Demon

A Demon is a malevolent supernatural entity with a history dating back to the Paleolithic age. It is believed in in various religions, occultism, literature, mythology, and folklore. In ancient Near Eastern and Abrahamic religions, demons are considered harmful spiritual entities that may cause demonic possession. In Jewish demonology, a key influence on Christianity and Islam, demons are often seen as minions of the Devil, causing sinful thoughts and actions. The term "daimōn" originally denoted a spirit or divine power, but in Christianity, demons were replaced by hostile entities. In Western occultism and Renaissance magic, demons are believed to be spiritual entities that can be conjured and controlled.
== Background ==
=== Ancient Egypt ===
The definition of "demon" in Egyptology is a complex issue due to the blurred boundaries between deities and demons and the absence of a term for the modern English "demon." Both deities and demons can act as intermediaries to deliver messages to humans, sharing some resemblance to the Greek daimon. Ancient Egyptians acknowledged the existence of malevolent demons by highlighting their names with red ink. They appeared to be subordinative and related to a specific deity, but may have occasionally acted independently of divine will. Ancient Egyptian demons can be divided into two classes: "guardians" and "wanderers." Guardians are tied to a specific place and their demonic activity is topographically defined. They may be benevolent towards those with secret knowledge to face them, but their aggressive nature is motivated by the need to protect their abodes. Wanderers are associated with possession, mental illness, death, and plagues. They often serve as executioners for major deities, such as Ra or Osiris, when ordered to punish humans on earth or in the netherworld. They can also be agents of chaos, arising from the world beyond creation to bring about misfortune and suffering without divine instructions. Their influences can be warded off and kept at the borders of the human world using magic, but they cannot be destroyed. A sub-category of "wanderers" are nightmare demons, believed to cause nightmares by entering a human body.
=== Mesopotamia ===
The ancient Mesopotamians believed that the underworld was home to many demons, which are sometimes referred to as "offspring of arali". These demons could sometimes leave the underworld and terrorize mortals on earth. One class of demons that were believed to reside in the underworld were known as galla; their primary purpose appears to have been to drag unfortunate mortals back to Kur. They are frequently referenced in magical texts, and some texts describe them as being seven in number. Several extant poems describe the galla dragging the god Dumuzid into the underworld. Like other demons, however, galla could also be benevolent and, in a hymn from King Gudea of Lagash (c. 2144 – 2124 BCE), a minor god named Ig-alima is described as "the great galla of Girsu".
Lamashtu was a demonic goddess with the "head of a lion, the teeth of a donkey, naked breasts, a hairy body, hands stained (with blood?), long fingers and fingernails, and the feet of Anzû". She was believed to feed on the blood of human infants and was widely blamed as the cause of miscarriages and cot deaths. Although Lamashtu has traditionally been identified as a demoness, the fact that she could cause evil on her own without the permission of other deities strongly indicates that she was seen as a goddess in her own right. Mesopotamian peoples protected against her using amulets and talismans. She was believed to ride in her boat on the river of the underworld and she was associated with donkeys. She was believed to be the daughter of An.
Pazuzu is a demonic god who was well known to the Babylonians and Assyrians throughout the first millennium BCE. He is shown with "a rather canine face with abnormally bulging eyes, a scaly body, a snake-headed penis, the talons of a bird and usually wings". He was believed to be the son of the god Hanbi. He was usually regarded as evil, but he could also sometimes be a beneficent entity who protected against winds bearing pestilence and he was thought to be able to force Lamashtu back to the underworld. Amulets bearing his image were positioned in dwellings to protect infants from Lamashtu and pregnant women frequently wore amulets with his head on them as protection from her.
Šul-pa-e's name means "youthful brilliance", but he was not envisioned as youthful god. According to one tradition, he was the consort of Ninhursag, a tradition which contradicts the usual portrayal of Enki as Ninhursag's consort. In one Sumerian poem, offerings made to Šhul-pa-e in the underworld and, in later mythology, he was one of the demons of the underworld.
