Assyrian demonology

From certain cuneiform texts, which are more especially described as “religious”, it appears that besides the public and official cult of the “twelve great gods” and their subordinate divinities, the Assyrians indulged in magic and sorcery. These “religious” texts together with a mass of talismanic inscriptions on cylinders and amulets prove the presence of an … Read more

Dualism

The primitive dualist view of gods and spirits The evil deity known as the Devil is not universal, but certain characteristics of his can be found in the gods of every religion. Some of these are iconographic similarities, others relate to the god’s function within the mythos. To understand the emergence of the Devil as … Read more

The Lucifer Principle

The Lucifer Principle is a 1995 book by American author Howard Bloom, in which he argues that social groups, not individuals, are the primary “unit of selection” on genes and human psychological development. He states that both competition between groups and competition between individuals shape the evolution of the genome. Bloom “explores the intricate relationships … Read more