Satan. Temptation. Demonology is the cultural heritage of the peoples of the world. Seven deadly sins
...-tempter
Alternative descriptions. "Alcoholic" tempter
Alcoholic green adder
Alcoholic green bastard
A bastard driving a squirrel
The bastard tempter
Green... from a bottle
Green Alcogad
Green tempter
Snake m. snake, snake f. reptile, legless animal, the fourth category of reptiles (frogs, turtles, lizards, snakes). Snake, creeping, legless animal, different types. *Evil person , secretive and malicious. In factories: iron crankshaft, axle. Underwater snake, swearing. The snake brought money to someone, about fiery meteors. Snake, more commonly used. as the name of a fairy-tale monster, clawed, winged; snake, viper, creeping reptile. A snake, a serpent, a children's toy, a piece of paper seasoned with splinters, floated in the wind on a driver, with a tail attached to it, with a rattle, etc. He is also a snake m. Muscovite, rook, kite, rook, fly, goose, goose, window. Snake or giant snake, Boa constrictor, animal of hot countries. The rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus, is one of the most poisonous snakes, second only to the spectacled snake, Coluber naia. In Rus', besides the Caucasus, the southern Kyrgyz steppes and the Amur, there are only two poisonous snakes: the roe or black viper (Vipera berus) and the copperhead chersea), and even those are considered by others to be one. Serpent Gorynich, Russian fairy-tale serpent, inhabitant of mountains and caves. Our people do not call snakes and yellow-bellied snakes, and the latter is also considered by scientists to be lizards; he has signs of front legs. Snake-fish, in the Mediterranean Sea, Ophidium barbatum The snake dies, and all the potion is missing. No matter how long you hold a snake, you can still expect trouble from it. I fed the snake onto my neck. Looks like a snake from inside his bosom. A flatterer under words, a snake under flowers. You will bypass the snake, but you will not escape slander. Don't raise the snake above your eyes. After killing the snake, hang it on an aspen tree. If you kill a snake and hang it on a birch tree, it will rain. The snake bites not for the sake of satiety, but for the sake of daring. He warmed up the snake in his bosom. Rear (or underwater) snake. Evil matchmaker, seven-headed snake! It is better to live with a snake than with an evil wife. An evil wife is the same as a snake. The wife and the husband are a snake, that is, one breed at the same time. From the bush of a thorn, by the leg of a tipul? snake. On Artamon, snakes go into the forests, dens of September) and hide. The reason snakes don’t bite is because Stenka Razin spoke to them, in Astrakhan, where the snakes are water snakes, not poisonous. On St. Isaac's May) the snake holiday and the holiday of gardeners. On Isakiya, snakes gather and go by train to the snake wedding. Snake will belittle old medium-caliber long arquebus. Part of a gun frame, the cylinder is opposite the lock. Arch. kite. Bonfire borok, beads, piercings, worn around the neck. Chernomorsk fish from the genus Gobius ophiocephalus. Spike grass Briza media, snake grass, bugs. Ryaz. a kind of round dance. In general, anything tortuous or wavy, angled without fractures. The pattern goes like a snake. The people along the road meander like a snake. Water snake, plant. Caltha, Arum. Snake, snake vol. enlarge Little snake, little snake, -shek m. young snake, cub. Serpent, serpent, serpentine, belonging to the serpent, part of it. Snake, snake, belonging to a snake, characteristic of, related to it. The tongue is serpentine, malicious, slanderous. Wisdom is a serpent, gentleness (meekness) is a dove. Snake's head, snake's head, millstone or millstone, Cyprea shell. blood, dragon's blood, crimson plant tar. grass, plant Stachys sylvatica. Briza media, snake, cuckoo tears? Veronica, see oak grove. Snake tongue, plant. Ophioglossum. Snake arrow, anthrax; cattle plague, death of the spleen. Serpentine, abundant in snakes. Serpentine, serpentine, wriggling like a snake, like a snake. Snake stream, stream. Serpentine, plant. Antennaria dioica gourd, pellet, cumin, kamchuk, mosquito, hernia, coldweed, scrofula, forty-nose. Orchis maculata, five-fingered, cuckoo's tears, sogacha? wet. Plant. turtledove, Rumex aquaticus; gourd, Gnaphalium uliginosum; Polygonum bistorta, heart-root, brylena. Serpentine, afit, aphiolite talc stone, from which mortars are made. Serpentine m. plant. Serpentaria. Gentiana campestris, oldweed. Hedera helix, ivy. Zmeevets, plant. Euphrasia officinalis eye socket, light eye, twelve-legged, candle, eyebright. plant deryabka. Snake, wriggle like a snake: about a pattern, path, lightning, etc. Snake or serpentine, -shaped, -like, serpentine, similar to a snake, like a snake. Snake-haired, snake-haired, dialect. about jellyfish, about furies, with snakes instead of hair on their heads. Zee-headed, with a snake's head. Snakehead, plant. Dracocephalum. M. plant. Scorzonera aquatica (hispanica?), grass grass, grasshopper, sweet root, hairy grass. Serpent-bearing, carrying a serpent, a serpent. Ophiuchus is one of the constellations. Snake-like, snake-like, similar in character and custom to a snake. Snake tamer, snake tamer, snake charmer, snake conspirator m. who knows how to charm or tame snakes
Common name for vodka: "green..."
Tempted Eve to sin
Tempter of Eden
Common name for vodka: “green...”
Paradise tempter
The reptile of Eden
Treated Eve to an apple
. "alcoholic" tempter
Alcoholic bastard
Green, but not a dollar
Biblical tempter
Green... from a bottle
Alcoholic green adder
When translating a word from one language into another, its root or stem is different from the root and stem of the word in the target language. An example is the word “love,” which is a translation of the Greek word agape. There is no similarity between the stems or roots of the words agape and love, but they mean the same thing.
Word " Satan" This satan in the Greek New Testament (the word is of Hebrew origin). The meaning of this word is “enemy; rival", "enemy; enemy".
Word " devil" comes from Greek diabolos, which means "slanderer"; "calumniator"; "traitor".
