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“Hey man, where can I find demons?”

It really is amazing how the personification of evil is making a big comeback. Seriously, one cannot watch a paranormal reality show without your favourite ghost hunting hero either dealing with a demon in a head-to-head smack down royale, or they themselves becoming spontaneously possessed by some inhuman entity. This fascination with the dark side is really nothing new. In the 1970s, the Catholic Church found themselves being swamped with reports from the faithful of how a friend or family member was being possessed by some otherworldly creature. The film The Exorcist really opened the public’s eyes to the possibility that real evil exists and is out to get us.

I get a lot of newcomers to the field who have honestly asked me, “Hey man, where can I find demons?” To which I usually reply, “Hey man, why would you want to go looking for something that you cannot possibly comprehend or control? And, it has the power to destroy your life.” Do they heed my warning? Do I really need to answer that? But, no, Real demonologists, I’m not talking about TV demonologists, but members of the clergy who spend years learning the ins and outs of the Kingdom of Darkness and its citizens will tell you the same thing. Stay away. They have a better understanding when dealing with this realm of the unknown.

Demonology is a sticky situation and can be a dangerous thing. But despite what we have been led, or misled to believe, dealing with a truly inhuman entity is excessively rare. In other words, there are no demons hiding around every corner, watching and waiting to jump out and drag some unwitting human’s soul straight to the bowels of Hell. And it would seem that Western Christianity is not the only religion to have the market cornered on pure evil, but more on that later.

Before I get into what demons are, it really is far more important to clear up those misconceptions that seem to run rampant throughout modern paranormal research and investigation. And usually when I touch on this subject I get a lot of angry responses. I can take it. I’m a big boy.

First off, human spirits do not become demons. Demons, as we understand them here in the West, were once angels who made the unwise decision to follow Lucifer in his rebellion against God and were cast out of Heaven. Demons are an entirely different class of spiritual entity. They are entities that never walked the Earth in human form.

When considering this, I usually get hit with, “Well what about people like Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin? Surely they were demonic.” Humans can and does display “demon”-like behaviour, but the whole, the devil made me do it, argument is invalid because, while humans may be inspired and guided by inhuman spirits, this does not make them demons.

In paranormal investigation, you may come across some very unpleasant spirits that use some very unpleasant tactics. Does this make them demons? No. As I explained above, humans can be monstrous and perform some very monstrous acts against their fellow man. When you die your personality doesn’t change. If you were miserable in life, chances are you will be miserable in death. Misery loves company.

A few years ago, I watched an interview with a respected paranormal investigator who made the wild claim that all poltergeists are nothing more than demons. After watching that I thought, wow 130 years of parapsychology was just tossed out the window. Poltergeists in the strictest sense are nothing more than a psychic temper tantrum. Recurrent Spontaneous Psychokinesis may seem violent and demonic, but it is not a demon. RSPK is produced by a person, a focus that is under a great deal of stress, and that stress explodes into the physical environment. However, that energy can attract spirits to it, human and otherwise. So if these three things are not demons, then what are demons and how do you fight them?

In 1614, the Roman Catholic Church found themselves in the same predicament we find ourselves in today. Demons infested our world and were possessing people, causing them to do some very naughty things. So their finest minds got together and came up with the Ritual Romanum or the Roman Ritual.

The Roman Ritual dealt with many different subjects; however, it is exorcism that concerns us. The term exorcism does not mean drive out or expel a demon; rather it means to put on oath. When the ritual is performed it is more about getting the demon to leave on its own accord rather than drive it out. It’s the demon that comes to the conclusion to leave.

Over the years, the church and exorcism have gotten a few black eyes. Exorcisms were performed outside of the guidelines of the church that resulted in a death or two—Annaliese Michel being one of them. It had gotten to the point that the Vatican in 1999 decreed that no person will undergo an exorcism without being first cleared of mental or physical illness. Some mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia or physical illnesses like epilepsy, have been mistaken for demonic possession in the past. Basically, it’s a cover your ass kind of a thing.

So if a person is cleared of illness and yet appears to be possessed, what are the criteria of possession? There are 10 points that any exorcist must consider and must document before taking the case to the bishop as a candidate for exorcism.

1. Complete lack of appetite.

2. Self-mutilation

3. Cold feelings that seems to surround the possessed.

4. Unusual body postures.

5. Losing control of their personality. Uncontrollable rages where people are violently assaulted.

6. Speaking in a voice that is clearly not their own.

7. Displaying feats of strength that are contrary to the size and age of the possessed.

8. Speaking a language that the possessed could not possibly be familiar with.

9. Violent rejection of sacred objects.

10. Hatred of church, inability to say Jesus’ name, and hearing scripture.

If a person meets this criteria and the priest/exorcist gets the thumbs-up from their archdiocese, then and only then can an exorcism be performed. An exorcism can last anywhere from 2 days to 10 years. Sadly some fails horribly. So this concludes part 1 of The “D” word. In part 2, we’ll go over demon lore of other cultures and religions.

