Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or occultism. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may be nonhuman 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, several African groups, and others. The jinns, 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."Demon" from Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, © 2006 World Almanac Education Group, retrieved from history.comvan der Toorn, Becking, van der Horst (1999), Dictionary of Deities and Demons in The Bible, Second Extensively Revised Edition, Entry: Demon, pp. 235-240, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,
Prevalence of demons According to some religions, all the affairs of the universe 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.Ludwig, Theodore M., The Sacred Paths: Understanding the Religions of the World, Second Edition, pp. 48-51, © 1989 Prentice-Hall, Inc., 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. Some are potentially of the malignant type, to be propitiated by an appeal to knowledge of the supernatural.Rink, Henry (1875), "Chapter IV: Religion" of Tales and Traditions of the Eskimo, London, 1875, at sacred-texts.com Traditional Korean belief posits that countless demons inhabit the natural world; they fill household objects and are present in all locations. By the thousands, they accompany travellers, seeking them out from their places in the elements.
Greek philosophers such as Porphyry of Tyre (who claimed influence from Platonism),Cumont, Franz (1911), The Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism, Chapter VI: "Persia", p. 267 at Internet Sacred Text Archive. as well as the fathers of the Christian Church, held that the world was pervaded with spirits, the latter of whom advanced the belief that demons received the worship directed at pagan gods.Augustine, The City of God, Book 8, Chapters 24-25, at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. .
Characterization of spirits Not all spirits across all cultures are considered malevolent. In Central Africa, the Mpongwe believe in local spirits, just as the Inuit do; but they are regarded as inoffensive in the main. Passers-by must make some nominal offering as they near the spirits' residence. The occasional mischievous act, such as the throwing down of a tree on a passer-by, is believed by the natives to be perpetuated by the class of spirits known as Ombuiri.
Many spirits, especially those regarding natural processes, are often considered neutral or benevolent; ancient European peasant fears of the corn-spirit would crop up during irritation, as a result of the farmer infringing on the domain of said spirit, and taking his property by cutting the corn; similarly, there is no reason why the less significant pantheon should be regarded as malevolent, and historical evidence has shown that the Petara of the Dyaks are viewed as invisible guardians of mankind rather than hostile malefactors.Greem, Eda (c. 1909), Borneo: The Land of River and Palm at the Project Canterbury website
Types
Demons are generally classified as spirits that are believed to enter into relations with the human race. As such, the term includes:
angels that, in Christian tradition, fell from grace; malevolent genii or familiars;Demon, entry in the Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper, hosted at dictionary.com spirits such as receive a cult (e.g., ancestor worship); ghosts or other malevolent revenants.Ghost, entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Copyright © 2000, Houghton Mifflin Company, hosted at dictionary.com
Excluded are souls conceived as inhabiting another world. Yet 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 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).Masello, Robert, Fallen Angels and Spirits of the Dark, pp. 64-68, 2004, The Berkley Publishing Group, 200 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10016, Belief in demons goes back many millennia.
Ancient Mesopotamian religion
The ancient Mesopotamians believed that the underworld (Kur) 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 was 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 ( 2144 – 2124 BC), a minor god named Ig-alima is described as "the great galla of Girsu". Demons had no cult in Mesopotamian religious practice since demons "know no food, know no drink, eat no flour offering and drink no libation."cf. line 295 in "Inanna's descent into the nether world"
Abrahamic religions
Judaism
Judaism does not have a demonology or any set of doctrines about demons. Use of the name "Lucifer" stems from , a passage which does speak of the defeat of a particular Babylonian King, to whom it gives a title which refers to what in English is called the Day Star or Morning Star (in Latin, lucifer, meaning "light-bearer", from the words lucem ferre).
There is more than one instance in Jewish medieval myth and lore where demons are said to have come to be, as seen by the Grigori angels, of Lilith leaving Adam, of demons such as vampires, unrest spirits in Jewish folklore such as the dybbuk.Demonology at jewishencyclopedia.comJosephus, Flavius, Wars of The Jews, Book VII, Chapter VI.
Christianity
Christian demonology is the study of demons from a Christian point of view. It is primarily based on the Bible (Old Testament and New Testament), the exegesis of scriptures, the writings of early Christian philosophers and hermits, tradition, and legends incorporated from other beliefs.
