Demon#Islam

{{Further|Daemon (classical mythology)|Agathodaemon|Cacodemon|Daimonic|Eudaimonia}}

File:Mephistopheles2.jpg (a medieval demon from German folklore) flying over Wittenberg, in a lithograph by Eugène Delacroix.]]

The Ancient Greek word {{lang|grc|δαίμων}} ({{Lang|grc-latn|daimōn}}) denotes a spirit or divine power, much like the Latin {{Lang|la|genius}} or {{Lang|la|numen}}. {{Lang|grc-latn|Daimōn}} most likely came from the Greek verb {{Lang|el-latn|daiesthai}} ({{Gloss|to divide}} or {{Gloss|distribute}}).{{cite web |title=Demon |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demon |work=Merriam-Webster Dictionary |access-date=12 April 2012 |archive-date=7 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507222928/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demon |url-status=live}} The Greek conception of a {{Lang|grc-latn|daimōn}} notably appears in the philosophical works of Plato, where it describes the divine inspiration of Socrates. The original Greek word {{Lang|grc-latn|daimōn}} does not carry the negative connotation initially understood by implementation of the Koine {{lang|grc|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 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."{{sfn|Lane Fox|1988|p=137}} The term had first acquired its negative connotations in 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 ({{Lang|de|Dämon}}), however, is different from devil ({{Lang|de|Teufel}}) and demons as evil spirits, and akin to the original meaning of {{Lang|grc-latn|daimōn}}.{{sfn|Russell|1986|p=37}} The Western Modern era conception of demons, as in the Ars Goetia, derives seamlessly from the ambient popular culture of Late Antiquity.

{{Further|Ancient Mesopotamian underworld#Demons}}

File:Dumuzi aux enfers.jpg impression showing the god Dumuzid being tortured in the Underworld by galla demons]]

Mesopotamian demonology had strong influence on later Hebrew and Christian concepts of demons,Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The devil: Perceptions of evil from antiquity to primitive Christianity. Cornell University Press, 1987. p. 92 such as shedu from Chaldean mythology.{{harvnb|Hirsch|Gottheil|Kohler|Broydé|1906}}. The demons of Mesopotamia were generally hostile spirits of lesser power than a deity. Since both nature and culture were in constant change, neither were considered part of a divine cosmos.Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The devil: Perceptions of evil from antiquity to primitive Christianity. Cornell University Press, 1987. p. 88 According to the Babylonian creation epic Enūma Eliš, both gods and demons are the children of Tiamat, the goddess of primordial chaos.Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The devil: Perceptions of evil from antiquity to primitive Christianity. Cornell University Press, 1987. p. 88-89 The demons were engendered by Tiamat as an act of revenge in reaction to the gods slaying her primordial partner Abzu. In the Babylonian tale of the Great Flood, since gods promised to never flood humanity again, instead installed the demoness Lamaštu, to kill humans in order to avoid excessive multiplication.Maul, S. (., Jansen-Winkeln, K. (., Niehr, H. (., Macuch, M. (., & Johnston, S. I. (. (2006). Demons. In Brill's New Pauly Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e309270

Some demons were evil spirits of those who died in misery, while other demons were nature demons causing harm by carrying plagues, nightmares, causing headaches, and storms. To protect oneself from demons, one were to wear amulets, using magic, or seeking refuge among another demon or deity. On an ontological level, in early Semitic history, deities and demons often shed into another, as the distinction was of no importance for the believer.Introduction:

Angels and Their Religious and

Cosmological Contexts p. 17

The underworld was home to many demonic beings,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=180}} sometimes referred to as "offspring of arali".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=180}} These demons ascend from the underworld and terrorize mortals.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=180}} One class of demons that were believed to reside in the underworld were known as galla;{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=85}} their primary purpose appears to have been to drag unfortunate mortals back to Kur.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=85}} They are frequently referenced in magical texts,{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=85–86}} and some texts describe them as being seven in number.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|pages=85–86}} Several extant poems describe the galla dragging the god Dumuzid into the underworld.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=86}} Like many other Mesopotamian demons galla could also fulfill a protective role.{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=86}} In a hymn from King Gudea of Lagash ({{circa}} 2144 – 2124 BCE), a minor god named Ig-alima is described as "the great galla of Girsu".{{sfn|Black|Green|1992|page=86}}

File:Arzhang (The Shahnama of Shah Tahmasp).png (The Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp). The demon is inspired by ancient Persian beliefs.Doostkhah, Jalil. "Az and Niyaz, Two Powerful and Haughty Demons in Persian Mythology and Epics." Sydney Studies in Religion (1998).]]

File:Rostam carried by Akwan-Diwa (cropped).jpg (The Shahnameh of Shah Tahmasp)]]

{{Main|Daeva}}

The Zoroastrian concept of demons (Daeva, later {{Lang|pal-latn|dīv}})Eduljee, K. E. "Zoroastrian Heritage." On-line at: http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism (2014). had strong influence on the Abrahamic religions, especially Christianity and Islam. By elevating Ahura Mazda to the one supreme God, the founder Zoroaster relegated the daevas to demons.Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The devil: Perceptions of evil from antiquity to primitive Christianity. Cornell University Press, 1987. p. 104 Emphasizing free-will, Zoroaster taught that demons became evil by their own volition in rejecting truth over falsehood. At a later stage, Mazdaism makes Ahriman, the principle of Evil (i.e. the Devil), the creator of demons and leader of daevas.Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The devil: Perceptions of evil from antiquity to primitive Christianity. Cornell University Press, 1987. p. 105

The battle between the hosts of deities against evil demons ({{Lang|pal-latn|dīv}} and {{Lang|pal-latn|druz}}) are described in the Bundahishn.Shaked, Shaul. The Bundahisn: The Zoroastrian Book of Creation. Oxford University Press, 2020. p. xviii Humankind lives in a world between the good powers of God (Ahura Mazda) and the Devil (Ahriman) and suffers corruption through defection of humankind. Therefore, Zorastrianism proposes a threefold nature for humans: divine, animalistic, and demonic.Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The devil: Perceptions of evil from antiquity to primitive Christianity. Cornell University Press, 1987. p. 115 As such, humans are obligated to keep fighting the demonic traits. After death, people must cross the Chinvat Bridge to enter paradise. However, those who have chosen evil in their life will fall into the pit of hell. In hell, the damned are tormented by the demons.Russell, Jeffrey Burton. The devil: Perceptions of evil from antiquity to primitive Christianity. Cornell University Press, 1987. p. 119{{Cite book |last=Nigosian |first=Solomon Alexander |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uspf6eDDvjAC |title=The Zoroastrian Faith: Tradition and Modern Research |date=1993 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-1144-6}}

The concept of demons as servants of the Devil entered the Christian tradition via Post-exilic Judaism.Van der Toorn, Karel, Bob Becking, and Pieter Willem van der Horst, eds. Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999. p. 236 Inspired by Zoroastrian dualistic cosmology,Van der Toorn, Karel, Bob Becking, and Pieter Willem van der Horst, eds. Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999.p. 238 the non-Jewish deities were demonized, as evident from intertestamental writings. The apocalyptic literature then builds the foundation for the authors of the Gospels in first-century Palestine.Wright, A. T. (2016). The Demonology of 1 Enoch and the New Testament Gospels. Enoch and the Synoptic Gospels: Reminiscences, Allusions, Intertextuality, 216.

