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124-568: Bune is a demon listed in demonological grimoires such the Lesser Key of Solomon (including Thomas Rudd 's version, as Bime) Johann Weyer 's Pseudomonarchia Daemonum , Jacques Collin de Plancy 's Dictionnaire Infernal , and the Livre des Esperitz . All of these texts describe Bune as a duke who is able to move the dead, make one rich, and answer a variety of questions. The Livre des Esperitz claims that Bune rules 35 legions of spirits, while
248-414: A glyph of his own design, meant to express the mystical unity of all creation. Having dedicated it to Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor in an effort to gain patronage, Dee attempted to present it to him at the time of his ascension to the throne of Hungary . The work was esteemed by many of Dee's contemporaries, but cannot be interpreted today in the absence of the secret oral tradition of that era. By
372-667: A grimoire , which gives the names and abilities of demons as well as detailed instructions for conjuring and controlling them. Grimoires are not limited to demons – some give instructions for the invocation of deity, a process called theurgy . The use of ceremonial magic to call demons is also known as goetia , a word derived from the Greek word " goes ", which originally denoted diviners , magicians , healers, and seers . The Age of Enlightenment conceptualizes humans as autonomous individuals , mostly independent from outer invisible forces, such as demons or gods ruling over human fate. While in
496-460: A Dutch physician and disciple of Agrippa, advocated against the persecution of witches and argued that accusations of witchcraft were often based on mental disturbances. John Dee , an English mathematician and occultist, explored alchemy, divination, and Hermetic philosophy. His collaboration with Edward Kelley resulted in a system of elaborate angelic communications and mystical teachings known as Enochian magic . Collectively, these figures wove
620-441: A Swiss physician and alchemist, combined medical practice with astrology. He introduced elemental beings and viewed the cosmos as interconnected, assigning spiritual significance to natural elements. Nostradamus , a French astrologer and reputed scryer , gained fame for allegedly predicting future events through his prophecies. His works contained cryptic verses and calendars, attracting both admirers and skeptics. Johann Weyer ,
744-810: A bad smell in the air or sudden change in temperature would announce their presence. Similar to the Quranic prophet Solomon enslaving the jinn and devils, the Persian hero Jamshid is attributed with subjugating the Dīv . However, a general negative association remains during the Islamic period. Due to their reluctant nature, even enslaved, they do always the opposite of what has been commanded. In some tales, supernatural powers are attributed to them, such as causing sickness, mental illnesses, or even turn humans to stone. Demons are believed to be vanquished by sacred symbols. The content of
868-545: A belief that man had the potential for divine power that could be exercised through mathematics. His goal was to help bring forth a unified world religion through the healing of the breach of the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches and the recapture of the pure theology of the ancients. In 1564, Dee wrote the Hermetic work Monas Hieroglyphica ("The Hieroglyphic Monad "), an exhaustive Cabalistic interpretation of
992-657: A certain change which comes over the merely literary texts as we pass from the Middle Ages to the sixteenth century. In medieval stories there is, in one sense, plenty of “magic”. Merlin does this or that “by his subtilty”, Bercilak resumes his severed head. But all these passages have unmistakably the note of “faerie” about them. But in Spenser, Marlowe, Chapman, and Shakespeare the subject is treated quite differently. “He to his studie goes”; books are opened, terrible words pronounced, souls imperiled. The medieval author seems to write for
1116-403: A cluster of supernatural beings, such as daimons, spirits, and devils, affecting the mind. While some people fear demons, or attempt to exorcise them, others willfully attempt to summon them for knowledge, assistance, or power. William of Conches ( c. 1090/1091 – c. 1155/1170s ) understands 'demon' closer to the Greek 'daimon', reserving the concept of the "devil" only for
1240-504: A complex fabric of Renaissance magic, a time marked by a blending of mystical and scientific ideas, as well as a redefinition of the perception of magic. This era saw magic evolve from a fanciful element in stories to a domain of spiritual exploration and hidden knowledge. Both bourgeoisie and nobility in the 15th and 16th centuries showed great fascination with the seven artes magicae , which exerted an exotic charm by their ascription to Arabic, Jewish, Graeco-Roman, and Egyptian sources. There
1364-585: A consequence of the rise of influence of the Babylonian Talmud over that of the Jerusalem Talmud, late rabbis, in general, took as fact the existence of shedim , nor did most of the medieval thinkers question their reality. However, rationalists like Maimonides and Saadia Gaon and others explicitly denied their existence, and completely rejected concepts of demons, evil spirits, negative spiritual influences, attaching and possessing spirits. They thought
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#17328914427781488-409: A deep respect for Aristotle. Although he was a product of the studia humanitatis , Pico was constitutionally an eclectic , and in some respects he represented a reaction against the exaggerations of pure humanism, defending what he believed to be the best of the medieval and Islamic commentators, such as Averroes and Avicenna , on Aristotle in a famous long letter to Ermolao Barbaro in 1485. It
1612-460: A demon is believed to be a spiritual entity that may be conjured and controlled. Belief in demons remains an important part of many modern religions and occult traditions. Demons are still feared largely due to their alleged power to possess living creatures. In contemporary Western esoteric traditions, demons may be used as metaphors for inner psychological processes ("inner demons"). The Ancient Greek word δαίμων ( daimōn ) denotes
1736-488: A foundation for other properties on which to build. Paracelsus also described four elemental beings, each corresponding to one of the four elements : Salamanders , which correspond to fire; Gnomes , corresponding to earth; Undines , corresponding to water; and Sylphs , corresponding to air. He often viewed fire as the Firmament that sat between air and water in the heavens. Paracelsus often uses an egg to help describe
1860-455: A fraud. The church denounced him as a blasphemer in league with the devil. On 23 February 1520, Faust was in Bamberg , doing a horoscope for the bishop and the town, for which he received the sum of 10 gulden . In 1528, Faust visited Ingolstadt , whence he was banished shortly after. In 1532 he seems to have tried to enter Nürnberg, according to an unflattering note made by the junior mayor of
