BL480.B364 2012 133.4' 203—dc23 2011049234
BY THERESA BANE
1. Demonology—Encyclopedias. 2. Religions—Encyclopedias.
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ISBN
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Copyright©
| 2012 Theresa Bane |
Preface 1
Introduction 5
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA 9
Bibliography 339
Index 371
Preface
As a writer, editor, and compiler of myths,
it is my goal to contribute to the academic
studies in the fields of anthropology, folklore,
mythology, and religion. Being a professional
vampirologist—a mythologist who specializes
in cross- cultural vampire studies—I have come
across a number of vampiric entities who were
also described as being demonic in nature. According
to their original mythologies, these infernal,
vampiric demons were said to have been
created in a hell- like dimension or were described
as being agents of evil who worked directly
against the best interests of humanity.
There are not so great a number of vampiric
species that are demonic or demon- like in their
nature or behavior, but the few that do exist
and which were catalogued in my previous
books did pique my interest. As is often the
case, a little bit of research turned into a great
deal of research, and a book of DEMONOLOGY
began to write itself.
Demonology, the study of demons, has been
in and out of vogue with mankind over the
centuries. Its acceptability as a subject has varied
depending on how threatening the changing,
ruling religious powers deemed it. For example,
King Solomon, the much famed last
king of the united Kingdom of Israel, was a
man of great influence, wealth, and wisdom;
he is credited with having ordered and
overseen the construction of the first temple in
Jerusalem. This is covered in the pseudepigraphical
work The Testament of Solomon,
which describes quite clearly how the king was
empowered by God to summon and bind numerous
demons to work on the temple’s construction.
Obviously not only was it acceptable
for a king to bind and utilize demons as a labor
force, he had them working side by side with
his human construction crews (Chapter Eighteen).
Solomon was not the only king who was
concerned about and confronted by demons.
Before King James the First acceded to the
throne of England in 1603, he had written and
published a book entitled Daemonologie. In it
he speaks on the subject of witchcraft and the
witches’ relationship with the DEVIL. He discloses
how these people, most often women,
conspire to summon up the Devil and barter
their souls for a pittance of power and ability.
He mentions how they often become a demonic
FAMILIAR, a companion gifted to someone
by the Prince of Darkness, and how taking
up the profession of witch-finding and hunting
is both noble and necessary. As can be imagined,
many witches were slain under his rule,
even though the religion he embraced as his
own clearly stated in the Epistle to the Romans
(8:38–9) that neither sorcery nor witchcraft
has the power to harm a Christian. This claim
is based on the belief that when Christ died
and was resurrected he simultaneously defeated
all the forces of evil for all time. Nevertheless,
in Daemonologie, James went on to very carefully
and meticulously describe the fine line
between a scientific scholar who studied the
course of the stars, namely an astronomer, and
an infernally aligned individual, an astrologer,
who—empowered by demons (knowingly or
not)—pretended through his ignorance to interpret
their course across the night sky and
explain how those movements relate to man
and help predict a person’s future. Throughout
his life King James was obsessed with witches
and their demonic familiars, believing they
were constantly plotting to kill him.
As you can see with the study of demonology,
timing is everything. It is fascinating
that these two kings, separated by two
thousand years of history, both list the names,
abilities, and, in some cases, the physical attributes
of the demons of which they spoke.
They made, in essence, a very brief de monolo -
gia, a dissertation on demons. And they were
not alone: many others before and since have
done the same. Of special note are the French
judge and DEMONOGRAPHER Pierre de Rosteguy
de Lancre, who conducted the witch
hunts of 1609 under the order of King Henry
the Eighth; Pierre Leloyers, who authored
Discourse and Histories about Specters, Visions,
and Apparitions, of Spirits, Angels, Demons, and
Souls that appeared visibly to Men; and Johann
Wierus, a Dutch demonologist and physician,
who in his moral publications was among the
first to speak out against the persecution of
witches. He is also the author of the influential
works De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus
ac Venificiis and Pseudomonarchia Daemonum.