In Matthew 4:3 Satan is called " tempter" This is a translation of the Greek word peirazon (initial form– peirazo), which means “to test”; “to be tested” with good or bad intentions.
Satan, or the devil, is a very bad creature. The devil was testing Jesus! The devil failed. Jesus answered him three times with passages of Scripture, and the ancient tempter retreated from Him.
When the devil came to test Jesus, our Lord was filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus could have said, “Get behind Me, Satan, I am full of the Holy Spirit!” Instead, Jesus turned to the Bible and the devil left Him!
1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil,
2 And having fasted forty days and forty nights, he was finally hungry.
3 And the tempter came to Him and said, If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.
4 And he answered and said unto him, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
5 Then the devil takes Him to the holy city and places Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6 And he says to Him: If You are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written: He will command His angels concerning You, and in their hands they will bear You up, lest You dash Your foot against a stone.
7 Jesus said to him, “It is also written, ‘Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
8 Again the devil takes Him to great lengths high mountain and shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory,
9 And he saith unto him, I will give all this unto thee, if thou shalt fall down and worship me.
10 Then Jesus saith unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve.
11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, the angels came and ministered to Him.
(Matthew 4:1-11).
Satan has his ways, and he doesn't want us to know about them. The most effective trick the devil uses is to make people think he doesn't exist!
Paul was expressing his fears that Satan would gain victory over him or other Christians. At the same time, the apostle said: “for we are not unaware of his devices” (2 Cor 2:11). " Intentions"in this text this is a translation of the Greek word noemata(initial form - noema), which refers to reasonable ideas, goals, plans, intentions, etc.
Satan is fighting against us. He will take advantage of our weakness if we let him. This is a struggle for life and death! We can have victory if we stay with the Lord and His word! After all, the devil uses “wiles” against us:
11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you can stand against the wiles of the devil.
(Eph 6:11).
These words are addressed to Christians. “Pilots” in this context means the intrigues and deceptions that the devil resorts to. He uses miracles of ingenuity to deceive us.
Word " intrigues", this is the translation of the Greek word methodeia(meta – “for, through, with”; hodos – “way, means, way”), from which the word “method” comes.
And, I must say, Satan has not one method, but many methods! If you are not careful and “shut the front door on him”, he will try to get in through a window or even a chimney! Therefore, James in his letter says words that need to be remembered:
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God; resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
(James 4:7).
She's on everyone's lips. Let's say demons. Realists may laugh, but they still know what it is. And in the darkness of the night, when unnecessary thoughts creep into your head, willy-nilly you will also think: maybe they really do exist? Of course, you won’t be able to find a list of the demons of hell with a photo - and it won’t prove anything, but it’s still sometimes very useful to ask.
Demonology - the cultural heritage of the peoples of the world
Of course, this is all lyrics, and besides, it’s everyone’s personal matter. But such stories and myths, legends passed down from generation to generation, scary tales, are often similar in some interpretations. They all come down to one name - demonology. The myths of demonology are very ancient. Some demon names that can be gleaned from it have evolved into others - providing inspiration for characters in literature, visual arts and theater.
Mysticism has always inspired creators. This is a huge layer in which the old can be shown in a new light as much as you like and surprise each time.
In addition, demonology in its usual sense can be considered a cultural heritage to the same extent as other myths.
Demonology, among other things, includes a list of the demons of hell. Names are usually arranged alphabetically or according to demonic hierarchy.
Christian demonology
Christianity presents demons as fallen angels. The first, and most important of them, of course, is Lucifer - a former angel, the most beautiful of them, who dared to imagine himself as God himself. Further, Christian demonology is divided into two branches: the first tells that Lucifer is responsible for the creation of other evil spirits, the second denies the Devil’s ability to create, leaving this process only to God, which means that other demons are also fallen angels, only of a lower rank, those who bowed before Lucifer themselves.
In general, Lucifer is the most famous and most controversial image in demonology. The names of the Devil and Satan are attributed to him, he is also the Ruler of Hell, although at the same time it is indicated that he is locked in his kingdom, and his own servants inflame the heat in which he burns. In any case, if we consider the list of demons of Hell, whose names are arranged in hierarchy, Lucifer will be in first place.
Evil spirits or soulless creatures?
An interesting dilemma about the presence of a soul in demons: according to Christian demonology, the name itself undoubtedly indicates that, of course, they do. Other sources differ somewhat in their opinions on this issue.
So, for example, there is a theory that fallen angels are the highest rank of demons, the most important and strongest of them. The rest are the souls of people who fell into hell and turned into evil spirits. According to this theory, it turns out that demons still have a soul.
Another theory comes from the fact that a demon is a demon because he is soulless. That is why they have black eyes - a mirror of the soul that does not reflect anything. The theory's explanation is that demons cannot feel. As a result of all this, a person who has fallen into hell for his sinfulness suffers there forever, and it is not possible for him to get out even in the form of a demon.
Hell Demons: List of Names
As you can see, there are many questions about demonology. Almost all of them have mixed answers. Is there anything definitive about this pseudoscience? Oddly enough, these are names. Thus, the famous demons of hell, a list of whose names were compiled by demonologists: among them there are those that are known from literature even to those who are generally far from mysticism in their lives, there are those that are directly related to biblical events, and there are also those , which can be very surprising with their extraordinaryness and at the same time detailed history. Below is a hierarchical list of demons in demonology.
- Lucifer (Hebrew לוציפר; lat. Lucifer) (bringer of light) - Ruler of Hell. After Lucifer was cast out of heaven, his appearance changed from a beautiful angel to an ugly one: red skin, horns and dark hair. Behind his shoulders are huge wings, and each finger is crowned with a pointed claw. The power of the devil is enormous, everything in Hell is subject to him, and everything in it worships him. Characteristics associated with the image of Lucifer include freedom (rebellion), pride and knowledge. After falling from heaven he acquired the name of Satan. The sins of this demon are primarily attributed to an attempt to gain God's throne, but also to the fact that it was Lucifer who gave knowledge to people. In Christian demonology, his name is also the Devil.
- Casicandriera - wife of Lucifer. Lady of Hell. Mentioned in a small number of sources.