In antiquity, belief in demonic agents of misfortune were widespread.Brown, Peter. Sorcery, Demons, and the Rise of Christianity from Late Antiquity into the Middle Ages. New York, NY, 1970. p. 28 The early Christian community took it for granted that people outside the Judeo-Christian community were worshipping demons.Brown, Peter. Sorcery, Demons, and the Rise of Christianity from Late Antiquity into the Middle Ages. New York, NY, 1970. p. 24 Conversion to Christianity meant renunciation of the demons by the bearers of the Holy Spirit.Brown, Peter. Sorcery, Demons, and the Rise of Christianity from Late Antiquity into the Middle Ages. New York, NY, 1970. p. 31-32

By the end of the sixth century, the Mediterranean Christian society widely considered themselves to be unequivocally Christian, with an exception to Jews, the last record of worshipping another pre-Christian deity being in 570s.Brown, Peter. Sorcery, Demons, and the Rise of Christianity from Late Antiquity into the Middle Ages. New York, NY, 1970. p. 35

Magical rites, charms, and beliefs in spiritual entities were prominent in pre-Christian Europe.Scribner, Robert W. "The Reformation, popular magic, and the" Disenchantment of the World"." The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 23.3 (1993): 480-481. While the Church officially declared such beliefs as false,Scribner, Robert W. "The Reformation, popular magic, and the" Disenchantment of the World"." The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 23.3 (1993): 481. the persistance of such beliefs among 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.Cameron, Malcolm L. "Anglo-Saxon medicine and magic." Anglo-Saxon England 17 (1988): 214. 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 the world.Brown, Peter. Sorcery, Demons, and the Rise of Christianity from Late Antiquity into the Middle Ages. New York, NY, 1970. p. 24 Many pagan nature spirits like dwarfs and elves thus became seen as demons, servants of the supreme Devil. A difference was made between monsters and demons. The monsters, regarded as distorted humans, probably without souls, were created so that people might be grateful to God that they did not suffer in such a state; they ranked above demons in existence and still claimed a small degree of beauty and goodness as they had not turned away from God.{{sfn|Russell|1986|p=79}}

In Medieval Christianity, demons and spirits were generally considered to be fallen angels. Morally ambivalent nature spirits, such as fairies from Irish and Scandinavian folktales were often explained as angels who remained neutral during the war of heaven.Mack, C. K., Mack, D. (1998). A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits. USA: Arcade Pub. p. xxiiiWilde, J. F. E. (1888). Ancient Legends, mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland: With Sketches of the Irish Past. To which is Appended a Chaper on "The Ancient Race of Ireland". USA: Ticknor and Company. p. 89 They became spirits of the place they fell into when banished to earth. Although considered neutral spirits earlier, later Protestant thinkers increasingly associated them with Satan and considered them to be demons.Oldridge, Darren. "Fairies and the Devil in early modern England." The Seventeenth Century 31.1 (2016): 1-15.

{{See also|Div (mythology)|Marid|Ifrit}}

File:Imam Ali and the Jinn.jpg slaying demons with his sword Zulfiqar in a Persian manuscript. As evident from the poetry of Sanā'ī Ghaznavī, the sword is believed to be made from fire (آتش), able to kill not only a body but also a soul.Bakr, Sarmad Mohammad. "The Structural Level in the Sufi Poetry."]]

In Islamic culture, demons ({{Lang|pes-latn|dīv}}) share many anthropomorphic attributes with the Arabian jinn.Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew. The Ashgate encyclopedia of literary and cinematic monsters. Routledge, 2016. chapter: Div{{cite book |title=Persian Literature as World Literature |series=Literatures as World Literature |place=USA |editor1=Abedinifard, Mostafa |editor2=Azadibougar, Omid |editor3=Vafa, Amirhossein |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2021 |isbn=978-1501354205 |pages=40–43 |postscript=,}} {{isbn|9781501354205}}{{rp|style=ama|page= 37}} Like the jinn from Islamic traditions, they can enter sexual relationships with humans and sire offspring. Nonetheless, demons differ from jinn as they are perceived as malign creatures.The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful: The Survival of Ancient Iranian Ethical Concepts in Persian Popular Narratives of the Islamic Period p. 24 Within context of the Islamic belief system, demons are considered to be yet another creature of God, rather than independent parts of the world,Friedl, E. (2020). Religion and Daily Life in the Mountains of Iran: Theology, Saints, People. Vereinigtes Königreich: Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 86Sinai, Nicolai. "Key terms of the Qur'an: a critical dictionary." (2023): 1-840.{{rp|style=ama|p=452}} as evident from Abu Ali Bal'ami's interpretation of Tarikh al-Tabari{{rp|style=ama|page=40}} and the Süleymanname (written at the time of Suleiman the Magnificent).ÇAKIN, Mehmet Burak. "SÜLEYMÂN-NÂME'DE MİTOLOJİK BİR UNSUR OLARAK DÎVLER." Turkish Studies-Language and Literature 14.3 (2019): 1137-1158.

Demons are believed to be vanquished by sacred symbols. The content of 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,Zhanar, Abdibek, et al. "The Problems of the Mythological Personages in the Ancient Turkic Literature." Asian Social Science 11.7 (2015): 341. 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.{{cite journal |title=Armenian Demonology: A Critical Overview |author=Asatrian, Garnik |journal=Iran and the Caucasus |volume=17 |number=1 |pages=9–25 |year=2013 |publisher=Brill|doi=10.1163/1573384X-20130103 | issn = 1573-384X}} Demons are believed to be mostly active at night and a bad smell in the air or sudden change in temperature would announce their presence.{{cite web | url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/div | title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica}} It is generally accepted that demons can be subjugated as they are said to be enslaved by legendary heroes (Solomon in the Quran and Jamshid in Persian legends).{{cite book |first1=Eva |last1=Orthmann |first2=Anna |last2=Kollatz |title=The Ceremonial of Audience: Transcultural approaches |publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht |date=2019-11-11 |isbn=978-3-847-00887-3 |page=155}} 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.Pedram Khosronejad The People of the Air Healing and Spirit Possession in South of Iran in: Shamanism and Healing Rituals in Contemporary Islam and Sufism, T.Zarcone (ed.) 2011, I.B.Tauris

Such demons frequently appear throughout literature as personification of human vices. The protagonist must overcome their own animalistic nature, the demons, in order to heed his rational inclination and achieve salvation.Barry, M. A. (2004). Figurative art in medieval Islam and the riddle of Bihzad of Herat (1465-1535). Flammarion. 361-363Davaran, Fereshteh. Continuity in Iranian identity: Resilience of a cultural heritage. Routledge, 2010. pp. 207-208

{{See also|Jinn|Daimon}}

Under influence of Islamic philosophy, Medieval occult traditions and Renaissance magic, demons are often seen as beneficial and useful, lacking an inherent negative connotation.{{Cite book |last=Saif |first=Liana |title=The Arabic influences on early modern occult philosophy |date=2015 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Basingstoke}} In fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Renaissance magic, the terms demon and devil have two different, although not exclusive, meanings.Maggi, A. (2001). Satan's Rhetoric: A Study of Renaissance Demonology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 14-15 The term demons refers to 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 ({{circa|1090/1091|1155/1170s}}) understands demon closer to the Greek {{Lang|grc-latn|daimōn}}, reserving the concept of the devil only for 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'.

In the sixteenth century, among proponents of demons as ambivalent spirits, Paracelsus was the most vocal.Goodare, Julian. "Between humans and angels: Scientific uses for fairies in early modern Scotland." Fairies, Demons, and Nature Spirits: 'Small Gods' at the Margins of Christendom (2018): 175. He asserted that these beings are spirit-like and thus not human, but they have bodies and flesh and are thus, not angels. Robert Kirk (1644–1692) integrated fairies into his theories of intermediary spirits.Goodare, Julian. "Between humans and angels: Scientific uses for fairies in early modern Scotland." Fairies, Demons, and Nature Spirits: 'Small Gods' at the Margins of Christendom (2018): 180. He suggested that these beings are structured similar to human societies, intelligent beings who eat and drink yet invisible to most humans.Goodare, Julian. "Between humans and angels: Scientific uses for fairies in early modern Scotland." Fairies, Demons, and Nature Spirits: 'Small Gods' at the Margins of Christendom (2018): 181. Their views were rejected by demonologists and religious orthodoxy and labelled as "atheistic". They denied that spirits could have an autonomeous existence and that they are demons with the sole purpose of deceiving and harming people.Goodare, Julian. "Between humans and angels: Scientific uses for fairies in early modern Scotland." Fairies, Demons, and Nature Spirits: 'Small Gods' at the Margins of Christendom (2018): 186-187.

A variety of spirits or the assumption that demons might be morally ambivalent is encouraged by necromancy.Goodare, Julian. "Between humans and angels: Scientific uses for fairies in early modern Scotland." Fairies, Demons, and Nature Spirits: 'Small Gods' at the Margins of Christendom (2018): 174. Here, a necromancer supposedly converses with the spirits of the dead. A ceremonial magician usually consults 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 {{Lang|grc-latn|goes}}, which originally denoted diviners, magicians, healers, and seers.{{sfnp|Drury|Hume|2013|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=oV4BjGoOZvoC&pg=PA124 124]}}

File:Japanese demon mask.jpg, a Japanese ogre-like creature which often has horns and often translated into English as "demon".]]