Part 1: Rick Hale  - https://supernaturalmagazine.com/articles/the-d-word-part-1

Myths and legends ...

It is commonly believed that when Christianity became not only a major world religion, but a political powerhouse, this powerful new religion would demonize the gods and goddesses of those that they “converted” to the new faith.

In fact, the image of Satan is more than likely based on two gods from different parts of the empire: Cernunnos, the horned god of the ancient Celts, and Pan, the Greek god of rivers, forests, and glens. Christianity also demonized the Fey. They lived in an underground kingdom and had magical abilities. This is considered common knowledge among folklorists. However, it would seem that by the myths and legends of some of Earth’s most ancient cultures, demons and evil spirits bore a clear and present danger to mankind. And you may be surprised that some of these evil spirits and their activities bear a striking resemblance to Satan and his demonic horde.

Mesopotamia In 1938, Samuel Noah Kramer was working diligently to translate the Epic of Gilgamesh from Mesopotamian to English. While translating Tablet XII, he came upon a name, Ki-Sikil-Lil-La-Ke, an unfamiliar deity who he had never heard of before. There was a reason; she was so feared that no one would dare speak her name.

Upon further investigation, he discovered that this individual was a notorious demon goddess from Mesopotamian myths called the Lilith. Lilith was a demon goddess associated with witchcraft and chaos. It is believed that when the Jews were in ancient Babylon, they borrowed this demon goddess and made her, according to The Talmud, Adam’s first wife. Lilith was banished from Eden when she refused to take a sexually submissive position. It was widely believed that she led a horde of evil spirits called the Lilitu, who live in the desert and are dangerous to children. Lilith is represented as a woman with bird’s feet. It would appear that Lilith was not the only demon goddess in Mesopotamian folklore. Lamashtu, was the favoured daughter of the sky god, Anu. When it was discovered that Lamashtu was engaging in malicious behaviour, Anu cast Lamashtu from the realm of the gods to the Earth, hoping that this punishment would cause his daughter to see the error of her ways. It didn’t. Sound familiar?

Once Lamashtu, who is represented as a grotesque hybrid of a lioness’ head and eagle’s talons, continued her evil behaviour. She was known to harass women while they were in child birth. Once that child was born, Lamashtu would abduct the child and carry it away to the outer desert wastes. It is believed that she would either eat the new-borns or turn them into demons.

India

Not too far away in India, the Rakshasa was the demon to be feared. According to the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Rakshasa were created from the breath of Brahma as he slept. As soon as they were created, the Rakshasa were filled with violent bloodlust and began eating the sleeping Brahma. When he awoke, Brahma cast the demons from his presence into the outer darkness.

The Rakshasa are believed to break open tombs and feed on freshly buried corpses. It is further believed these evil beings attack unwitting travellers, drink their blood, and feast upon their flesh. The Rakshasa are still very much feared by modern Indians.

China

Everyone is somewhat familiar that in China during the seventh lunar month, the Chinese celebrate The Festival of the Hungry Ghosts. The hungry ghosts are ancestors who return from the dead and walk among the living, feeding upon food that is offered to them before returning to the land of the dead. Sounds kind of scary to the Western mind, but it is a major holiday in China.

Although it is the spirits of the ancestors that the Chinese primarily deal with, there is a group of demonic entities called the Yaoguai. These demonic like beings are believed to either be the spirits of animals or fallen celestial beings who acquired magical powers from practicing Taoism. The Yaoguai are concerned with attaining immortality and will abduct and eat holy men to obtain their objective.

Persia

Zoroastrianism was one of the first monotheistic religions to come out of the Middle East many years before Christianity. And it is surprising the similarities the two religions share, including the idea of a personification of evil. Ahriman or the Angra Mainyu is the chief opponent of the sun god, Ahura Mazda. His very nature is expressed in the Druj, The Lie, which consists of greed, wrath, and envy.

After being cast out of Heaven, Ahriman created a horde of demons to fight against Ahura Mazda and his angel-like beings. Modern believers in Zoroastrianism believe that at the end of time, Ahura Mazda will defeat Ahriman and cast him into an eternal darkness of pain and suffering for all time. Again, sound familiar?

As we can see, Western Christianity does not have a lock on evil. Personally, as I am not a Christian, I really don’t believe in fallen angels and demonic entities. Someone once told me that these stories of demonic entities are based on the chaotic energy that was left over from the creation of the universe. Over time this energy gained sentience and occasionally torments mankind. I really don’t know about that, but it’s as good a theory as any.

Part 2: Willy Hassle - https://supernaturalmagazine.com/articles/the-d-word-part-2-myths-and-legends