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.