In the 16th to early 17th centuries, the idea – inherited from Renaissance magic and occultism – that demonic forces could be conjured and controlled may have paved the way for the development of modern sciences.Mebane, John S. Renaissance magic and the return of the Golden Age: the occult tradition and Marlowe, Jonson, and Shakespeare. U of Nebraska Press, 1992. p. 2 In Hermetic- and Kabbalist philosophy, demons could be subjugated and shaped the idea that humans can control their social environment and their surrounding natural forces.Mebane, John S. Renaissance magic and the return of the Golden Age: the occult tradition and Marlowe, Jonson, and Shakespeare. U of Nebraska Press, 1992. p. 3

The Age of Enlightenment conceptualizes humans as autonomous individuals, mostly independent from external invisible forces, such as demons or gods ruling over human fate.{{cite book |first=Luzia Sutter |last=Rehmann |title=Dämonen und unreine Geister: Die Evangelien, gelesen auf dem Hintergrund von Krieg, Vertreibung und Trauma |publisher=Gütersloher Verlagshaus |year=2023 |isbn=978-3641292973 |language=de}} While in 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.Mircea Eliade Encyclopedia of Religion Macmillan Publishing (1986) p. 287

The rejection of demons as a form of superstition was also welcomed by religious perspective, considered to be a "removal" of remaining pagan beliefs. According to Wouter Hanegraaff, demons are pagan beliefs, removed by the Age of Enlightenment.Josephson-Storm, Jason Ānanda. "The superstition, secularism, and religion trinary: Or re-theorizing secularism." Method & Theory in the Study of Religion 30.1 (2018): 13.

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.{{cite journal |last=Josephson-Storm |first=Jason Ānanda |title=The superstition, secularism, and religion trinary: Or re-theorizing secularism |journal=Method & Theory in the Study of Religion |volume=30 |number=1 |year=2018 |pages=1–20|doi=10.1163/15700682-12341409}} Wilkinson Duran states that people who believe in demons are often marginalized in 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 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.

{{section move from|Devil|sections=Demon|date=March 2025}}

Privation theories of evil, such as good–evil dualism and neo-platonism, often consider matter to be a refractory element in the cosmos instigating evil.Calder, Todd, "The Concept of Evil", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2022 Edition), Edward N. Zalta & Uri Nodelman (eds.), URL = Chapter: 2 In religious beliefs, applying such theories of evil, matter (Greek: {{Lang|grc-latn|hyle}} {{Lang|grc|Ὕλη}}) becomes a sphere of demonic activity and transforms matter into the devilish principle par excellence.Horst, P. W. v. d. (2018). Hyle Ὕλη. In Various Authors & Editors (ed.), Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/2589-7802_DDDO_DDDO_Hyle

Gnosticism largely relies on Greek and Persian dualism, especially on Platonism. In accordance with Platonism, they regarded the idea as good while considering the material and conscious world to be inherently evil.{{cite journal |last1=Zarieva |first1=N. P. |last2=Iliev |first2=K. |last3=Krsteva |first3=M. |last4=Donev |first4=D. |year=2019 |title=The Origins of the Seven Deadly Sins |journal=Yearbook-Faculty of Philology |volume=10 |number=14 |pages=49–53}} The demonized star-deities of late Persian religion became associated with a demon, thus identifying the seven observable planets with an Archon (demonic ruler). These demons rule over the earth and the realm of planets, representing different desires and passions.{{sfn|Greenbaum|2015|p=162}} According to Origen, the Ophites depicted the world as surrounded by the demonic Leviathan.{{sfn|Greenbaum|2015|p=162}}

Like in Christianity, the term {{Lang|grc-latn|daimons}} was used for demons and refers to both the Archons as well as to their demonic assistants. Judas Iscariot is, in the Gospel of Judas, portrayed as the thirteenth {{Lang|grc-latn|daimon}} for betraying Jesus and a supporter of the Archons.DeConick, April D. "The Gospel of Judas: A Parody of Apostolic Christianity." The Non-Canonical Gospels. T&T Clark, 2008. 96-109.

Examples of Gnostic portrayals of demons can be found in the Apocryphon of John in which they are said to have helped to construct the physical Adam{{cite book|author1=Marvin Meyer|author2=Willis Barnstone|title=The Gnostic Bible|publisher=Shambhala|chapter=The Secret Book of John (The Apocryphon of John - The Secret Revelation of John)|url=http://gnosis.org/naghamm/apocjn-meyer.html|date=June 30, 2009|access-date=2021-11-02|archive-date=2021-04-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210423033025/http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/apocjn-meyer.html|url-status=live}} and in Pistis Sophia which states they are ruled over by Hekate and punish corrupt souls.{{cite book|author=George R. S. Mead|url=http://gnosis.org/library/pistis-sophia/ps145.htm|title=Pistis Sophia|publisher=Jazzybee Verlag|year=1963|isbn=9783849687090|chapter=140|author-link=G. R. S. Mead|access-date=2021-11-02|archive-date=2021-04-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427133743/http://www.gnosis.org/library/pistis-sophia/ps145.htm|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Demons in Mandaeism}}

{{See also|Mandaeism|Ruha}}

In Mandaeism, the World of Darkness ({{Transliteration|myz|alma d-hšuka}}), also referred to as Sheol, is the underworld located below Tibil (Earth). It is ruled by its king Ur (Leviathan) and its queen Ruha, mother of the seven planets and twelve constellations. The great dark Ocean of Sup (or Suf) lies in the World of Darkness.{{cite thesis|url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1444088/|last=Aldihisi|first=Sabah|year=2008|title=The story of creation in the Mandaean holy book in the Ginza Rba|type=PhD|publisher=University College London|access-date=2021-12-07|archive-date=2021-10-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211025191042/https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1444088/|url-status=live}} The great dividing river of Hitfun, analogous to the river Styx in Greek mythology, separates the World of Darkness from the World of Light.{{cite book |last1=Al-Saadi |first1=Qais Mughashghash |last2=Al-Saadi |first2=Hamed Mughashghash |chapter=Glossary |title=Ginza Rabba: The Great Treasure. An equivalent translation of the Mandaean Holy Book |year=2019 |edition=2 |publisher=Drabsha}}

Prominent infernal beings found in the World of Darkness include lilith, {{Lang|myz-latn|nalai}} (vampire), {{Lang|myz-latn|niuli}} (hobgoblin), {{Lang|myz-latn|gadalta}} (ghost), {{Lang|myz-latn|satani}} (Satan) and various other demons and evil spirits.

Manichaeism was a major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern TimesSUNY Press, 1998 {{ISBN|978-0-7914-3611-0}} p. 37 founded in the third century AD by the ParthianYarshater, Ehsan The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 3 (2), The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1983. prophet Mani ({{circa|216–274 AD}}), in the Sasanian Empire.{{cite web |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09591a.htm |title=Manichaeism |publisher=New Advent Encyclopedia |access-date=4 October 2013 |archive-date=12 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312005021/http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09591a.htm |url-status=live}} One of its key concepts is the doctrine of Two Principles and Three Moments. Accordingly, the world could be described as resulting from a past moment, in which two principles (good and evil) were separate, a contemporary moment in which both principles are mixed due to an assault of the world of darkness on the realm of light, and a future moment when both principles are distinct forever.Willis Barnstone, Marvin Meyer The Gnostic Bible: Revised and Expanded Edition Shambhala Publications 2009 {{ISBN|978-0-834-82414-0}} page 575-577 Thus, evil and demons played a significant role within Manichaean teachings.

There are numberless designations for various groups of demonic entities in Manichaean cosmology.{{Cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/manicheism-pandaemonium|title=Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica|access-date=2019-04-27|archive-date=2019-04-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190427124415/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/manicheism-pandaemonium|url-status=live}} The general term used for the beings of the world of darkness is div. Before the demons attacked the realm of light, they have been in constant battle and intercourse against each other. It is only in the realm of darkness demons are described in their physical form. After their assault on the world above, they have been overcome by the Living Spirit, and imprisoned in the structure of the world. From that point onwards, they impact human's ethical life, and appear as personified ethical qualities, mostly greed, envy, grief, and wrath (desire for destruction).

