REVOGAR - Rotten Crown

CORUJA e seu significado.

A Coruja é um animal que simboliza a sabedoria, a inteligência, o mistério, o misticismo. Por outro lado, essa ave de rapina noturna, pode simbolizar mau augúrio, azar, escuridão espiritual, morte, trevas e bruxaria.

Simbologia e Significado da Coruja

Por ser uma ave de rapina noturna, que possui garras e enxerga na escuridão, a coruja pode simbolizar a lua, o misticismo, o bom augúrio; todavia, simbologias atribuídas a este animal variam bastante de cultura para cultura, sendo que muitas delas associam essa ave ao simbolismo espiritual. Para os aborígenes australianos a coruja representa a alma das mulheres.

Por outro lado, muitas crenças associam a coruja com a morte, o desastre, o azar, que por meio de grito ruidoso e olhar penetrante, elas avisam que algo de ruim acontecerá. Não obstante, nalgumas culturas antigas a coruja representava o governante da noite, guardião do submundo e protetor dos mortos.

Assim, para os astecas, povo pré colombiano que vivia na Península de Yucatán, a coruja simbolizava o "Deus dos Infernos". Sem espanto, algumas culturas creem que as corujas são animais que vêm à terra para comerem as almas dos moribundos. Na Europa, durante a época medieval corujas eram consideradas bruxas disfarçadas. Ainda hoje, a coruja é a divindade da morte e guardiã dos cemitérios.

Na Mitologia Grega, o símbolo de Atena, a deusa da sabedoria e da justiça, era uma coruja uma vez que ela possuía um mascote que, segundo a lenda, lhe revelava os segredos da noite mediante seu poder de clarividência, inspirados pela lua. Atenas corresponde a deusa Romana Minerva, deusa das artes e da sabedoria, que também era representada por uma coruja. Assim, devido à sua capacidade de ver à noite, a coruja foi invocada pelos gregos e também por nativos americanos como um oráculo do conhecimento oculto com poder de clarividência. Em outras palavras, quando os homens dormem, as corujas com seus olhos luminosos, arregalados e, sobretudo, sua visão de longo alcance, inspirada pelo luar, desvendam mistérios pois "enxergam o todo".

Além disso, na mitologia Grega, a coruja representa a figura de Ascáfalo (quando é metamorfoseado), filho de Aqueronte e da Ninfa Orfne e Guarda de Plutão, o Deus dos Mortos. Importante ressaltar que do grego, o termo "coruja" (Gláuks) significa "brilhante, cintilante", enquanto no latim (Noctua) representa a "Ave da noite".

Uma das divindades hindus chamada "Lakshmi", a deusa da prosperidade e da sabedoria, também é representada por uma coruja, nesse caso, branca.

PENTAGRAMA

O pentagrama é o símbolo da união e da síntese, na medida em que o número dos dedos de uma extremidade corresponde ao número dos nossos sentidos.

O pentagrama tem sido associado, desde muito tempo, ao mistério e à magia. Esse símbolo é, sem dúvida, o mais reconhecido por todos os seguidores do paganismo sendo tão antigo que sua origem é desconhecida. No geral, o pentagrama tem sido utilizado em todas as épocas como talismã.

Dessa maneira, na antiga Mesopotâmia, esse símbolo representava o poder imperial; já para os Pitagóricos, simbolizava a saúde e o conhecimento. Entre os egípcios, o pentagrama possuía relação com as pirâmides, uma vez que representava o útero da Terra.

Na cultura dos Hebreus, o pentagrama representava a verdade e os cinco livros “Pentateuco” (cinco rolos), que tem para os Judeus o nome de Torá: a "lei escrita" revelada por Deus. Não obstante, na Idade Média, esse símbolo representava era o a verdade e a proteção contra os demônios ou maus espíritos. Note que, para os medievais adeptos do cristianismo, o pentagrama era atribuído aos cinco estigmas de Cristo. Por fim, para os Druidas, simbolizava o divino, mais precisamente, a cabeça de Deus; para os Celtas, representava a divindade Morrigham, deusa do Amor e a da Guerra.

Na numerologia, o pentagrama corresponde à soma dos elementos: dois (feminino) e três (masculino). Nesse ínterim, para as correntes esotéricas, o pentagrama é formado por cinco extremidades cercadas por um círculo que representam os cinco elementos: a terra, o ar, o fogo, a água e o espírito.

Para os chineses, o pentagrama representa o ciclo da destruição, a base filosófica da medicina tradicional chinesa. Nesse caso, cada extremidade do pentagrama simboliza um elemento: Terra, Água, Fogo, Madeira e Metal. Cada elemento é gerado pelo outro, por exemplo, a Madeira é gerada pela Terra, o que dará origem a um ciclo de criação. Assim, para que haja o equilíbrio, faz-se necessário a presença de um elemento inibidor, que nesse caso, torna-se seu oposto, ou seja, a Água que inibe o fogo.

Ademais, o Pentagrama aparece na pintura de Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), o “Homem de Vitruvio”, que surge dentre de um círculo, demostrando, dessa maneira, o ciclo de todas as coisas. Note que, quando o pentagrama é desenhado dentro de um círculo, sua função é unir todos os aspectos do homem.

Por fim, o pentagrama também pode simbolizar o Microcosmo, na medida em que representa o símbolo do "Homem de Pitágoras", figurado de braços e pernas abertas, ou seja, disposto em cinco partes em forma de cruz (O Homem Individual). A mesma representação simboliza também o Macrocosmo, o Homem Universal, um símbolo de ordem e perfeição, a Verdade Divina.

O Pentagrama Invertido, há muito tempo esteve associado ao mistério e à magia. Note que esse símbolo foi utilizado por Satanistas Medievais em suas cerimônias que pregavam, o inverso do Cristianismo e, além disso, uma rebelião contra seus dogmas. Por isso, esse pentagrama foi considerado um símbolo mágico, oposto ao símbolo religioso.

Assim, no século XIX o mago Eliphas Levi foi quem, oficialmente, caracterizou o pentagrama invertido como um símbolo do "mal" uma vez que a extremidade inferior, estaria apontando para o inferno. Nesse sentido, vale destacar que o pentagrama invertido, frequentemente, aparece com a imagem de Baphomet (cabeça de bode), símbolo "oficial" do satanismo.

O "Ritual do Pentagrama Invertido" ou RPI precede e encerra toda espécie de ritual praticada pelo satanista, salvo ocasiões em que o próprio ritual não aconselhe este procedimento. Isso ocorre porque, em primeiro lugar, esse ritual serve para revitalizar as forças psíquicas do praticante, colocando-o em uma postura mental adequada e preparando-o para o ritual propriamente dito. Dessa maneira, é como se os pentagramas abrissem os portais do Inferno, para onde o satanista se projeta com a intenção de realizar a sua magia. Assim, esse ritual é dividido em cinco etapas, a saber:

O Estabelecimento da Árvore da Vida;

A Invocação/Banimento com os Príncipes Coroados do Inferno;

Conjuração dos Quatro Demônios Dirigentes;

Invocação a Satã;

Encerramento.

Demônios chicoteiam pecadores no inferno.

O inferno 

Morada submundo das almas dos mortos. Em

Cristianismo, o inferno é o oposto do céu e é a

local a governado pelo Diabo, onde os demônios atormentar os pecadores

para a eternidade. O inferno é a completa ausência de Deus, luz,

e amor; um lugar de fogo insuportável e horríveis torturas.