- Astaroth (Latin: Astaroth; Hebrew: עשתרות) - the first in Hell after the Devil. He is one of those fallen angels who followed Lucifer and therefore were cast out of heaven with him. Possesses remarkable strength. Very talented, smart and charming. He is handsome, and it is not difficult for him to attract love with his charm. However, there is as much beauty in it as there is cruelty. Astaroth is more often than other demons depicted in human form. In the grimoires, on the contrary, he is ugly, but not a single source diminishes his strength. Popularization of the image of this demon comes down to its use in literature and other art. The famous Woland, for example, is in many ways similar to Astaroth. To the characteristics right hand Satan himself is credited with the ability to make a person invisible, give power over snakes, and also answer any question.
- Astarte (Hebrew: עשתורת) - wife of Astaroth. In some sources, the images of a demonic husband and wife merge into one fallen angel under the name Astarte. The spelling of both names in Hebrew is identical. The ancient Phoenicians called war and motherhood.
- Beelzebub (Hebrew: בעל זבוב, Beelzebub) - Lord of the Flies, demon of Power, commands the legions of Hell. The name Beelzebub is also not unknown: it is sometimes also called as another name of the Devil. This demon is extremely powerful and is considered a co-ruler of Lucifer. Beelzebub is sometimes identified with the sin of gluttony, confusing him with another demon - Behemoth. Perhaps this is because the forms the Lord of the Flies takes are varied: from a three-headed demon to a huge white fly. This nickname, in turn, has two possible stories: it is believed that Beelzebub sent a plague to Canaan with flies, and the reason may also be that flies are associated with dead flesh.
- Bufovirt is the wife of Beelzebub.
- Lilith (Hebrew: לילית, lat: Lamia) is the first wife of Adam. The legends about her are different: she is also called the first woman before Eve, who was created after Lilith, due to her appearance, but with a submissive disposition. According to this theory, Lilith was created from fire and therefore was freedom-loving and obstinate. Another legend calls the first demoness a snake, who was also in league with Adam and, jealous of him for Eve, seduced her with the Forbidden Fruit. Lilith was called the Spirit of the Night, and she could appear either in the form of an angel or a demon. In some sources, this demoness is the wife of Satan; she is respected and honored by many demons. The list of female names would start with Lilith.
- Abbadon (Hebrew אבאדון; Latin Abaddon) (destruction) is another name for Apollyon. Lord of the Abyss. Demon of death and destruction. His name is also sometimes used as another name for the Devil. A fallen angel who destroys everything around him.
The main demons are listed, occupying the highest positions in Hell and often taking human form. Most of them are fallen angels. These are very powerful demons. The list of names in Latin is duplicated by Russian and Hebrew (in Hebrew) names.
Demon creatures
In addition to fallen angels, there are also demons of animal form. The main ones are Behemoth and Leviathan - huge monsters created by God. According to legend, they must eventually fight and kill each other.
- Hippopotamus (Latin: Behemoth; Hebrew: בהמות) is a demon of animal form that can take the forms of all large animals, as well as foxes, wolves, dogs, and cats. In Jewish traditions, Hippopotamus is called Symbolizes carnal sins - gluttony and gluttony. In addition to them, this demon brings out their worst traits in people, inclines them to animal behavior and appearance. The hippopotamus is very cruel and incredibly strong - its very appearance reflects this fact, but it can also influence a person indirectly, not through direct violence - awakening in him a passion for sinfulness. In Hell he is the Watchman in the Night. The image of a demon has been used in literature: the most famous example is Bulgakov's cat Behemoth. Woland's favorite jester from The Master and Margarita contains more characteristics from the author than from legends, and yet bears his name. Also, Bulgakov's cat has the property of a werewolf.
- Leviathan (Hebrew: לִוְיָתָן) is a huge monster about which there are many legends. In some sources, Leviathan is a demon, one of the angels, cast out of heaven along with Lucifer. In others, Leviathan is called the same biblical serpent-tempter; he is accused of being the one who gave Eve the idea of tasting the forbidden fruit. Still others argue that Leviathan is neither an angel nor a demon, but a completely different creature, a monstrous creation of God, created earlier than all life on Earth and in Heaven. All these sources agree on one thing, calling the monster a huge snake. This makes it possible to question the first theory about the fallen angel. The many-headed snake, whose name translates as “writhing beast,” is mentioned in the Old Testament. It is assumed that God's creation was such in the name of the personification of all the forces of evil, and that the Creator himself destroyed Leviathan in prehistoric times. However, there is another legend, already mentioned above: about Leviathan and Behemoth, whose fight and death is still to come.
Behemoth and Leviathan are creatures that are often called monsters rather than demons, and which are proof of the incomprehensibility of God's creations.
Seven deadly sins
A little earlier, the main demons were presented: a list of names and descriptions. For some of them, associations with mortal sins were indicated. However, there is a more detailed classification of this phenomenon:
- Lucifer - Pride (lat. Superbia). Proud of himself, Lucifer tried to take the place of God, for which he was expelled from Heaven.
- Beelzebub - Gluttony (lat. Gula).
- Leviathan - Envy (lat. Invidia). An interesting parallel with the serpentine appearance of Leviathan and green Envy.
- Asmodeus - Lust (lat. Luxuria). Latin name this sin is similar to English word luxury - luxury.
- Mammon - Greed (lat. Avaritia).
- Belphegor - Laziness (lat. Acedia).
- Satan - Anger (lat. Ira).
The division is of great interest: it turns out that Lucifer and Satan are not the same thing. Why is that?
Devil, Satan, Lucifer - different names for the same evil?
Are these different demons of hell? The list, like the Russians, does not fully answer this question, although it does give a little background. Let's dive into it.
The devil translated into Latin sounds like Satan and means “enemy”, Satan is Diaboli, whose meaning is “slanderer”, therefore, the Devil and Satan are synonymous with each other. The devil's image is the opposite of God's. It is assumed that Satan is the creator and ruler of the forces of evil, which contradicts the point of view that God created everything in the world. Therefore, another legend arises - about the Devil as Lucifer.