Ibn al-Jawzi, in his work {{Lang|ar-latn|Talbīs Iblīs}} ({{Gloss|devils' delusion}}), credits the Manichaeans with believing that each Light and Darkness (God and the Devil) consist of four bodies and one spirit. The bodies of Light (God) were referred to as angels, while the bodies of Darkness (Devil) were referred to as ifrits. Light and Darkness would multiple by angels and demons respectively.David S. Margoliouth;The Devil's Delusion by Ibn al-Jawzi, 1935, Bd. 1, chapter: Account of the way wherein he deludes the Dualists.

In The Book of Giants, one of the canonical seven treatises also known from Jewish intertestamental literature, the Grigori ({{Lang|grc-latn|egrēgoroi}}) beget giant half-demon offspring with human woman. In the Middle Persian version of the Book of Giants they are referred to as {{Lang|pal-latn|kʾw}}, while in the Coptic Kephalaia as {{Lang|cop-latn|gigas}}. In accordance with some interpretations of Genesis 6:1–4,Lester L. Grabbe, [https://books.google.com/books?id=DO6kT5RPuxgC&q=full-blown+story&pg=PA101 An Introduction to First Century Judaism: Jewish Religion and History in the Second Temple Period] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220114154952/https://books.google.com/books?id=DO6kT5RPuxgC&pg=PA101#v=snippet&q=full-blown%20story&f=false |date=2022-01-14}} (Continuum International Publishing Group 1996 {{ISBN|978-0567085061}}), p. 101 the giant offspring became the ancient tyrannic rulers over mankind, until overthrown by the angels of punishment. Nonetheless, these demons are still active in the microcosm, such as Āz and Āwarzōg. Views on stars (abāxtarān) are mixed. On one hand, they are regarded as light particles of the world soul fixed in the sky. On the other hand, stars are identified with powers hindering the soul from leaving the material world. The Third Messenger (Jesus) is said to have chained up demons in the sky. Their offspring, the nephilim ({{Lang|pal-latn|nĕf īlīm}}) or asrestar ({{Lang|pal-latn|āsarēštārān}}), Ašqalūn and Nebrō'ēl in particular, play instrumental roles in the creation of Adam and Eve. According to Manichaeism, the watchers, known as angels in Jewish lore, are not considered angels, but demons.

{{See also|Dybbuk|Samael}}

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, the demonic powers of impurity have become correspondingly weak, too.{{sfn|Taylor|2020|pp=190–191}}

The Hebrew Bible mentions two classes of demonic spirits, the {{Lang|hbo-latn|se'irim}} and the {{Lang|hbo-latn|shedim}}. The word {{Lang|hbo-latn|shedim}} (singular {{Lang|hbo-latn|shed}} or {{Lang|hbo-latn|sheyd}}) appears in two places in the Hebrew Bible.{{bibleverse||Psalm|106:37}}, {{bibleverse||Deuteronomy|32:17}} The {{Lang|hbo-latn|se'irim}} (singular {{Lang|hbo-latn|sa'ir}}, {{Gloss|male goat}}) are mentioned once in Leviticus 17:7, probably a recollection of Assyrian demons in the shape of goats.{{sfn|McCraw|Arp|2017|p=9}} They might be a metaphorical symbol for life-threatening animals, such as hyenas, ostrichs, and jackals.{{sfn|Hutter|2011}} The {{Lang|hbo-latn|shedim}}, however, are not pagan demigods, but the foreign gods themselves. They are evil insofar that they are not affiliated with the Jewish deity.Jackson, D. R. (2004). Enochic Judaism: Three Defining Paradigm Exemplars (Vol. 49). A&C Black. p. 34 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 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.{{sfn|Isaacs|1998|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4iLqceVe7S0C&pg=PA96 96]}}

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 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,Bellum Judaeorum vii. 6, § 3 witnessed such a performance in the presence of the Emperor Vespasian"Antiquities" viii. 2, § 5 and ascribed its origin to King Solomon. In mythology, there were few defences against Babylonian demons. The mythical mace Sharur had the power to slay demons such as Asag, a legendary gallu or edimmu of hideous strength.

{{Further|Midrash}}

In the Jerusalem Talmud, notions of {{Lang|hbo-latn|shedim}} ({{Gloss|demons}} or {{Gloss|spirits}}) are almost unknown or occur only very rarely, whereas in the Babylonian Talmud there are many references to {{Lang|hbo-latn|shedim}} and magical incantations. The existence of {{Lang|hbo-latn|shedim}} in general was not questioned by most of the Babylonian Talmudists. As 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 {{Lang|hbo-latn|shedim}}, nor did most of the medieval thinkers question their reality.{{sfn|Kohler|2020|p=123}} 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 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.{{sfn|Kohler|2020|p=124}} 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 {{Lang|hbo-latn|se'irim}}, when they go astray and ascribe to them powers independent from God. It is not clear from his work, if he considered these images of {{Lang|hbo-latn|se'irim}} as manifestations of actual spirits or merely delusions.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}} 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.{{sfn|Taylor|2020|pp=185–188}}

Occasionally an angel is called satan in the Babylon Talmud. But satans do not refer to demons as they remain at the service of God: "Stand not in the way of an ox when coming from the pasture, for Satan dances between his horns".Pes. 112b; compare B. Ḳ. 21a

Aggadic tales from the Persian tradition describe the {{Lang|hbo-latn|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 the "demons that bring famine" and "such as cause storm and earthquake".(Targ. Yer. to Deuteronomy xxxii. 24 and Numbers vi. 24; Targ. to Cant. iii. 8, iv. 6; Eccl. ii. 5; Ps. xci. 5, 6.) According to some aggadic stories, demons were under the dominion of a king or chief, usually Asmodai.Targ. to Eccl. i. 13; Pes. 110a; Yer. Shek. 49b

In Kabbalah, demons are regarded as a necessary part of the divine emanation in the material world and a byproduct of human sin (Qlippoth).{{sfn|Dennis|2016|p={{page needed|date=December 2023}}}} After they are created, they assume an existence on their own. Demons would attach themselves to the sinner and start to multiply as an act of self-preservation.{{sfn|Taylor|2020|p=185}} Medieval Kabbalists characterize such demons as punishing angels of destruction. They are subject to the divine will, and do not act independently.{{sfn|Taylor|2020|p=182}}

Other demonic entities, such as the {{Lang|hbo-latn|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.{{sfn|Taylor|2020|p=184}}

{{See also|Apotropaic magic}}

The sources of demonic influence were thought to originate from 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.{{sfn|Hanneken Henoch|2006|pp=11–25}} 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 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 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.{{sfn|Martin|2010}} The spirits are stated in Enoch to "corrupt, fall, be excited, and fall upon the earth, and cause sorrow".Enoch 15:11{{sfn|VanderKam|1999}}

Christianity conceptualizes demons as occasionally visible, evil beings sowing destruction in the world and disguising themselves as pagan gods.Anderson, S. (2018). Demonology/Demons. In Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/2589-7993_EECO_SIM_00000897 According to Christian theology, demons are fallen angels.Martin, Dale Basil. "When Did Angels Become Demons?" Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 129, no. 4, 2010, pp. 657. {{doi|10.2307/25765960}}. Accessed 5 Jan 2025.Joad Raymond Milton's Angels: The Early-Modern Imagination OUP Oxford 2010 {{ISBN|978-0-19-956050-9}} p. 77 They are believed to have been created as good angels who then turned evil by joining Lucifer in his rebellion against God.Heinz Schreckenberg, Kurt Schubert, Jewish Historiography and Iconography in Early and Medieval Christianity (Van Gorcum, 1992, {{ISBN|978-90-232-2653-6}}), p. 253David L Bradnick Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 42 This mythology is not shared by Judaism or found as such in the New Testament. The story of fallen angels is a result of interpretation of different Biblical passages in the second and third century.Martin, Dale Basil. "When Did Angels Become Demons?" Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 129, no. 4, 2010, pp. 657–77. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/25765960. Accessed 5 Jan. 2025. Augustine of Hippo (5th century) established the position, that demons are spirits (angels) who turn away from God, for Western demonology and for the Catholic Church.David L Bradnick Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic Brill 2017 {{ISBN|978-90-04-35061-8}} p. 39

