Demonology

Demonology is the systematic study of demons or beliefs about demons.^[1] It is the branch of theology relating to supernatural beings who are not gods.^[2] It deals both with benevolent beings that have no circle of worshippers or so limited a circle as to be below the rank of gods, and with malevolent beings of all kinds. The practitioner of demonology as a profession is called demonologist.

The original sense of "demon", from the time of Homer onward, was a benevolent being,^[3] but in English the name now holds connotations of malevolence. (In order to keep the distinction, when referring to the word in its original Greek meaning English uses the spelling "Daemon" or "Daimon".)

Demons, when regarded as spirits, may belong to either of the classes of spirits recognized by primitive animism;^[4] that is to say, they may be human, or non-human, separable souls, or discarnate spirits which have never inhabited a body. A sharp distinction is often drawn between these two classes, notably by the Melanesians, several African groups, and others; the Arab jinn, for example, are not reducible to modified human souls; at the same time these classes are frequently conceived as producing identical results, e.g. diseases.^[2][3]

The word demonology is from Greek δαίμων, daimōn, "divinity, divine power, god";^[5] and -λογία, -logia.

Prevalence of demons

"Nightmare", 1800, by Nikolaj Abraham Abildgaard

According to some societies, all the affairs of life are supposed to be under the control of spirits, each ruling a certain "element" or even object, and themselves in subjection to a greater spirit.^[6] For example, the Inuit are said to believe in spirits of the sea, earth and sky, the winds, the clouds and everything in nature. Every cove of the seashore, every point, every island and prominent rock has its guardian spirit. All are potentially of the malignant type, to be propitiated by an appeal to knowledge of the supernatural.^[7] Traditional Korean belief posits countless demons inhabit the natural world; they fill household objects and are present in all locations. By the thousands they accompany travelers, seeking them out from their places in the elements.^[8]

In ancient Babylon, demonology had an influence on even the most mundane elements of life, from petty annoyances to the emotions of love and hatred. The numerous demonic spirits were given charge over various parts of the human body, one for the head, one for the neck, and so on.

Greek philosophers such as Porphyry, who claimed influence from Platonism,^[9] and the fathers of the Christian Church, held that the world was pervaded with spirits,^[8] the latter of whom advanced the belief that demons received the worship directed at pagan gods.^[10]

Many religions and cultures believe, or once believed, that what is now known as soothsaying, was, or is, a form of physical contact with demons.

Character of the spiritual world

The ascription of malevolence to the world of spirits is by no means universal. In Central Africa, the Mpongwe believe in local spirits, just as do the Inuit; but they are regarded as inoffensive in the main. Passers-by must make some trifling offering as they near the spirits' place of abode; but it is only occasionally mischievous acts, such as the throwing down of a tree on a passer-by, are, in the view of the natives, perpetuated by the class of spirits known as Ombuiri.^[11] So too, many of the spirits especially concerned with the operations of nature are conceived as neutral or even benevolent; the European peasant fears the corn-spirit only when he irritates him by trenching on his domain and taking his property by cutting the corn;^[12] similarly, there is no reason why the more insignificant personages of the pantheon should be conceived as malevolent, and we find that the Petara of the Dyaks are far from indiscriminating and malignant, being viewed as invisible guardians of mankind.^[13]

Types

Under the heading of demons are classified only such spirits as are believed to enter into relations with the human race; the term therefore includes:

1. angels in the Judeo-Christian tradition that fell from grace,^[3]
2. human souls regarded as genii or familiars,^[14]
3. such as receive a cult (e.g., ancestor worship),^[3]
4. ghosts or other malevolent revenants.^[15]

Excluded are souls conceived as inhabiting another world. Yet just as gods are not necessarily spiritual, demons may also be regarded as corporeal; vampires for example are sometimes described as human heads with appended entrails, which issue from the tomb to attack the living during the night watches. The so-called Spectre Huntsman of the Malay Peninsula is said to be a man who scours the firmament with his dogs, vainly seeking for what he could not find on Earth -a buck mouse-deer pregnant with male offspring; but he seems to be a living man; there is no statement that he ever died, nor yet that he is a spirit. The incubi and Succubi of the Middle Ages are sometimes regarded as spiritual beings; but they were held to give proof of their bodily existence, such as offspring (though often deformed).^[16] Belief in demons goes back many millennia. The Zoroastrian faith teaches that there are 3,333 Demons, some with specific dark responsibilities such as war, starvation, sickness, etc.