It is not just in Christianity and Judaism
that we find lists of demons and infernal servitors,
but also Ashurism, Buddhism, Hinduism,
Islam, Kemetic, Vodou, and Zoroastrianism.
Demons appear in the mythologies and lore of
virtually every ancient society, such as the ancient
Africans, Assyrians, Chinese, Greek,
Japanese, Mayans, Persians, Romans, and
Scythians, to name just a few.
Throughout my research I have pulled together
as many of the named demons as I could
find from all of the various cultures and religions.
Research was conducted not only among
books written about the history of ancient peoples
and their cultures, but among religious
texts as well. I compiled all of the information
found for each demon, be it an individual
entity or a particular species, then carefully
condensed it to its bare and relevant facts, and
wrote it up as a succinct description or
synopsis. The goal was to present to the reader
a concise account for each of these prominent
demons. Entries were purposely kept short and
precise, as there were almost three thousand
diabolical personalities to commit to paper.
There are a great number of books on the
market that tell of individuals who claim to
have been possessed by demons, as well as of
people who admit to being able to drive infernal
beings out of these afflicted souls. Personal
beliefs in de monic possession, be it a spiritual
or psychological condition, were not relevant
to the writing of this reference book. The only
concern was in naming those entities who are
already considered relevant, especially those
who played a part in the belief systems of the
major religions. I did, however, consciously
choose not to use any of the books that focused
on the subject matter of demonic possession,
especially those works written after what might
be considered the New Age movement of the
1980s and after. This decision was based on the
opinion that these cases and individuals have
not yet proved to be either historically or
mythologically relevant. Most of these may become
the stuff of urban legends. Only time will
tell.
There are a handful of books that proved
very useful. Gustav Davidson’s A Dictionary of
Angels Including the Fallen Angels is a first- rate
resource for anyone’s personal library. As the
title indicates, it lists the angels who were
driven out of Heaven during the Fall as well
as those from Enochian lore, the Watcher Angels
(see WATCHERS), who exorcized what can
only be described as free will (a blessing man
alone is alleged to have) and chose to leave of
their own accord when they opted to take a
human woman as a wife. This book also contains
an impressive bibliography and a useful
appendix with samples of angelic scripts, demonic
seals and pacts (see DIABOLICAL SIGNATURE),
the various names of LILITH, the unholy
sephiroth, and a list of fallen angels (see
FALLEN ANGELS).
Francesso Maria Guazzo’s Compendium
Maleficarum and Daemonologie by King James
the First of England do not name the most
demons but are essential in understanding how
demons and witches are aligned and work
against mankind. Two other books that list and
describe demons are Fred Gettings’s Dictionary
of Demons and Mack and Mack’s A Field Guide
to Demons.
References were chosen very selectively.
Books like The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor
LaVey and the King James Bible had to be
used sparingly because they are religious texts
with content not only heavily flavored by opinion
but also unver ifiable by other sources. A
favorite book on demons was written by Wade
Baskin, but it is often overlooked because of
its sensationalized title: Satanism: A Guide to
the Awesome Power of Satan. I prefer this book
because it contains short, brief descriptions and
definitions with no hyperbole, opinion,
fictional characters (such as the demons from
the John Milton poem Paradise Lost), or erroneous
entries. It is brilliant in that it is straightforward,
simple, and concise in its nature.
As with my previous book, The Encyclopedia
of Vampire Mythology, I document the sources
from which information was taken, including
page numbers (when given) so that it may be
referenced by others. Also as before, I tried to
use the oldest editions I could find by the most
authoritative and reputable sources possible.
Small caps are used to indicate to the reader
words that may be cross- referenced as entries
in the encyclopedia.
In the back of this book is a complete bibliography
of all the works cited as well as a
large and thorough index.
Some of the most knowledgeable people in
the field of demonology have never been recognized
for their contributions. It is fitting to
acknowledge these scholars for their work in
this field of study here: Heinrich Cornelius
Agrippa von Nettesheim, Steven Ashe, Wade
Baskin, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Augustin
Calmet, Joseph Campbell, Richard Cavendish,
Robert Henry Charles, Jacques- Albin- Simon
Collin de Plancy, Rosemary Ellen Guiley,
Heinrich Kramer, Manfred Lurker, Anthony
Master, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers,
and Jacob Sprenger.