The existence of demons as inherently malicious spirits within Old Testamental texts is absent.{{sfn|Greenbaum|2015|p=127}}Anne Marie Kitz. "Demons in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East". Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 135, no. 3, 2016, pp. 447–464. {{JSTOR|10.15699/jbl.1353.2016.3074}}. Accessed 16 May 2021.{{rp|447}} Though there are evil spirits sent by YHWH, they can hardly be called demons, since they serve and do not oppose the governing deity.{{rp|448}} First then the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, the "gods of other nations" were merged into a single category of demons ({{Lang|grc-latn|daimones}}) with implied negativity.{{sfn|Greenbaum|2015|p=129}}

The Greek Daimons were associated with demi-divine entities, deities, illnesses and fortune-telling. The Jewish translators rendered them all as demons, depicting their power as nullified comparable to the description of {{Lang|hbo-latn|shedim}} in the Tanakh. Although all these supernatural powers were translated, none were angels, despite sharing a similar function to that of the Greek Daimon. This established a dualism between the angels on God's side and negatively evaluated demons of pagan origin.{{sfn|Martin|2010|p=664}} Their relationship to the God-head became the main difference between angels and demons, not their degree of benevolence. Both angels and demons might be fierce and terrifying. However, the angels act always at service of the high god of the Israelites, differing from the pagan demons, who represent the powers of foreign deities.{{sfn|Martin|2010|p=666}} The Septuagint refers to evil spirits as demons (daimon).{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

File:Ottheinrich Folio051r Mc5A.jpg from the Ottheinrich Folio depicting the exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac by Jesus]]

Through the New Testament, demons appear 55 times, and 46 times in reference to demonic possession or exorcisms.{{harvnb|Greenbaum|2015|pp=136–138}}. Some old English Bible translations such as King James Version do not have the word demon in their vocabulary and translate it as 'devil'. As adversaries of Jesus, demons are not morally ambivalent spirits, but evil; causes of misery, suffering, and death. They are not tempters, but the cause of pain, suffering, and maladies, both physical and mental. Temptation is reserved for the devil only.H. A. Kelly (30 January 2004). The Devil, Demonology, and Witchcraft: Christian Beliefs in Evil Spirits. Wipf and Stock Publishers. {{ISBN|9781592445318}}. p. 104 Unlike spirits in pagan beliefs, demons are not intermediary spirits who must be sacrificed for the appeasement of a deity. Possession also shows no trace of positivity, contrary to some pagan depictions of spirit possession. They are explicitly said to be ruled by the Devil or Beelzebub.Demons and the Devil in Ancient and Medieval Christianity. 2011. Netherlands: Brill. p. 104 Their origin is unclear, the texts take the existence of demons for granted. Many early Christians, like Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and Lactantius assumed demons were ghosts of the Nephilim, known from Intertestamental writings.Annette Yoshiko Reed (2005). Fallen Angels and the History of Judaism and Christianity: The Reception of Enochic Literature. Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0521853781}}. p. 149 Because of references to Satan as the lord of demons and evil angels of Satan throughout the New Testament, other scholars identified fallen angels with demons.{{sfn|Martin|2010|p=670}} Demons as entirely evil entities, who have been born evil, may not fit the proposed origin of evil in free will, taught in alternate or opposing theologies.James W. Boyd (1975). Satan and Māra: Christian and Buddhist Symbols of Evil. Brill Archive. {{ISBN|9789004041738}}. p. 47

File:Demon. A miniature from the Georgian manuscript of the 12th century.jpg, written in Georgian by Nikrai.]]

{{Main|Pseudepigrapha|Deuterocanonical books}}

{{See also|Book of Tobit|Book of Enoch|Book of Jubilees}}

Demons are included in biblical interpretation. In the story of Passover, the Bible tells the story as "the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt" ({{Bibleverse|Exodus|12:21–29}}). In the Book of Jubilees, which is considered canonical only by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church,Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985. It is considered one of the pseudepigrapha by Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox Churches this same event is told slightly differently: "All the powers of [the demon] Mastema had been let loose to slay all the first-born in the land of Egypt. And the powers of the Lord did everything according as the Lord commanded them." (Jubilees 49:2–4)

In the Genesis flood narrative, the author explains how God was noticing "how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways" ({{Bibleverse|Genesis|6:12}}). In Jubilees, the sins of man are attributed to "the unclean demons [who] began to lead astray the children of the sons of Noah, and to make to err and destroy them" (Jubilees 10:1). In Jubilees, Mastema questions the loyalty of Abraham and tells God to "bid him offer him as a burnt offering on the altar, and Thou wilt see if he will do this command" (Jubilees 17:16). The discrepancy between the story in Jubilees and the story in Genesis 22 exists with the presence of Mastema. In Genesis, God tests the will of Abraham merely to determine whether he is a true follower, however; in Jubilees, Mastema has an agenda behind promoting the sacrifice of Abraham's son, "an even more demonic act than that of Satan in Job".Moshe Berstein (2000). "Angels at the Aqedah: A Study in the Development of a Midrashic Motif". Dead Sea Discoveries 7, p. 267. In Jubilees, where Mastema, an angel tasked with tempting mortals into sin and iniquity, requests that God give him a tenth of the spirits of the children of the watchers, demons, in order to aid the process (Jubilees 10:7–9). These demons are passed into Mastema's authority, where once again, an angel is in charge of demonic spirits.

In the Testament of Solomon, written sometime in the first three centuries C.E., the demon Asmodeus explains that he is the son of an angel and a human mother. Another demon describes himself as having died in the "massacre in the age of giants". Beelzeboul, the prince of demons, appears as a fallen angel, not as a demon, but makes people worship demons as their gods.{{sfn|Martin|2010|p=670}}

{{Main|Christian demonology|Exorcism in Christianity|Exorcism in the Catholic Church|Demonic possession#Christianity}}

File:Michelangelo Buonarroti - The Torment of Saint Anthony - Google Art Project.jpg, depicting Saint Anthony being assailed by demons]]

File:Jheronimus Bosch 050 detail 01.jpg (detail), a Hieronymus Bosch painting, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.]]

File:St._Francis_Borgia_Helping_a_Dying_Impenitent_by_Goya.jpg performing an exorcism, as depicted by Goya]]

Since Early Christianity, demonology has developed from a simple acceptance of demons to a complex study that has grown from the original ideas taken from Jewish demonology and Christian scriptures.{{cite book|last1=Orlov|first1=Andrei A.|title=Divine Scapegoats: Demonic Mimesis in Early Jewish Mysticism|date=2015|publisher=SUNY Press|location=New York|isbn=9781438455846|page=4}} Christian demonology is studied in depth within the Roman Catholic Church,[http://www.sanctamissa.org/EN/resources/books-1962/rituale-romanum/57-exorcism-introduction.html "Exorcism"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325121444/http://www.sanctamissa.org/EN/resources/books-1962/rituale-romanum/57-exorcism-introduction.html |date=2019-03-25}}. Sancta Missa – Rituale Romanum. 1962. Canons Regular of St. John Cantius although many other Christian churches affirm and discuss the existence of demons.Hansen, Chadwick (1970), Witchcraft at Salem, p. 132, Signet Classics, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 69-15825Modica, Terry Ann (1996), Overcoming The Power of The Occult, p. 31, Faith Publishing Company, {{ISBN|1-880033-24-0}}

Building upon the few references to {{Lang|grc-latn|daimon}} in the New Testament, especially the poetry of the Book of Revelation, Christian writers of apocrypha from the second century onwards created a more complicated tapestry of beliefs about "demons" that was largely independent of Christian scripture.

While daimons were considered as both potentially benevolent or malevolent, Origen argued against Celsus that daimons are exclusively evil entities, supporting the later idea of (evil) demons. According to Origen's cosmology, increasing corruption and evil within the soul, the more estranged the soul gets from God. Therefore, Origen opined that the most evil demons are located underground. Besides the fallen angels known from Christian scriptures, Origen talks about Greek daemons, like nature spirits and giants. These creatures were thought to inhabit nature or air and nourish from pagan sacrifices roaming the earth. However, there is no functional difference between the spirits of the underworld and of earth, since both have fallen from perfection into the material world. Origen sums them up as fallen angels and thus equal to demons.Jeffrey Burton Russell (1987). Satan: The Early Christian Tradition. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. {{ISBN|9780801494130}}. p. 132.

