Episode 208: History of Demons

SHOW LINKS

• FORMULA DRIVE, RENO SATANIC
  • From The Powers of Evil, Richard Cavendish, 1975: Beliefs about evil supernatural agencies thought to menace and prey on human beings are known in all societies and were vigorously alive in the ancient world—in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine and Syria, Greece and Rome, and pre-Christian western and northern Europe. They continued to flourish in medieval Europe, mingling with, influencing and being influenced by Christianity. They remained obstinately alive in subsequent centuries, were exported to America, and still have a firmer grip on our minds than is always understood or admitted, evil gods and spirits, malevolent ghosts, witches, vampires, nightmares and bogles, powers of the underworld and hell, things which prowled in the darkness of night and lurked in shadows and corners, at thresholds and turnings. They were for centuries an accustomed and feared reality of everyday life. They were vital to religion, and to the magic and folk belief which were inseparable from religion. At popular levels the Christian Church was often regarded primarily as a massive bulwark of protection against the evil agencies, the fear of disorder, the refusal to believe in chance and the consequent ascription of accidental harm and damage to supernatural agencies. The difficulty of accepting evil as a necessary ingredient of reality leads directly to concepts of malevolent supernatural forces. If evil need not be and should not be, if things have somehow gone wrong and evil has intruded itself into a world which could have been free of it, who or what is responsible? It cannot be man, because so much of the evil in the world is beyond all human contriving, and so the roots of evil are found in superhuman agencies—god or the gods, fate, the Devil, evil spirits, the dead, creatures of the underworld and the night, monsters, hags, hobgoblins and bogies. Evil impulses which stir and whisper in the brain may feel alien to the person who plays unwilling host to them, as if they had been insinuated by something from outside.This mythology was meant to guarantee order, stability and security, to renew and perpetuate the triumph over chaos,
    • From Demons & Illness in Ancient Mesopotamia, Andras Backsay, 2013: The Mesopotamian worldview included both harmful and benevolent spirits who actively interfered with everyday life. Demons usually appear as representatives of divine anger and carriers of illnesses. Everyone agreed that demons cause physical, mental and moral harm and that they are responsible for illness and misfortune. A particular demon is held responsible for one or more definable diseases. For instance, the alû-demon is associated with strokes, as are Sulak (the lurking demon of the bathroom), river demons, spirits of death, the ghosts of those who died in water, and the roaming spirits of the plains. The ghost eṭemmu was associated with complaints of the head and the neck, stomach problems, breathing problems, fever, and mental disorders. Moreover, the identification of diseases with particular demons changed over time. Hence, Lamashtu was linked with fever but later with diseases of liver and gallbladder. This demon was mainly associated with the death of newborn children, what would be termed today Sudden Infant Syndrome. The Asakku demon (whose name means “he who smites”) is deemed to be the cause of epilepsy, skin-disease, fever,, shivers, headache, jaundice, and possibly malaria. Asakku is the embodiment of heat, and he is associated with the hot winds that bring illnesses in the Gilgamesh Epic. Is the demon an independent mythological figure or the personification of a particular disease? Ancient Near Eastern cultures in general did not establish a sharp distinction between demons and illnesses. Demons appear as mythological figures AND as a personification of diseases. A more realistic picture about the relevant Mesopotamian demon would probably supply a better understanding of the sources of Jewish magic and Old Testament demonology.
    • From Demonic Beings in Ancient Egypt Manal B. Hammad, International Academic Journal Faculty of Tourism, 2018: There is no collective term in the ancient Egyptian language that is equivalent to the English word Demon. The Egyptians believed that they were surrounded by supernatural powers that affected their fate not only in the earthly life but also in their afterlife. These fate demons were benevolent protectors that played the role of their guardian angels from anything that threatened their course of life. However these protector demons were not always able to safeguard them against the evil ones. Demons were believed to have different origins; some were the creation of the gods, while others were a result of human beings either dead or alive. The lack of designated cult places for the demons is an important distinction between them and deities, at least till the New Kingdom. Demons possessed special powers that were not universal, but rather limited in nature and range. Demons do not dwell in the divine land of light or in temples, but they rather live in night, darkness or in natural places such as desserts pools, rivers, streams, ponds, foreign places, mountains, as well as caves, pits, tombs, as all were considered doorways into the netherworld. Some demons are stationary, attached to a certain place that serves as their home and described and depicted in funerary literature as guardians. Wandering demons move from one place to another and were connected to diseases, misfortune to humans, nightmares, and demonic possessions.