1984-612: A key element of early modern Western esotericism . The 900 Theses was the first printed book to be universally banned by the Church. In November 1484, he settled for a time in Florence and met Lorenzo de' Medici and Marsilio Ficino . It was an astrologically auspicious day that Ficino had chosen to publish his translations of the works of Plato from Greek into Latin, under Lorenzo's enthusiastic patronage. Pico appears to have charmed both men, and despite Ficino's philosophical differences, he
2108-583: A later form of Zoroastrianism , and was transferred to Judaism during the Persian era . Demons may or may not also be considered to be devils: minions of the Devil . In many traditions, demons are independent operators, with different demons causing different types of evils (destructive natural phenomena, specific diseases, etc.). In religions featuring a principal Devil (e.g. Satan) locked in an eternal struggle with God, demons are often also thought to be subordinates of
2232-499: A metaphorical symbol for life-threatening animals, such as hyenas , ostrichs , and jackals . The shedim , however, are not pagan demigods, but the foreign gods themselves. They are evil insofar that they are not affiliated with the Jewish deity. These entities appear in a scriptural context of animal or child sacrifice to non-existent false gods . Various diseases and ailments were ascribed to demons, particularly those affecting
2356-418: A method of obscuring his meaning by using " Virgilianised " syntax, word games and a mixture of other languages such as Greek , Italian, Latin , and Provençal . For technical reasons connected with their publication in three instalments (the publisher of the third and last instalment seems to have been unwilling to start it in the middle of a "Century," or book of 100 verses), the last fifty-eight quatrains of
2480-542: A public to whom magic, like knight-errantry, is part of the furniture of romance: the Elizabethan, for a public who feel that it might be going on in the next street. [...] Neglect of this point has produced strange readings of The Tempest , which is in reality [...] Shakespeare’s play on magia as Macbeth is his play on goeteia . The Cabalistic and Hermetic magic, which was created by Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494),
2604-426: A scholar, physician, and astrologer, popularized the Hermetic and Cabalistic magic of Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola . Agrippa's ideas on magic were revolutionary, and he faced persecution for his criticism of authorities and ruling classes. His work, De occulta philosophia , explored both benevolent and malevolent magic , but he rejected forbidden forms of sorcery . Similarly, Paracelsus ,
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#17328914427782728-554: A specific place; their demonic activity is topographically defined and their function can be benevolent towards those who have the secret knowledge to face them. Demons protecting the underworld may prevent human souls from entering paradise. Only by knowing the right charms is the deceased able to enter the Halls of Osiris . Here, the aggressive nature of the guardian demons is motivated by the need to protect their abodes and not by their evil essence. Accordingly, demons guarded sacred places or
2852-491: A spirit or divine power, much like the Latin genius or numen . Daimōn most likely came from the Greek verb daiesthai ("to divide" or "distribute"). The Greek conception of a daimōn notably appears in the philosophical works of Plato , where it describes the divine inspiration of Socrates . The original Greek word daimōn does not carry the negative connotation initially understood by implementation of
2976-450: A torch but could not be seen". Chinese folktale, legend and literature are replete with malevolent supernatural creatures who are often rendered "demons" in English translations. These include categories of beings such as the yao 妖 - shapeshifters with the power to cause insanity, to inflict poison, and to bring about disease, and the mo 魔 - derived from Indian mythology and entering through
3100-437: Is best known for allegedly predicting future events. Following popular trends, he wrote an almanac for 1550, for the first time in print Latinising his name to Nostradamus. He was so encouraged by the almanac's success that he decided to write one or more annually. Taken together, they are known to have contained at least 6,338 prophecies, as well as at least eleven annual calendars, all of them starting on 1 January and not, as
3224-456: Is difficult to establish historical facts about his life with any certainty. For the year 1506, there is a record of Faust appearing as performer of magical tricks and horoscopes in Gelnhausen . Over the following 30 years, there are numerous similar records spread over southern Germany. Faust appeared as physician, doctor of philosophy, alchemist, magician and astrologer, and was often accused as
3348-633: Is explored in Agrippa's De occulta philosophia , and at times it is vulgarized. Yet in Ficino and Pico and we never lose sight of magic's solemn religious purposes: the magician explores the secrets of nature so as to arouse wonder at the works of God and to inspire a more ardent worship and love of the Creator. Considerable space is devoted to examples of evil sorcery in De occulta philosophia , and one might easily come away from
3472-518: Is not clear from his work, if he considered these images of se'irim as manifestations of actual spirits or merely delusions. Despite academic consensus, Rabbis disputed that Maimonides denied the existence of demons entirely. He would only dispute the existence of demons in his own life time, but not that demons had existed once. Occasionally an angel is called satan in the Babylon Talmud. But satans do not refer to demons as they remain at
3596-471: Is sometimes supposed, in March. It was mainly in response to the almanacs that the nobility and other prominent persons from far away soon started asking for horoscopes and psychic advice from him, though he generally expected his clients to supply the birth charts on which these would be based, rather than calculating them himself as a professional astrologer would have done. When obliged to attempt this himself on
3720-461: Is the Bunyip , which was originally a term applied to malevolent spirits in general. Tasmanian mythology in particular has many beings translated as "devils"; these include malicious spirits like Rageowrapper as well as spirits summoned in magic. Tasmanian Aboriginal people would describe these entities as "devils" and related that these spiritual beings as walking alongside Aboriginal people "carrying