Many ascetics, like Origen and Anthony the Great, described demons as psychological powers, tempting to evil,David L Bradnick (2017). Evil, Spirits, and Possession: An Emergentist Theology of the Demonic. Brill. {{ISBN|978-9-004-35061-8}}. p. 30 in contrast to benevolent angels advising good. According to Life of Anthony, written in Greek around 360 by Athanasius of Alexandria, most of the time, the demons were expressed as an internal struggle, inclinations, and temptations. But after Anthony successfully resisted the demons, they would appear in human form to tempt and threaten him even more intensely.Brakke, D. (2009). Demons and the Making of the Monk: Spiritual Combat in Early Christianity. Harvard University Press. p. 157

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite described evil as "defiancy" and does not give evil an ontological existence. He explains demons are deficient creatures, who willingly turn themselves towards the unreal and non-existence. Their dangerous nature results not from the power of their nature, but from their tendency to drag others into the "void" and the unreal, away from God.{{sfn|Russell|1986|p=37}}

Michael Psellos proposed the existence of several types of demons, deeply influenced by the material nature of the regions they dwell. The highest and most powerful demons attack the mind of people using their "imaginative action" ({{Lang|grc-latn|phantastikos}}) to produce illusions in the mind. The lowest demons, on the other hand, are almost mindless, gross, and grunting spirits, which try to possess people instinctively, simply attracted by the warmth and life of humans. These cause diseases, fatal accidents and animalistic behavior in their victims. They are unable to speak, while other lower types of demons might give out false oracles. The demons are divided into:

• Leliouria: The highest demons who inhabit the ether, beyond the moon
• Aeria: Demons of the air below the moon
• Chthonia: Inhabiting the land
• Hyraia/Enalia: Dwelling in the water
• Bypochtbonia: They live beneath the earth
• Misophaes: The lowest type of demon, blind and almost senseless in the lowest hell

Invocation of Saints, holy men and women, especially ascetics, reading the Gospel, holy oil or water is said to drive them out. However, Psellos' schemes have been too inconsistent to answer questions about the hierarchy of fallen angels. The devil's position is impossible to assign in this scheme and it does not respond to living perceptions of felt experience and was considered rather impractical to have a lasting effect or impact on Christian demonology.{{sfn|Russell|1986|p={{page needed|date=December 2023}}}}

The contemporary Roman Catholic Church unequivocally teaches that angels and demons are real beings rather than just symbolic devices. The Catholic Church has a cadre of officially sanctioned exorcists which perform many exorcisms each year. The exorcists of the Catholic Church teach that demons attack humans continually but that afflicted persons can be effectively healed and protected either by the formal rite of exorcism, authorized to be performed only by bishops and those they designate, or by prayers of deliverance, which any Christian can offer for themselves or others.{{cite web |url=http://www.fathercorapi.com/articledet.asp?articleID=1928275639 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040405135007/http://www.fathercorapi.com/articledet.asp?articleID=1928275639 |archive-date=2004-04-05 |title=Angels and Demons – Facts not Fiction |website=fathercorapi.com |first=John |last=Corapi |date=February 9, 2004}}

At various times in Christian history, attempts have been made to classify demons according to various proposed demonic hierarchies.

In recent times, scholars doubted that independent demons exist, and rather considers them, aking to Jewish satan, to be servants of God. According to S. N. Chiu, God is shown sending a demon against Saul in 1 Samuel 16 and 18 in order to punish him for the failure to follow God's instructions, showing God as having the power to use demons for his own purposes, putting the demon under his divine authority.{{cite journal |first=S. N. |last=Chiu |title=Historical, Religious, and Medical Perspectives of Possession Phenomenon |journal=Hong Kong Journal of Psychiatry |year=2000 |volume=10 |issue=1}} According to the Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, demons, despite being typically associated with evil, are often shown to be under divine control, and not acting of their own devices."Demon" in Britannica Concise Encyclopedia,

File:Kitab al-Bulhan -- devil.jpg, a late 14th-century Arabic manuscript]]

File:Kitab al-Bulhan --- demons.jpg

In Islamic beliefs, demons are roughly of two types:Erdağı, D. Evil in Turkish Muslim horror film: the demonic in "Semum". SN Soc Sci 4, 27 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-024-00832-w Jinn and devils ({{langx|ar|شَيَاطِين|šayāṭīn}} or {{langx|fa|دیو|dīv}}).Charles Mathewes Understanding Religious Ethics John Wiley & Sons {{ISBN|978-1-405-13351-7}}. p. 249Reynolds, Gabriel Said, "Angels", in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE, Edited by: Kate Fleet, Gudrun Krämer, Denis Matringe, John Nawas, Everett Rowson. Consulted online on 17 August 2021. {{doi|10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_23204}}. First published online: 2009. First print edition: 9789004181304, 2009, 2009-3 The jinn derive from pre-Islamic Arabian beliefs, although their exact origin is unclear. The presence of jinn in pre-Islamic Arabian beliefs is not only testified by the Quran, but also by pre-Islamic literature in the seventh century.{{cite book |last=Zeitlin |first=I. M. |author-link= |url= |title=The Historical Muhammad |date=2007 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-745-63998-7 |location=United Kingdom |page=}}{{rp|p=54}} The {{Lang|ar-latn|šayāṭīn}} (devils or satans) on the other hand, appear in stories bearing similarities with Judeo-Christian tradition.

Although virtually absent in the Quran, Muslims generally hold the belief that jinn can possess people.{{cite book |last=Rassool |first=G. Hussein |title=Islamic Counselling: An Introduction to theory and practice |date=2015-07-16 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-31744-125-0 |page=58}} In the tradition of Ash'ari, it has been considered to be part of the doctrines ({{Lang|ar-latn|aqidah}}) of the "people of the Sunnah" ({{Lang|ar-latn|ahl as-sunnah wal-jammah'a}}).Islam, Migration and Jinn: Spiritual Medicine in Muslim Health Management. (2021). Deutschland: Springer International Publishing. For most theologians, (Ashʿaris as well as Muʿtazilis), and in contrast to philosophers, both demons (jinn and devils) and angels are material.St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology

Angels (malāʾika)

Stephen Burgep. 18 All sentient beings are said to be created out from a physical substance: angels from light, jinn from fire and air, devils from fire, and humans from earth.St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology

Angels (malāʾika)

Stephen Burgep. 14-15

The Quran emphasizes similarities between humans and jinn. The Quranic phrase {{Lang|ar-latn|al-ins wa al-jinn}} ({{Lang|ar|الإِنسِ وَالْجِنِّ|rtl=yes}}) puts the jinn to the same position as humans and whereby also rejecting kinship with God.{{rp|style=ama|p=181}} In contrast to demons from the biblical tradition, the jinn are not a source of evil.{{rp|style=ama|p=181, 185}} In the majority of Muslim writings, the jinn are ephemeral and shadowy creatures and primarily linked to magical practises (both white and black magic), though sometimes to disastrous effects.Mircea Eliade Encyclopedia of Religion Macmillan Publishing (1986) p. 286-287

While the jinn are morally ambivalent, the {{Lang|ar-latn|šayāṭīn}} represent malevolent forces akin to the devils of the Judeo-Christian tradition,{{rp|p=286}} and are actively obstructing the execution of God's will. Because of that, they bear less resemblance to humans than the jinn. The latter share attributes with humans, such as mortality, whereas the {{Lang|ar-latn|šayāṭīn}} do not.Egdunas Racius ISLAMIC EXEGESIS ON THE JINN: THEIR ORIGIN, KINDS AND SUBSTANCE AND THEIR RELATION TO OTHER BEINGS pp. 132–135{{cite journal |last1=YOUNG |first1=M. J. L. |date=1966 |title=THE TREATMENT OF THE PRINCIPLE OF EVIL IN THE QUR'ĀN |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20832847. |journal=Islamic Studies |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=275–281 |doi= |jstor=20832847 |access-date=November 7, 2021}}{{rp|style=ama|p=278}}{{rp|style=ama|p=452}} In Muslim popular culture, the {{Lang|ar-latn|šayāṭīn}} are sometimes depicted as {{Lang|ar-latn|Dīv}} ({{Lang|ar|دیو|rtl=yes}}).Huart, Cl.; Massé, H. (2012) [1960-2007]. "Dīw". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (2nd ed.)

