Durga und Trauma / Durga and Trauma (deutsch im Anschluss an den englischen Text) In Indian mythology, the goddess Durga battles the demon Mahishasura. The story is well known. Less familiar is a remarkable detail: the demon repeatedly shifts his shape during the fight. At times he appears as a buffalo. Then as a lion. Then as a warrior. Then as an elephant. Whenever Durga believes she has captured him, he transforms again. For a long time, I viewed this story merely as a mythological fantasy. Today, I wonder if it conceals an astonishingly precise description of psychological processes. Anyone living with trauma recognizes this phenomenon. The original event may have occurred decades ago, yet its effects manifest in ever-changing forms. Sometimes as fear. Then as withdrawal. Then as a need for excessive control. Then as pride. Then as the conviction that one needs no one. Then as the compulsion to understand and explain everything. Then, again, as exhaustion or resignation. The demon ...