Ancient Near East

In Babylonian mythology, the seven evil deities were known as shedu, or "storm-demons". They were represented in winged bull form, derived from the colossal bulls used as protective genii of royal palaces, the name "shed" assumed also the meaning of a propitious genius in Babylonian magic literature.^[17] It was from Chaldea that the name "shedu" came to the Israelites, and so the writers of the Tanach applied the word Shedim to certain Canaanite deities. They also spoke of "the destroyer" (Exodus xii. 23) as a Lord who will "strike down the Egyptians." In II Samuel xxiv; 16 and II Chronicles xxi. 15 the pestilence-dealing angel, that is spirit, called "the destroying angel" (compare "the angel of the Lord" in II Kings xix. 35; Isaiah xxxvii. 36).

Buddhism

Traditionally, Buddhism affirms the existence of hells^[18] peopled by demons who torment sinners and tempt mortals to sin, or who seek to thwart their enlightenment, with a demon named Mara as chief tempter, "prince of darkness," or "Evil One" in Sanskrit sources.^[19][20]

The followers of Mara were also called mara, the devils, and are frequently cited as a cause of disease or representations of mental obstructions.^[20] The mara became fully assimilated into the Chinese worldview, and were called mo.

The idea of the imminent decline and collapse of the Buddhist religion amid a "great cacophony of demonic influences" was already a significant component of Buddhism when it reached China in the first century A.D., according to Michel Strickmann.^[20] Demonic forces had attained enormous power in the world. For some writers of the time this state of affairs had been ordained to serve the higher purpose of effecting a "preliminary cleansing" that would purge and purify humanity in preparation for an ultimate, messianic renewal.^[20]

Medieval Chinese Buddhist demonology was heavily influenced by Indian Buddhism. Indian demonology is also fully and systematically described in written sources, though during Buddhism's millennium of direct influence in China, "Chinese demonology was whipped into respectable shape," with a number of Indian demons finding permanent niches even in Taoist ritual texts.^[20]

Also, Śūraṅgama Sūtra, a major Mahayana Buddhism text, describes fifty demonic states: the so-called fifty skandha maras, which are "negative" mirror-like reflections of or deviations from correct samādhi (meditative absorption) states. In this context demons are considered by Buddhists to be beings possessing some supernatural powers, who, in the past, might have practiced Dharma, Buddha's teaching, but due to practicing it incorrectly failed to develop Prajñā (Buddhism), true wisdom and Karuṇā, true compassion, which are inseparable attributes of an enlightened being such as a Buddha or a Bodhisattva. In his autobiography, The Blazing Splendor, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, a prominent Tibetan Buddhist master of the 20th century describes encounters with such beings. Therefore, depending on the context, in Buddhism demons may refer to both disturbed mind states and actual beings.

Christianity

Christian demonology is the study of demons from a Christian point of view. It is primarily based on the Bible (Old Testament and New Testament), the exegesis of these scriptures, the writings of early Christian philosophers and hermits, tradition, and legends incorporated from other beliefs.

A number of authors throughout Christian history have written about demons for a variety of purposes. Theologians like Thomas Aquinas wrote concerning the behaviors of which Christians should be aware,^[21] while witchhunters like Heinrich Kramer wrote about how to find and what to do with people they believed were involved with demons.^[22] Some texts such as the Lesser Key of Solomon^[23] or The Grimoire of Pope Honorius (although these the earliest manuscripts were from well after these individuals had died) are written with instructions on how to summon demons in the name of God and often were claimed to have been written by individuals respected within the Church.^[24] These latter texts were usually more detailed, giving names, ranks, and descriptions of demons individually and categorically.^[25] Most Christians commonly reject these texts as either diabolical or fictitious.^[25]

In modern times, some demonological texts have been written by Christians, usually in a similar vein of Thomas Aquinas, explaining their effects in the world and how faith may lessen or eliminate damage by them.^[26] A few Christian authors, such as Jack Chick and John Todd, write with intentions similar to Kramer, proclaiming that demons and their human agents are active in the world.^[27] These claims can stray from mainstream ideology, and may include such beliefs as that Christian rock is a means through which demons influence people.