The legend has already been described here - the expulsion of a beautiful angel and the reason for his fall from heaven. The translation of the name Lucifer comes from the Latin roots lux - “light” and fero - “I carry”. After imprisonment in Hell, he took a different name for himself. And Satan appeared to the world.
In Hebrew, Satan is translated as Zabulus, from which came the opinion that Beelzebub can be interpreted as Baal - the devil, and this is another name for the Lord of Hell. But this is the most unpopular theory - since there are many legends about the Lord of the Flies as an independent character. At the same time, in the Jewish environment this demon has greater power than in traditional demonology.
What about Lucifer and the Devil? Despite the fact that there is an exact cause-and-effect relationship and explanation for two (or even three) names at once, there is still another interpretation, where these are different demons, and they are attributed different properties.
Samael - the mystery of demonology
In addition to the previous question, it is worth mentioning Samael. When the demons, list and description were presented, he was not included in it. It has not yet been definitely decided whether Samael is an angel or a demon.
By common definition, Samael is described as the angel of death. In fact, these creatures do not belong to either good or evil, just as death itself does not belong to these concepts. This is a natural process, and therefore shinigami, as the Japanese call them, just make sure that everything goes as usual. But Samael is not such a clear-cut personality, otherwise he would not raise questions.
Samael's name is often confused with God's chief Archangel. Or they are called among the seven archangels. They also say that Samael is the Demiurge, that is, the creator of all living things, which means God.
It is interesting that at the same time he is often ranked among the demons of Hell - moreover, according to some statements, Samael is the true name of the Devil, angelic, before his fall from heaven. True, in this situation it is not clear what Lucifer is.
The legend about the snake-tempter of Eve also reached the riddle of demonology - there are sources that it was Samael.
The most popular description has already been given: Samael is the angel of death, with only one clarification: the same angel of death that came for Moses.
Antichrist
It is a mistake to confuse Antichrist with the Devil. The key to unraveling this person lies in his name: Antichrist is the enemy of Christ, his antipode. He, in turn, as is known, was the son of God, in no way his prototype. The name Antichrist is sometimes used to call anyone who does not confess Jesus Christ, but in reality this is not entirely true. "Anti" means "against" . The Antichrist must be precisely the enemy of Jesus, go against him, be equal to him in strength.
Incubi and succubi
Speaking of demons, it is worth mentioning the smaller employees who have nevertheless become quite famous in the human ranks. These, of course, are demons-tempters of carnal pleasures, lust and passion.
The female demonic hypostasis of depravity is a succubus (otherwise succubus), contrary to the ideas of a beautiful she-devil, an ugly monster. A lower demon, appearing in dreams of a certain content with a much more attractive appearance, devours the vital forces of a person, devastating him. Succubi, of course, specialize in men.
An equally unpleasant entity and male hypostasis is the incubus, whose target is women. He operates using the same method as his “colleague”. Succubi and incubi hunt sinners, their attack zone is the mind and subconscious.
Finally
The article lists only the most famous and influential demons. The list, the images in which illustrate evil spirits, can be supplemented with the following names:
- Alastor is a demon herald.
- Azazel is a demon standard-bearer whose name is known to Bulgakov's admirers.
- Asmodeus is the demon of divorce.
- Barbas is a demon of dreams.
- Velizar is the demon of lies.
- Mammon is the demon of wealth.
- Marbas is the demon of disease.
- Mephistopheles is a famous demon who served Faust for 24 years.
- Olivier is a demon of cruelty.
If we go into the details of each mythology and religion, the list may contain more than a thousand names and is not limited to this. As can be seen from the article, some names ask more questions than they give answers: different faiths interpret them differently, sometimes it is even difficult to understand whether it is an angel or a demon, which side it is on. There are many ambiguities with the description of the Prince of Darkness himself, his name, his possessions, his abilities.
There are legends according to which even the demons themselves are not evil spirits, but intermediate states between people and gods, neither good nor evil. Demonology holds many secrets. Do we want to reveal them?
MY NAME IS LEGION.
Completed: 4th year student
Gothamford faculty
Rainer Speyer
Scientific adviser:
Head of the Department of MIIT
Potions Professor
Professor of Alchemical Sciences
Valentine Ignus Prince
Buyan 2013
1. Introduction. The Devil and his minions…………………………..3
2. Who are demons?................................................... ..................4
3. Army of Darkness…………………………………………………….5
4. Disputes about appearance Satan…………………………….8
5. Devil-tempter…………………………………………….10
6. Possession by demons……………………………………………..12
7. Incubi and succubi……………………………………………..14
8. Sorcerers and witches are followers of the Devil…………………...16
9. Conclusion……………………………………………………..22
10. Bibliography……………………………………..23
Introduction. The Devil and his minions.
The devil is the first culprit of sin and the founder of all evil. No one had sinned before him. “The seal of perfection, the fullness of wisdom and the crown of beauty, he was perfect in his ways from the day of creation, until iniquity was found in him.” The devil fell and took many with him into retreat.
No longer hoping to win his lost position in heaven, Satan cares about one thing: to remain the ruler of humanity and to destroy traces of redemption from it, turning the Earth into a second Hell, and its history into a chronicle of sorrow, sin and crime. Deprived of his overall power over humanity, he turned into a marauder. Unable to overturn the church, he shakes it, pulling out stones from its walls, sometimes very fundamental ones.
The purpose of this scientific work is to show the influence of the Devil and his army on the human mind, to draw the line between angels and demons, to prove that Satan is the tireless organizer of all the troubles and misfortunes of mankind: wars, diseases, famines, disasters of all kinds, a troublemaker and poisoner of private life, professional torturer of people.
Who are demons?
Demons are all kinds of intermediary spirits between the otherworldly and earthly worlds. People associate demons with evil. But in pre- and non-Christian cultures, demons were (and remain) not only evil and good. There are good and bad demons, as well as those who do both good and evil. The science of demons is called demonology.
Throughout history, magicians and sorcerers have had power over demons. Demons were often recognized as the culprits of illness, misfortune and possession. IN ancient Egypt there was a belief that if a sorcerer expelled a demon, he automatically gained power over it.