    • From Where Demons Come From, Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 2021: The Greeks used the word daimon to refer to minor gods or intermediate supernatural beings, as well as the souls of the dead. A daimon might also be a supernatural entity that causes disease, or the disease itself. Daimons could possess humans, causing madness. But philosophers generally saw daimons as good. And even regular people viewed them not as evil but as capricious creatures who needed sacrifices to mollify them. When scribes translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek, they used “daimon” for Hebrew terms referring to pagan gods, human-animal hybrids, and diseases. But notably, they didn’t use “daimon” to mean angel, even though supernatural creatures acting as intermediaries between humans and the divine fit neatly with the word’s meaning to ancient Greeks. To Greek-speaking Jews, daimons were gods of other nations, not creatures within their religion, and the translators might have wanted to avoid suggesting that angels were anything like minor gods. In the New Testament, the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke begin to equate demons with evil spirits. They also unify the figures of Satan, the devil, and Beelzebul. But it was only in the second half of the second century CE that Assyrian Christian theologian Tatian fully identified demons as the “arch-rebesl” who followed Satan in his banishment. Understanding how ancient Jews and Christians viewed angels and demons may spark our imaginations to think anew about the cosmos and cosmic demography. https://daily.jstor.org/where-demons-come-from/ 
    • From the Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906: The demons mentioned in scripture are of two classes: The “hairy ones” to which the Israelites sacrificed in the open fields (sometimes translated as “devils” or incorrectly as “he-goats”), are satyr-like demons, described as dancing in the wilderness, and are identical with the jinn of the Arabian woods and deserts. To the same class belongs Azazel, the goat-like demon of the wilderness, and Lilith. The wilderness as the home of demons was regarded as the place whence such diseases as leprosy issued. The Israelites also offered sacrifices to storm demons, believed to come forth not from the heavenly abode of Yhwh but from the underworld.  The main demons were workers of harm: To them were ascribed the various diseases, particularly such as affect the brain and the inner parts. These demons were supposed to enter the body and cause the disease. Demonology among the Jews preserved its simple character as a popular belief, the demons being regarded as mischievous, but not as diabolical or as agencies of a power antagonistic to god. Even Ashmodai, or Asmodeus, the king of demons, who kills the seven successive bridegrooms of Sara before their marital union, is but a personification of lust and murder; but there is nothing Satanic—that is, of the spirit of rebellion against god—in him. It was the demonology of Babylonia which populated the world of the Jews with beings of a semi-celestial and semi-infernal nature. Only after the division of the world in the Zoroastrian system did we see the rise of the Jewish division of life between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of evil.
    • From The Satan, Ryan Stokes, 2016: 
    • From Jubilees, 2nd Century CE…ish: And it came to pass when the children of men began to multiply on the face of the earth and daughters were born unto them, that the messengers of YAHWEH saw that they were beautiful to look upon; and they took themselves wives of all whom they chose, and they bare unto them sons that were giants. And YAHWEH looked upon the earth, and behold the earth had wrought all manner of evil before his eyes.  And YAHWEH opened seven flood-gates of heaven, And the mouths of the fountains of the great deep, seven mouths in number. And the flood-gates began to pour down water from the heaven forty days and forty nights until the whole world was full of water. And when the waters disappeared Noah went forth from the ark, and built an altar on the mountain. And he made atonement for the earth, for everything that had been on it had been destroyed, save those that were in the ark with Noah. [But soon] the unclean demons began to lead astray the children of the sons of Noah, and to make error and destroy them. And he prayed before YAHWEH his Sovereign Ruler, and said: ‘As you have not caused me to perish as You did the sons of perdition, let not wicked spirits rule but bless me and my sons, that we may increase and Multiply and replenish the earth. And You know how Your Watchers, the fathers of these spirits, acted in my day: and as for these spirits, imprison them and hold them fast in the place of condemnation, and let them not bring destruction on the sons of your servant.’ But the chief of the spirits, Mastema, came and said: ‘YAHWEH, Creator, let some of them remain before me, and let them listen to my voice, and do all that I shall say unto them; for if some of them are not left to me, I shall not be able to execute the power of my will on the sons of men; for these are for corruption and leading astray before my judgment, for great is the wickedness of the sons of men.’ And YAHWEH said: Let the tenth part of them remain, and let nine parts descend into the place of condemnation,’ and all the malignant evil ones we bound in the place of condemnation, and a tenth part of them we left that they might be subject before Satan on the earth.