Deep appreciation also goes to those who
assisted with this undertaking: my beta- reader,
Gina Farago; my husband, T. Glenn Bane; and
especially my linguistic contributors, Yair A.
Goldberg and June K. Williams. Without this
dedicated cadre of individuals, this book would
not have been possible.
Introduction
Demons are amazing beings, simple in design and intent—to foster and promote evil in such
a way as to undo the goodness of man kind and to cause the ruination if not outright destruction
of all that is held to be pure and good. We should all have such clarity of purpose.
It does not matter where in the world you are, on what point in mankind’s timeline you
stand, what religion you believe in or practice (if any), your social or economic standing, or
whether you are male or female—demons are promoters of immorality, sin, and vice. Historically,
people understand and accept this about DEMONIALITY with little or no explanation required.
I have noticed that most stories of how the world was created involve some sort of benign,
all powerful being having to overcome an entity of evil and malicious intent that is nearly
as powerful. For the abstract idea of good to truly be appreciated, seen, and understood it
must have something off which to reflect. It needs something to give it per spec tive and to
personify all that we do not want or desire. If there is no struggle, there can be no tri -
umphant victory to be thankful for or revel in. Evil, be it an abstract idea or a maligned
cosmic entity, often employs minions to do its bidding. Demons are those minions, and the
most intriguing part of their nature is that we need not believe in their existence to feel the
effect they have on our lives. The famed British occultist Dion Fortune (1890–1946) is quoted
as having said on the matter that demons are “the personification of ‘negative evil’...the firm
substance that we must have to push against in order to walk and the DEVIL is the principle
of resistance of inertia that enables Good to get a purchase.”
Interestingly, demons were not always considered to be beings of pure and unchangeable
evil. Once they were the fey of the woods, the free- willed DJINN of the deserts known on occasion
to convert to Islam, and the ancestral or nature spirits that were respected if not worshipped
to near god- head status. Fierce in their fighting ability and highly territorial, these beings
could be summoned, and by conditionalagreement or by magical bond were made to
be guardians of sacred areas. Demons made excellent sentries, as they had excessively passionate
dispositions, near limitless energy, a preference to work from concealment, and
shape- shifting capability. You would be hard pressed to find an ancient culture that did not
have some place through which travel was not only considered taboo but also protected by a
semi- divine being with an overprotective temperament.
In ancient Greece, the word DAEMON referred
to a spirit entity that may have been a force for either good or evil. During the spread
of Christianity when the young church openly and aggressively condemned all things pagan,
the intent of the word changed. No longer a neutral force that could be swayed one way or
the other, demons, as they were now called, were considered to be beings of pure evil who
were under the influence and control of the DEVIL himself. Even now when the word
“demon” is used in our speech we instantly know something of the speaker’s intent. To say
“the devil made me do it” as an excuse for having been caught in some act of perceived
wickedness almost seems to give the speaker the benefit of being somehow not wholly responsible.
He is but mortal flesh and is by nature frail, he was tricked or pressured into it,
he is not a bad person, simply weak- willed, and who among us has not at some point given
in to more base desires? Shouldn’t mercy be shown? Is that not how one would play the
devil’s advocate?
From mankind’s earliest origins we have rec ognized the existence on some level of the supernatural world, and with our instinctual desire to understand we have placed beings who
dwell in other realms as falling into either one of two categories: good or evil, divine or infernal,
angels or demons. Truth be told, we need demons and the evil they represent. Without
them there can be no moral to our stories, let alone a plot. If there is not an external or internal
struggle to overcome, how can there be any progression?
There have always been demons in our folklore and mythologies, even when we called
them by other names. The Testament of Solomon is one such example; it was purported to have
been a firsthand account of the events of the king’s court. Some scholars have claimed it was
written as early as the first century C.E., while others date it to as late as the fifth century.