3844-503: The Lemegeton (The Lesser Key of Solomon). There were many editions of his books (written in Latin ), especially Pseudomonarchia Daemonum , and several adaptations in English, including Reginald Scot's "Discoverie of Witchcraft" (1584). Weyer's appeal for clemency for those accused of the crime of witchcraft was opposed later in the sixteenth century by the Swiss physician Thomas Erastus ,
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3968-497: The Kabbalah . As a result, he became the founder of the tradition known as Christian Kabbalah , which went on to be a central part of early modern Western esotericism . Pico's approach to different philosophies was one of extreme syncretism , placing them in parallel, it has been claimed, rather than attempting to describe a developmental history. Pico based his ideas chiefly on Plato, as did his teacher, Marsilio Ficino, but retained
4092-557: The Koine δαιμόνιον ( daimonion ), and later ascribed to any cognate words sharing the root. The Greek terms do not have any connotations of evil or malevolence. By the early centuries of the Roman Empire , cult statues were seen, by Pagans and their Christian neighbors alike, as inhabited by the numinous presence of the Greco-Roman gods : "Like pagans, Christians still sensed and saw
4216-501: The Nomoi or Book of Laws , which he only circulated among close friends, he rejected Christianity in favour of a return to the worship of the classical Hellenic Gods, mixed with ancient wisdom based on Zoroaster and the Magi . Plethon may also have been the source for Ficino's Orphic system of natural magic . Marsilio Ficino (1433–1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who
4340-560: The Paleolithic age , stemming from humanity's fear of the unknown, the strange and the horrific. In ancient Near Eastern religions and in the Abrahamic religions , including early Judaism and ancient-medieval Christian demonology , a demon is considered a harmful spiritual entity that may cause demonic possession , calling for an exorcism . Large portions of Jewish demonology , a key influence on Christianity and Islam , originated from
4464-609: The Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, which drew on the mythology of ancient Semitic religions . This was then inherited by the Koine text of the New Testament . The English use of demon as synonym for devils goes back at least as far as about 825. The German word ( Dämon ), however, is different from devil ( Teufel ) and demons as evil spirits, and akin to
4588-660: The Watchers or Nephilim , who are first mentioned in Genesis 6 and are the focus of 1 Enoch Chapters 1–16, and also in Jubilees 10. The Nephilim were seen as the source of the sin and evil on Earth because they are referenced in Genesis 6:4 before the story of the Flood . In Genesis 6:5, God sees evil in the hearts of men. Ethiopic Enoch refers to Genesis 6:4–5, and provides further description of
4712-445: The galla dragging the god Dumuzid into the underworld. Like other demons, however, galla could also be benevolent and, in a hymn from King Gudea of Lagash ( c. 2144 – 2124 BCE), a minor god named Ig-alima is described as "the great galla of Girsu ". Lamashtu was a demonic goddess with the "head of a lion, the teeth of a donkey, naked breasts, a hairy body, hands stained (with blood?), long fingers and fingernails, and
4836-507: The underworld was home to many demonic beings, which are sometimes referred to as "offspring of arali ". These demons could sometimes leave the underworld and terrorize mortals on earth. One class of demons that were believed to reside in the underworld were known as galla ; their primary purpose appears to have been to drag unfortunate mortals back to Kur. They are frequently referenced in magical texts, and some texts describe them as being seven in number. Several extant poems describe
4960-483: The witch hunting by the Christian and Civil authorities; he is said to have been the first person that used the term mentally ill or melancholy to designate those women accused of practicing witchcraft. In a time when witch trials and executions were just beginning to be common, he sought to derogate the law concerning witchcraft prosecution. He claimed that not only were examples of magic largely incredible but that
5084-437: The "demons of the lower regions": You think, as I infer from your words, that a demon is the same as a devil, which is not the case. For a demon is said to be any invisible being using reason, as if knowing. Of these the two high orders are called calodemons, that is, 'good knowing ones', the lower order is called cacodemon, that is, 'evil knowing one', for calos means 'good', cacos 'bad'. The ceremonial magician usually consults
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5208-428: The "demons that bring famine" and "such as cause storm and earthquake". According to some aggadic stories, demons were under the dominion of a king or chief, usually Asmodai . In Kabbalah , demons are regarded as a necessary part of the divine emanation in the material world and a byproduct of human sin ( Qlippoth ). After they are created, they assume an existence on their own. Demons would attach themselves to
5332-501: The Devil's power to do it, and when speaking on witches, he used the term mentally ill . Moreover, Weyer did not only write the catalogue of demons Pseudomonarchia Daemonum , but also gave their description and the conjurations to invoke them in the appropriate hour and in the name of God and the Trinity , not to create illusions but to oblige them to do the conjurer's will, as well as advice on how to avoid certain perils and tricks if
5456-564: The French legal theorist Jean Bodin and King James VI of Scotland . John Dee (1527–1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer , astrologer , teacher , occultist , and alchemist . He was the court astrologer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I . A student of the Renaissance Neo-Platonism of Marsilio Ficino , he spent much of his time on alchemy , divination and Hermetic philosophy . As an antiquarian, he had one of
5580-585: The Hermetics, because he thought they represented the same concept of God that is seen in the Old Testament , but in different words. In 1490 Pico met with Johannes Reuchlin (1455–1522), who became heir to his Kabbalistic doctrines. Following Pico, Reuchlin seemed to find in the Kabbala a profound theosophy which might be of the greatest service for the defence of Christianity and the reconciliation of science with
5704-752: The Lesser Key of Solomon was by Solomon and rooted in Mesopotamian mythology . According to Rudd, Bune is opposed by the Shemhamphorasch angel Haaiah. This occult -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore , mythology , religion , and literature ; these beliefs are reflected in media including comics , fiction , film , television , and video games . Belief in demons probably goes back to
5828-457: The Muling 木灵 lit. "tree spirit" (also muzhong 木肿 lit. "tree swelling") - demons forming over time in trees of immense age, capable of inflicting disease and killing human passers-by and birds flying overhead. Examples include the penghou 彭侯 (lit. "drumbeat marquis"), a demon associated with camphor trees in mountain forests, and which takes the form of a human-headed dog, and in the southern provinces,