According to The Jewish Encyclopedia, originally published in 12 volumes from 1901 to 1906, "In Chaldean mythology the seven evil deities were known as shedu, storm-demons, represented in ox-like form." They were represented as winged bulls, derived from the colossal bulls used as protective jinn of royal palaces.
=== Judaism ===
Judaism has differing opinions on the existence or non-existence of demons, with some believing they have no role in the Hebrew Bible. Some scholars argue that demons existed in Talmudic times but are not regularly present, and their demonic powers weaken with decreased prophecy, intuition, and inspiration.
==== Hebrew Bible ====
The Hebrew Bible mentions two classes of demonic spirits: the se'irim and the shedim. The se'irim, a male goat, are mentioned in Leviticus 17:7, possibly recollecting Assyrian demons in the shape of goats. The shedim, on the other hand, are foreign gods and appear in scriptural contexts of animal or child sacrifice to non-existent false gods. The term shedu, which originated from Chaldea, traveled to the Israelites and was applied as a dialogism to Canaanite deities.
Demons in popular Hebrew mythology were believed to come from the nether world and caused various diseases and ailments, particularly those affecting the brain and internal nature. To cure these diseases, evil demons were drawn out through incantations and talismanic performances, which the Essenes excelled at. Josephus, who spoke of demons as "spirits of the wicked entering into men that are alive and killing them," ascribed the origin of this performance to King Solomon.
In mythology, there were few defenses against Babylonian demons, with the mythical mace Sharur having the power to slay demons like Asag, a legendary gallu or edimmu of hideous strength.
==== Talmudic tradition and Midrashim ====
In the Jerusalem Talmud, notions of shedim ("demons" or "spirits") are almost unknown or occur only very rarely, whereas in the Babylonian Talmud there are many references to shedim and magical incantations. The existence of shedim in general was not questioned by most of the Babylonian Talmudists. As a consequence of the rise of influence of the Babylonian Talmud over that of the Jerusalem Talmud, late rabbis, in general, took as fact the existence of shedim, nor did most of the medieval thinkers question their reality. However, rationalists like Maimonides and Saadia Gaon and others explicitly denied their existence, and completely rejected concepts of demons, evil spirits, negative spiritual influences, attaching and possessing spirits. They thought the essential teaching about shedim and similar spirits is, that they should not be an object of worship, not a reality to be acknowledged or feared. Their point of view eventually became mainstream Jewish understanding.
The opinion of some authors is not clear. Abraham ibn Ezra states that insane people can see the image of se'irim, when they go astray and ascribe to them powers independent from God. It is not clear from his work, if he considered these images of se'irim as manifestations of actual spirits or merely delusions. Despite academic consensus, Rabbis disputed that Maimonies denied the existence of demons entirely. He would only dispute the existence of demons in his own life time, but not that demons had existed once.
Occasionally an angel is called satan in the Babylon Talmud. But satans do not refer to demons as they remain at the service of God: "Stand not in the way of an ox when coming from the pasture, for Satan dances between his horns".
Aggadic tales from the Persian tradition describe the shedim, the mazziḳim ("harmers"), and the ruḥin ("spirits"). There were also lilin ("night spirits"), ṭelane ("shade", or "evening spirits"), ṭiharire ("midday spirits"), and ẓafrire ("morning spirits"), as well as the "demons that bring famine" and "such as cause storm and earthquake". According to some aggadic stories, demons were under the dominion of a king or chief, usually Asmodai.
==== Kabbalah ====
In Kabbalah, demons are regarded a necessary part of the divine emanation in the material world and a byproduct of human sin (Qliphoth). After they are created, they assume an existence on their own. Demons would attach themselves to the sinner and start to multiply as an act of self-preservation. Medieval Kabbalists characterize such demons as punishing angels of destruction. They are subject to the Divine will, and do not act independently.
Other demonic entities, such as the shedim, might be considered benevolent. The Zohar classifies them as those who are like humans and submit to the Torah, and those who have no fear of God and are like animals.