Not all Christians believe that demons exist in the literal sense. There is the view that the language of exorcism in the New Testament is an example of what was once employed to describe the healings of what would be classified in modern days as epilepsy, mental illness etc.^[28]

Hinduism

Vedic Scriptures include a range of spirits (Vetalas, Rakshasas, Bhutas and Pishachas) that might be classified as demons. These spirits are souls of beings that have committed certain specific sins. As a purging punishment, they are condemned to roam without a physical form for a length of time, until a rebirth. Beings that died with unfulfilled desires or anger are also said to "linger" until such issues are resolved. Hindu text Atharvaveda gives an account of nature and habitats of such spirits including how to persuade/control them. There are occult traditions in Hinduism that seeks to control such spirits to do their bidding. Hindu text Garuda Purana details other kinds of punishments and judgments given out in Hell; this also given an account of how the spirit travels to neither worlds.

Islam

Zawba‘a, the demon king of Friday, depicted with other demons in the Book of Wonders, a 14th/ 15th century Arabic manuscript

In Islam, the Devil, called Iblis or Shaytan, was a jinn.^[29] The jinn, though, are not necessarily evil. Since the jinn and humans are the only kinds of creation who have the will to choose, the followers of Iblis could be jinn or human. The angels, on the other hand, are sinless and only obey the will of God.^[30] In the Quran, when God ordered those witnessing the creation of man to prostrate before Adam, Iblis refused to do so and was therefore damned for refusal to obey God's Will.^[31]

Judaism

Some scholars suggest the origins of early Jewish demonology can be traced to two distinctive and often competing mythologies of evil — Adamic and Enochic, one of which was tied to the fall of man caused by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and the other to the fall of angels in the antediluvian period.^[32] Thus, the Adamic story traces the source of evil to Satan’s transgression and the fall of man, a trend reflected in the Books of Adam and Eve which explains the reason for Satan’s demotion by his refusal to obey God’s command to venerate newly created Adam. In contrast, the early Enochic tradition bases its understanding of the origin of demons on the story of the fallen Watchers led by Azazel. Scholars believe these two enigmatic figures - Azazel and Satan exercised formative influence on early Jewish demonology. While in the beginning of their conceptual journeys Azazel and Satan are posited as representatives of two distinctive and often rival trends tied to the distinctive etiologies of corruption, in later Jewish and Christian demonological lore both antagonists are able to enter each other’s respective stories in new conceptual capacities. In these later traditions Satanael is often depicted as the leader of the fallen angels while his conceptual rival Azazel is portrayed as a seducer of Adam and Eve.^[33] While historical Judaism never "officially" recognized a rigid set of doctrines about demons,^[34] many scholars believe its post-exilic concepts of eschatology, angelology, and demonology were influenced by Zoroastrianism.^[35][36] Some, however, believe these concepts were received as part of the Kabbalistic tradition.^[37]

While many people believe today Lucifer and Satan are different names for the same being, not all scholars subscribe to this view.^[38] Use of the name "Lucifer" for the devil stems from a particular interpretation of Isaiah 14:3–20, a passage which does not speak of any fallen angel but of the defeat of a particular Babylonian King, to whom it gives a title which refers to what in English is called the Day Star or Morning Star (in Latin, lucifer, meaning "light-bearer", from the words lucem ferre). In 2 Peter 1:19 and elsewhere, the same Latin word lucifer is used to refer to the Morning Star, with no relation to the devil. It is only in post-New Testament times when the Latin word Lucifer was used as a name for the devil, both in religious writing and in fiction, especially when referring to him prior to his fall from Heaven.

There is more than one instance where demons are said to have come to be, as seen by the sins of the Watchers and the Grigori angels, of Lilith leaving Adam, of demons such as vampires, impure spirits in Jewish folklore such as the dybbuk, and of wicked humans that have become demons as well.^[39][40]

Satanism

Satanism is a name for a diverse group of religions which regard demons in general and Satan in particular as positive entities, either as real entities to be worshiped (Theistic Satanism), or using Satan and other demons as symbols (LaVeyan Satanism).

Zoroastrianism

In the Zoroastrian tradition, Ahura Mazda, as the force of good Spenta Mainyu, will eventually be victorious in a cosmic battle with an evil force known as Angra Mainyu or Ahriman.^[41]

See also

References

Bibliography

• Bamberger, Bernard Jacob, (15 March 2006). Fallen Angels: Soldiers of Satan's Realm. Jewish Publication Society of America. ISBN 0-8276-0797-0
• Rémy, Nicholas (1974). Demonolatry. University Books. 

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Demonology". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

External links

• Religious Demonology: Demonology from a Roman Catholic perspective, written by a member of the International Association of Exorcists.
• Demonology by James I: plain text version of King James' important work on Demonology.