Jewish demonology divides all demons into classes. According to KABBALA, the power of darkness comes from the left trunk of the Tree of Life and especially from Geburah - the sephira of divine wrath. According to another version, demons were born from nightmares. Some sources believe that demons fill the space between the Earth and the Moon.
There are demons who, like angels, act at night, or evil spirits who cause illness. Some demons have a seal that can be used by a person calling upon dark forces.
In Old Slavic pagan religious and mythological ideas, evil spirits and demons were called demons.
In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, demons, as agents of the devil, became associated with witches and sorcerers.
In Christian demonology, two main directions can be distinguished, the difference between which lies in the main question for demonology about the capabilities of the devil and his status in the world. The first direction, which inherited the ideas of early Christian dualistic heresies, significantly expands the rights and capabilities of the devil; the second arises as a reaction to heretical paradoxes and is driven by the need to explain the place of the devil in the world so as not to diminish the absolute competence of God in all matters of existence; the first one way or another distinguishes between the creations of God and the devil (or good and evil principles, etc.), however, allowing their coexistence, while the second completely denies the devil the ability to create any kind of creation, limiting his activity to the area of imaginaryness, confusion, and illusion.
With the development of Christian demonology, demons began to be associated exclusively with evil, already by their origin being proxies of the devil.
Demons find pleasure in all types of sin and revolve constantly in it. Some of them delight in “unclean and shameful lusts,” others love blasphemy, others anger and rage, others are consoled by sadness, others by vanity and pride—and each instills that passion in human hearts that he himself enjoys. They live by this passion, through it they gain access to the soul and body of a person.
Demons gain strength through a person, adapting his “energy” for their nutrition. To do this, they must first liken a person to myself, through then gaining access to his soul.
A passionate and sin-loving person is an excellent breeding ground for fallen spirits. Inflating in him the energy of passions that devour him
vital forces, the demon feeds and strengthens in such an environment.
Another type of food for demons is sacrifice.
Demons greedily devour the spirit coming from the burning of victims, the smoke of smoking incense, feed on the smell and decomposition of the blood of sacrifices, fly around the altars and statues dedicated to them...
Dark army.
How are all these demons organized? Who dominates whom? Who orders and who carries out orders?
There has been a lot of debate on this issue, but unanimity has not been achieved for several centuries. And only one statement raised almost no objections: Satan (Lucifer)- “bringer of light”, originally associated with the morning star. In the hierarchy of demons, Lucifer is the emperor of hell.
According to legend, one of God's bright angels named Lucifer became proud of his power and set out to occupy the Lord's throne. He stirred up a rebellion in heaven and carried away a third of the angelic army. Archangel Michael came out against the rebels with the heavenly armies faithful to God. As a result of the battle, the rebel angels led by Lucifer (Satan) were thrown from heaven to the underworld and turned into demons, whose only goal from now on is to sow evil.
Lucifer, summoned by spells, appears in the form of a beautiful child, girl or boy.
Under his command there was a huge and terrible army of demons and other creatures that brought disaster, injury and destruction. But keeping such a horde in obedience would be an enormous task even for Satan himself, and, like God, who had seraphim, cherubim and archan gels, Satan rallied around himself demonic aristocrats to help him in ruling the Kingdom of Darkness. These demons, in contrast to the nine levels of the angelic hierarchy, formed their own hellish nine-level structure. And everyone agrees that the first among the demons was one of Satan's Oldest friends - a powerful angel named Beelzebub.
When Satan first rebelled in heaven, he called into his ranks several very powerful seraphim, among whom was Beelzebub. Once in his new abode, he learned to seduce people with pride and ambition. When
Beelzebub summoned witches and sorcerers to himself, then appeared before them in the guise of a fly, since his military nickname was “Lord of the Flies.” He received this name because he sent a plague to Canaan with flies, or perhaps because flies were believed to be the product of dead flesh.
According to Sprenger and Institoris ("Hammer of the Witches"), "Beelzebub" is translated as "husband of flies." Flies mean sinful souls who have abandoned their true groom - Christ and became the “wives” of Beelzebub.
In the Middle Ages he was credited with enormous power. The sorcerers who called upon him risked death from apoplexy or suffocation. Having summoned Beelzebub, it was very difficult to drive him away.
He ruled witches' covens. They sang his praises during ritual dances.
Another great angel who fell from heaven with Lucifer was Leviathan, which was depicted in the Bible as “a twisting serpent... a sea monster” (Book of the Prophet Isaiah, Chapter 21, Art. 1). Leviathan is sometimes accused of being the same serpent who seduced Eve in the Garden of Eden. In hell, he is considered the secretary of maritime affairs, since Satan appointed him in charge of all water spaces.
Asmodeus- the demon of debauchery, jealousy, malice and vindictiveness. He seeks to create discord between husbands and wives, destroys young families, and inclines men to adultery.
He is one of the demons that most often possesses people. He is considered one of Satan's most evil demons. According to descriptions, he has three heads: a cannibal giant, a ram and a bull. These creatures have the greatest sexual promiscuity. He has the legs and wings of a rooster (the rooster is considered the most aggressive bird). He rides a fire-breathing dragon.
Asmodeus was one of the seraphim, the angels closest to the throne of God, but fell out of favor. According to other sources, he was the husband of Lilith, the demon of lust. The legend of Asmodeus speaks of him as the offspring of Lilith and Adam.
In the Middle Ages, it was believed that witches obeyed Asmodeus, and magicians called on him for help, trying to turn his power against their enemies.
Warlocks advised to approach him with his head uncovered out of respect for his power. Weier claimed that Asmodeus ran gambling houses.
Astaroth(or Ashtaroth) is a demon with masculine properties, but evolved from the fertility goddess Astarte. In his new incarnation, however, he weakly shows his masculine nature. He patronizes scientists and possesses the secrets of the past, present and future. Astaroth is invoked during necromantic rituals of predicting the future. He appears as an angel with human appearance.
According to some sources, he is ugly, according to others, on the contrary, he is beautiful. However, it has a terrible stench. Weyer says that Astaroth - Grand Duke hell, and under his command are 40 legions of demons. According to other sources, Astaroth is one of the three supreme demons of hell.