Muslim writers on astrology identified the planetary spirits known from ancient Greek cosmology, with seven demon-kings, often invoked for the preparation of Magic squares.Mommersteeg, Geert. "'He Has Smitten Her to the Heart with Love' The Fabrication of an Islamic Love-Amulet in West Africa." Anthropos, vol. 83, no. 4/6, 1988, pp. 501–510. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40463380. Accessed 13 June 2020. According to the Book of Wonders each day of the week is assigned to one of the {{Lang|ar-latn|rūḥāiya ulia}} (higher spirits) and {{Lang|ar-latn|rūḥāiya sufula}} (lower spirits).{{cite journal |last=Carboni |first=Stefano |date=2013 |title=The Book of Surprises (Kitab al-Buhlan) of the Bodleian Library |journal=The La Trobe Journal |volume=91 |pages=27–28}}

{{See also|Surapadman|Narakasura}}

File:The Army of Super Creatures.jpg

Hinduism advocates the reincarnation and transmigration of souls according to one's karma. Souls (Atman) of the dead are adjudged by the Yama and are accorded various purging punishments before being reborn. According to Hindu cosmology, othing is either purely evil or good, and even demonic beings could eventually abandon their demonic nature. Humans that have committed extraordinary wrongs are condemned to roam as lonely, often mischief mongers, spirits for a length of time before being reborn. Many kinds of such spirits (Vetalas and Pishachas) are recognized in the later Hindu texts. Even celestial beings are subject to change.

The identification of {{Lang|sa-latn|asura}} with demons stems from the description of {{Lang|sa-latn|asura}} as "formerly gods" ({{Lang|sa-latn|pūrvadeva}}). In the Veda, gods (deva) and demi-gods or titans (asura) are not yet differentiated beings and both share the upper world.Rodrigues, H. (2018). Asuras, Daityas, Dānavas, Rākṣasas, Piśācas, Bhūtas, Pretas, and so forth.. In K. A. Jacobsen (ed.), Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_1030340 Rather than denoting a separate class of being, the asuras are characterized by being great leaders, often warriors.Rodrigues, H. (2018). Asuras, Daityas, Dānavas, Rākṣasas, Piśācas, Bhūtas, Pretas, and so forth.. In K. A. Jacobsen (ed.), Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_1030340 {{Lang|sa-latn|Asura}}, in the earliest hymns of the Rigveda, originally meant any supernatural spirit, either good or bad. Since the {{IPA|/s/}} of the Indic linguistic branch is cognate with the {{IPA|/h/}} of the Early Iranian languages, the word {{Lang|sa-latn|asura}}, representing a category of celestial beings, is a cognate with Old Persian Ahura. Ancient Hinduism tells that Devas (also called suras) and Asuras are half-brothers, sons of the same father Kashyapa; although some of the Devas, such as Varuna, are also called Asuras. Later, during Puranic age, Asura and Rakshasa came to exclusively mean any of a race of anthropomorphic, powerful, possibly evil beings. Daitya (lit. sons of the mother Diti), Danava (lit. sons of the mother "Danu"), Maya Danava, Rakshasa (lit. from "harm to be guarded against"), and {{Lang|sa-latn|asura}} are sometimes translated into English as {{Gloss|demon}}.Asian Mythologies. (1993). Vereinigtes Königreich: University of Chicago Press. p. 52

It is only by the time of the Brahmanas that the asuras are said to inhabit the underworld and are progressively, despite originally distinct beings, assimilated to the rakshasas.Rodrigues, H. (2018). Asuras, Daityas, Dānavas, Rākṣasas, Piśācas, Bhūtas, Pretas, and so forth.. In K. A. Jacobsen (ed.), Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_1030340 The gods are said to have claimed heaven for themselves and tricked the asuras, ending on earth. During the Vedic period, gods aid humans against demons. By that, gods secure their own place in heaven, using humans as tools to defeat their cosmic enemies.O'Flaherty, W. D., Doniger, W. (1988). The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology. Indien: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 65-95 The rakshasas are often portrayed as vile creatures associated with greed and magical abilities, unleashed through rites considered inappropriate by the Brahmins.Rodrigues, H. (2018). Asuras, Daityas, Dānavas, Rākṣasas, Piśācas, Bhūtas, Pretas, and so forth.. In K. A. Jacobsen (ed.), Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_1030340 However, the asuras retain some of their previous features, and function often as individual leaders of the rakshasas.Rodrigues, H. (2018). Asuras, Daityas, Dānavas, Rākṣasas, Piśācas, Bhūtas, Pretas, and so forth.. In K. A. Jacobsen (ed.), Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_1030340 The asuras also mostly dwell in the heavenly worlds, while the Earth is plagued by lower demonic beings such as rakshasas, bhutas, pretas, and pishachas.Rodrigues, H. (2018). Asuras, Daityas, Dānavas, Rākṣasas, Piśācas, Bhūtas, Pretas, and so forth.. In K. A. Jacobsen (ed.), Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_1030340 The pretas are ghosts, who could not go to the afterlife yet.Rodrigues, H. (2018). Asuras, Daityas, Dānavas, Rākṣasas, Piśācas, Bhūtas, Pretas, and so forth.. In K. A. Jacobsen (ed.), Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_1030340 The Pishachas, likewise, are spirits of the dead, but associated with eating human-flesh.Rodrigues, H. (2018). Asuras, Daityas, Dānavas, Rākṣasas, Piśācas, Bhūtas, Pretas, and so forth.. In K. A. Jacobsen (ed.), Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_1030340

With increase in asceticism during the post-Vedic period, withdrawal of sacrificial rituals was considered a threat to the gods. Ascetic humans or ascetic demons were supposed to be more powerful than gods. Pious, highly enlightened {{Lang|sa-latn|asura}}s and {{Lang|sa-latn|Rakshasa}}s, such as Prahlada and Vibhishana, are not uncommon. The {{Lang|sa-latn|asura}} are not fundamentally against the gods, nor do they tempt humans to fall. Many people metaphorically interpret the Asura as manifestations of the ignoble passions in the human mind and as symbolic devices. There were also cases of power-hungry asuras challenging various aspects of the gods, but only to be defeated eventually and seek forgiveness.

Despite the impermanence of beings, demonic entities share characteristics impeding the chance of liberation through the realization of the Ātman, such as greed, pride, or improper rituals.Rodrigues, H. (2018). Asuras, Daityas, Dānavas, Rākṣasas, Piśācas, Bhūtas, Pretas, and so forth.. In K. A. Jacobsen (ed.), Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_1030340 However, all demonic appearances are only temporary.

{{further|Mara (demon)}}

Buddhism classifies sentient beings into six types: Deva, Asura, human, animal, ghost, hell-being. When Buddhism spread, it accommodated itself with indigenous popular ideas about demons. As in Hinduism, all these beings are part of the Saṃsāra. As with devas, Buddhism does not deny the existence of demons, but considers them equally impotent in search for liberation. Demons (bhūta, preta, piśāca) may thus be understood as personifications of correlative mental states projected onto the external cosmos.Mircea Eliade Encyclopedia of Religion Macmillan Publishing (1986) p. 284 The Pali Sutras represent the unenlightened people as "possessed" by the demons of "desire" and "craving". These two self-destructive feelings then cause the images of horrorfying demons. In a state of enlightenment, the Buddha has overcome such passions and by that, conquered the demons.

File:Bunyip 1890.jpg.]]

Aboriginal Australian cultures have various beings translated into English as "demons" or "devils". The most notable is the Bunyip, which was originally a term applied to malevolent spirits in general.See for example, "Oodgeroo Noonuccal", Kath Walker's story collected in Stradbroke Dreamtime. [http://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/bunyips/html-site/abor-stories/biami.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206012750/http://www.nla.gov.au/exhibitions/bunyips/html-site/abor-stories/biami.html|date=6 February 2012}} Tasmanian mythology in particular has many beings translated as "devils"; these include malicious spirits like RageowrapperPlomley, N. J. B. (1991). The Westlake papers: records of interviews in Tasmania by Ernest Westlake. Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery. 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 a torch but could not be seen".Plomley, N. J. B., ed. (2008) [First published 1966]. Friendly Mission: The Tasmanian Journals and Papers of George Augustus Robinson (2nd ed.). Hobart, Tasmania and Launceston, Tasmania: Quintus and Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. ISBN 978-0-977-55722-6.