Inferno leva o nome de HEL, a deusa nórdica da

submundo. A maioria dos conceitos de vida após a morte segregar o

bem do mal, enviando-os para separar moradas.

Egípcio

Amenti (também Amentet) é o submundo no Osiris

culto do mito egípcio e religião. Amenti, o que significa

"Terra escondida", está localizado onde o Sol se põe no oeste.

Depois de chegar no Amenti, a alma é tomada pela jackalheaded

deus da morte, Anubis, com uma sala de julgamento. Anubis

pesa o coração da alma contra a pena da verdade e

luz, ea alma é julgada por 42 juízes. Almas dignas

ir para os campos de Aalu (também Aaru), que são alcançadas

passando através de 15 ou 21 portões guardados pelo mal

demônios armados com facas longas. Os Elysium-como campos

foram cultivadas para a alimentação para os mortos. Almas que não julgamento

e pesando são comidos por um monstro chamado Ammit

(Ammut) e enviado para um lugar de tormento.

Grego

O submundo grego de Hades é um reino de sombras.

As almas dos mortos são tons incolores que vagueiam

sobre em um mundo sombrio deprimente. Conforme

Homer, eles não têm sangue ou ossos, o Twitter como morcegos, e

buscar as forças vitais vitalizadoras de sacrificar animais em rituais de necromancia. 

No pensamento grego posterior, os bons são

recompensados ​​e os maus são castigados.

Os mortos alcançar a vida após a morte, atravessando o rio Aqueronte,

o rio de tristeza, em um barco impulsionado pelo barqueiro

Charon. Ele deve ser pago para a passagem, geralmente sob a forma

de uma moeda colocada debaixo da língua do falecido. Depois

passando pelo guardião, o cão de três cabeças Cerberus,

os mortos se para o lugar de julgamento.

Hades é dividido em Campos Elísios, um paraíso para

o bom, e Tártaro, um inferno para os ímpios. Tem

muitos rios. Além do Acheron, principais são o Cocito

(Lamentação), Phlegethon (fogo), Lete (esquecimento),

e Styx (ódio), a última das quais divide o superior

e mundos inferiores.

Três juízes do submundo, Minos, Radamanto,

e Aeacus, pesar almas em um lugar onde três

estradas se encontram. O abençoado são enviados para os Campos Elísios, o

ímpios são enviados para o Tártaro, e aqueles que não são nem são

enviado para os campos de Asphodel.

Os ímpios são infelizes e sofrer, mas não no

mão dos demônios.

Os primeiros cristãos usaram os Hades prazo para traduzir a

Termo hebraico Seol, a terra dos mortos.

Zoroastrismo.

Em zoroastrismo, o inferno é criado na terra média por

Ahriman, o cação personifi de mal supremo. Em sua batalha

contra Ohrmazd, o deus bom, Ahriman ataca o

terra, rasgando o céu, criando noite. Ele

hurtles em direção à terra e furos diretamente por ele,

fazendo um túnel. Este buraco torna-se inferno, infestado com

demônios. Almas condenadas são enviados aqui para sofrer extremos

de calor e de frio, odores repugnantes, comida podre, e

os tormentos de demônios, que roer, andorinha, e Pierce

os condenados com lanças. A extensão da punição é

adequado para os crimes e pecados das almas. Almas que estão

nem totalmente bons nem totalmente maus ir a um purgatorio, 

Hamegstan, um reino sombrio e opressivo

com extremos de calor e frio. Sendo enviado para o inferno não é

permanente, no entanto. No último julgamento, todo pecado é

purgado.

Após a morte, a alma passa três dias sentado no

cabeça de seu corpo orando por seu futuro. Em seguida, deve passar

um rio inchado com as lágrimas de choro entes queridos. Se for muito

muitas lágrimas foram derramadas, o rio não pode ser atravessada.

A alma é ajudada por seu anjo da guarda. Se o rio é

cruzou, a alma, em seguida, chega à Ponte Chinvat, ou

"Ponte do Requiter," para atender a três anjos do julgamento:

Mitra, Srosh, e Rashnu. As obras da alma

são pesados. Dependendo do ajuste de contas bem ou mal,

a ponte é ampla e fácil de atravessar, ou afiada e estreito,

fazendo com que o ímpio, para cair no inferno.

Um texto, O Livro de Arda Viraf, descreve o inferno em

detalhe como um sombrio, fedorento, Ery fi, e morada deprimente.

Há quatro colinas signifi cativas: Dush-humat, o lugar de

maus pensamentos; Dush-hukht, o lugar das palavras mal; Dushhuvarsht,

o lugar de maldades; e Chakat-i-Daitih,

um deserto e escuro poço fedorento cheio de demônios abaixo da

Chinvat Bridge. O poço mais profundo é Drûgâskan, um lugar tão

escuro que o sentido da visão é perdida.

Punições fi t a natureza dos pecados; 85 são descritas

em O Livro do Arda Viraf a partir do século VI. 85 de seus 101 capítulos preocupação inferno. O visionário é

Arda Viraf, que viaja para o céu e o inferno com dois

Guias: Srosh o piedoso e Ataro, um anjo. Além de testemunhar

paisagens e torturas do inferno, Arda Viraf vê

Angra Mainyu, o destruidor mundo mortal conhecida mais tarde

como Ahriman.

Ao contrário do inferno cristão para vir, demônios não fazer

forçar os castigos sobre os condenados; em vez disso, o

maldito provocado as punições em si mesmos, enquanto

demônios olhar. A punição mais comum é comer

coisas fétidos e pútridos por milhares de anos até

a ressurreição final. Outras punições incluem a

comer de seus próprios corpos, carne, e excremento, menstrual

fluidos e sêmen, sangue e cérebro de crânios de

os mortos, e seus próprios filhos. Torturas também incluem

pendurado (particularmente upside-down), desmembramento,

decapitação, laceração, mutilação e auto-mutilação

cortando, roendo, devorando, rangendo, piercing,

surra, lacrimejamento, pisoteando, picadas, e arrastando. O

ímpios são esfaqueado e apedrejado e esticado em prateleiras;

eles são forçados a suportar enormes cargas e executar

tarefas dolorosas e infrutíferas; são queimados e cozidos em

fornos, caldeirões e frigideiras; são lançados para dentro

calor, frio, fumo, neve e mau cheiro. Eles suportar a fome

e sede, e eles são forçados a lamber coisas quentes ou

para defecar e se masturbar continuamente; elas são submergidas

na lama e se transformou em serpentes. Seus olhos

são arrancados e as suas línguas puxado para fora; substâncias pútridas

são forçados em seus narizes, olhos e bocas.

Seus pênis são roído e seus seios são rangeram

e cortado.

Fogo está presente no inferno de Zoroastro, mas não é um instrumento

da tortura; em vez disso, implementos e objetos quentes

e metal fundido são usadas contra os condenados.

Judaísmo

Sheol (lugar dos mortos) é um lugar sombrio sob a

terra onde as almas continuam a sua existência na vida após a morte.

O termo grego equivalente para o hebraico Seol é Hades,

mas como um lugar após a morte, não como um lugar de castigo.

