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Demonology

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Satanael (talk | contribs) at 21:36, 21 July 2005 (Baka. Satanael is his real angelic name. And as for "infernal master", since I don't even view Satan as evil, in my eyes, you made an ass of yourself.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Demonology is the systematic study of demons. To the extent that it refers to theology elaborating the meaning of sacred texts, demonology is an orthodox branch of theology. The most extensive statement of western Christian demonology is the Malleus Maleficarum of Heinrich Kramer (once thought to have been co-written by Jacob Sprenger), which attempted to prove that the existence and power of witchcraft were an integral part of the Roman Catholic faith. In another sense, demonology refers to catalogues that attempt to name and set a hierarchy to demons and spirits thought to be malignant. In this sense, demonology is the mirror image of angelology, which attempts to compile the same information for angels.

In Christian tradition, demons are fallen angels, so demonology could be considered a branch of angelology. The grimoires of occult magic are the tomes that contain the lore of this version of demonology, containing instructions on how to summon them and (hopefully) bend them to the conjuror's will, yet not all occultists modern and ancient neccesarily invoked demons.

According to Christian dogma and various sources (canonical and not), 133,306,668 angels partook in Lucifer's rebellion. Hence, it can be assumed that there are that many demons in the Christian tradition. But since Christian tradition has innumerable mistakes in the fields of demonology and mythology, this should not be considered final. It should also be noted that while most people believe that Lucifer and Satan were the same being, not all scholars subscribe to this view.

However, there are more than one instance where demons have come to be, as seen by the sins of the Watchers and the Grigori, of Lilith leaving Adam, creating the Lilim as well, and of demons such as vampires and goblins, and of the demon locusts, and impure spirits such as the dybbuk and of humans that have become demons as well. Also, many Jewish legends tell that when God first created the angels, he gave them a choice of whether or not to follow him, those who denied were sent to the earth and became demons, these are not fallen angels though.

The existence of a malevolent supernatural personality who works to thwart the will of a good God is a central tenet of both Christianity and Islam. These faiths, in turn, derive the Satan or Shaitan figure from Judaism. It is believed by many scholars that Judaism received the concept from Zoroastrianism, wherein a good god known as Ahura Mazda is engaged in a cosmic battle with an evil god known as Angra Mainyu. The New Testament explicitly affirms the existence of lesser adversary spirits, as does the Qur'an. In Christianity Satan is the opposing force of all evil in conjunction with the all-good god and human Jesus, healing man from his original sin.

Some branches of Buddhism affirm the existence of Hells peopled by demons who torment sinners and tempt mortals to sin, or who seek to thwart their enlightenment, with a demon named Mara as chief tempter. Hinduism contains traditions of combats between its gods and various adversaries, such as the combat of Indra and Vritra.


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