Some scholars suggest that the origins of early Greek Old Testament demonology can be traced to two distinctive and often competing mythologies of evil— Adamic and Enochic. The first tradition — the Adamic tradition — ties demons to the fall of man caused by the serpent who beguiled Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Thus, the Adamic story traces the source of evil to Satan's transgression and the fall of man, a trend reflected in the Books of Adam and Eve which explains the reason for Satan's demotion by his refusal to worship and submit to God.
The other tradition — the early Enochic tradition — ties demons to the fall of angels in the antediluvian period.A. Orlov, Dark Mirrors: Azazel and Satanael in Early Jewish Demonology (Albany, SUNY, 2011) 6. This tradition bases its understanding of the origin of demons on the story of the fallen Watchers led by Azazel. Scholars believe these two enigmatic figures—Azazel and Satan—exercised formative influence on early Jewish demonology. While in the beginning of their conceptual journeys, Azazel and Satan are posited as representatives of two distinctive and often rival trends tied to the distinctive etiologies of corruption, in later Jewish and Christian demonological lore, both antagonists can enter each other's respective stories in new conceptual capacities. In these later traditions Satanael is often depicted as the leader of the fallen angels while his conceptual rival Azazel is portrayed as a seducer of Adam and Eve. While historical Judaism never recognized any set of doctrines about demons,Mack, Carol K., Mack, Dinah (1998), A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels and Other Subversive Spirits, p. XXXIII, New York: Henry Holt and Co., scholars believe its post-exilic concepts of eschatology, angelology, and demonology were influenced by Zoroastrianism.Zoroastrianism, NET Bible Study DictionaryJahanian, Daryoush, M.D., "The Zoroastrian-Biblical Connections", at Meta Religion. Some, however, believe these concepts were received as part of the Kabbalistic tradition.Franck, Adolphe (1843), translated by Sossnitz, I. (1926), The Kabbalah, or, The Religious Philosophy of the Hebrews, Part Two, Chapter IV, "Continuation of The Analysis of The Zohar: The Kabbalists' View of The World", p. 184 at Internet Sacred Text Archive. While many people believe today Lucifer and Satan are different names for the same being, not all scholars subscribe to this view.Davidson, Gustav (1967), A Dictionary of Angels, Including The Fallen Angels, Free Press, p. 176, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 66-19757,
Several authors throughout Christian history have written about demons for a variety of purposes. Theologians like Thomas Aquinas wrote concerning the behaviors of which Christians should be aware,Thomas Aquinas's Summa Theologica, Question 114, hosted on New Advent while witch hunters like Heinrich Kramer wrote about how to find and what to do with people they believed were involved with demons.Malleus Maleficarum, hosted on the Internet Sacred Text Archive Some texts such as the Lesser Key of SolomonLesser Key of Solomon, The Conjuration To Call Forth Any of the Aforesaid Spirits, hosted on Internet Sacred Text Archive or The Grimoire of Pope Honorius (although these, the earliest manuscripts, were from well after these individuals had died) are written with instructions on how to summon demons in the name of God and often were claimed to have been written by individuals respected within the Church. These latter texts were usually more detailed, giving names, ranks, and descriptions of demons individually and categorically. Most Christians commonly reject these texts as either diabolical or fictitious. Catholics accused Lutherans of believing in diabolatry or that the devil had unlimited powers.
In modern times, some demonological texts have been written by Christians, usually in a similar vein to Thomas Aquinas, explaining their effects in the world and how faith may lessen or eliminate damage by them.Jessie Penn-Lewis, War on the Saints on Google Books, introductory chapter A few Christian authors, such as Jack Chick and John Todd, write with intentions similar to Kramer, proclaiming that demons and their human agents are active in the world. These claims can stray from mainstream ideology, and may include such beliefs as that Christian rock is a means through which demons influence people. Not all Christians believe that demons exist in the literal sense. Some believe that the New Testament's exorcism language was originally part of curing ceremonies for what are now recognized as epilepsy, mental illness, etc.
Islam
Many demonic or demon-like entities are not purely spiritual but physical in nature and related to animals. Julius Wellhausen states, that Islamic demonology is always zoology as well.Tobias Nünlist Dämonenglaube im Islam Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2015 page 114 (German) One prominent classification is given by al-Jahiz,Tobias Nünlist Dämonenglaube im Islam Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 2015 page 63 (German) who classifies jinn as: