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The study of demons or evil spirits; also a branch of magic that deals with such beings. In religious science it has come to indicate knowledge regarding supernatural beings that are not deities. The Greek term daimon originally indicated "genius" or "spirit," and Socrates claimed to have had intercourse with his daimon. However, with the advent of Christianity it came to mean a malevolent spirit entity. Demonology was especially developed during the Middle Ages.
Ancient demonology is discussed in the entries Egypt, Semites, Genius, and Devil Worship, and the demonology in pre-industrial societies is examined in the entries on the various countries and peoples of its origin.
According to Michael Psellus (1018-ca. 1079), author of De Operatione Daemonum Dialogus, demons are divided into six main bodies: the demons of fire; of the air; of the earth; those of the waters and rivers, who cause tempests and floods; the subterranean who prepare earthquakes and excite volcanic eruptions, and the shadowy ones who are somewhat like ghosts. (St. Augustine (354-430 C.E.) considered all demons under the last category.) Psellus's classification is not unlike the system of the Middle Ages, which divided all spirits into those belonging to the four elements: fire, air, earth, and water (salamanders, sylphs, gnomes, and undines, respectively).
Early Concepts of Demonology
The medieval idea of demons, of course, evolved from ancient Christian and Gnostic belief, especially from the accounts of demons in the Bible. Among the Jews, the gods of the surrounding nations were called demons, and those nations were condemned for making sacrifices to demons instead of to the one God, Yahweh (Deut. 32:17; Ps. 106:37). The Christian New Testament speaks of demons as inferior spirits who operate as subjects of the devil. Such demons can take possession of a human being causing various illnesses and physical ailments. Demons were named as causative factors in disease in a prescientific age.
Demons have an expansive role in the biblical record. They can affect the behavior of swine (Matt. 8:30-32) and speak with a knowledge beyond that of an ordinary person (Mark 1:23-24). Biblical authors did understand demons as objectively present in the world and pictured the apostles as trying to drive them away. Considering demons as having an objective existence placed many questions about the nature of their origin, existence, operation, and habitation on the theological agenda. By the third century, the angel Lucifer, who fell from heaven (Isa. 14:12), was identified with Satan, and the fallen angels with demons.
The Gnostics (who competed for members with the early Christians), imitating Plato's classification of the orders of spirits, attempted a similar arrangement with respect to a hierarchy of angels. The first and highest order was named seraphim; the second, cherubim; the third was the order of thrones; the fourth, dominions; the fifth, virtues; the sixth, powers; the seventh, principalities; the eighth, archangels; and the ninth, and lowest, angels.
This classification was censured by the Christian church, yet almost outlived the pneumatologists of the Middle Ages. These scholars—studying the account in which the angel Lucifer rebelled against heaven (Isa. 14:12), and that in which Michael, the archangel, warred against him (Rev. 12:7)—long asked the momentous question, "What orders of angels fell on this occasion?"
At length it became the prevailing opinion that Lucifer was of the order of seraphim. It was also asserted, after laborious research, that Agares, Belial, and Barbatos, each of whom deposed angels of great rank, had been of the order of virtues; that Bileth, Focalor, and Phoenix had been of the order of thrones; that Goap had been of the order of powers; that Purson had been of both the order of virtues and the order of thrones; and that Murmur had belonged to both the order of thrones and the order of angels. The pedigree of many other noble devils was likewise determined.
As the centuries progressed, theologians began to inquire, "How many fallen angels were engaged in the contest?" This was a question of vital importance, and it gave rise to the most strenuous research and to a variety of discordant opinions.
Others asked, "Where was the battle fought—in the inferior heaven, in the highest region of the air, in the firmament, or in Paradise?" and "How long did it last?" These were difficult questions, but the notion that ultimately prevailed was that the engagement was concluded in exactly three seconds, and that while Lucifer, with a number of his followers, fell into hell, the rest were left in the air to tempt man.
A newer question rose out of these investigations: whether a greater number of angels fell with Lucifer or remained in heaven with Michael. Noted scribes were inclined to think that the rebel chief had been beaten by a superior force, and that consequently devils of darkness were fewer in number than angels of light.
These discussions, which for centuries interested the whole of Christendom, exercised the talents of some of the most erudite persons in Europe. The last objective of demonologists was to assess Lucifer's routed forces and reorganize them into a decided form of subordination or government. Hence, extensive districts were given to certain chiefs who fought under the general Lucifer.
There was Zimimar, "the lordly monarch of the north," as Shakespeare calls him, who had his distinct province of devils; Gorson, the king of the South; Amaymon, the king of the East; and Goap, the prince of the West. These sovereigns had many noble spirits subordinate to them whose various ranks were settled with all the preciseness of heraldic distinction. There were devil dukes, devil marquises, devil counts, devil earls, devil knights, devil presidents, and devil prelates.
As a picture of the infernal kingdom was constructed, it was determined that the armed host under Lucifer had been composed of nearly twenty-four hundred legions, of which each demon of rank commanded a certain number. Beleth for instance, who has been described as "a great king and terrible, riding on a pale horse, before whom go trumpets and all melodious music," commanded 85 legions; Agares, the first duke under the power of the East, commanded 31 legions; Leraie, a great marquis, 30 legions; Morax, a great earl and a president, 36 legions; Furcas, a knight, 20 legions. The forces of the other devil chieftains were enumerated after the same manner.
The Appearance of Demons
The strange and hideous forms connected with the popular image of demons were derived from the descriptive writings of the early demonologists, who maintained that demons possessed a decidedly corporeal form and were mortal, or that, like Milton's spirits, they could assume any sex and take any shape they chose. In the Middle Ages, when conjuration was regularly practiced in Europe, devils of rank were supposed to appear under characteristic forms by which they were as well recognized as the head of any ancient family would be by his crest and armorial bearings.
Along with their names and characters were registered the shapes they were said to adopt. A devil would appear like an angel seated in a fiery chariot or riding on an infernal dragon and carrying a viper in his right hand; or he would assume a lion's head, a goose's feet, and a hare's tail; or put on a raven's head and come mounted on a strong wolf.
Among other forms taken by demons were those of a fierce warrior, or of an old man with a hawk in his hand riding upon a crocodile. A human figure would arise having the wings of a griffin or sporting three heads, two of them like those of a toad and one like a cat's; or displaying huge teeth and horns and armed with a sword; or exhibiting a dog's teeth and a large raven's head; or mounted upon a pale horse and exhibiting a serpent's tail; or gloriously crowned and riding upon a dromedary; or presenting the face of a lion; or bestriding a bear while grasping a viper.
Other forms were those of a goodly knight, or of one who bore lance, ensigns, and even a scepter, or of a soldier, either riding on a black horse and surrounded by a flame of fire, or wearing a duke's crown and mounted on a crocodile.
Hundreds of such varied shapes were assumed by devils of rank. In his Sketches of the Philosophy of Apparitions (1824), Dr. S. Hibbert comments: "It would therefore betray too much of the aristocratical spirit to omit noticing the forms which the lower orders of such beings displayed. In an ancient Latin poem, describing the lamentable vision of a devoted hermit, and supposed to have been written by St. Bernard in the year 1238, those spirits, who had no more important business upon earth than to carry away condemned souls, were described as blacker than pitch; as having teeth like lions, nails on their fingers like those of a wild-boar, on their fore-head horns, through the extremities of which poison was emitted, having wide ears flowing with corruption, and discharging serpents from their nostrils. The devout writer of these verses has even accompanied them from drawings, in which the addition of the cloven feet is not omitted. But this appendage, as Sir Thomas Brown has proved, is a mistake, which has arisen from the devil frequently appearing to the Jews in the shape of a rough and hairy goat, this animal being the emblem of sin-offering."