Even at its earliest dating it was still published a thousand years after Solomon’s rule, but this
pseudepigraphal book may be the source from which the idea of a hierarchy germinated. According
to the story, a vampiric demon by the name of Ornias harasses a young man, stealing
both his blood and his wages. The boy’s father beseeches the king for help in fighting the
demon; he in turn seeks assistance from God. The archangel Michael is sent to earth and
gives Solomon a signet ring and instructions on how to use it to bind and control demons.
In chapter eighteen of The Testament of Solomon
demons are summoned, one after another, after
which they are forced to give their true names,
reveal what they govern, and offer instructions
on how to banish them. Nearly all of these
demons are sent to work on the construction of the temple.
Introduced as a personality in the Book of
Job, which dates back to 700 B.C.E., SATAN was
portrayed as an instigator and accuser of man.
In the second century apocryphal book The
Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the name
Satan was already well known. Nevertheless,
by the time Twelve Patriarchs was written, this
same character had developed into the adversary
of God, the arch- nemesis of humanity,
and an entirely evil being.
However, it was not until Saint Paul laid out
the hierarchy of the heavenly host in the fourth
century A.D. that other scholars were empowered
to lay out a similar hierarchy for one of
the natural enemies of the angels—demons.
During the fifth century demons were believed
to fall into five different categories. The
first four were based on the elements of the
natural world: air, earth, fire, and water; the
last category was “the underground.” In the
eleventh century Michael Psellus, a Byzantine
historian, monk, philosopher, politician and
writer, added a sixth category to the classification
of demons. Psellus characterized these
demons as mere shades, likening them to
ghosts. Saint Augustine, also a fourth century
philosopher, believed that all ghosts were
demons. Yet it was during the Middle Ages
and the early Renaissance period that the classification
and division of demons came into its
own. This is no doubt related to revival in the
interest of the magical and numerological arts
as well as the witch craze sweeping across Europe
at the time. To be a witch was a sin worthy
of a gruesome death by burning or hanging,
but to study demons so as to better understand
the opposition of heaven was perfectly acceptable,
providing of course you had no political
ambitions or powerful enemies.
It was during this time that demons were
named and departmentalized. They were not
only assigned to have dominion over a very
particular type of sin, but also assigned a planet
and astrological sign to rule over, as well as a
month, day of the week, and an hour of the
day or night when they were particularly powerful
and best summoned. Some were also assigned
a rank, such as king, count, or master
steward of the devil’s winery. They were described
in detail, down to the sound of their
voices, the type of clothes they wore, or mounts
they appeared on. Demons were often described
as being hideously ugly or having breath
so foul it could literally kill a man. This is because
of Christianity’s tendency to regard the
body, the solid form, as corrupt and dirty; ugliness
was equated with evil. Additionally, the
personalities of these demons were also described
on many occasions so that the summoner
would know what to expect; hints and
summoning tips were even given as to how best
to trick the demons into doing your will with-
out giving in to their evil. Many of the more
powerfully ranked demons were also empowered
with hordes of servitors to do their bidding,
as they themselves were subject to their
liege’s command. Some ranked and named
demons had only a few lesser spirits to act on
their behest while others had servants in the
hundreds of thousands. Always a few of the
most important servitors were named but seldom
if ever was any real or extensive information
given about them.
When the Italian poet Dante Alighieri
wrote his epic poem The Divine Comedy, it was
meant to be an allegory for the journey of the
soul on the path to God. He used the Roman
poet Virgil as guide through what was the contemporary
medieval view of Hell. On the
course of this journey, Dante named and described
many demons, some of which were
pulled from accepted mythology and established
hierarchies while others he created,
loosely naming and basing them on powerful
ruling families. So prevailing was this literary
work that for centuries to come some of those
fictional demons appeared in grimoires and serious
demonographies.
Francis Barrett, an Englishman by birth and
an occultist by profession, penned The Magus.