Daniel 12: 2, que diz respeito a vinda do messiânica

reino, expressa a convicção de que Deus não vai

abandonar as almas no inferno: "E muitos dos que dormem no

o pó da terra ressuscitarão, uns para a vida eterna,

e outros para vergonha e desprezo. "

Todas as almas vão inicialmente ao Seol (com exceção de um

alguns justos a quem Deus leva direto para o céu).

Em 3 Enoque, dois anjos da destruição escoltar "intermediário"

Souls (aquelas igualmente bons e maus) e perversas almas

ao Seol. As almas intermediárias são purificadas no fogo, a fim

para comparecerem na presença de Deus. Eles têm espiritual

formas que são rostos humanos com órgãos da águia. As faces

são verdes por causa da mancha de seu pecado e continuará a ser

assim até que eles são purifi ed.

As almas perversas, cujos rostos são tão negros como os fundos

de panelas por causa de seus pecados, são tomadas por um anjo para

Geena (inferno) para a punição. Geena ou Gehinnom

(Vale de Hinom) está associado com o vale literal

de Hinom sul de Jerusalém, onde ces sacrifi humanos

foram feitas para Moloch. Contas diferentes existem a respeito

a criação do inferno: ele foi criado por Deus em

no segundo dia, ou que existia antes do mundo e sua re fi

foi criada no segundo dia. Ela existe quer acima do

rmament fi, atrás das montanhas escuras, ou no fundo do

terra. Sua fogo é 60 vezes mais quente do que qualquer fogo na Terra

e nunca se extingue. Ele cheira a enxofre. Pecadores ir

imediatamente à Geena, onde são punidos em terrível

dor por toda a eternidade.

Cristandade

No cristianismo ortodoxo, o inferno tem quatro níveis. O primeiro

dois são regiões limbo por almas pré-cristãos, agora desocupados,

e para as almas das crianças não batizadas. O

terceiro é o purgatório, onde a maioria dos mortais ir antes da admissão

ao céu. A duração da sua estada depende

a gravidade de seus pecados. O quarto é o próprio inferno, reservado

para a punição eterna dos condenados, que não têm esperança

da redenção.

O inferno existe nas entranhas da terra. Terremotos são

produzido pelas convulsões dos condenados, de acordo com

crença ortodoxa.

Há três portões para o inferno: na terra habitada,

no deserto, e no fundo do mar. No

Idade Média, cavernas foram considerados os pontos de entrada

para o inferno.

O inferno é caracterizado por extremos de temperatura.

Há fornos insuportáveis ​​e campo e chamas, e

frio extremo, gelo, e frigidez. Os condenados são punidos

de acordo com os seus pecados, e de forma semelhante às descrições

do inferno Zoroastrian. Seus corpos são torturados

e dilacerado por demônios; eles são submetidos a

piercings e pendurado em posturas agonizantes, como por

suas línguas ou seios. Eles têm os seus órgãos e fl esh

devorado; eles comem excrementos e fi lth. Eles têm a sua

genitais e seios mutilados. Worms rastejar dentro e fora

de seus olhos.

Islam.

Jahannam é o inferno islâmico, o destino não só de

criminosos, mas dels infi e aqueles que não acreditam em

Deus. O maldito são forçados a comer a fruta amarga a partir de um

árvore chamada Zaqqum e suportar uma série de outras torturas.

O Alcorão enfatiza os tormentos do inferno para rebelde

Muçulmanos. Os culpados são "presos com correntes, as suas vestes

campo, e os rostos cobertos com chamas "(sura

14: 49-50). Para aqueles que se opõem a mensagem de Deus, "Inferno

se estenderá por trás deles, e água pútrida beberá:

ele vai saborear, mas dificilmente engolir. A morte assaltam

de todos os lados, mas ele não morrerá. Tormento angustiante

espera por ele "(sura 14: 16-17), e" Vestuário de fogo têm

foi preparado para os incrédulos. Água fervente deve

será derramada sobre suas cabeças, fundindo suas peles e que

que está em suas barrigas. Eles devem ser fixados com varas de

ferro "(sura 22: 19-20).

Visitas ao Inferno

Numerosas figuras religiosas e visionários visitaram

um ou ambos os lados da vida após a morte. Zaratustra (Zoroastro)

foi dito ter feito viagens de meia-noite para o céu ea

inferno, como fez Moisés. Há uma tradição de que Jesus foi para

inferno por três dias entre sua crucificação e ascensão

para o céu. A Bíblia não faz clara referência a ele, mas a

declaração de que Jesus foi para o inferno está no Credo dos Apóstolos.

1 Pedro 3:19 diz que Jesus foi pregar aos "espíritos

na prisão ", uma referência interpretado no sentido de inferno.

Emanuel Swedenborg teve numerosos fora-do-corpo

visitas a vida após a morte, e ST. JOÃO BOSCO visitou o inferno em

sonhos lúcidos vívidos.

GAAP 33rd of the 72 SPIRITS OF SOLOMON.

Gaap (Goap, Tap) 

FALLEN ANGEL and 33rd of the 72

SPIRITS OF SOLOMON. Once a member of the angelic order

of powers, Gaap is a president and mighty prince in

HELL, ruling 66 LEGIONs of DEMONs. He appears when the

Sun is in the southern signs, as a human with huge bat’s

wings and preceded by four powerful kings. Gaap teaches

liberal sciences and philosophy; excites love and hatred;

makes men insensible; gives true answers about the past,

present, and future; and takes FAMILIARs away from magicians.

Upon command, he will move people quickly from

place to place. Gaap gives instruction in the consecration

of things that belong to the divination of his master,

AMAYMON.

GAAP.

Gadreel (Gadriel) 

In 1 Enoch, a FALLEN ANGEL. Gadreel

means “God is my helper.” Gadreel leads Eve astray and

teaches men how to make the weapons of war.

galli In Sumerian lore, a group of seven DEMONs who

live in Kur, the underworld.

The galli attend Ereshkigal, the sister of Inanna and the

goddess of death and gloom. Ereshkigal sits naked on a

throne of lapis lazuli in her palace, which is surrounded by

seven walls. Anyone, either mortal or god, who enters Kur

is doomed to stay. The galli, however, are free to come and

go. When they go to the world of the living, they terrorize

people and kidnap them to Kur. Galli can exist in favorable

form. They do not eat or drink or sexually molest people as

many other demons do. However, they despise children.

According to lore, Ereshkigal imprisoned Inanna in the

underworld. She escaped, but the galli tracked her down

and threatened to take her back unless she found a good

substitute. Inanna discovered that her lover, Dumuzi, was

not sad at her death but was celebrating it. In a rage, she

killed him with a look and gave him over to the galli to

take her place in Kur. The galli fell upon Dumuzi, tore up

his face, and slashed him with an ax. Dumuzi takes the

place of Inanna in Kur for six months of the year. During

that time, it is winter.

GALLI.

Gamaliel ANGEL and DEMON. Gamaliel means “recompense

of God.”

In the Nag Hammadi and other Gnostic literature, Gamaliel

is a great aeon, or angellike demigod, whose name

is mentioned frequently for graciousness and protection.

With ABRAXAS and Sablo, Gamaliel takes the elect into

heaven. The occultist Eliphas Levi saw Gamaliel as an

evil adversary of the cherubim angelic order, a demon

who serves under LILITH.

Gamigin (Gamygyn) 

FALLEN ANGEL and fourth of the

72 SPIRITS OF SOLOMON. In HELL, Gamigin is a duke with

30 LEGIONs of DEMONs. He appears in the form of a small

horse or ass and then changes into a human. His voice is

hoarse. Gamigin teaches liberal sciences and delivers

news about people who have died in sin. He can summon

the souls of drowned men and those who are in purgatory.