The form of the demons described by St. Bernard (1090-1153) differs little from that which was no less carefully portrayed by English writer Reginald Scot 450 years later, and, perhaps, by the demonologists of modern times. "In our childhood," says Scot, "our mother's maids have so terrified us with an ouglie divell having horns on his head, fier in his mouth, and a tail on his breech, eies like a bason, fangs like a dog, clawes like a beare, … and a voice like a roaring lion."
The Powers of Demons
Although the leading tenets of the occult science of demon-ology may be traced to the Jews and early Christians, they matured through communication with the Moors of Spain, who were the chief philosophers of the early Middle Ages. There was much intercultural exchange between the moors and the natives of France and Italy. Toledo, Seville, and Salamanca became the great schools of magic. At Salamanca discourses on the black art were, in keeping with the solemnity of the subject, delivered within the walls of a vast and gloomy cavern.
The instructors taught that all knowledge and power might be obtained from the fallen angels. They were skilled in the abstract sciences, in the knowledge of precious stones, in alchemy, in the various languages of mankind and of the lower animals, in belles lettres, in moral philosophy, pneumatology, divinity, magic, history, and prophecy, it was told. The demons could control the winds, the waters, and the influence of the stars; they could raise earthquakes; induce diseases or cure them; accomplish vast mechanical tasks; and release souls from purgatory. It was said that they could influence the passions of the mind, procure the reconciliation of friends or foes, engender mutual discord, induce mania and melancholy, or direct the force and objects of sexual affection.
Hierarchy of Demons
According to Johan Weyer, the prominent sixteenth-century Protestant demonologist, demons were divided into a great many classes, into regular kingdoms and principalities, and into mobility and commoners. According to Weyer, Satan was by no means the great sovereign of this monarchy; this honor was held by Beelzebub. Satan was alluded to by Weyer as a dethroned monarch and chief of the opposition; Moloch was called chief of the army; Pluto, prince of fire; and Leonard, grand master of the sphere. The masters of these infernal courts were Adramelech, grand chancellor; Astaroth, grand treasurer; Nergal, chief of the secret police; Baal, chief of the satanic army.
Weyer maintained that each state in Europe also had its infernal ambassadors. Belphegor is assigned to France, Mammon to England, Belial to Turkey, Rimmon to Russia, Thamuz to Spain, Hutjin to Italy, and Martinet to Switzerland.
According to Weyer's calculations the infernal regions contained an army of 7,405,926 devils and demons, organized into 1,111 divisions of 6,666 each.
One of the strangest authorities on demonology was surely Alexis Vincent Charles Berbiguier, known as "the Scourge of the Demons," author of the three-volume encyclopedic work Les Farfadets, ou tous les démons ne sont pas de l'autre monde (1821). In this great study, he describes the infernal court: "This court has representatives on earth. These mandatories are innumerable. I give nomenclature and degree of power of each: Moreau, magician and sorcerer of Paris, represents Beelzebub; Pinel, a doctor of Saltpétrière, represents Satan; Bouge, represents Pluto; Nicholas, a doctor of Avigum, represents Moloch." But Berbiguier was not just a theorist, since he claimed to have caught thousands of demons, impaling them on pins like a butterfly hunter and sealing them in bottles.
Modern Demonology
Belief in demons possibly reached its lowest ebb in the nineteenth century, though occultists such as William Barrett proposed their own demonic hierarchies. By the beginning of the twentieth century, demonology was unfashionable, even in occult circles, but during the occult boom of the 1960s and 1970s, the theme of demonic possession was revived in conservative Christian circles and given widespread coverage in books and movies like The Exorcist, by William P. Blatty. The idea of demons became a divisive force in the church, with some churchmen reviving rituals of exorcism and others remaining adamant in their unwillingness to endorse ancient concepts of demonology. At any rate, the sensationalist aspect of possession by demons is in keeping with the apocalyptic character of modern life, and demons have once again become part of theological discourse.