Baal- this was the name of minor deities in ancient Syria and Persia. However, the great Baal was a deity of fertility and agriculture. He was the son of El, the supreme deity of Canaan, and the ruler of life. He ruled the cycle of death and rebirth. The inhabitants of Canaan worshiped Baal and sacrificed children to him by throwing them into the fire. The Christian demon Baal was also three-headed: in the center he had a human head, and on the sides - a cat's and a toad's head. Baal could bestow wisdom and insight.
Belial(Belial, Belial, Belial) - “vanity”, “nothing”, “not god”, one of the most powerful and evil demons Satan. Even before Satan was named in the New Testament as the head of the dark forces of the underworld, Belial had already achieved a high position.
Belial appears before people in a deceptively beautiful appearance. His speech is pleasant to the ear, but he is deceitful and treacherous. Belial incites people to sinful acts, especially sexual perversion, lust and adultery.
The ancient Jews believed that Belial was created immediately after Lucifer and had an evil essence from birth. He was one of the first to rise up against God. After he was cast out of heaven, he became the embodiment of evil.
Weyer believed that Belial commanded 88 legions of demons (6666 demons each) and was the representative of the devilish forces in Turkey. When summoning him, it was necessary to make a sacrifice. Belial often broke his promises, but if someone sought his favor, he was generously rewarded.
When Gilles de Rais, famous for his mass murders, tried to summon demons using parts of the dismembered body of a child he killed, Beelzebub and Belial appeared to him.
Disputes about the appearance of Satan.
Man creates his gods, good or bad, in his own image, the result depends on the degree of development of the individual and on the time in which he lives. The concept of the Christian devil was largely determined by the so-called Desert Fathers, hermits of the Egyptian deserts, who created from their visions and memories of debunked gods (such as the artiodactyl and horned Pan) a synthetic image of a grotesque humanoid Devil. The Devil as we imagine him - with horns and hooves, spewing sulfur and black as night - was described by Pope Gregory the Great (540 - 604). Christianity endowed the Source of Evil with the attributes of a variety of pagan gods, adding many sensational details both of an anatomical nature and concerning his habits (mostly sexual), which should have made him completely repulsive.
For the devil there was no simple, frozen form; instead there was a variety of iconographic types.
The early Middle Ages give an overly fantastic image of the demon, concocted from the features of many animals that inspire disgust and horror. The black angel's face is burnt and ugly, his body is dry and hairy, his wings are like those of a bat, his head has horns - and it's good, if only a couple, or even more, a hooked nose, long pointed ears. To make it even more beautiful, they also added pig fangs, claws on the hands and feet, and a tail with a snake sting or an arrow at the end. Terrible faces, like fantastic masks on fountains, opened their mouths on the knees, elbows, chest, belly and, especially, on the backside; the genital organ took on enormous dimensions and hideously sophisticated forms, reminiscent of shameless caricatures of ancient art. Sometimes it was also decorated with saggy female breasts. The legs are sometimes those of a goat, in memory of the satyrs of pagan antiquity, or one human, the other a horse, or feet armed with hawk claws, or like goose feet. Among the physical defects of the devil we must include his lameness - due to his fall from the sky. In this case, the sign of the ancient Hellenic deity Hephaestus was transferred to the Devil - and for the same reason: “annoyed Zeus grabbed him by the leg and quickly threw him from high Olympus to the ground, and as a result of this fall, Hephaestus injured his leg.”
Dante gave Lucifer three faces, imitating similar medieval depictions of a man with three faces.
Trinity of heaven: like a monkey of the deity and its eternal contrast.
Another frequent image of Satan is a tall, emaciated man, with a face black as soot, or deathly pale, unusually thin, with burning bulging eyes, with his entire gloomy figure inspiring the terrible impression of a ghost.
There was also an opinion that the true appearance of demons, like angels, is invisible to the human eye under normal conditions. Physical body serves as a kind of saving curtain that protects a person from direct vision of demons, which could lead to madness of those who see them. Magi, sorcerers, magicians, consciously entering into communication with evil spirits, remove this saving veil from themselves and directly see the demons.
Later developed appearance devil, combining the features of a man and a black goat. Human genes increasingly took over.
Already in the Middle Ages, there were suggestions that the terrible appearance of the Devil was a slander directed at him by his enemies.
This is how Fedeghigo Frezzi (d. 1416), Bishop of Foligno, describes Satan: “I thought to see an evil monster, I expected to see a lost and sad kingdom, but I found it triumphant and glorious. Satan turned out to be great, beautiful and had such a benevolent appearance, such a majestic posture that he seemed worthy of all respect. A magnificent triple crown shone on his head, l His face was cheerful, his eyes were laughing, and he held a scepter in his hands, as befits a great ruler. And, although he was three miles tall, one had to be amazed at how proportionate his members were and how well built he was. Behind his shoulders moved six wings made of such elegant and shiny feathers that neither Cupid nor the Kylenian god (i.e. Hermes) have anything similar."
Having his own individual image, the demon, in addition, had the ability to change his appearance at will into other images, and in this ability he is completely unlimited. Evil spirits, says Milton, "take one sex or another at will, or fuse them together. So soft, so simple is the incorporeal essence, that, being free from muscles and joints, and not attached, like a body, to the mortal support of bones, it can flow, following the plans of the aerial beings, into any form, clear or dark, liquid or solid, and thus brings about the intended results of its acts of love and malice.” Most often, the Devil changes his humanoid form to a human one, which in this case better suits their intentions. He comes to the hermit as a seductive woman, to the hermit as a handsome, obsessive young man.
Often the Devil appears to those whom he plots against, under the guise of their friends,
relatives, friends and acquaintances, which sometimes resulted in great misfortunes, sins and temptations.
Devil the tempter.
The devil has no power over free will, but has the omnipotent ability to excite the spirit with all kinds of emotions and poison a person’s memory with unforgettable impressions. A subtle connoisseur of everyone he approaches, he is always fully equipped to mold sin from a person’s own psychic resources.