These souls appear as aerial bodies before the magician

and give answers to questions.

Garadiel DEMON and wandering duke of the air, who

never stays in one place. Garadiel has 18,150 servants, but

no dukes or princes beneath him. The number of his attendants

varies according to the hours of the day or night. All

are good-natured and willing to obey commands.

Gaufridi, Louis See AIX-EN-PROVENCE POSSESSIONS;

BAPTISM; PACT.

Gediel DEMON among the 31 AERIAL SPIRITS OF SOLOMON.

Gediel is the second in command under CASPIEL

and has 20 servants during the day and 20 during the

night. Each duke has 20 servants. All are courteous and

willing to obey the commands of an EXORCIST or magician.

Eight principal dukes of the day under Gediel are

Coliel, Naras, Sabas, Assaba, Sariel, Panciel, Mashel, and

Bariet. Major dukes of the night are Reciel, Sadiel, Agra,

Anael, Aroan, Cirecas, Aglas, and Vriel.

Gemory (Gomory) 

FALLEN ANGEL and 56th of the 72

SPIRITS OF SOLOMON. Gemory is a powerful duke in HELL

with 26 LEGIONs of DEMONs. He appears as a beautiful

woman with the crown of a duchess, who rides a camel.

He discovers hidden treasures and gives true answers

about the past, present, and future. He procures the love

of women, especially girls, but also old women.

genie In pre-Islamic and Islamic lore, a DJINN. The

term genie is an English translation of djinn, which fi rst

appeared in print in 1655 and is probably also related to

the older Latin term genius, a type of guardian or tutelary

spirit of people, places, and things that was demonized

by Christianity.

Genie became the popular English term for djinn, primarily

because the French translators of The Book of One

Thousand and One Nights, a collection of Arabic folktales,

used it in place of djinn. One of the most familiar tales,

“Aladdin’s Wonderful Lamp,” features a genie released

from a magical lamp that fulfi lls wishes.

In Roman mythology, the genius (pl. genii) is present

at the birth of a person, remains with him or her throughout

life, and shapes the person’s character and destiny. If a

guardian of a place, the genius serves as the animating force

that gives a location its unique power and atmosphere.

In Assyrian lore, the genie is a guardian spirit or minor

deity. In art, it is often portrayed as having a role in

royal rituals. Genies are anthropomorphic, with animal

heads (and sometimes wings) and human torsos and

limbs. They guard and purify kings, members of royalty,

supernatural fi gures, and open doorways against malevolent

demons and the disorders they cause. In art, they are

shown holding a pinecone in the right hand and a bucket

of either water or pollen in the left hand. Both bucket and

cone have associations of purifi cation. Portrayals of genies

were placed in buildings as guardians.

FAUST.

Faust.

 Legend of a learned but arrogant man who

makes a PACT with the DEVIL. The Faust legend was based

on the legend of THEOPHILUS and circulated widely in

Europe in medieval times. It was published as a novel in

the mid-1500s after the Protestant Reformation.

The best-known version of the story was published

in 1587 by a German publisher, Johann Spies. Translated

into English by 1594, the manuscript inspired Christopher

Marlowe to write his play, The Tragicall History of

D. Faustus, around 1601. In the late 18th century, Johann

Wolfgang von Goethe wrote his version of Faust.

The Early Story of Faust

Faust, the son of a husbandman, was born in Roda, Weimar,

Germany. He was raised in a Christian household.

Faust had a superior intellect and earned a doctorate in

theology. But he was vain and arrogant. He indulged in

gluttony and lust.

Faust began dabbling in MAGIC. One night, he went to

a CROSSROADS in the woods, cast a magic circle, and conjured

the Devil. The Devil appeared as a griffon or dragon,

then as fl ying lights, then as a burning man, and fi nally as

a gray friar who asked Faust what he wanted. Faust compelled

him to agree to go to his house the next morning.

By evening, Faust agreed to a pact presented by the

Devil. He agreed to three things:

• Faust would become the Devil’s property after a certain

number of years.

• He would sign an agreement to this effect in his

own BLOOD.

• He would renounce the Christian faith and defy all

believers.

In exchange, the Devil would fulfi ll every lust of

Faust’s heart and grant him the body and powers of a

spirit. In his arrogance, Faust thought the Devil might

not be as bad as others said.

The Devil revealed his name as Mephostophiles (MEPHISTOPHELES).

Faust gave him the following written pact:

I, JOHANN FAUSTUS, Dr.,

Do publicly declare with mine own hand in covenant

& by power of these presents:

Whereas, mine own spiritual faculties having been

exhaustively explored (including the gifts dispensed

from above and graciously imparted to me), I still cannot

comprehend;

And whereas, it being my wish to probe further into

the matter, I do propose to speculate upon the Elementa;

And whereas mankind doth not teach such things;

Now therefore have I summoned the spirit who calleth

himself Mephostophiles, a servant of the Hellish

Prince in Orient, charged with informing and instructing

me, and agreeing against a promissory instrument

hereby transferred unto him to be subservient and obedient

to me in all things.

I do promise him in return that, when I be fully sated

of that which I desire of him, twenty-four years also

being past, ended and expired, he may at such a time

and in whatever manner or wise pleaseth him order,

ordain, reign, rule and possess all that may be mine:

body, property, fl esh, blood, etc., herewith duly bound

over in eternity and surrendered by covenant in mine

own hand by authority and power of these presents, as

well as of my mind, brain, intent, blood and will.

I do now defy all living beings, all the Heavenly Host

and all mankind, and this must be.

In confi rmation and contract whereof I have drawn

out mine own blood for certifi cation in lieu of a seal.

Doctor Faustus, Adept

in the Elementa and in Church Doctrine.

Thus began Faust’s relationship with Mephostophiles,

whom he conjured daily inside his locked study. The DEMON

always appeared in the guise of a friar. Mephostophiles

indulged Faust with the fi nest foods and then an

endless supply of women.

Faust also plied the demon with questions about the

formation of the world, heaven and HELL, and how the

ranks of demons came into being as a result of the fall of

LUCIFER.

After nearly eight years had passed, Faust one day ordered

Mephostophiles to summon his lord, BELIAL, but

BEELZUBUB appeared instead. Faust asked to be taken on

a tour of hell. Beelzebub returned with a bone chair and

whisked Faust away.

It seemed Faust fell asleep, and when he awakened,

he was in the abyss, which was full of contorted animals,

sulfuric stenches, quakes, lightning, fl ames, and tremendous

heat. He also saw many well-known people, including

royalty, suffering in the heat. Faust was returned to

his own bed, but he was certain he could not withstand

hell himself.

Faust then desired to see the heavens, and a coach

drawn by two dragons appeared and took him up into

the sky, 47 miles up. He looked down upon the earth, and

then he was taken into heaven.

In his 16th year of bondage to the Devil, Faust undertook

a pilgrimage to Rome, where he had dinner with the

pope and stole his goblets and fl agons. He then went to

Constantinople and visited the Turkish emperor.

Faust had other adventures, including meeting Emperor

Charles V and the duke of Bavaria.

Faust entertained a group of students by having Mephostophiles

conjure up Helen of Troy.

After Faust had spent 19 years with the Devil, an

old man tried to persuade Faust to repent and return

to Christianity, but Faust renewed his demonic pact by

writing another one in his own blood. He affi rmed that

in another fi ve years, Lucifer would have full sway over

him.

Faust had Helen summoned again and began living

with her. In the 23rd year of his pact, she became pregnant

and bore a son, whom Faust named Justus Faustus.

When Faust’s 24 years were nearly up, he made out a

will. As his end approached, he became depressed and

fearful of his fate. He regretted his pact. He summoned

his students for a fi nal night of dining and company at a

village inn and urged them all to follow a good life.

That night between midnight and one o’clock, a great

storm arose. A hideous music fi lled the inn, along with

Faust’s cries. The students were too frightened to look

into his room.

The next morning, Faust was gone. But a hideous sight

greeted the students:

The parlor was full of blood. Brain clave unto the walls

where the Fiend had dashed him from one to the other.

Here lay his eyes, here a few teeth. O it was a hideous

spectaculum. Then began the students to bewail and

beweep him, seeking him in many places. When they

came out to the dung heap, here they found his corpse.

It was monstrous to behold, for head and limbs were still

twitching.

Helen and Justus were missing, never to be seen

again.

The students obtained permission to bury Faust’s remains

in the village. They discovered Faust’s written record

of all that had happened to him—a sober lesson in

the consequences of dallying with the Devil.

The story of Faust had different versions and grew

in length as time went on. For Faust, there is no redemption;

once the demonic pact is made, the price of

it must be paid. Other stories of demonic pacts allowed

for repentance and redemption, specifi cally through the

intervention of the Blessed Virgin Mary (see MARY OF

NEMEGEN).

Goethe’s Faust

Goethe began Faust in 1774 and worked on it for 60 years,

leaving parts of it to be opened posthumously. The story

is of a genius who sells his soul to the Devil, then sins, repents,

dies, and is redeemed. Faust is an aspect of Goethe

himself and shows Goethe’s knowledge of religion and alchemy

and his mystical speculations.

The Prologue in Heaven was probably infl uenced by

Goethe’s reading of Paradise Lost by John Milton. It presents

God with the archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel.

Mephistopheles, the Devil, enters as a court jester

and asks God about mankind’s wretchedness. God mentions

Faust, “my serf,” and agrees to let Mephistopheles

try to sway him. Faust is “doctor” of all knowledge of all

the realms, but he has no solace. He projects a noble aspiration

of the human spirit, despite his sinister side. He

serves as the focal point for the struggle between good

and evil as a necessary part of evolution. In Goethe’s view,

the seeds of good can lie hidden in evil, but at the same

time, there can be something satanic in the loftiest feeling

or the satanic can even grow out of it.

In part 1, Faust is in despair with weariness and emptiness.

He deplores the limitations of book learning and

decides to seek real power through magic, but both his

immense knowledge and magical power have been rebuffed

by the Earth Spirit, the lesser deity that dwells

in the earth. He is miffed that he, “godhead’s likeness,”

“more than cherub,” has been “withered” by the Earth

Spirit’s rejection. Faust is about to commit suicide when

Easter bells and a chorus of ANGELs interrupt him. Mephistopheles—

a symbol of the libido’s greed for gold and

lust—arrives on the scene with attendant spirits he calls

“my airy cherubim.” The seduction of Faust through his

limitations begins, and Faust sells him his soul. His youthful

vigor restored by a witch, he descends into sensuality,

which destroys Gretchen, an innocent woman who

loves him. Faust attends a witches’ sabbat. He watches

Gretchen die and prays to the heavenly hosts for protection.

A heavenly voice proclaims she is redeemed while

Mephistopheles insists she is damned.

As part 2 opens, it seems lifetimes later. Faust wakes

in a charming landscape with FAIRIES and Ariel (the same

spirit of the air from Shakespeare’s play). Mephistopheles

next takes Faust to Greece for an inside view of an emperor,

lovemaking with Helen of Troy, and frolic among

the gods, satyrs, fauns, and nymphs. His steady movement

to damnation contrasts with the glories of knowl-

edge and sensuality. After Faust dies, he is buried by angels

and DEMONs.

In act 5 of part 2, the heavenly angels confront Mephistopheles

and his devils to seize Faust’s soul and carry

it off. In the epilogue, male and female saints and blessed

children sing of God’s plan as the ranks of angels comment

on the ascent of Faust’s immortal essence. Gretchen

is heard among the chorus of penitent women, and Faust’s

soul is received by a Sophia-like “Woman Eternal.”

FALLEN ANGELS

Fallen Angels.

Angels who fall from God’s grace and

are punished by banishment from heaven, becoming

DEMONs.

The three versions of the book of Enoch associate fallen

angels with the WATCHERS, 200 angels who descend from

heaven to cohabitate with women and corrupt humanity

and are severely punished by God. 2 Enoch speaks of four

grades of fallen angels:

1. SATANAIL, the prince of the fallen one. Satanail was

once a high angel who thought he could be greater

than God and thus was cast out of heaven on the

second day of creation. He is imprisoned in the

fi fth heaven.

2. The Watchers, who also are imprisoned in the fi fth

heaven, dejected and silent.

3. The apostate angels, the followers of Satanail who

plotted with him and turned away from God’s commandments.

They are imprisoned in the second

heaven, a place of “darkness greater than earthly

darkness.” There they hang under guard, waiting

for the “measureless judgment.” The fallen angels

are dark in appearance, and they weep unceasingly.

They ask Enoch to pray for them.

4. Angels—possibly some of the Watchers—who are

sentenced to be imprisoned “under the earth.”

In Christianity, LUCIFER is the arrogant, prideful angel

cast out of heaven, mentioned briefl y in Isaiah as “Son of

the Morning” or “Morning Star.” One-third of the heavenly

host fell with him—133,306,668 angels, according

to lore. They fell for nine days. Theologians have posited

that a portion of each of the nine orders of angels fell; some

said the fallen ones compose a tenth order. The fallen angels

become demons who seek to ruin men’s souls, a view

reinforced by the infl uential theologian St. Thomas Aquinas.

Lucifer later became identifi ed with SATAN.

falling stars DEMONs who have no way station in which

to rest and so fall from the sky.

In the Testament of Solomon the demon ORNIAS explains

to SOLOMON that demons have the capability of

fl ying up to heaven in order to eavesdrop on God and

learn his plans. But because they have no place to rest,

they become exhausted and fall to Earth like fl ashes of

lightning, burning fi elds, and cities. People think they are

falling stars.

Folklore traditions through history hold that falling

stars are the souls of those who have just died or who are

descending to Earth to be reborn.

familiar A spirit that maintains regular contact with a

person, sometimes acting in service or guardianship, or

providing information and instruction. The term familiar

is from the Latin term familiaris, meaning “of a household

or domestic.”

Familiars can be either good or evil in nature, and

they vary signifi cantly in intelligence and powers. They

assume many shapes, such as elementals, animals, birds

and insects, and even spirit lovers. The shapes assumed

refl ect the nature of the spirit, who may be intent on deceit.

Personal familiars sometimes attach themselves to a

family bloodline and serve generations. They can possess

people and animals and are capable of acting independently

of the people with whom they associate.

Familiars are summoned via magical ritual, given, appointed,

traded, bought, and sold, or they appear of their

own volition. They can be housed in bottles and rings.

They have been part of shamanic and SORCERY traditions

around the world.