    • From The Gospel of Mark: Unclean Spirits and Demons, Brice Laughrey, Breaking Bread Theology, 2021: Mark uses two terms to talk about demons: demons (of course) and unclean spirits. These seem to be used interchangeably. Demons are always described as possessing a person, either explicitly or implicitly. Mark never describes the demons themselves, and he only describes symptoms of the possessions on three occasions: Convulsing and shouting, Extreme strength, howling, and bruising oneself, unable to speak, unable to hear. Most importantly, in the entire gospel of Mark, the demons are never the main emphasis of the stories. Casting out demons is often mentioned in passing along with other things that Jesus and the disciples were doing, such as proclaiming the message in the synagogues. No special emphasis is given to the demons, except in extended narratives, and even then, the conversations are short and generally serve to set up other interactions. In Mark 3, the scribes accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the power of the ruler of demons. But Jesus wasn’t overly concerned about the demons. He was concerned about the people. Why do people get so caught up in seeking out and “identifying” demons in the world? Why are people so concerned with identifying those who are “in league with demons?” Even Jesus’s harshest responses to others had nothing to do with demons or demonic forces. When we become fixated on “evil spiritual forces,” we often fall into the same trap. Christians should stop using demons as an excuse to be fearful or hateful toward others or say terrible, degrading things about people. At least as far as the gospel of Mark is concerned, that sort of attitude is counter to Jesus’s perspective on demons and unclean spirits. In my opinion, a far better concern is this: how do I love the people whose lives seem to be captive to things outside their control? https://breakingbreadtheology.com/2021/04/11/the-gospel-of-mark-unclean-spirits-and-demons/ 
    • From Perceptions of Demons in Medieval Theology and Iconography, Victoria Burns-Price University of Reading, 2021: There is a stark difference between the nature and physicality of demons as described by theologians and the way in which demons are represented in the visual arts. The idea of demons and their presence in the human world was an increasingly interesting issue for the medieval church. This interest can be found as far back as Augustine, who was writing at a time when pagan concepts were being understood through a Christian worldview and ideas such as daimons (neutral spirits in the GrecoRoman world) were translated into Christian demons, which warranted significant discussion. An interest in these topics was revived in the medieval period for various reasons: There was a widespread belief that the year 1000 would herald the Last Judgement, based on the reference in Revelation 20 to Satan being bound for 1000 years, after which he would be freed to wreak havoc on the world. As a result of this, ideas around hell, eternal punishment and sin became more prominent at this time. In the following centuries, the Church was increasingly concerned by non-orthodox beliefs, heretical groups, and the influence of Judaism and Islam. On demons specifically, Lombard cites Augustine: “All angels before their fall had aerial bodies, formed from the purer and higher part of the air and not suitable for suffering. And such bodies were preserved for the good angels who remained steadfast. But the evil angels in their fall were changed into an inferior quality of thicker air, for just as they were cast down from a worthier place to a lower one, that is, into our cloudy atmosphere, so their refined bodies were transformed into inferior and thicker ones, in which they can suffer from a superior element–that is, from fire.” 
      • This includes demons as hybrid compilations of other creatures and with overtly monstrous features, including unusual colourings, bat-like wings, enlarged limbs and teeth, or horns. It could be that the hybridity of the demonic, especially incorporating the animalistic, is in contrast with the concepts of man being made in god’s image and the incarnation of the divine in Christ. The hybrid nature of the representation of demons in these instances is therefore a way to demonstrate their otherness and that their very existence is in conflict. Many of the mythical creatures in the ancient world were understood as hybrid, and the desire to condemn these creatures as demonic and anti-Christian could have influenced the ongoing association between demons and hybridity. But even within theological contexts, such as illuminations in theological manuscripts, it is very likely that the purpose of the illustrations representing demons was not to reflect theological accuracy. It would be very difficult to represent demons as incorporeal beings made of air. Similarly, showing demons as taking on specific human or animal forms would also be difficult as there would be no immediate and obvious way of determining whether they were demons in that form, or the forms themselves, outside of specific tropes such as a serpent in the garden of Eden. Were angels and demons to be represented according to their true nature, this would not only be impossible due to their incorporeality, but they would also look the same given that demons are fallen angels despite being completely opposite in their fundamental nature, a point which is important to make to clear to the viewer. Standard tropes therefore developed with angels depicted in a similar way to saints, with halos to demonstrate their closeness to god, and wings to mark them as supernatural. Demons, on the other hand, were depicted as monstrous, demonstrating both their wicked nature and distinguishing them from natural animals.