Satan cannot take a soul unless he first stains and corrupts it with sin. Satan does not have the power to force free will, but he is able to lay nets for its inevitable fall. He is a great, tireless tempter. Having started with Eve, he did not stop even before Christ.
All people, at all ages and positions, are subject to temptation, and Satan accordingly changes the character, energy, and means of temptation, showing himself to be a subtle psychologist and a witty logician in adapting to his victims.
There is nothing to say about people who lived in the world: light, secular people, secular interests, secularism - the natural kingdom of Satan, and whoever lives in it, lives in Satan, and it is as difficult not to come into contact with him as to plunge into sea and not get wet.
But even when leaving the world, fleeing from cities into deserts and wilds, or separating themselves from the world by monastery walls, pious soul savers met Satan there too, and even more crafty and cruel. He attacked the saints with special force for the same reasoning, according to which God rejoices more in one repentant sinner than in nine righteous people. Conversely, the temptation of a monk in the demonic world is valued much higher than the greatest evil produced in the society of worldly people.
In the world, he was overcome by temptation over little things - insinuating, constant, every minute of everyday life. In the desert temptation came in a violent onslaught, like a feverish paroxysm. In the world it was more external, in the desert or retreat it made the person himself its instrument - the living energy of the body, demanding the normal fulfillment of physiological needs and, in case of refusal, yearning, languishing, drawn to sin.
St. Anthony says: “Whoever lives in the desert and in silence is free from three temptations: from the temptation of hearing, tongue and sight; he has only one temptation - in the heart.”
The hermit was not alone in the desert. The devil with all his temptations kept him company there. He vigilantly watched every, even the slightest, reason for the fall and quickly took advantage of it. If God assigned a guardian angel to each person, then Satan assigned a tempter demon in the same way. The angel is on the right, the devil is on the left.
Not every time and not every place is equally convenient for demons to be tempted. Their favorite time, of course, is the night, when the Devil’s zealous ally, sleep, creeps up on people and weakens their will and mind under the influence of the impressions and memories of the day that have not yet faded in their memory. The hermits were afraid of sleep as a devilish obsession, and considered it necessary to sleep as little as possible.
The very profession of seducer and tempter forced the unclean spirit to resort to changing its external form, choosing it according to the circumstances.
In the infinite variety and variety of temptations, the Devil never shuns simple and crude means, acting on the psychology of the moment. Satan throws a silver bar at St. Anthony's feet, a former rich man, to remind him of his abandoned wealth. He serves delicious food to the hungry St. Hilarion. These false signs of things disappeared as quickly as they appeared. If simple means did not work, the Devil moved on to more and more complex ones, turning the succession of hallucinations into magnificent performances of horror, luxury, laughter, and voluptuousness. The demon frightened St. Hilarion with the howling of wolves and the screeching of foxes; animals galloped and jumped around him, they were replaced by fighting gladiators, or dying people who, writhing at the feet of the saint, begged him for burial. One night he was deafened by the crying of children, the bleating of herds, the lowing of bulls, the roaring of lions, the scream of women - a great noise, as if from a military camp. As soon as he drove away this miracle with a cross, a new one was flying towards him, in the moonlight, a war chariot drawn by mad horses. The saint pronounces the name of Christ. The chariot falls through the ground.
The most severe types of demonic temptation were the attraction of love, the desire for the world, spiritual pride and doubt in faith.
Nature is raped, the church pushes away the woman with disgust, like an unclean animal, a satanic snake, like the embodiment of the eternal death of a man. Theologians declared that one must stay away from women, since the earth is quite populated and will soon die anyway, and Peter of Lombardy
establishes as a basic position that marriage is a sin, in extreme cases, permissible.
The Church prohibits the slightest manifestations of passion. Every passion has its demon; if one kills a passion, one kills a demon.
Cheerfulness was also the fruit of the Devil's activity. As much as laughter is displeasing, tears are equally pleasing to God. Good monks never laughed, but often cried. For man came into the world to suffer punishment, and not to rejoice.
Now the church still had to cope with reason. If earlier it was forbidden to explore the nature of God, now, in general and in everything, it was forbidden to resort to reason. There was not a single educated person who was not accused of magic. Victorious Christianity wanted and hoped to completely finish off the enemy. It is forbidden to invent anything new, to create something new. It is prohibited to introduce innovations into worship. A ban on inspiration is imposed.
Another favorite temptation of the Devil - the arousal of pride and self-satisfaction - is the reason for those of his appearances when he dares to take on the appearance of saints, angels, the Virgin Mary, Christ, God the Father.
Thousands of thousands of Christians experience, when dying, a torture unfamiliar to the people of the ancient world. After all, a dead person is a slave, condemned to torture, a pitiful animal that has fallen into the clutches of a hellish cat. At the hour of death, the patient's room is filled with threatening devils, who reach for the bed with their greedy claws. Dying people often not only see devils, but also engage in physical combat with them.
The Devil’s system included instilling in the dying that their sins exceeded the measure of heavenly forbearance, that it was too late to repent and that it was not worth it - God would not forgive anyway, because it was impossible to forgive. Awakening in the memory of the dying man all the sins he had committed, the Devil easily drove him to despair and in such a state, tantamount to eternal condemnation, he went into eternity.
Demon possession.
The possessed or possessed person is completely deprived of his will. He does the will of the demon sitting in him, who has permeated both his body and soul, so that the latter, if the spells of the church do not free it from demonic power, must certainly go to hell.
To break into a weakly protected soul, the devils used not only the slightest voluntary sin, but any inattention that led to involuntary sin: The child is thirsty. The devil slips him a mug of water and dives into it himself. The poor child drinks, forgetting to cross himself, and now the demon is already in him.
And if a person lived in sin, no holy refuges or shelters could save him from demon possession. Possession always follows the demons' successful corruption of the victim.
This is how a certain person describes the process of possessing demons Orthodox priest Radion: “Having stripped their minds of the clothing of the fear of God, by introducing various sinful thoughts into them, which an individual who does not lead a spiritual life accepts as his own, evil spirits attack them as disarmed and deprived of God’s help, and make homes in them. Demons "have the property that many of them can be placed in one person. Having entered a person, they do not mix with the soul, but remain in the body, possessing by force both soul and body."