Early Beliefs about Familiars

The Greeks and Romans believed in familiars called DAIMONEs,

which occupied homes, buildings, and other places

and attached themselves to people. Such spirits provided

advice and guidance, performed tasks, acted as servants,

and did guard duty. Socrates said daimones whispered

in his ear to warn him of danger and misfortune. Plotinus

also was said to have a familiar, who appeared when

summoned and obeyed him and was superior to lowerranking

spirits such as the genii, guardians of places.

Other early beliefs about familiars cross over into

the lore of FAIRIES, elves, brownies, gnomes, and trolls.

Spirits that work in mines and guard hidden treasures

are sometimes called familiars. The DJINN summoned by

King SOLOMON to build his Temple of Jerusalem are comparable

to familiars.

Familiars in Magic and Witchcraft

Familiars can be conjured magically for a variety of

purposes. In esoteric lore, they are the constant attendants

and servants of magicians, wizards, spell casters,

and healers. Low familiars are inanimate objects,

such as magical books that mysteriously appear. The

English magician John Dee acquired a scrying (divining)

crystal inhabited by a familiar spirit, which he and

his assistant, Edward Kelley, used to communicate with

angels and spirits. High familiars assume plant, animal,

and human shape. Some familiars assume whatever

shape is needed for their purposes. Dee had another familiar,

Madimi, who appeared as either a young girl or

an adult. She even appeared naked when dealing with

a sexual matter.

According to tradition, familiars can be magically

locked in bottles, rings, and stones and sometimes sold as

CHARMs for success in gambling, love, and business.

In witchcraft lore, familiars are low-ranking DEMONs

or IMPs given by the DEVIL to those who commit to PACTs

with him. Or witches inherited familiars from other

witches. Demonic familiars were said by witch hunters

to serve witches in all ways, even sexually. They carried

out spells and bewitchments. Most witch familiars were

believed to be in animal form; some were spirits kept in

bottles and fl asks. Even FAIRIES were said to be familiars.

A witch could have multiple familiars. Cats, especially

black, were the favored forms. The fear that all cats were

witches’ familiars led to cat massacres in Europe.

The witch hunter Pierre de Lancre said the highestranking

witches have familiars in the shape of horne

frogs that sit on their left shoulder and are invisible to

everyone but other witches. Some witches had familiars

in human form.

Other common witches’ familiars were dogs, toads,

mice, ferrets, weasels, birds, wasps, bees, moths, hedgehogs,

rabbits, and farm animals, as well as monstrous hybrid

creatures. For example, the accused English witch

Elizabeth Clark (17th century) confessed to having fi ve

familiars, including Vinegar Tom, a creature that looked

like a greyhound with an ox’s head and could shape shift

into a headless child.

Familiars all supposedly had grotesque names that

gave away their true demonic identities. Elizabeth Francis,

an accused witch in the Chelmsford, England, trials

of 1556, had a white spotted cat named Sathan. Other

names recorded at witch trials were Verd-Joli, Verdelet,

Ilemanzar, Greedigut, Jezebel, Abrahel, Grissell, Martinet,

Blackman, and Pyewackett.

Witches who were arrested and imprisoned were

watched secretly to see whether their familiars came to

their aid. Even a fl y, ant, or cockroach that went toward

a witch was called a familiar. Guards had to watch carefully

that familiars—believed to be assassins dispatched

by the Devil—did not kill an accused witch before she

could be tried.

Witches were said to take great care of their familiars,

suckling them with their own BLOOD through “witch’s

marks,” small teats, discolorations, and welts upon their

bodies.

Having a familiar was suffi cient to condemn a witch

to death. In England, the Witchcraft Act of 1604 made it a

felony to “consult, covenant with, entertain, employ, feed,

or reward any evil and wicked spirit to or for any intent

or purpose.”

In contrast to the familiars of the witch trials, the literary

MEPHISTOPHELES is an elegant familiar, usually assuming

the form of a tall man in black who attends his

victim, FAUST, in order to subvert his soul. Faust also was

accompanied by a black dog familiar.

Many modern Witches, Wiccans, and Pagans have familiars

as magical helpers. Many are animals (often cats)

whose psychic attunement makes them ideal partners in

magic. Some Witches turn pets into familiars, and others

send out “calls” on the psychic planes to draw in the

right animal. Others create familiars from astral thought

forms.

Familiars attend rituals and protect against negative

spirits. They are sensitive to psychic vibrations and power

and are welcome partners inside the magic circle for the

raising of power, the casting of spells, scrying, spirit contact,

and other magical work. They also serve as psychic

radar, reacting visibly to the presence of any negative or

evil energy, whether it be an unseen force or a person who

dabbles in the wrong kind of magic. Familiars are given

psychic protection by their witches.

Sexual Familiars

Spirits enjoy human sexual intercourse, either by drawing

energy from people engaged in it or by assuming or

possessing a human form in order to participate in sex

directly. Depending on the nature of a familiar, it enjoys

the higher spiritual nature of sex or the lustful physical

nature of it. A familiar might try to infl uence a sexual

encounter by prolonging it as long as possible. It usually

presses on top of a person or lies alongside him or her.

A person feels a sexual encounter with a familiar as intense

waves of physical pleasure. Familiars can engage in

sex by possessing a person’s body and generating internal

sensations of pleasure, by possessing a person’s human

lover to manipulate his or her hands and body, and by

causing erotic dreams.

The low, demonic types of spirit sexual encounters

are with an INCUBUS (male demon) or SUCCUBUS (female

demon). During the witch hysteria, witches were said to

copulate with demon lovers, and demons masquerading

as seductive humans attacked sleeping people at night

and raped them.

Problems with Familiars

Frequent contact with familiars can result in nightmares,

physical injuries caused by familiars, and also OBSESSION,

in which a person sees, hears, and feels an infl uencing

spirit, and POSSESSION, in which the familiar completely

takes over a person.

Also, spirits do not always distinguish between truth

and falsehood, and so discernment must be applied to

whatever information they impart. Familiars can manifest

as voices in the head that cause compulsive, aberrant

behavior, including self-infl icted wounds, suicide, and

violence toward others. Excessive and draining contact

with them can create mental, emotional, and physical

strain and breakdown.

Familiars that create problems can be banished by

ending all engagement with them or, if necessary, by ritual

banishment.

DEMONS and DEMONOLOGY

Demons and Demonology 

A type of spirit that interferes

in the affairs of people. The term demon means

“replete with wisdom” and is derived from the Greek

term DAIMON. The daimones were both good and evil and

even included deifi ed heroes. In most cultures, demons

are troublesome rather than helpful; some are evil. In

Christianity, all demons are evil and serve SATAN for the

purpose of subverting souls. Demons can cause unpleasant

hauntings, often involving INFESTATION, OPPRESSION,

and POSSESSION. The study of demons is called demonology.

Like ANGELs, demons are numberless.

Historical Overview

Demons universally are considered the cause of all humankind’s

problems: disease, misfortune, poor health,

bad luck, ruined relationships, sin, and soul loss. Since ancient

times, they have been said to have sex with humans.

They can be sent to torment and possess others. They can

be put to productive uses as well and can be summoned

and controlled by magic. For example, in ancient Egypt, a

magician who exorcized a possessing demon could command

the same demon to perform useful tasks. There are

numerous ways to protect against demons and to banish

them from places, people, and animals.