5952-522: The United States. The rejection of demons as the cause of natural events also contributed to the association of demons with delusions and merely mental phenomena. For example, the notion that demons could possess an individual, stripped the individual away from their personhood and was at odds with modern Western philosophy. The most prominent ones, such as the American Dream and capitalism , imply
6076-554: The age of 23, he proposed to defend 900 theses on religion, philosophy, natural philosophy , and magic against all comers, for which he wrote the Oration on the Dignity of Man , which has been called the "Manifesto of the Renaissance", and a key text of Renaissance humanism and of what has been called the "Hermetic Reformation". He was the founder of the tradition of Christian Kabbalah ,
6200-638: The banana-leaf spirits. From the Tang dynasty onwards, belief in shapeshifting foxes, tigers and wolves, amongst other creatures, also featured in Chinese folk belief, partly due to the existence of outlawed fox-spirit cults. Fox Demons (狐妖) are described as cunning and lustful, capable of clairvoyance, and of inflicting disease and poisoning at will. They are sometimes seen as beings requiring worship to be appeased or placated. Tiger Demons (虎妖) and Wolf Demons (狼妖) are ravening beings roaming large territories for prey, taking
6324-415: The basis of the published tables of the day, he frequently made errors and failed to adjust the figures for his clients' place or time of birth. He then began his project of writing his book Les Prophéties , a collection of 942 poetic quatrains which constitute the largely undated prophecies for which he is most famous today. Feeling vulnerable to opposition on religious grounds, however, he devised
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#17328914427786448-504: The belief that everyone is responsible for their own fate and not at the mercy of external forces, thus has no room left for demons or demonic possessions. The concept of demons has nevertheless not disappeared from the public, permeating media, arts, and psychology. Others assert that the Age of Enlightenment did not compete with beliefs in subjugation of demons, but derived from them. In the 16th - early 17th century, conjuration of demonic forces
6572-415: The brain and those of internal nature. Examples include catalepsy , headache, epilepsy and nightmares. There also existed a demon of blindness, "Shabriri" (lit. "dazzling glare") who rested on uncovered water at night and blinded those who drank from it. Demons supposedly entered the body and caused the disease while overwhelming or "seizing" the victim. To cure such diseases, it was necessary to draw out
6696-525: The city to "deny free passage to the great nigromancer and sodomite Doctor Faustus" ( Doctor Faustus, dem großen Sodomiten und Nigromantico in furt glait ablainen ). Later records give a more positive verdict; thus the Tübingen professor Joachim Camerarius in 1536 recognises Faust as a respectable astrologer, and physician Philipp Begardi of Worms in 1539 praises his medical knowledge. The last direct attestation of Faust dates to 25 June 1535, when his presence
6820-758: The crime of witchcraft was literally impossible, so that anyone who confessed to the crime was likely to be suffering some mental disturbance (mainly melancholy, a very flexible category with many different symptoms). While he defended the idea that the Devil 's power was not as strong as claimed by the orthodox Christian churches in De Praestigiis Daemonum , he defended also the idea that demons did have power and could appear before people who called upon them, creating illusions; but he commonly referred to magicians and not to witches when speaking about people who could create illusions, saying they were heretics who were using
6944-565: The deceased giants, cursed by God to wander the Earth. Dale Martin disagrees with this interpretation, arguing that the ghosts of the Nephilim are distinct. The evil spirits would make the people sacrifice to the demons, but they were not demons themselves. The spirits are stated in Enoch to "corrupt, fall, be excited, and fall upon the earth, and cause sorrow". Renaissance magic Renaissance magic
7068-449: The demon was reluctant to do what he was commanded or a liar. In addition, he wanted to abolish the prosecution of witches, and when speaking on those who invoke demons (which he called spirits ) he carefully used the word exorcist . Weyer never denied the existence of the Devil and a huge number of other demons of high and low order. His work was an inspiration for other occultists and demonologists, including an anonymous author who wrote
7192-524: The demonic powers of impurity have become correspondingly weak, too. The Hebrew Bible mentions two classes of demonic spirits, the se'irim and the shedim . The word shedim (sing shed or sheyd ) appears in two places in the Hebrew Bible. The se'irim (sing. sa'ir , "male goat") are mentioned once in Leviticus 17 :7, probably a recollection of Assyrian demons in the shape of goats. They might be
7316-586: The demons of mountains and forests (the seductive Chimei 魑魅), demons of trees and rocks (a necrophagous fever-demon, the Wangliang 魍魎), subterranean demons of the earth and of decay (the goat-like and necrophagous Fenyang 墳羊 (lit. "grave-goat"), who caused disease and miscarriage) and fever demons born from water ( Wangxiang 罔象 , a child-like being with red eyes). These demons were said to be born of aberrant qi (breath or energy), known to accost and kill travellers, and held responsible for sickness. People also feared
7440-469: The divine inspiration of Socrates . In Christianity, morally ambivalent daimōn were replaced by demons, forces of evil only striving for corruption. Such demons are not the Greek intermediary spirits, but hostile entities, already known in Iranian beliefs. In Western esotericism and Renaissance magic , which grew out of an amalgamation of Greco-Roman magic , Jewish Aggadah , and Christian demonology,
7564-403: The divine will. The existence of demons can be related to the realm of chaos, beyond the created world. But even this negative connotation cannot be denied in light of the magical texts. The role of demons in relation to the human world remains ambivalent and largely depends on context. Ancient Egyptian demons can be divided into two classes: "guardians" and "wanderers". "Guardians" are tied to
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#17328914427787688-451: The elements. In his early model, he wrote that air surrounded the world like an egg shell. The egg white below the shell is like fire because it has a type of chaos to it that allows it to hold up earth and water. The earth and water make up a globe which, in terms of the egg, is the yolk. In De Meteoris , Paracelsus wrote that the firmament is the heavens. Nostradamus (1503–1566) was a French astrologer , physician and reputed seer , who