All unbaptized people were assumed to be possessed by a demon from the moment of birth. The demon came out of their mouths at the moment when they were immersed in the font or consecrated water was poured on them. Therefore, incomplete or incorrectly performed baptism was a serious crime, because it entailed terrible consequences for the baptized person, leaving him at the mercy of the Devil.
Obsession was manifested by the complexity of phenomena that strangely and miraculously filled and changed both the physical and mental structure of a person.
The devil plays with the sick as if he were his doll. Sometimes it increases his strength a hundred times, sometimes it makes him faint and catalepsy, sometimes he lifts him above the ground and swings him in the air, sometimes he throws him to the ground; bends it in half, puts it upside down, twists it into a ball, makes it spin like a top, roll with a hoop, somersault, wriggle, perform thousands of strange, wild, funny and scary movements, which the 19th century explains by hysterical epilepsy and a painful condition of the nerve centers.
Monstrous perversions of physiological functions were noticed, starting with nutrition. Some possessed people were attacked by supernatural gluttony. Others suffered from a perversion of appetite and devoured abominations that, indeed, the Devil could not have liked. Still others, finally, in contrast to the first, express a deep aversion to any kind of food and, without the slightest visible harm to themselves, remain without any food for many days.
The patient’s psyche changed even more sharply. He completely lost his personality and found it only occasionally, in bright intervals, and even then very weakly, weak-willed. Instead of one soul, there were now several souls sitting in it: its own plus the number of demons that fit in it. Instead of a whole strong-willed personality, the result was a fusion of two, three, tens, hundreds, thousands, almost millions of wills, in the flood of which the patient’s will was dispersed like a fraction with an overwhelmingly huge denominator.
Those possessed by demons usually showed deep moral corruption, which in the Middle Ages was determined primarily by disrespect for religion. They blasphemed God, the Holy Virgin and the saints, laughed at the dogmas of faith and rites of worship, expressed disgust for the sacraments, the church, and priests. Being in the power of the father of lies, the possessed usually lied desperately, and sometimes, on the contrary, suddenly, out of the blue, they began to tell the truth, which no one asked them about. For example, their unceremonious manner of exposing the sins of their spellcasters is noted.
So, here are the essential signs by which obsession was exposed.
A person can be considered possessed:
*When he himself claims that he is possessed by the devil.
*When he leads a bad life.
*When he shuns people and spends his life in strict solitude.
*When he suffers from a long-term illness with unusual symptoms and attacks such as restless sleep, eruption with vomiting various items, not included in food, etc.
*When he spews blasphemy against God and often mentions the devil.
*When he made a pact with the devil.
*When he is tormented by evil spirits.
*When he has a special terrible expression on his face that makes people tremble.
*When he complains about the boredom and emptiness of life, when he is overcome by despair.
*When he gets mad, he rages and fights.
*When he makes screams, whistles and growls like a wild beast, bird or reptile.
The possessed person could not free himself from this obsession of his own; it was necessary for someone else to come to his aid. The operation of liberation from the Devil was called a spell, an exorcism. This is a very complex ritual that lasts several days. The Church encouraged her by turning the practice of exorcism into a kind of clerical profession and establishing for it a special order of exorcists, exorcists. This profession was difficult and associated with great dangers. Often the Devil, emerging from the demoniac, entered the exorcist who expelled him.
Incubi and succubi.
The most serious and at the same time the most famous phenomenon of obsession was the union of the Devil with men and women of the human race in a carnal relationship and the birth through this of a special breed of satanic creatures, who by the very act of their birth were doomed to hell, and during their earthly life usually managed to inflict severe harm to humanity.
Incubi and succubi in those days were no less popular than angels.
An incubus is an angel who fell due to passion for a woman.
Essentially, an incubus is a lecherous demon or goblin who seeks sexual relations with women.
Nuns were especially susceptible to attacks by depraved demons. An incubus can take on both male and female guise; in the latter case, the same demon is a succubus. The incubus sometimes appears as a man in the prime of life, sometimes as a satyr; in front of a woman who is known as a witch, he usually takes the form of a lustful goat. These demons everywhere practice all sorts of obscenities, such as using a forked penis to simultaneously debauch with two organs. Some women submit to incubi voluntarily, such as witches; others are forced to sleep with an incubus against their will; and some were raped by the incubus. According to Christian doctrine, sexual intercourse with demons was regarded as bestiality because the demon was not human.
The preoccupation of celibate priests with the delights of sexual intercourse was insatiable, and their fantasy was sophisticated.
At first it was believed that intercourse with an incubus was more pleasurable than with a human. This happens for several reasons: firstly, because evil spirits take on an unusually beautiful and attractive appearance; secondly, due to the extraordinary size of their members. In addition, demons pretend that they are deeply in love with witches, which is the most precious thing in the world for them. All of the above also applies to men who use demons as their lovers.
However, later demonologists, apparently envious of the witches, changed their minds and began to assert that intercourse with the devil is extremely painful and devoid of any pleasure, that his penis is hard as bone and cold as ice.
The reason for the transformation of demons into incubi and succubi is not a feeling of pleasure. As spirits, they have neither flesh nor bones. The reason lies in the fact that through the vice of voluptuousness they spoil both the human soul and body and thereby make them more susceptible to all vices. There is no doubt that they know about the growth of the seed under certain celestial constellations. People conceived under these constellations are easily corrupted by the spell.
Women pregnant with devils gave birth to many monsters, sometimes in human form, and sometimes in “unknown little animals.” During the Middle Ages there was a strong tendency to consider everyone as children of the Devil.
newborn monsters, who were therefore destroyed without the slightest remorse.
In addition to their natural children, devils loved to take foster children. They got children either through abduction, or through a curse or careless promise of parents, or through an incorrect baptismal ritual.
The most powerful of the Devil's children, the Antichrist, will appear in the future when the outcome of the universe will be decided by the final battle, the most terrible of all, in which the forces of good and evil will meet face to face.