==== Judaism Second Temple ====
The Watchers, or Nephilim, were believed to be the source of sin and evil on Earth, as they are mentioned in Genesis 6 and are the focus of 1 Enoch Chapters 1-16 and Jubilees 10. The Book of Enoch explains that sin originates when angels descend from heaven and fornicate with women, birthing giants. These fallen angels can lead humans to sin through direct interaction or providing forbidden knowledge. Most scholars believe that demons originate from the evil spirits of the deceased giants, cursed by God to wander the Earth. However, Dale Martin disagrees, arguing that the ghosts of the Nephilim are distinct and that the evil spirits would make people sacrifice to the demons, but they were not demons themselves.
The Book of Jubilees explains that sin occurs when Cainan accidentally transcribes astrological knowledge used by the Watchers, but does not place blame on the angels. In Jubilees 10:4, the evil spirits of the Watchers are discussed as evil and still remain on Earth to corrupt humans. God binds only 90% of the Watchers and destroys them, leaving 10% to be ruled by Mastema. The spirits of the giants are also referred to as "the bastards" in the apotropaic prayer Songs of the Sage, which lists the names of demons the narrator hopes to expel.
=== India Religions ===
==== Hinduism ====
In the Veda, gods (deva) and demons (asura) share both the upper world. It is only by the time of the Brahmanas that they are said to inhabit the underworld. The identification of asura with demons stems from the description of asura as "formerly gods" (pūrvadeva). The gods are said to have claimed heaven for themselves and tricked the demons, ending on earth. During the Vedic period, gods aid humans against demons. By that, gods secure their own place in heaven, using humans as tools to defeat their cosmic enemies.
Asura, in the earliest hymns of the Rigveda, originally meant any supernatural spirit, either good or bad. Since the /s/ of the Indic linguistic branch is cognate with the /h/ of the Early Iranian languages, the word asura, representing a category of celestial beings, is a cognate with Old Persian Ahura. Ancient Hinduism tells that Devas (also called suras) and Asuras are half-brothers, sons of the same father Kashyapa; although some of the Devas, such as Varuna, are also called Asuras. Later, during Puranic age, Asura and Rakshasa came to exclusively mean any of a race of anthropomorphic, powerful, possibly evil beings. Daitya (lit. sons of the mother "Diti"), Maya Danava, Rakshasa (lit. from "harm to be guarded against"), and asura are incorrectly translated into English as "demon".
With increase in asceticism during the post-Vedic period, withdrawal of sacrificial rituals was considered a threat to the gods. Ascetic humans or ascetic demons were supposed to be more powerful than gods. Pious, highly enlightened Asuras, such as Prahlada and Vibhishana, are not uncommon. The Asura are not fundamentally against the gods, nor do they tempt humans to fall. Many people metaphorically interpret the Asura as manifestations of the ignoble passions in the human mind and as symbolic devices. There were also cases of power-hungry asuras challenging various aspects of the gods, but only to be defeated eventually and seek forgiveness.
Hinduism advocates the reincarnation and transmigration of souls according to one's karma. Souls (Atman) of the dead are adjudged by the Yama and are accorded various purging punishments before being reborn. Humans that have committed extraordinary wrongs are condemned to roam as lonely, often mischief mongers, spirits for a length of time before being reborn. Many kinds of such spirits (Vetalas, Pishachas, Bhūta) are recognized in the later Hindu texts. According to Hinduism, demons are not inherently evil beings, but good by following their dharma what is being evil and deceitful. However, nothing is purely evil or good, and a demon could eventually abandon his demonic nature.
==== Buddhism ====
Belief in demons does not constitute an essential feature in Buddhism. However, since belief in demons were common during the rise of Buddhism, they are integrated into the cycle of Saṃsāra. Accordingly, their malevolent condition is due to their bad karma from their previous lives. When Buddhism spread, it accommodated itself with indigenous popular ideas about demons.
=== Iranian demons ===
==== Zoroastrianism ====
The Zorastrian belief in demons has had a significant impact on Abrahamic religions, particularly Christianity and Islam. Daevas, a form of daeva, are not just false gods but also embodiments of vices and the fierce side of nature. In Vedic texts, Indra is portrayed as a malicious force alongside Ahriman, the principle of evil. However, daevas are not just false gods but also embody the vices and fierce side of nature.
Demons assault souls when passing the Chinvat Bridge, leading to virtuous people warding them off and succeeding in heaven. In hell, demons continue to torment the damned. In Zarathustra's personal revelation, there are no individual daevas, but they are always referred to as a group and their worshippers are associated with violence and destruction.
Demons are subordinate to the absolute power of evil, the Evil Will, embodied in Ahriman/Angra Manyu. They possess no substance on their own and can only attach themselves to material agents. People who worship demons are blamed for giving them power. The Vendidad aims to ward off demons by offering laws for ritual purity.
Demons increase their power through acts in their favor and every act against Ahura Mazda. Everyday actions, such as cutting hair or nails, are considered forms of demon-worship. Good deeds, such as performing invocations of Ahura Mazda, are considered especially helpful.
The Bundahishn provides an overview of the creation of demons, stating that Ahura Mazda and Ahriman existed before the material world. When Ahriman attacked Ahura Mazda, Ahura Mazda created a world as a battle place, and Ahriman countered by creating six daevas. Demons are not tempted but directly created by the principle of evil.
Book 3 of the Denkard describes demons as the opposite of God's creative power, meaning they cannot create but only corrupt. Chapter 30 questions the reality of demons, as their existence seems to rely on their destruction of good.
==== Manichaeism ====
Manichaeism was a major religion founded in the third century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani (c. 216–274 AD), in the Sasanian Empire. One of its key concepts is the doctrine of Two Principles and Three Moments. Accordingly, the world could be described as resulting from a past moment, in which two principles (good and evil) were separate, a contemporary moment in which both principles are mixed due to an assault of the world of darkness on the realm of light, and a future moment when both principles are distinct forever. Thus, evil and demons played a significant role within Manichaean teachings.
There are numberless designations for various groups of demonic entities in Manichaean cosmology. The general term used for the beings of the world of darkness is dyw (dev). Before the demons attacked the realm of light, they have been in constant battle and intercourse against each other. It is only in the realm of darkness demons are described in their physical form. After their assault on the world above, they have been overcome by the Living Spirit, and imprisoned in the structure of the world. From that point onwards, they impact human's ethical life, and appear as personified ethical qualities, mostly greed, envy, grief, and wrath (desire for destruction).
Ibn al-Jawzi, in his work Talbīs Iblīs (devils' delusion), credits the Manichaeans with believing that each Light and Darkness (God and the Devil) consist of four bodies and one spirit. The bodies of Light (God) were referred to as angels, while the bodies of Darkness (Devil) were referred to as ifrits. Light and Darkness would multiple by angels and demons respectively.
In The Book of Giants, one of the canonical seven treatises also known from Jewish intertestamental literature, the Grigori (egrēgoroi) beget giant half-demon offspring with human woman. In the Middle Persian version of the Book of Giants they are referred to as kʾw, while in the Coptic Kephalaia as gigas. In accordance with some interpretations of Genesis 6:1–4, the giant offspring became the ancient tyrannic rulers over mankind, until overthrown by the angels of punishment. Nonetheless, these demons are still active in the microcosm, such as Āz and Āwarzōg. Views on stars (abāxtarān) are mixed. On one hand, they are regarded as light particles of the world soul fixed in the sky. On the other hand, stars are identified with powers hindering the soul from leaving the material world. The Third Messenger (Jesus) is said to have chained up demons in the sky. Their offspring, the nephilim (nĕf īlīm) or asrestar (āsarēštārān), Ašqalūn and Nebrō’ēl in particular, play instrumental roles in the creation of Adam and Eve. According to Manichaeism, the watchers, known as angels in Jewish lore, are not considered angels, but demons.
==== In the Shahnameh ====
The Shahnameh, a Persian poem written by Persian poet Ferdowsi between 977 and 1010 CE, describes demonic beings called divs as recurring enemies of human civilization. Divs are often black, with long teeth and claws as hands, and are masters of supernatural sorcery, reflecting their former associations with the daevas. The leader of the divs is Div-e Sepid (White Div), who is both an outstanding warrior and a master of magic. The poem begins with the Pishdadian dynasty defeating and subjugating the demonic divs. Tahmuras, the dīvband, commanded the divs and became known as the dīvband (binder of demons). Jamshid, the fourth king of the world, ruled over both angels and divs and served as a high priest of Ahura Mazda. After a just reign, Jamshid grew haughty and claimed divinity for himself. God withdraws his blessings from him, and his people become unsatisfied with their king. With the ceasing influence of God, the devil gains power and aids Zahhak to usurp the throne. King Kay Kāvus fails to conquer the legendary Mazandaran, the land of divs, and gets captured. Rustam, a warrior, fights through seven trials to save his king, facing common enemies such as the Div-e Sepid, the demonic king of Mazandaran. The divs in the Shahnameh may include both demonic supernatural beings and evil humans. Zahak, inspired by the daeva Azhi Dahāka, is a human tyrant who slays his father in exchange for power. Rustam's battle against the demonic may have symbolic meaning, representing wisdom, rationality, passion, and instinct. Killing the demon is a triumph over men's lower drives and an act of self-preservation.
=== Native North American demons ===
==== Wendigo ====
The Algonquian people traditionally believe in a spirit called a wendigo. The spirit is believed to possess people who then become cannibals. In Athabaskan folklore, there is a belief in wechuge, a similar cannibal spirit.
=== Christianity ===
==== Old Testament ====
The Old Testament does not explicitly mention demons as malicious spirits, as they serve and do not oppose the governing deity. The Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, merging "gods of other nations" into a single category of demons (daimones) with implied negativity. Greek Daimons were associated with demi-divine entities, deities, illnesses, and fortune-telling, but were translated as demons by Jewish translators. Despite sharing a similar function to the Greek Daimon, none were angels, creating a dualism between angels on God's side and demons of pagan origin. Their relationship to the God-head became the main difference between angels and demons, not their degree of benevolence. Both angels and demons can be fierce and terrifying, but angels act always at the service of the high god of the Israelites, unlike pagan demons, who represent foreign deities' powers.
==== New Testament ====
The New Testament contains 55 instances of demons, with some Old English Bible translations translating them as 'devil'. Demons are not morally ambivalent spirits but evil, causing misery, suffering, and death. They are not tempters but the cause of pain, suffering, and maladies, both physical and mental. Demons are not intermediary spirits who must be sacrificed for the appeasement of a deity. Possession shows no positivity, unlike some pagan depictions of spirit possession. Their origin is unclear, and early Christians believed demons were ghosts of the Nephilim. Some scholars identified fallen angels with demons due to references to Satan as the lord of demons and evil angels throughout the New Testament. Demons as entirely evil entities may not fit the proposed origin of evil in free will, as taught in alternate or opposing theologies.
==== Pseudepigrapha and deuterocanonical books ====
The biblical interpretation of demons is a complex topic, with different interpretations of the story of Passover and the Genesis flood narrative. In the Book of Jubilees, the demon Mastema is portrayed as allowing the powers of the Lord to slay the first-born in Egypt. In Genesis, God notices the corruption of the earth and attributes the sins of man to unclean demons who lead astray the children of the sons of Noah. In Jubilees, Mastema questions Abraham's loyalty and asks God to offer him as a burnt offering on the altar. The discrepancy between the story in Jubilees and Genesis 22 lies in the presence of Mastema. In Genesis, God tests Abraham's will to determine his true follower, while in Jubilees, Mastema has an agenda to promote the sacrifice of Abraham's son, a more demonic act than that of Satan in Job. In Jubilees, Mastema requests a tenth of the spirits of the children of the watchers, demons, to aid the process. These demons are passed into Mastema's authority, where an angel is in charge of demonic spirits. In the Testament of Solomon, the demon Asmodeus explains that she is the son of an angel and a human mother, and Beelzeboul, the prince of demons, appears as a fallen angel, but makes people worship demons as their gods.
==== Christian demonology ====
Demonology has evolved from a simple acceptance of demons to a complex study that has grown from Jewish demonology and Christian scriptures. Christian demonology is studied in depth within the Roman Catholic Church, but many other Christian churches also affirm and discuss the existence of demons. Origen argued against Celsus's belief that daimons were exclusively evil entities, supporting the later idea of demons. He believed that the most evil demons are located underground, and that Greek daemons, like nature spirits and giants, were thought to inhabit nature or air and nourish from pagan sacrifices. Origen sums up these spirits as fallen angels and equal to demons.
Many ascetics, like Origen and Anthony the Great, described demons as psychological powers tempting to evil, in contrast to benevolent angels advising good. Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite described evil as "defiancy" and explained demons as deficient creatures who willingly turn themselves towards the unreal and non-existence.
Michael Psellos proposed the existence of several types of demons, deeply influenced by the material nature of their regions. The highest and most powerful demons attack the mind of people using their "imaginative action" to produce illusions in the mind. The lowest demons are mindless, gross, and grunting spirits that try to possess people instinctively, attracted by human warmth and life. They cause diseases, fatal accidents, and animalistic behavior in their victims.
Invocation of Saints, holy men and women, especially ascetics, reading the Gospel, holy oil, or water is said to drive them out. However, Psellos' schemes have been too inconsistent to answer questions about the hierarchy of fallen angels and were considered impractical to have a lasting effect on Christian demonology.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches that angels and demons are real beings, not just symbolic devices. Exorcists perform numerous exorcisms annually, teaching that demons attack humans continually. However, afflicted individuals can be healed and protected through formal exorcisms or prayers of deliverance. Various attempts have been made to classify demons according to various proposed demonic hierarchies. In recent times, scholars doubt the existence of independent demons and instead consider them servants of God. S. N. Chiu's work in 1 Samuel 16 and 18 shows God using demons for his own purposes, placing them under divine authority. The Britannica Concise Encyclopedia also shows demons, despite their association with evil, are often under divine control and not acting of their own devices.
=== Mandaeism ===
In Mandaeism, the World of Darkness (alma d-hšuka), also referred to as Sheol, is the underworld located below Tibil (Earth). It is ruled by its king Ur (Leviathan) and its queen Ruha, mother of the seven planets and twelve constellations. The great dark Ocean of Sup (or Suf) lies in the World of Darkness. The great dividing river of Hitfun, analogous to the river Styx in Greek mythology, separates the World of Darkness from the World of Light. Prominent infernal beings found in the World of Darkness include lilith, nalai (vampire), niuli (hobgoblin), gadalta (ghost), satani (Satan) and various other demons and evil spirits.
=== Gnosticism ===
Gnosticism largely relies on Greek and Persian dualism, especially on Platonism as it was the idea by god for all the universe to exist, platonism. In accordance with Platonism, they regarded the idea as good while considering the material and conscious world to be inherently evil. The demonized star-deities of late Persian religion became associated with a demon, thus identifying the seven observable planets with a demonic ruler. These demons rule over the earth and the realm of planets, representing different desires and passions. According to Origen, the Ophites depicted the world as surrounded by the demonic Leviathan.
Like in Christianity, the term daimons was used for demons and refers to both the Archons as well as to their demonic assistants. Judas Iscariot is, in the Gospel of Judas, portrayed as the thirtheenth daimon for betraying Jesus and a supporter of the Archons.
Examples of Gnostic portrayals of demons can be found in the Apocryphon of John in which they are said to have helped construct the physical Adam and in Pistis Sophia which states they are ruled over by Hekate and punish corrupt souls.
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