7812-417: The essential teaching about shedim and similar spirits is, that they should not be an object of worship, not a reality to be acknowledged or feared. Their point of view eventually became mainstream Jewish understanding. The opinion of some authors is not clear. Abraham ibn Ezra states that insane people can see the image of se'irim , when they go astray and ascribe to them powers independent from God. It
7936-589: The evil demons by certain incantations and talismanic performances, at which the Essenes excelled. Josephus , who spoke of demons as "spirits of the wicked which enter into men that are alive and kill them", but which could be driven out by a certain root , witnessed such a performance in the presence of the Emperor Vespasian and ascribed its origin to King Solomon . In mythology, there were few defences against Babylonian demons . The mythical mace Sharur had
8060-504: The fantasy genre, and especially in entertainment aimed at children and young adults. Belief in wilderness demons haunted China from the very earliest periods and persisted throughout the late imperial era. In the Xia dynasty, nine bronze cauldrons with their forms were cast to help the common people to identify and to avoid them. Classical texts in the Zhou and Warring-States period distinguish between
8184-453: The feet of Anzû ". She was believed to feed on the blood of human infants and was widely blamed as the cause of miscarriages and cot deaths . Although Lamashtu has traditionally been identified as a demoness, the fact that she could cause evil on her own without the permission of other deities strongly indicates that she was seen as a goddess in her own right. Mesopotamian peoples protected against her using amulets and talismans . She
8308-512: The form of humans to conveniently insert themselves into communities and settlements. Tiger demons are described as being enslave the souls of humans they have killed, turning them into minions. In the superstitious climate of the previous centuries, people mistaken as tigers and wolves in human disguise were often put to death or starved in their cells by magistrates. Fish (鱼妖) and snake demons (蛇妖) are said to have attempted to assault Confucius. Even insects are capable of being demonic. In one tale,
8432-515: The gates to the netherworld. During the Ptolemaic and Roman period , the guardians shifted towards the role of genius loci and they were the focus of local and private cults. The "wanderers" are associated with possession, mental illness, death and plagues. Many of them serve as executioners for the major deities, such as Ra or Osiris , when ordered to punish humans on earth or in the netherworld. Wanderers can also be agents of chaos, arising from
8556-474: The gods and their power, and as something, they had to assume, lay behind it, by an easy traditional shift of opinion they turned these pagan daimones into malevolent 'demons', the troupe of Satan . Far into the Byzantine period , Christians eyed their cities' old pagan statuary as a seat of the demons' presence. It was no longer beautiful, it was infested." The term had first acquired its negative connotations in
8680-516: The imperial era, they also appear as antagonists, and sometimes protagonists, in multiple genres of Chinese literature. These include mythic literature ( Shen Mo Xiaoshuo (lit. "Gods and demons novels") ), in records about paranormal or occult activity ( Zhi Guai ("lit. Records of the Strange") ), and in tales about cultivators of supernatural power and immortality ( Xian Xia (lit. "Immortal Hero") ) fiction. These demons are often examples or close variants of
8804-720: The indigenous Yao (妖) and the Indian-influenced Mo (魔) feature prominently in Chinese legends and folktales about the supernatural and the uncanny, and these days are staples of popular culture and fantasy fiction in games, movies and books. There are differing opinions in Judaism about the existence or non-existence of demons ( shedim or se'irim ). Some Rabbinic scholars assert that demons have existed in Talmudic times, but do not exist regularly in present. When prophecy, divine presence , and divine inspiration gradually decreased,
8928-524: The influence of Buddhism. In folk belief, these beings are responsible for misfortune, insanity, and illness, and any number of strange phenomena that could not easily be accounted for. Epilepsy and stroke, which led to either temporary or permanent contortions, were generally seen as the results of demonic possession and attacks (中邪). In the imperial era, anxiety over unexplained serial murders, missing persons, accidents or diseases sometimes led to instances of mass panic requiring imperial intervention. Exorcism
9052-472: The interlinks between behavior and consequence. It talks about a list of things that hold sway over a man's destiny. His medical works exerted considerable influence on Renaissance physicians such as Paracelsus , with whom he shared the perception on the unity of the micro- and macrocosmos, and their interactions, through somatic and psychological manifestations, with the aim to investigate their signatures to cure diseases. Those works, which were very popular at
9176-616: The largest libraries in England at the time. As a political advisor, he advocated for the founding of English colonies in the New World to form a " British Empire ", a term he is credited with coining. Dee was an intense Christian, but his religiosity was influenced by Hermetic and Platonic - Pythagorean doctrines pervasive in the Renaissance . He believed that numbers were the basis of all things and key to knowledge. From Hermeticism he drew
9300-640: The late 16th century, from ca. 1580, i.e. the same period of the development of the Volksbuch tradition. Other writers on occult or magical topics during this period include: C. S. Lewis in his 1954 English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Excluding Drama differentiates what he takes to be the change of character in magic as practiced in the Middle Ages as opposed to the Renaissance: Only an obstinate prejudice about this period could blind us to
9424-555: The legend was again adapted in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 's closet drama Faust (1808), Hector Berlioz 's musical composition La damnation de Faust (premiered 1846), and Franz Liszt 's Faust Symphony of 1857. There are several prints of grimoires or magical texts attributed to Faust. Some of them are artificially dated to his lifetime, either to "1540", or to "1501", "1510", etc., some even to unreasonably early dates, such as "1405" and "1469". The prints in fact date to
9548-520: The lowest animals and the meanest plants, but do not see life in the heavens or the world ... Now if those little men grant life to the smallest particles of the world, what folly! what envy! neither to know that the Whole, in which 'we live and move and have our being,' is itself alive, nor to wish this to be so. One metaphor for this integrated "aliveness" is Ficino's astrology. In the Book of Life , he details
