This book offers an original conception of trauma and of the working mind that has not been previously presented. It is mostly based on essentials taken from Bion's contributions. All human beings are fatalistically marked by the presence and eventual disappearance of primary part-objects. Many of these 'presence-absences' are temporary events, but others will overcome Freud's ""protective shield"" and become permanent, amounting to an enduring distress or ""pre-conceptual trauma"". Like the Mad Hatter's teatime in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, pre-conceptual traumas become an eternal 'now