So we've all seen plenty of lore explanations attempt to describe these babies.
They look like the doll, they got a head of messengers and eyes and everything. They cause frenzy, which is a status effect that you have lower resistance to as you gain Insight.
Now, I've seen these described as basically causing frenzy because the character can't confront the truth of what he's seeing, which is some kind of eldritch fact about the doll.
But, I think it's actually the opposite. Instead of revealing a hidden truth, the Winter Lanterns APPEAR like they're revealing something. Everything about them SEEMS meaningful, but in fact they are not at all meaningful. That's why they cause madness, because YOU the player are desperately trying to interpret something that has no underlying logic.
In short, I think Miyazaki is using Winter Lanterns specifically to make fun of us.
In long, I think the WHOLE GAME is Miyazaki basically making fun of us for trying to understand his games concretely.