9672-613: The magi, which contain a brief and dry interpretation of Chaldean philosophy, but full of mystery." It was also in Perugia that Pico was introduced to the mystical Hebrew Kabbalah , which fascinated him, as did the late classical Hermetic writers, such as Hermes Trismegistus . The Kabbalah and Hermetica were thought in Pico's time to be as ancient as the Old Testament. Pico's tutor in Kabbalah
9796-461: The modern English "demon". Both deities and demons can act as intermediaries to deliver messages to humans. By that, they share some resemblance to the Greek daimon. However, magical writings indicate that ancient Egyptians acknowledged the existence of malevolent demons by highlighting the demon names with red ink. Demons in this culture appeared to be subordinative and related to a specific deity, yet they may have occasionally acted independently of
9920-597: The mysteries of faith, a common notion at that time. Reuchlin's mystico-cabalistic ideas and objects were expounded in the De Verbo Mirifico , and finally in the De Arte Cabalistica (1517). Johann Georg Faust (c. 1480 or 1466 – c. 1541) was a German itinerant alchemist , astrologer and magician of the German Renaissance . Because of his early treatment as a figure in legend and literature, it
10044-505: The original meaning of daimon . The Western Modern era conception of a demon , as in the Ars Goetia , derives seamlessly from the ambient popular culture of Late Antiquity . The exact definition of "demon" in Egyptology posed a major problem for modern scholarship, since the borders between a deity and a demon are sometimes blurred and the ancient Egyptian language lacks a term for
10168-419: The other texts only give him 30 legions to command. The other texts further describe Bune's appearance as a three headed dragon (with one head being human) and give him the additional powers of making devils gather around graves and making one wise and charismatic. Practicing occultist Carroll "Poke" Runyon suggests that the name ultimately derives from Buto (a title for Isis), as part of an overall claim that
10292-625: The popular press, credit him with having accurately predicted many major world events. Most academic sources reject the notion that Nostradamus had any genuine supernatural prophetic abilities and maintain that the associations made between world events and Nostradamus's quatrains are the result of misinterpretations or mistranslations (sometimes deliberate). These academics also argue that Nostradamus's predictions are characteristically vague, meaning they could be applied to virtually anything, and are useless for determining whether their author had any real prophetic powers. Johann Weyer (1515–1588)
10416-595: The power to slay demons such as Asag , a legendary gallu or edimmu of hideous strength. In the Jerusalem Talmud , notions of shedim ("demons" or "spirits") are almost unknown or occur only very rarely, whereas in the Babylonian Talmud there are many references to shedim and magical incantations. The existence of shedim in general was not questioned by most of the Babylonian Talmudists . As
10540-511: The pre-modern period, spirits and demons were assigned to various natural phenomena, the rationalistic school of thought , increasingly rejected the attribution of demons to unknown causes. Many considered demons to be non-existent and alleged visions of demons and ghosts were explained as results of superstition. By that local religious customs were also oppressed in favor of nationwide (religious) ideas or deities. Wilkinson Duran states that people who believe in demons are often marginalized in
10664-437: The principal Devil. As lesser spirits doing the Devil's work, they have additional duties— causing humans to have sinful thoughts and tempting humans to commit sinful actions. The original Ancient Greek word daimōn ( δαίμων ) did not carry negative connotations, as it denotes a spirit or divine power. The Greek conception of a daimōn notably appears in the philosophical works of Plato , where it describes
10788-401: The religious sense are known as Mo (魔) and are generally derived from Indian lore through Buddhism. These include the man-eating, night-flying luocha 罗刹 (raksasha) and the yecha 夜叉 (yaksha). These have also entered Chinese folk religion and Taoism. Another closely related term, highlighting their spiritual deviance and moral corruption, is Xie (邪). Aside from recurring in Chinese superstition of
10912-437: The royal family, she summoned him to Paris to explain them and to draw up horoscopes for her children. At the time, he feared that he would be beheaded, but by the time of his death in 1566, Queen Catherine had made him Counselor and Physician-in-Ordinary to her son, the young King Charles IX of France . In the years since the publication of his Les Prophéties , Nostradamus has attracted many supporters, who, along with much of
11036-409: The service of God: "Stand not in the way of an ox when coming from the pasture, for Satan dances between his horns". Aggadic tales from the Persian tradition describe the shedim , the mazziḳim ("harmers"), and the ruḥin ("spirits"). There were also lilin ("night spirits"), ṭelane ("shade", or "evening spirits"), ṭiharire ("midday spirits"), and ẓafrire ("morning spirits"), as well as
11160-410: The seven evil deities were known as shedu , storm-demons, represented in ox-like form." They were represented as winged bulls , derived from the colossal bulls used as protective jinn of royal palaces. Magical rites, charms, and beliefs in spiritual entities were prominent in pre-Christian Europe. While the Church offically declared such beliefs as false , the persistance of such beliefs among
11284-432: The seventh "Century" have not survived in any extant edition. Les Prophéties received a mixed reaction when it was published. Some people thought Nostradamus was a servant of evil, a fake, or insane, while many of the elite evidently thought otherwise. Catherine de' Medici , wife of King Henry II of France , was one of Nostradamus's greatest admirers. After reading his almanacs for 1555, which hinted at unnamed threats to
11408-582: The sighting of a Centipede Demon (蜈蚣妖) in the form of an old woman without eyes is said to have led to the sickness and death of an entire household. One notable demon not in the above categories includes the Heisheng or Heiqi 黑气 ("Black Calamity" or "Black Air"), a kind of roving vapour demon that inflicts damage to persons and property wherever it roams, sometimes killing where it goes. Another are undefined Poltergeists, sometimes afflicting monasteries, causing serious nuisances, and unable to be exorcised. Demons in
11532-549: The sinner and start to multiply as an act of self-preservation. Medieval Kabbalists characterize such demons as punishing angels of destruction . They are subject to the divine will, and do not act independently. Other demonic entities, such as the shedim , might be considered benevolent. The Zohar classifies them as those who are like humans and submit to the Torah, and those who have no fear of God and are like animals. The sources of demonic influence were thought to originate from
11656-411: The story connecting the Nephilim to the corruption of humans. According to the Book of Enoch , sin originates when angels descend from heaven and fornicate with women, birthing giants. The Book of Enoch shows that these fallen angels can lead humans to sin through direct interaction or through providing forbidden knowledge. Most scholars understand the text, that demons originate from the evil spirits of
11780-589: The symbol depends on the prevailing religion of the culture. Among Turks, the basmalah ("invocation of the name of Allah") is used to ward off demons, while among Armenians, the symbol of the cross is utilized. Common features of these Middle Eastern demons are their immortality and pernicious nature, they can turn invisible, and can be enslaved when pierced by a silver needle. Due to the Islamic belief-system prevailing in Middle Eastern and Central Asian culture at
11904-442: The time between the parī and the angels, from the fires of the stars and smoke. Under influence of Islamic Philosophy , Medieval occult traditions and Renaissance magic , demons are often seen as beneficial and useful, lacking an inherent negative connotation. In the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Renaissance magic, the terms 'demon' and 'devil' have two different, although not exclusive, meanings. The term demons refers to
12028-507: The time, authors emphasized that demons only exist by God's will and not as an independent or even accidental part of the world. The origin of the demons is explained by Abu Ali Bal'ami 's interpretation of Tarikh al-Tabari as the possibly first creation of God ( Allah ). Similarly, the Süleymanname , written during the time of Suleiman the Magnificent , demons were created by God in
12152-414: The time, dealt with astrological and alchemical concepts. Thus Ficino came under the suspicion of heresy; especially after the publication of the third book in 1489, which contained specific instructions on healthful living in a world of demons and other spirits. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494) was an Italian Renaissance nobleman and philosopher . He is famed for the events of 1486, when, at
12276-504: The treatise with the impression that Agrippa found witchcraft as intriguing as benevolent magic. However, at the peak of the witch trials , there was a certain danger to be associated with witchcraft or sorcery , and most learned authors took pains to clearly renounce the practice of forbidden arts. Thus, Agrippa while admitting that natural magic is the highest form of natural philosophy unambiguously rejects all forms of sorcery ( goetia or necromancy ). Paracelsus (c. 1493 –1541)
12400-523: The type and kind that exist in folk belief. They also appear in entertainment designed for children and young adults, especially in comics (manhua), cartoons (anime), and computer games. The terms Yao (妖) , Mo (魔), Gui (鬼), Guai (怪) and Xie (邪) are their various two-character combinations often used to refer to these creatures, but of these terms, only Mo (魔) denotes demons in the religious sense. China has two classes of beings that might be regarded as demons, and which are generally translated as such: Both
12524-415: The wider populations led Christian monks to assimilate Christian with non-Christian rites. In order to do so, non-Christian symbols and as pagan deities have been substituted by Jesus Christ . To sanction the invocation of non-Christian supernatural powers, Christian missionaries, such as John Cassian in the fifth century, declared the pagan gods to be demons, servants of Lucifer , who bring disorder to
12648-436: The world beyond creation to bring about misfortune and suffering without any divine instructions, led only by evil motivations. The influences of the wanderers can be warded off and kept at the borders of the human world by the use of magic, but they can never be destroyed. A sub-category of "wanderers" are nightmare demons, which were believed to cause nightmares by entering a human body. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that
12772-621: The world. Ideas of demons (often called Dīv/Dēw or mārid or šayāṭīn in Arabic ) in Armenia , Turkic countries , and Albania derive from Arabic and Persian imagery . Unlike the original Persian daeva , the at the Islamic period are more anthropomorphized and morally complex, through assimialtion with the Arabic jinn and devils. Like the jinn from Islamic traditions, they can enter sexual relationships with humans and sire offspring. Demons are believed to be mostly active at night and
12896-544: The years 1474–1494, survive and have been published. He wrote De amore (Of Love) in 1484. De vita libri tres (Three books on life), or De triplici vita (The Book of Life), published in 1489, provides a great deal of medical and astrological advice for maintaining health and vigor, as well as espousing the Neoplatonist view of the world's ensoulment and its integration with the human soul: There will be some men or other, superstitious and blind, who see life plain in even
13020-409: Was Rabbi Johannan Alemanno (1435/8–c. 1510), who argued that the study and mastery of magic was to be regarded as the final stage of one's intellectual and spiritual education. This contact, initiated as a result of Christian interest in Jewish mystical sources, resulted in unprecedented mutual influence between Jewish and Christian Renaissance thought. The most original of Pico's 900 theses concerned
13144-563: Was a Dutch physician , occultist and demonologist , and a disciple and follower of Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa . He was among the first to publish against the persecution of witches . His most influential work is De Praestigiis Daemonum et Incantationibus ac Venificiis ('On the Illusions of the Demons and on Spells and Poisons'; 1563). Weyer criticised the Malleus Maleficarum and
13268-419: Was a Swiss physician, alchemist , lay theologian , and philosopher of the German Renaissance . As a physician of the early 16th century, Paracelsus held a natural affinity with the Hermetic , Neoplatonic , and Pythagorean philosophies central to the Renaissance, a world-view exemplified by Marsilio Ficino and Pico della Mirandola . Astrology was a very important part of Paracelsus's medicine and he
13392-438: Was a court function during the Zhou dynasty, led by ritual specialists known as fangshi . In later dynasties, roving Taoist sorcerers, Buddhist monks, as well as eccentric folk magicians, plied their services in warding off, exorcising, countering or defeating these demons through the use of amulets, charms, spells, and chants. In mainland China, belief in demons is very rare. Today, these beings appear primarily as antagonists in
