Female Demon
Picture Source: Feebleminds

What exactly is a Demon? I know we have all seen them portrayed in the movies in many different ways, but you know how Hollywood is, they think their version is the best version. It may not be factual but you can bet it is entertaining. When you were a child did you think that demons lived under your bed or in the closet? Were you afraid of what was waiting for you in the dark? Did you beg your parents to leave a small light on? If you did, why did you do it? You did it because you were afraid there were monsters in the dark that would go after you. If you are still a little nervous in the dark, you have come to the right place. Lets see what demons are all about.

First lets talk about what a demon is. A demon is a creature that is purely evil, it may be the devil or one of his many servants. It is said that demons take up temporary residence on Earth. The origin of demons is when Luficer, the greatest angel of them all, offended God and was thrown out of heaven. Demons like to tempt men and women. Some demons are said to have the power of prophecy. Indeed the devil himself tempted Christ. Demons usually represent suffering in one way or another. Pain may also be part of their legacy.

Demons are known to take possession of human bodies. In the bible it is said they somehow got into pigs. To get demons out of people the Catholic Church sends a priest to perform an Exorcism. It is said that this is a very dangerous rite to perform because the demon will fight to stay in the body that it is occupying. Sometimes many demons will enter a body at the same time. In the movie the Exorcist, which was made in 1973, a priest is called into a home to get demons out of a little girl. There are many Exorcisms on record that have been performed where those who watched saw supernatural happenings as the demons tried to hang on.

Not all religions believed that demons were evil. In the Hebrew Bible there are two types of demons, the se'irim' and the 'shedim'. The se'irim were worshipped by the some ancient hebrews and sacrifices made to them. Some say they were the same as the 'jinn' in Arabia. They were not necessarily evil. It is speculated that they may have looked like hinds, half man and half horse. Demons may have first been recognized in 2000 B.C. in Ancient Persia. This was tied in with the concept of salvation and damnation. It was believed that you would be judged upon your death and if not deemed worthy, then you would be thrown into the flames. Zoroaster was a Persian prophet that lived between 628 B.C and 551 B.C. It was said that demons tempted him including Satan. Zoroaster believed that there was not only a god of good but a twin god of evil. Zoroaster said that the god of good and the god of evil would constantly battle until the god of good finally won.

Are demons disappearing in this modern age of miracles? Cynthia Gage a Psychotherapist has written a book entitled 'Casting Out Evil Spirits'. In the book she states that there is an evil on the earth and basically it can't be attributed to anything else. Her exact words are "many experienced an uncomfortable encounter with energies we would like to relegate to Hollywood's active imagination, but can't." She blames some of the tortures and senseless murders that take place all over the world on this evil. Could she be right, it may be? It is interesting to note that a Jesuit priest named Peter Binsfield, decided to make a list of major demons and show which of the deadly sins they represented. You will note that today we believe that some of the names on the list are the same demon.

Here is the list:

Lucifer	Pride
Mammon	Avarice
Asmodeus	Lust
Satan	Anger
Beelzebub	Gluttony
Leviathan	Envy
Belphegor	Vanity and Sloth

Demons were known to lead people astray by trickery, possession, lust, bargaining and pain. What are the signs that a person is possessed by a demon. Here is a list:

having fits and convulsions
marked increase in sexual desires
personality change
superhuman strength
strange odours from the person
ability to speak and understand unknown foreign languages
voice is deepened raspy and has a paranormal attribute
prophetic knowledge
ability to levitate

Picture Source: Feebleminds

Throughout history there is evidence that some people decided to worship evil in the form of demons or the devil himself. But this was not as well practiced as others would have you believe. The big push for devil worship came in the 17th century. There was even a book printed in that century named the Grimoire of Honorious. It was said to be magical and contained instructions for conjuring up demons during the mass. It was meant to be used by priests. The church of the time took a dim view of the book and punished any priest that would try this. This was known as the black mass.

Do demons truly exist today? Some would say absolutely yes, those are the ones that have seen things that just can not be accounted for in any other way, but most would say no, having not seen anything that could be attributed to a demon.