Published at the height of the Age of Reason
in 1801, it was considered to be one of the primary
sources required to properly study ceremonial
magic. Even today the book is in use
by those who seriously practice magic. In it,
Barrett gives nine different divisions of demons:
The False Gods, who wish to be worshipped
like a god; Spirits of Lies, who use divination
and predictions to trick and deceive; Vessels of
Iniquity, the inventors of all things evil, such
as cards and dice; Revengers of Evil, who are
ruled over by ASMODEUS; Deluders, the demons
under the command of Prince SATAN who
mimic and imitate miracles as well as work in
conjunction with witches; Aerial Powers, who
live in the air and cause lightning, thunder,
and pestilence as it suits their prince, MERIRIM;
FURIES, who are led by ABADDON and cause
discord, devastation, and war; Accusers, demonic
spirits led by Prince ASTAROTH; and the
tempters, who reside in every man and are
under the command of Prince MAMMON.
In this modern, enlightened age it is hard
to believe we have not yet relinquished our belief
in the supernatural. Television shows that
claim to be in the pursuit of scientific fact-finding
by capturing demonic forces and ghosts on
film, by use of formalistic staged drama and
over- hyped anticipation, have, in my opinion,
done a great deal to convince rationally minded
folks otherwise. Television alone is not to
blame; a constant supply of books describes individual
possessions and the hardships families
must endure and overcome.
This book, at the other end of the spectrum,
is an encyclopedic listing of various demons. I
describe the demon without hype or hyperbole,
what it looks like, who in the infernal hierarchy
it is subjected to serve under, and how, if it is
known, the demon operates. Readers may be
surprised to discover that the vast number of
demons herein described do not have the ability
to possess a human. In modern times, possession
and the rite of exorcism first truly came
to light on a grand scale with the publication
and commercial success of William Peter
Blatty’s The Exorcist (1971). Not so sur pris -
ingly, when the Catholic Church denounced
the book and the claim that the story was based
on actual, recent events, the popularity of The
Exorcist only increased. In spite of the Church’s
dislike of the book, the message of Exorcist was
spread: that demons are driven by evil instinct
and only by the use of conscious reason, compassion,
and love can they be defeated. Blatty
went on to write the screenplay for the film,
for which he won an Academy Award, the
message spreading out and reaching an even
wider audience.
Blatty’s book is hardly a stand- alone example.
Thousands of similar books have since
been published. Some of them are more outof-
this- world in their claims than others, professing
that the demon showed itself to be real
in a number of fantastic ways, such as by
demonstrating acts of levitation, causing both
people and objects to float around the room or
religious symbols and holy icons to burst into
flame, and speaking through the mouths of
their prey in long dead languages or sharing
secrets only the victim could have known. As
remarkable as all this may sound, it is even
more remarkable that no one has ever managed
to record such an event with either convincing
still photography or video. These events never
occur when a skeptic, non- believer, or openminded
third party is present. Nor are these
types of people ever victimized by demons; it
seems they would be rather easy prey when
compared to the devoutly fortified religious individual
who would be knowledgeable in how
best to confront them. Yet the latter are exactly
the sort of people that the infernal habitually
afflict. Obviously this is an aspect of the nature
of demons that I do not understand; neither
have any of my colleagues addressed it, convincingly
or otherwise, in their own works.
I am undecided as to my beliefs on cases of
demonic possession. It may be possible but it
may be equally improbable. The Old Testament
Apocrypha refers to exorcisms only once,
in the Book of Tobit, chapters six and seven.
However, the real problem was not that Sarah
was being possessed by a demon but rather that
one was systematically killing off every man
she ever married in an attempt to keep her
available for itself. In the New Testament,
Christ gave his apostles the gift of exorcism:
“And when he had called unto him his twelve
disciples, he gave them power against unclean
spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner
of sickness and all manner of disease” (Matthew
10:1). (It should be noted that demonic possession
and disease were often linked.)
In the shadow of Alighieri, Barrett, Blatty,
Fortune, and Milton as well as Baskin, Collin
de Plancy, Gettings, Guazzo, King James the
First of England, Leloyers, Mathers, Rosteguy
de Lancre, and Wierus, I have collected and
briefly described as many of the different
demons I could find from a wide array of cultures
and religions. If readers hope to learn
here how to summon demons or how to perform
an exorcism, they will be disappointed,
but academics, researchers, and scholars alike
will be pleased with what they find—a massive
collection of demons, clearly defined and cataloged.
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