Demon | religion | Britannica (original) (raw)

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• main reference
  • 
    In angel and demon
    demon, respectively, any benevolent or malevolent spiritual being that mediates between the transcendent and temporal realms.
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• creation myths and doctrines
  • 
    In creation myth: Creation by earth divers
    …the devil appears as God’s companion in the creation of the world. The devil becomes the diver sent by God to bring earth from the bottom of the waters. In most versions of this myth, God does not appear to be omniscient or omnipotent, often depending on the knowledge of…
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• demonic plants and animals
  • 
    In myth: Demonic plants and animals
    …sacred power is chaotic or demonic. Rather than aiding human beings, they are destructive. The most common examples are monstrous plants and animals, which figure especially in heroic quests as guardians of boons or threats to be overcome; mythical animals associated with destructive natural phenomena, such as the earthquake monster…
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• supernatural being concept
  • 
    In angel and demon: Demons
    The term demon is derived from the Greek word daimōn, which means a “supernatural being” or “spirit.” Though it has commonly been associated with an evil or malevolent spirit, the term originally meant a spiritual being that influenced a person’s character. An _agathos daimōn_…
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religions

Christianity

• exorcism
  • In exorcism
    …and Christian traditions to expel demons from persons who have come under their power. The rites and practices of preliterate people to ward off or to expel evil spirits are also a form of exorcism, though they are sometimes considered witchcraft.
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Judaism

• intermediary beings

  • 
    In Judaism: Intermediary beings: angels and demons
    The exact nature of nonhuman beings mentioned in Scripture—angels, or messengers (angel is derived from the Greek word angelos, which is the equivalent of the Hebrew word mal’akh, “messenger”)—is not altogether clear, and their roles seem ephemeral (see angel and demon). In the postexilic…
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• mythology

  • 
    In Judaism: Myth and legend in the Persian period
    …the _amesha spenta_s); and the demonic figures of Satan, Belial, and Asmodeus (corresponding to the Iranian Angra Mainyu [Ahriman], Druj, and Aēshma Daeva). There was also a preoccupation with apocalyptic visions of heaven and hell and of the Last Days. Unfortunately, no Jewish texts of this genre from the Persian…
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• prophecy

  • In prophecy: Prophecy and apocalyptic literature
    …full blossom, with accounts of fallen angels (fallen stars) caught up in the forces opposed to God, frequently pictured in the old mythological motif of the struggle between darkness and light. Wild beasts symbolized peoples and nations, and there were esoteric calculations and speculations about the different eras through which…
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• Talmud

  • In Talmud and Midrash: Astrology, magic, and divination
    The existence of a demonic kingdom was accepted by the rabbis without question. Evil spirits are invisible and fill the nether world. They avoid sunlight and concentrate in waters and deserted places. They also mingle with people, trouble them, and help them. They have passions and are born and…
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• Buddhism

  • 
    In Buddhism: Mythic figures in the Three Worlds cosmology
    …Asia, new gods, goddesses, and demons were incorporated into the cosmology (for example, in Southeast Asia the great Hindu gods Vishnu and Shiva were often depicted as _deva_s). Despite these new mythic contents, however, the classic cosmological structure was kept remarkably intact.
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• Islam

  • 
    In Islam: The teachings of al-Suhrawardī
    about as ghosts, demons, and devils. The creative power of the imagination, which as a human psychological phenomenon was already used by the philosophers to explain prophetic powers, was seized upon by the new wisdom as “divine magic.” It was used to construct an eschatology, to explain miracles,…
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• Mesopotamian

  • 
    In Mesopotamian religion: The gods and demons
    Demons played little or no role in the myths or lists of the Mesopotamian pantheon. Their domain was that of incantations. Mostly, they were depicted as outlaws; the demoness Lamashtu, for instance, was hurled from heaven by her father An because of her wickedness. The…
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• Zoroastrianism

  • 
    In Zarathushtra: Good and evil
    …populated by the daevas, the evil spirits (originally prominent old Indo-Iranian gods). The Wise Lord, together with the amesha spentas, will at last vanquish the spirit of evil, thus implying the end of the cosmic and ethical dualism.
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  • 
    In Zoroastrianism: Pre-Zoroastrian Iranian religion
    …in Sanskrit, a kind of demon, because of the baleful aspect of the _asura_’s invisible power. In Iran the evolution must have been different: the _ahura_s were extolled to the exclusion of the _daeva_s, who were reduced to the rank of demons.
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  • 
    In Zoroastrianism: God
    …to speak, a sort of antigod. This alteration probably dates back at least to the 4th century bce, for Aristotle said in the Peri philosophias (“On Philosophy”) that the Magi preached the existence of two principles, Oromasdes and Areimanios.
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