    • From Demons & Their Jobs in Medieval Art, Carolyn Whitson, Pilgrim To the Past, 2024: Based on the artworks, medieval demons have jobs to do: They have duties in Hell, saints to harass, souls to steal, nooks to leap out from to startle sinners.  Some seem to love their job, others seem to find it rather distressing. The ones who are charged with punishing sinners operate under very crowded conditions.  In medieval artwork, they are often crammed into the right side, torturing as best they can. The demons in Santa Maria’s Judgment Portal are each tightly pocketed into a rectangular space, reminiscent of today’s corporate cubicle farms. It looks as though each demon is a specialist, and is not able to just move from one punishment to the next: It’s a career. Some demons suffer under disorganized working conditions, as a tumble of demons and sinners could leave you wondering who is whom. I think the theory here is that Heaven is orderly and so Hell must be chaotic. Some demons have jobs that are fairly working-class, as they do pick-ups and deliveries, they carry bottles for stuffing in dead souls, and something like rakes to catch them. Winged and horned, they have the aspects of animals, but they are attendants of death. In Hell-mouth scenes and rounding-up-sinners scenes, the demons seem to function as bouncers, only in the case of damnation it’s about making sure that everyone gets in, rather than keeping the losers out.   Additional skills in sinner Tetris are appreciated.  Hell is a standing-room-only kind of place, apparently.  Tempting a saint into sin is an important role for demons to play in medieval art.  For the saint to shine, it’s necessary to show his heroic commitment, so the demon’s job is much like a salesman or a trader.  So, which demons have the best jobs? I think they’re the ones who get to ham it up in representations of biblical stories, where sometimes the demon upstages everyone else in the scene. What are entry-level jobs for demons?  Probably the role of being a jump-scare reminder that one’s wandering thoughts (in church) are pathways to evil, like the tiny demon peeking out from the base of a pillar in the nave of Fleury Abbey–he’s so new at his work that he doesn’t even know how to look scary yet. Promotion from jump-scare demons in the church interiors might be to gargoyle: You get to be larger, and you get to show how good the church is at warding off evil from the parishioners within.  It’s a PR kind of job. https://www.pilgrimtothepast.com/post/welcome-to-the-working-week-demons-and-their-jobs-in-medieval-art 
    • From Necromancy: The Art of Controlling Demons, Sebastia Giralt, Science CAT, 2018: Until the thirteenth century, medieval European intellectuals dismissed as rural superstitions the practices of inferior magic or sorcery. However, the Latin translations of texts about magic and astrology that reached the West, made above all in the Iberian Peninsula during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, together with the other branches of knowledge in the Greco-Arab tradition, caused a revival of magic thanks to the authority conferred upon it by ancient, often mythical, origins, which were based on numerous works attributed to Solomon or Hermes. Thus, it was above all during the thirteenth century when theologians and natural philosophers  began to distinguish between “natural magic” and “necromancy” – now “black magic,” as its purpose was to control devils. The former was closer to the sciences, insofar as it claimed to know and exploit the occult properties originating naturally; the latter, on the other hand, was conceptually closer to religion, as it aspired to obtain the aid of supernatural powers through rites, and because of this it was the one most fiercely opposed by the Church. Witchcraft has very little relation to these magical practices; it might be more correct to call it “anti-religion”: in place of god, the antithetical being, the devil, is adored and consequently it is regarded as being an inversion of the values and rituals of Christianity. The spirits invoked by necromancers from the manuals that they used are linked to heavenly bodies or the natural forces of the Earth but also to demons, angels and other ambiguous spirits in an often imperceptible confusion. All these spirits of different origins are indiscriminately considered demons by orthodox thinking, and their invocation is understood to be equally reprehensible. Demons are everywhere, as Thomas Aquinas said, although theologians believed they inhabited above all the lowest dark air that is in contact with the Earth, and they were organized in a hierarchy under Lucifer. This hierarchical view goes back to Neoplatonism based on the identification of the demons and the deities of Greco-Roman Antiquity with the fallen angels of Judaeo-Christian tradition – together with those of other pagan religions: Celtic, Germanic) and those of the Near East, due to the same wish to degrade them by equating them with magic. Rather than making a pact with the devil, it is the necromancer who demands the obedience of demons and other spirits thanks to the power conferred upon him by god. Consequently, the magician must have a profound belief in god and before performing any operation he must purify himself with a period of chastity, fasting, prayer and perform his ablutions with holy water. The data on the possession of magic manuscripts allow us to learn about their users in greater detail: they were mainly compiled by clerics with a religious dedication, generally monks. Medical practitioners, alchemists and astrologers were the next most significant groups that collected magic books. https://www.sciencia.cat/temes/medieval-necromancy-art-controlling-demons 
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