with moods, he is sensitive and resentful, and his feelings are very easily hurt. I would say that the key word for the anima-possessed man is resentment, a sour, disappointed attitude. Another way of putting it would be that the anima-possessed man is inappropriately soft.” [25]

The anima is responsible for the unconscious patterns which overwhelm the personality with depressed, self-immolating moods. Individual’s who have such anima and mother-complex rooted depressive tendencies have most often “suffered a severe loss of love quite early in their lives,” as was the case with Onfroy. [26]

For an individual with a very strong mother complex issue, a chronic anima-possessed dynamic can mean a feeling of hopelessness and urges towards suicide. Many men, despite not having such wishes, still avoid life in a symbolic sort of “suicide” in which they unconsciously prefer avoiding the pursuit of life and the tough reality of living in any other myriad ways. It can be recognized when an individual is stunted and their development “dies,” or psychoanalytically speaking their masculine ego is “castrated” by the mother. This is the problem of the puer aeternus.

An excuse of one’s “specialness” is often used by a puer aeternus as a way of avoiding the responsibility of, and commitment to truly living. According to Bolen, if man identifies with the Dionysian archetype, “he will often find it difficult to adapt to ordinary life. He will expect special treatment or recognition. Psychologically speaking, he becomes inflated by an overblown and undeserved sense of importance.” [27]



Marie-Louise von Franz explains further:

“The puer aeternus constantly plays with the idea of getting out of life if things get too hard. He is never quite committed to the situation as a whole human being; there is a constant mental reservation: ‘I will go into this, but I reserve my right as a human being to kill myself if I can’t stand it anymore. I shall not go through the whole experience to the bitter end if it becomes too insufferable, for if it does I shall walk out of it. And therefore the person does not become whole. If one cuts off the wholeness of the experience, one cuts oneself into bits and remains split because transformation can only take place if one gives oneself completely to a situation.” [28]

And so we can now see that it is the negative mother complex and undeveloped anima which is at play behind these sorts of reservations — either in a literally dangerous or psychologically limiting manner.

However, there is more to this situation with the anima, of which can be termed the “dark anima,” and a related “borderline anima” which feeds towards one’s destruction. This is the active, dynamic force behind the Dionysian tendency towards untimely death.

iv. The Borderline Anima: Harrowing Events, Violence and Suicide

Naturally, any man with The Lover active in his psyche will have a strong connection to The Great Mother and to the anima. When it is healthy, this provides the gift of creativity and a sensitivity to the inner world of emotions, visions, and to his interpersonal relationships; he may potentially have a sensuous connection to the world and to his romantic partners.

However, Dionysian men who develop a mother complex issue and have a “dark anima” will have a peculiar familiarity with “the underworld” in various manifestations. The “borderline anima” refers to a particular nuance of the general “dark anima.” When the Dionysian man is chronically possessed by his anima, this brings about, “rapture and destruction, passion and coldness, immediacy and distance” in his moods. [29]

An important note: A man with a “borderline anima” may experience these moods himself, or by way of projective ties which attract him to a woman who will bring about these affects through identification and activation of the latent anima.

In Onfroy’s case, it’s certain that he acted out of his own inherent borderline anima and was, from what evidence is available, likely given to attracting women who could also bring about such intensity.

This natural proclivity of the Dionysian man is to follow his moods into the “borderline” dimension, leaning into the psychotic; this is what makes him so attractive to the pagan experience of a contemporary music concert. Jean Shinoda Bolen explains:

“Dionysus was known as the god who was mad and the god who drove his follower insane. Something Dionysian can happen at rock concert, especially when the star suddenly appears on stage, and the audience goes mad. There is the frenzy, the drugs, the dancing, and on faces in the audience, expressions of ecstasy and rapture. When Dionysus the god appeared to his followers, pandemonium broke out, followed by a numbed silence of sorrowful melancholy after he just as suddenly disappeared. This arc, from ecstatic heights and communion with the god to melancholy, describes a psychological process of intense inflations allowed by a benumbed depression, or a period of hallucinations and delusion behavior followed by shocked horror and guilt.” [30]

An experience that audiences watch and experience momentarily is something that the Dionysian man and his close relations must live with regularly.

Jahseh Onfroy details his relationship with Geneva Ayala in his No Jumper Interview: “In the beginning it was perfect; she was everything. I did a blood bond with her a couple of months into dating. My ex saved my life. She stayed with me as long as I was insane, and saved me. I got insecure. It breaded a madness in my head. I loved her so much; I wouldn’t let her leave me alone. So, I ruined it.” [31]

Onfroy first experienced a fusing with his girlfriend, which is why the union was experienced as “perfect,” and why he felt the urge to blood bond with her. She could save his life; she could be the ultimate protector — a mother and lover for him.

But, extensive details of their destructive downfall reveals that, while temporarily being held in prison, Ayala slept with another man, then lied about it. Allegedly, this caused Onfroy to beat her so badly that she left him and pressed charges. Also, her injuries were so desperate that Ayala eventually reached a goal on GoFundMe.com, to raise $25,000 for orbital surgery. [32]

A roommate of both Onfroy and Ayala prior to the fame, detailed her firsthand experience of abuse. This roommate also recorded what Pitchfork.com called a “Confession Tape.” [33] The slang used in this video makes it unclear as to what precisely is the content of the admission, but it is clear that he was capable of violence.