Jewish demonology

While Zoroaster and his Mazdaist followers are the first to have embodied the principle of evil within one personality, the concept of the Devil is of definite Hebrew origin. Early Judaism was, of course, utterly monistic. The god Yahweh encompassed both good and evil, mercy and justice, yet could not be assigned a specific moral … Read more

Zoroastrianism

In many ways one of the most remarkable demonologies is that presented in the Avesta (q.v.), the sacred book of the Mazdean religion of Zoroaster. Zoroastrianism is the doctrine or teaching of Zarathustra that is also known as Mazdaism, Bah Din, Parsiism, and Fire-worship. The doctrine was founded by the Persian prophet Zoroaster or Zarathustra … Read more

Sumerian mythology

The culture of the Mesopotamian valley was particularly rich in demon lore as Mesopotamians viewed themselves as under constant attack from evil on all sides. Demons were usually the spirits of natural forces such as fire, plagues, droughts, infant crib death, and diseases, and often took the form of fantastically-shaped creatures made up of a … Read more

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

Familiar names

Satan = The accuser The Devil = The slanderer Belial = The wicked one Beelzebub = Lord of flies Apollyon & Abaddon = Destroyer Mephistopheles Lucifer = Son of the Morning, Angel of light The Prince of demons The Prince of Darkness The Prince of this world or Age His Satanic Majesty The Prince of … Read more

Demon

(Greek daimon and daimonion, Lat. daemonium). The word demon is apparently derived from daio “to divide” or “apportion”, originally meant a divine being; it was occasionally applied to the higher gods and goddesses, but was more generally used to denote spiritual beings of a lower order coming between gods and men. It is now practically … 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