Sources:
Bodin, Jean. De la démonomania des sorciers. Paris, 1580.
Conway, Moncure D. Demonology and Devil-Lore. 2 vols. London: Chatto & Windus, 1879.
Ebon, Martin, ed. Exorcism: Fact Not Fiction. New York: New American Library, 1974.
Irvine, Doreen. From Witchcraft to Christ. London: Concordia Press, 1973.
Nauman, St. Elmo, Jr. Exorcism Through the Ages. New York: Philosophical Library, 1974.
Neil-Smith, Christopher. The Exorcist and the Possessed. Corn-wall, England: James Pike, 1974.
Remy, Nicolas. Demonolatry. 1595. Reprint, New Hyde Park, N.Y.: University Books, 1974.
Robbins, Rossell Hope. The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology. New York: Crown Publishers, 1959.
Scott, Sir Walter. Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft. London, 1830. Reprint, New York: Citadel Press, 1970.
Shepard, Leslie. How to Protect Yourself Against Black Magic and Witchcraft. New York: Citadel Press, 1978.
Strachan, Francoise. Casting Out the Devils. London: Aquarian Press, 1972.
Wall, J. Charles. Devils. London, 1904. Reprint, Detroit: Singing Tree Press, 1968.
Weyer, Johan. Witches, Devils and Doctors in the Renaissance: Johan Weyer, De Praestigiis. Edited by George Mora. Binghamton, N.Y.: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies, 1991.
Demonology is the systematic study of demons or beliefs about demons.[1] Insofar as it involves exegesis, demonology is an orthodox branch of theology.[2]
Demonology is the branch of theology relating to superhuman beings who are not gods.[3] It deals both with benevolent beings that have no circle of worshipers or so limited a circle as to be below the rank of gods, and with malevolent beings of all kinds. It may be noted that the original sense of "demon," from the time of Homer onward, was a benevolent being;[4] but in English the name now connotes malevolence. Demons, when they are regarded as spirits, may belong to either of the classes of spirits recognized by primitive animism;[5] 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, the West Africans and others; the Arab djinn, 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.[4][3]
Under the head of demons are classified only such spirits as are believed to enter into relations with the human race; the term therefore includes:
Excluded are souls conceived as inhabiting another world. But 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).[8] 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.
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.[9] 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.[10] In Korea, 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.[11]
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. In present-day Egypt, the ubiquitous jinn are believed to be so densely distributed that acts such as pouring water unto the ground are accompanied by seeking the permission of a potentially dampened spirit.[11]
Greek philosophers such as Porphyry, who claimed influence from Platonism,[12] and the fathers of the Christian Church, held that the world was pervaded with spirits,[11] the latter of whom advanced the belief that demons received the worship directed at pagan gods.[13]
The ascription of malevolence to the world of spirits is by no means universal. In West 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 that 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.[14] 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;[15] 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.[16]
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.[17]
While historical Judaism never "officially" recognized a rigid set of doctrines about demons,[18] many scholars believe that its post-exilic concepts of eschatology, angelology, and demonology were influenced by Zoroastrianism.[19][20] Some, however, believe that these concepts were received as part of the Kabbalistic tradition[21] passed down from Adam, Noah, and the Hebrew patriarchs.[22] See Sefer Yetzirah.
The Talmud declares that there are 7,405,926 demons, divided in 72 companies.[citation needed] Indeed, some commentators hold that
Satan was a prosecutor for God in early Judaism, and a somewhat minor angel at that.[23] While most people believe that
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, of Lilith leaving Adam, of demons such as vampires, the demon-locusts from the Book of Revelation, impure spirits in Jewish folklore such as the dybbuk and of wicked humans that have become demons as well.[25][26]
Christianity is traditionally wary of the study of Demonology, typified by the words of
The most extensive exposition of Christian demonology are Heinrich Kramer's Malleus Maleficarum, once thought to have been co-written by Jacob Sprenger;[28] and Nicholas Remy's Daemonolatreiae libri tres, both assuming the reality of witchcraft and its capability of posing a threat to the Roman Catholic church.
Demonology refers to catalogues that attempt to name and set a hierarchy to demons and spirits thought to be malignant. In this sense, demonology can be seen as the mirror image of angelology, which attempts to compile the same information for good spirits.
In Christian tradition, demons are fallen angels,[3] so demonology could be considered a branch of angelology and vice versa. The grimoires of occult magic are the tomes that contain the lore of this version of demonology, containing instructions on how to summon them and bend them to the conjuror's will.[29]
In the 15th century it was estimated that 133,306,668 angels fell from the Heavens in a total of 9 days according to the Bishop of Tusculum (c. 1273),[30] and this was reaffirmed by Alphonso de Spina (c. 1460).
| “ | I am sure that this number astounds even the most open minded. I my self was not surprised by the total figure of the fallen angels, I expected the number to be very big for the simple reason that it is reported that the number of angels is very big and that one third of them fell, so this third should be a very large figure also, but I was and still am very skeptic about the accuracy of this number when I first came upon it.[31] | ” |
On another note, The Book of Enoch, an apocryphal text, tells of 200 "sons of God" (angels) who became enamored with "daughters of men", and coupled with them, and were therefore banished from Heaven. Hence, the range between 200 and 133,306,668 is one estimate of the number of demons, at least according to some Christian sources.
The New Testament explicitly affirms the existence of lesser adversarial spirits. (Luke 4:41, 10:17-20; Ephesians 6:12; James 2:19; Revelation 16:13, 14) In Christianity, Satan is the leader of a force of evil opposing the all-good God.[3]
Practitioners of
Other followers of the occult do worship demons, and refer to their religion as "demonolatry."[32]. Demonolators consider methods such as the Goetia very disrespectful towards the demons, and possibly dangerous for the operator. They instead use forms of prayer, magick and ritual which petition the demons, asking for their aid rather than commanding them.
Demonolators are not identical to practitioners of Theistic Satanism. They worship other demons (such as Belial and Leviathan) either alongside, or instead of Satan. [33] Some demonolators say that their form of demonolatry is a tradition, often familial, that is not related to the modern religious and philosophical movements collectively referred to as Satanism.[34]
In Islam, the devil Iblis (Satan and/or Lucifer in Christianity) was not an angel, but of a different kind, the jinn. (Humans are created from earth, Angels from light, and jinn from fire). The jinn though, are not necessarily evil; they could be good doers or sinners just like humans. 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.[35]
In the Qur'an, when God ordered those witnessing the creation of Adam to kneel before him (before Adam), "Iblis" refused to do so and was therefore damned for refusal to obey God's will.[36]
Some branches of Buddhism affirm the existence of Hells[37] 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.[38] Most of these "demons" are considered to be representations of mental obstructions. [39] Hinduism contains traditions of combats between its gods and various adversaries, such as the combat of Indra and the asura Vritra.[40]
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Dansk (Danish)
n. - viden om dæmoner
Nederlands (Dutch)
demonenleer
Français (French)
n. - démonologie
Deutsch (German)
n. - Dämonenlehre/ -glaube
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (θρησκ.) δαιμονολογία
Italiano (Italian)
demonologia
Português (Portuguese)
n. - demonologia (f)
Español (Spanish)
n. - demonología
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - demonologi
中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
鬼神学, 魔鬼研究
中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 鬼神學, 魔鬼研究
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 悪霊学, 鬼神論, 妖怪学, 悪魔信仰, 仇敵目録, 悪魔研究
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) دراسه الأرواح الشريرة أو الشياطين, الإيمان بالشياطين أو الأرواح الشريرة
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - חקר השדים והרוחות
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Copyright © 2001 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Demonology". Read more |
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