Beliefs in demon-caused troubles are ancient and still

prevail in many places around the world. Since the mid-

20th century, belief in demons and their interferences has

risen in the West.

The lore of the ancient Babylonians, Assyrians, and

other Middle Eastern cultures teemed with demons. The

greatest demonic problem was illness, and demons had

to be cast out of a person for healing. In Mesopotamian

lore, demons took the form of human-animal hybrids

that could walk upright on two legs and were controlled

by the gods. Humans could repel demons by magic,

such as use of CHARMs and AMULETs (see INCANTATION

BOWL).

Demons in Judaism

Judaic demonologies evolved with infl uences from the

lore of the Babylonians, Persians, and Egyptians. In Talmudic

tradition, demons are ever-present enemies posing

constant dangers to humanity. They were created by God

on the fi rst sabbath eve at twilight. Dusk fell before God

fi nished them, and thus they have no bodies. According

to another story, demons were spawned by LILITH, the

spurned fi rst wife of Adam. King SOLOMON used magic

to summon and control demons, or the DJINN, to work for

him in building his Temple of Jerusalem.

Demons can have wings and exist between humans

and angels, roughly between the earth and the Moon.

They are less powerful than angels. They frequent uninhabited

and unclean places, and once they attach themselves

to a person or family, bad luck follows.

The Jewish “middle world” teems with numberless demons

and angels. Angels of destruction (malache habbala)

blurred together with the demonic. By the second century

C.E., the Hebrews had developed complex systems of both

entities. As were angels, demons were seen as having jurisdiction

over everything in creation. Rabbinical teachings

frowned on demon magic, but beliefs and practices

concerning demons were tolerated. By the Middle Ages,

rabbinic writings had elaborated upon demons, expanding

their classes and duties.

The demon Harborym

One category of demon, the LUTIN, does possess both

body and soul. The lutin were created by sexual unions between

Adam and female demons after he parted from Eve.

Another category of demons are created every day

from the newly dead, who were believed to linger about

in close contact with the living. The spirits of the wicked

dead became demons. They are capable of infl icting

wounds that only God can heal.

In the development of the KABBALAH, hierarchies of

demons were associated with the 10 sephirot, or centers,

of the Tree of Life. According to the Kabbalah, evil powers

emanate from the left pillar of the Tree of Life, especially

from Geburah, the sephira of the wrath of God. By the

13th century, the idea of 10 evil sephirot had developed to

counter the 10 holy sephirot of the Tree.

Other Hebrew systems of demons distinguish those

born of night terrors and those who fi ll the sky between

the Earth and the Moon. There are demons who, with angels,

are in charge of the night hours, and interpretations

of diseases, and those who have seals that may be used to

summon them. This demonic lore later became the core

of magical handbooks called GRIMOIRES.

The Old Testament mentions evil spirits but does not

feature a primary demonic fi gure such as the SATAN that

emerged in Christianity. “Satan” is more a prosecuting

attorney interested in testing humans and is a member

of the heavenly court. God sends evil spirits to punish

people. Judges 9:22–25 tells of Abimelech, who murdered

70 rivals for the rule of Israel:

After Abimelech had governed Israel three years, God

sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens

of Shechem, who acted treacherously against Abimelech.

God did this in order that the crime against

Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood,

might be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on

the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder

his brothers. In opposition to him these citizens of

Shechem set men on the hilltops to ambush and rob

everyone who passed by, and this was reported to

Abimelech.

In 1 Kings 22:19–22, the Lord manipulates human affairs

by dispatching a lying spirit, though its nature—

good or evil—is ambiguous:

Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the

LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the

host of heaven standing around him on his right and on

his left (20). And the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab

into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death

there?’

One suggested this, and another that (21). Finally, a

spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, “I

will entice him.”

“By what means?” the LORD asked.

“I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all

his prophets,” he said.

“You will succeed in enticing him,” said the LORD.

“Go and do it.”

More about demons is found in the rabbinic teachings

called the Gemora. (See MAZZIQIN.)

Demons in Apochryphal and

Pseudepigraphal Works

The Apochrypha and pseudepigrapha are non-canonical

texts written by unknown or pseudonymous authors.

Some of the texts have more to say about angels and demons

than do the canonical works in the Bible.

The Apochrypha (hidden) consists of 15 books or portions

of books written between about 200 B.C.E. and 200

C.E. Demons have minor roles in apochryphal works; the

distinguishing exception is the book of Tobit, in which

the young man Tobias learns how to exorcize demons

from the archangel Raphael, disguised as a man (see

ASMODEUS).

Most pseudepigraphal works were written between

200 B.C.E. and 200 C.E., though some were written much

later. More information about demons is given in pseudepigraphal

works such as Jubilees and Enoch. According to

Jubilees, evil originated with bad angels, not with Adam

and Eve.

Jubilees says that angels were created by God on the

fi rst day. The text does not say specifi cally when demons

were created, but it is implied that they, too, were made

on the fi rst day, “along with all of the spirits of his [God’s]

creatures which are in heaven and on earth” (2:2).

Angels are described only by their classes and duties.

One class are the WATCHERS, good angels who were assigned

the task of watching over humanity. The Watchers

coveted human women and descended to Earth, to create

the vampiric, cannibalistic monsters called NEPHILIM.

Thus, the demonic and evil powers were created by corrupted

angels.

God sends the fl ood to cleanse the planet, but not all of

the Nephilim are destroyed. When the polluted demons

start to bother Noah and his sons, Noah appeals to God,

who agrees to send angels to bind them all into the place

of judgment. MASTEMA, the prince of evil and the only

demonic power named in Jubilees, steps forward to ask

God to allow one-tenth of the demons to remain on Earth

under his jurisdiction. The angels then teach Noah herbal

lore for restraining the remaining demons.

The three books of Enoch also tell the story of the

Watchers and Nephilim, in more detail. Again, evil comes

into being through the fall of the angels. On the Day of

Judgment, however, all the demons and evil angels will be

cast into the abyss.

Demons in Christianity

In Christianity, demons have their origins in the FALLEN

ANGELs who followed LUCIFER, or “morning star,” when

he was cast out of heaven by God (Isaiah 14:12). In the

New Testament, JESUS healed by casting out demons, in

keeping with prevailing traditions. By the end of the New

Testament period, demons were synonymous with fallen

angels, all under the direction of Satan. As Christianity

spread, pagan gods, goddesses, and nature spirits were

incorporated into the ranks of demons.

The hermits, ascetics, and men who became the early

saints of Christianity were constantly beset by evil, including

demonic attacks (see ANTHONY). In the early

centuries, Christian theologians known as the apostolic

fathers grappled with questions about evil. Justin Martyr

saw demons as the illicit children of fallen angels and human

women. Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, and Barnabas

stressed the Devil rather than his demons. Irenaeus was

convinced of the reality of demons and the Devil and advocated

EXORCISM as a way to combat them.

Tertullian wrote in more detail about demons, defi ning

them as fallen angels who lusted after women. Demons

are quite dangerous, he said, possessing supreme

intelligence and knowledge, as well as supernormal abilities

such as instant travel.

A lion-snake demon

Origen agreed with Tertullian, except on the reason

for the fall of angels: They fell from the sin of pride rather

than lust. Demons were not created evil, he said, but became

evil by exercising their free will. They are not pure

spirits but have bodies different from human ones. They

attack humans in two principal ways: through obsession,

with evil thoughts, and through possession, including of

animals. Magic is done with the aid of demons, Origen

said. He also advocated exorcism, which must be performed

according to precise rituals in order to be effective.

Under certain circumstances, humans can become

demons—a view that later theologians criticized.

From about the third to eighth centuries, theologians

built on these early ideas. Jerome and Augustine wrote

of shape-shifting demons, including half-human, halfmonstrous

forms. Augustine in particular never doubted

the reality of demons and their evil infl uences.

For medieval theologians, demons were the tempters

of humanity, a system that ultimately worked in favor of

humans by proving who was worthy of going to heaven.

The Devil and his hordes had no direct access to people

except through their free will choices. Thomas Aquinas

said that SATAN controls people chiefl y through possession,

and if demons had no success with a person during

life, they made their fi nal assault on the soul at the moment

of death.

During the witch trials of the Inquisition, the importance

of demons increased. Demons were believed to play

a key role, causing possessions, leading people into sin,

helping people perpetrate evil deeds, and serving witches

as their FAMILIAR spirits in all acts of malevolence. Theologians

and witch hunters emphasized the dangers of

demons and those who traffi cked with them by making

PACTs. The Puritan minister Increase Mather said in Cases

of Conscience (1692), “The Scriptures assert that there are

Devils and Witches and that they are the common enemy

of Mankind.” George Giffard, an Oxford preacher of

about the same period, said that witches should be put to

death not because they kill others but because they deal

with devils: “These cunning men and women which deale

with spirites and charme seeming to do good, and draw

the people into manifold impieties, with all other which

haue familiarity with deuils, or use conjurations, ought to

bee rooted out, that others might see and feare.”

Characteristics of Demons

Descriptions from antiquity portray demons as shape

shifters who can assume any form, animal or human

or hybrid, such as the Mesopotamian demons. The Platonists

and early fathers and theologians of the Christian

Church said that demons condense bodies out of

the air or smoke. In Arabian lore, the djinn are made of

smokeless fi re. Some of the theologians and witch hunters

of the Inquisition said that demons have no corporeal

form and only give the illusion that they are in human

or animal form. They create voices out of air that

mimic people.

In Judaic lore, demons are always invisible but can see

themselves and each other. They cast no shadows. They

eat, drink, propagate, and eventually die, though not exactly

as humans do. Their eating and drinking consist

of lapping up fi re, water, air, and slime. When they die,

they dry up and wither away to their primordial state.

However, when they have sex, they can assume bodies.

They will not copulate in front of any human or another

demon.

In Christian lore, demons assume forms that are

black, such as dogs (see BLACK DOGS) and other animals

and men dressed in black. Because they are evil, they are

imperfect, and so they always have a fl aw in their appearance,

such as a malformed limb or cloven feet. They can

also assume beautiful and seductive forms, especially if

they are sexual predators.

According to Remy:

When they fi rst approach a man to speak with him they

do not wish him to be terrifi ed by any unusual appearance,

and therefore they prefer to assume a human shape

and manifest themselves as a man of good standing

in order that their words may carry more weight and

authority; and for this reason they like to wear a long

black cloak, such as is only worn by honored men of

substance. It is true that many hold their purpose in this

last is to conceal the deformity of their feet, which is an

ineradicable token and sign of their essential baseness;

and that black is, besides, most appropriate to them,

since all their contrivings against men are of a black and

deadly nature.

Demons are described as unclean, fi lthy, and full of

abominable stench. They live in dead bodies. If they make

their bodies out of air or occupy a living body, they exude

a stench. In the body, they swell in the bowels with excrement

and waste. They are afraid of cuts, wounds, and

blows and can be repelled with threats of them.

They are organized in hierarchies and function as in a

military organization, according to GRIMOIRES and Inquisition

writings. If lower demons disobey their superiors,

they are beaten.

Activities of Demons

Throughout history, the chief activity of demons has

been to cause illness and disease. They are the spirits of

uncleanness, and the lack of proper hygiene will enable

them to enter a person through contaminated food, dirty

hands, and foul environments. Widespread beliefs hold

that humans are in constant danger of demonic attack in

some form, and constant vigilance is required through

watchfulness, proper habits, and the use of measures

of protection. The greatest danger occurs at night when

sleeping humans are at their most vulnerable, especially

concerning demons that cause nightmares and make sexual

attacks. Birth and death are perilous times, as are the

nights on which marriages are consummated. At these

times, demons are better able to wreak havoc.

During the Inquisition, demons were believed to aid

witches by giving instruction on how to cast evil spells

and how to poison people, crops, and animals with herbs

and other substances. They acted as familiars, taking the

form of animals such as birds and insects, to carry out the

evil of witches. They participated in SABBATs and pacts.

Inquisitors believed that demons infl uenced women more

easily than men, for women, they said, were weaker in

will and intellect than men.

Demons send bad weather and pests such as armies of

mice and swarms of locusts to destroy crops.

In hauntings and possessions, demons create unpleasant

poltergeist phenomena and chaos and attack the living

in a progression of increasing intensity. Psychics and

mediums perceive them as having grotesque forms. They

are often associated with revolting smells. In some cases,

demons shape shift into deceitful, desirable forms with

charming personalities. Once they have a person under

their control, they revert to their original nature. Lowlevel

demonic entities are associated with problems involving

talking board use (see OUIJA™).

In possessions, demons will speak through possessed

persons, altering the person’s voice. Demons have a fondness

for profanity and verbal abuse. They cause physical

phenomena, such as spitting, vomiting, levitation,

unnatural twisting of limbs, supernormal strength, foaming

at the mouth, and so on. In rites of exorcism, it is

important to know the demon’s name.

Demons are exorcized, or expelled, by a variety of

methods, from ordering the demon to leave, to magical

ritual, to religious ritual.

Sex with Demons

Christianity rejected the idea of sexual intercourse with

demons until the 12th century; by the 14th century, it was

accepted in theology. Sex with demons became a focus of

the Inquisition; witches and those under demonic control

were said to copulate wildly with demons, and even with

Satan himself (see INCUBUS; SUCCUBUS). The male incubi

molested women and the female succubi molested men.

Both kinds of demons were said to masquerade as humans

in order to seduce their prey. The actual sexual act, however,

was held to be painful and vile. Women impregnated

by demons were supposed to give birth to monsters.

Witch hunters said that demons enter into marriages

with humans. Remy wrote of a 1587 case in which two

witnesses, Bertrande Barbier and Sinchen, said they witnessed

such a marriage at night in a place where criminals

were crucifi ed. Instead of giving the bride a ring,

the bridegroom blew his breath into the bride’s anus. A

roasted black she-goat was served at the wedding feast.

This tale is characteristic of the stories fabricated in witch

trials and used by inquisitors to convict and execute accused

heretics and witches.

In modern cases, demons are opportunistic, assaulting

humans weakened by vices, sin, or CURSEs or simply

being in the wrong place at the wrong time, such as a

location where acts of evil have taken place.

Demons in Magic

Demons are invoked in MAGIC. Because demons are unruly,

magicians must force them to obey commands for

service. Grimoires give the names, duties, SEALs, incantations,

and rituals summoning and controlling demons.

They are especially useful in DIVINATION, fi nding lost treasure,

and the casting of spells. When evoked, demons are

made to take form in a magic triangle, a secured boundary

from which they cannot threaten the magician, who

is protected by a magic circle.