13516-493: Was a practising astrologer – as were many of the university-trained physicians working at that time in Europe. Paracelsus devoted several sections in his writings to the construction of astrological talismans for curing disease. He largely rejected the philosophies of Aristotle and Galen , as well as the theory of humours . Although he did accept the concept of the four elements as water, air, fire, and earth, he saw them merely as
13640-476: Was a resurgence in Hermeticism and Neoplatonic varieties of the magical arts which arose along with Renaissance humanism in the 15th and 16th centuries CE. During the Renaissance period, magic and occult practices underwent significant changes that reflected shifts in cultural, intellectual, and religious perspectives. C. S. Lewis , in his work on English literature, highlighted the transformation in how magic
13764-408: Was always Pico's aim to reconcile the schools of Plato and Aristotle since he believed they used different words to express the same concepts. It was perhaps for this reason his friends called him "Princeps Concordiae", or "Prince of Harmony" (a pun on Prince of Concordia, one of his family's holdings). Similarly, Pico believed that an educated person should also study Hebrew and Talmudic sources, and
13888-488: Was believed to be the son of the god Hanbi . He was usually regarded as evil, but he could also sometimes be a beneficent entity who protected against winds bearing pestilence and he was thought to be able to force Lamashtu back to the underworld. Amulets bearing his image were positioned in dwellings to protect infants from Lamashtu and pregnant women frequently wore amulets with his head on them as protection from her. Šul-pa-e 's name means "youthful brilliance", but he
14012-470: Was believed to ride in her boat on the river of the underworld and she was associated with donkeys. She was believed to be the daughter of An . Pazuzu is a demonic god who was well known to the Babylonians and Assyrians throughout the first millennium BCE. He is shown with "a rather canine face with abnormally bulging eyes, a scaly body, a snake-headed penis, the talons of a bird and usually wings". He
14136-432: Was continually persecuted as a heretic. His problems stemmed not only from his reputation as a conjurer, but also from his vehement criticism of the vices of the ruling classes and of the most respected intellectual and religious authorities. While some scholars and students viewed Agrippa as a source of intellectual inspiration, to many others, his practices were dubious and his beliefs serious. The transitive side of magic
14260-453: Was convinced of their Saturnine affinity and the divine providence of his arrival. Lorenzo would support and protect Pico until his death in 1492. Pico spent several months in Perugia and nearby Fratta. It was there, as he wrote to Ficino, that "divine Providence ... caused certain books to fall into my hands. They are Chaldean books ... of Esdras , of Zoroaster and of Melchior , oracles of
14384-582: Was great uncertainty in distinguishing practices of vain superstition, blasphemous occultism, and perfectly sound scholarly knowledge or pious ritual. Intellectual and spiritual tensions erupted in the Early Modern witch craze , further reinforced by the turmoils of the Protestant Reformation , especially in Germany , England , and Scotland . The people during this time found that the existence of magic
14508-439: Was made popular in northern Europe, most notably England, by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535), via his De occulta philosophia libra tres (1531–1533). Agrippa had revolutionary ideas about magical theory and procedure that were widely circulated in the Renaissance among those who sought out knowledge of occult philosophy. Agrippa himself was famous as a scholar, physician jurist, and astrologer, but throughout his life he
14632-442: Was more respected than legitimate authority, resulting in amorality and excessive personal independence. The declaration of demons as mere superstition was also welcomed as a "removal" of pagan beliefs. According to Wouter Hanegraaff , what the demons the Age of Enlightenment attempted to remove are pagan beliefs. Aboriginal Australian cultures have various beings translated into English as "demons" or "devils". The most notable
14756-442: Was not envisioned as youthful god. According to one tradition, he was the consort of Ninhursag, a tradition which contradicts the usual portrayal of Enki as Ninhursag's consort. In one Sumerian poem, offerings made to Šhul-pa-e in the underworld and, in later mythology, he was one of the demons of the underworld. According to The Jewish Encyclopedia , originally published in 12 volumes from 1901 to 1906, "In Chaldean mythology
14880-537: Was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance . He was an astrologer , a reviver of Neoplatonism in touch with the major academics of his day, and the first translator of Plato 's complete extant works into Latin . His Florentine Academy , an attempt to revive Plato's Academy , influenced the direction and tenor of the Italian Renaissance and the development of European philosophy . Ficino's letters, extending over
15004-440: Was perceived and portrayed. In medieval stories, magic had a fantastical and fairy-like quality, while in the Renaissance, it became more complex and tied to the idea of hidden knowledge that could be explored through books and rituals. This change is evident in the works of authors like Spenser , Marlowe , Chapman , and Shakespeare , who treated magic as a serious and potentially dangerous pursuit. Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa ,
15128-557: Was recorded in Münster during the Anabaptist rebellion . Doctor Faust became the subject of folk legend in the decades after his death, transmitted in chapbooks beginning in the 1580s, and was notably adapted by Christopher Marlowe in his play The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus (1604). The Faustbuch tradition survived throughout the early modern period , and
15252-437: Was seen as potential for humans to overcome their social and natural environment. Hermetic and Kabbalist philosophy allowed humans to exercise control over nature. As such, occult practises may have paved the way for the development of modern sciences. Individualism was met with certain ambiguity. Although the Renaissance "freed" humans from superstition and allowed them to control nature, it created an environment in which power
15376-526: Was something that could answer the questions that they could not explain through science. To them it was suggesting that while science may explain reason, magic could explain "unreason". Georgius Gemistus Pletho ( c. 1355 /1360 – 1452/1454) was a Greek scholar and one of the most renowned philosophers of the late Byzantine era. He was a chief pioneer of the revival of Greek scholarship in Western Europe. As revealed in his last literary work,
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