File:Ram-headed demon.jpg

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 the modern English demon.{{sfn|Lucarelli|2010|p=2}}{{harvnb|Bhayro|Rider|2017|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Xq28DgAAQBAJ&pg=PA53 53]}}. Both deities and demons can act as intermediaries to deliver messages to humans.{{sfn|Lucarelli|2010|p=3}} By that, they share some resemblance to the Greek {{Lang|grc-latn|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 the divine will. The existence of demons can be related to the realm of chaos, beyond the created world.{{sfn|Lucarelli|2010|p=2}} 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".{{sfn|Lucarelli|2010|p=3}}{{sfn|Bhayro|Rider |2017|p=55}} "Guardians" are tied to 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.{{sfn|Lucarelli|2010|p=4}} 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.{{sfn|Greenbaum|2015|p=120}} 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 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.{{sfn|Lucarelli|2010|p=4}} Wanderers can also be agents of chaos, arising from 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.{{sfn|Lucarelli|2010|p=2}}

{{Main|Mara (demon)|Yaoguai|Zhiguai xiaoshuo}}

{{See also|List of supernatural beings in Chinese folklore|Spiritual warfare in China}}

File:夜叉鬼.JPG ({{Lang|zh|夜叉}})]]

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 {{Lang|zh|妖}} – shapeshifters with the power to cause insanity, to inflict poison, and to bring about disease, and the mo {{Lang|zh|魔}} – derived from Indian mythology and entering through 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 ({{Lang|zh|中邪}}).

Belief in wilderness demons{{Cite book |last=Strassberg |first=Richard E. |title=A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures in the Guideway through the Mountains and Seas |pages=42}} 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.{{Cite book |last=Strassberg |first=Richard E. |title=A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways through the Mountains and Seas |pages=201}} Classical texts in the Zhou and Warring-States period distinguish between the demons of mountains and forests (the seductive Chimei {{Lang|zh|魑魅}}),{{Cite book |last=De Groot |title=Religious System of China, Volume 5 |year=1907 |pages=495–496 |chapter=2, On Spectres of Mounts and Forests}} demons of trees and rocks (a necrophagous fever-demon, the Wangliang {{Lang|zh|魍魎}}), subterranean demons of the earth and of decay (the goat-like and necrophagous Fenyang {{Lang|zh|墳羊}} ({{Lit|grave-goat}}),{{Cite book |last=De Groot |title=Religious System of China, Volume 5 |year=1907 |pages=535–536 |chapter=4, On Ground-Demons}} who caused disease and miscarriage) and fever demons born from water (Wangxiang {{Lang|zh|罔象}}, a child-like being with red eyes).{{Cite book |last=De Groot |title=Religious System of China, Volume 5 |year=1907 |pages=521–522 |chapter=3, On Water-Demons}} 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 the Muling {{Lang|zh|木灵}} {{Lit|tree spirit}} (also muzhong {{Lang|zh|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 {{Lang|zh|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, 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 ({{Lang|zh|狐妖}}){{Cite book |last=De Groot |title=Religious System of China, Volume 5 |year=1907 |pages=576–599 |chapter=5, on Animal-Demons}} 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 ({{Lang|zh|虎妖}}){{Cite book |last=De Groot |title=Religious System of China, Volume 5 |year=1907 |pages=544 |chapter=5, on Animal-Demons}} and wolf demons ({{Lang|zh|狼妖}}){{Cite book |last=De Groot |title=Religious System of China, Volume 5 |year=1907 |pages=563–565 |chapter=5, on Animal Demons}} are ravening beings roaming large territories for prey, taking 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 ({{Lang|zh|鱼妖}}) and snake demons ({{Lang|zh|蛇妖}}){{Cite book |last=De Groot |title=Religious System of China, Volume 5 |publication-date=1907 |pages=626–633 |chapter=5, on Animal Demons}} are said to have attempted to assault Confucius. Even insects are capable of being demonic. In one tale, the sighting of a centipede demon ({{Lang|zh|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 {{Lang|zh|黑气}} ({{Gloss|Black Calamity}} or {{Gloss|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.

The terms Yao ({{Lang|zh|妖}}), Mo ({{Lang|zh|魔}}), Gui ({{Lang|zh|鬼}}), Guai ({{Lang|zh|怪}}) and Xie ({{Lang|zh|邪}}) are their various two-character combinations often used to refer to these creatures, but of these terms, only Mo ({{Lang|zh|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:

• Yao ({{Lang|zh|妖}}){{Cite book |last=De Groot |title=The Religious System of China: Volume 5 |pages=469}}{{Cite book |last=De Groot |title=The Religious System of China, Volume 5 |page=814}}{{Cite book |last=De Groot |title=The Religious System of China, Volume 5 |pages=466}}{{Cite book |last=Dore |first=Henry SJ |title=Researches into Chinese Superstitions |pages=241, 277}} – a kind of uncanny supernatural creature, usually with the power to shapeshift, to poison or to cause disease, and to bewilder or enthrall. They are associated with sorcery or sorcery-like powers. They are not always evil in the sense that Western demons or the Chinese {{Lang|zh-latn|mo}} ({{Lang|zh|魔}}) are but are represented as having malevolent tendencies and as creatures of ill-omen. They are often invoked as an explanation for strange events, bizarre occurrences, mysterious diseases and horrible accidents. They resemble the unseelie fae of Celtic legend and folklore in their powers and predisposition - and are sometimes translated as {{Gloss|faeries}} or {{Gloss|daemons}} rather than {{Gloss|demons}}.
• Mo ({{Lang|zh|魔}}) – derived from the "Mara" of Buddhism and are almost always evil. This kind of being is morally corrupted and rebels against the moral law and heavenly principle. Taoist cultivators, fallen Buddhist monks, gods and mortals who have succumbed to an evil inclination are said to have become demonic or become diabolical – {{Lang|zh-latn|ru mo}}. ({{Lang|zh|入魔}}). As such it is often a condition and a state, rather than always being directly the result of a certain innate heritage. Furthermore, certain beings derived directly from Indian mythology, such as the {{Lang|zh-latn|luocha}} ({{Lang|zh|罗刹}} or {{Lang|zh-latn|raksasha}}) and {{Lang|zh-latn|yecha}} ({{Lang|zh|夜叉}} or {{Lang|zh|yaksha}}), however are classed as being innately demonic ({{Lang|zh|魔}}) types by heritage but are nevertheless represented as being capable of repentance or turning to good.

{{Main|Wendigo|Wechuge}}

The Algonquian people traditionally believe in a spirit called a wendigo. The spirit is believed to possess people who then become cannibals. In Athabaskan folklore, there is a belief in wechuge, a similar cannibal spirit.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

A minority of Muslim scholars in the Medieval Age, often associated with the Muʿtazila and the Jahmītes, denied that demons (jinn, devils, divs etc.) have physicality and asserted, they could only affect the mind by waswās ({{langx|ar|وَسْوَاس}}, 'demonic whisperings in the mind').{{rp|style=ama|p= 73}}Dein, Simon, and Abdool Samad Illaiee. "Jinn and mental health: looking at jinn possession in modern psychiatric practice." The Psychiatrist 37.9 (2013): 290-293. Some scholars, like ibn Sina,Rosen, L. (2008). Varieties of Muslim Experience: Encounters with Arab Political and Cultural Life. Ukraine: University of Chicago Press.{{rp|style=ama|p= 89}} rejected the reality of jinn altogether. Al-Jāḥiẓ and al-Masʿūdī, explained jinn and demons as merely psychological phenomena.

In his Kitāb al-Hayawān, al-Jāḥiẓ states that jinn and demons are the product of loneliness. Such a state induces people to mind-games, causing {{Lang|ar-latn|waswās}}.{{cite book |last=Nünlist |first=Tobias |year=2015 |title=Dämonenglaube im Islam |trans-title=Demonic Belief in Islam |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |isbn=978-3-110-33168-4 |language=de}}{{rp|style=ama|p=36}} Al-Masʿūdī is similarly critical regarding the reality of demons. He states that alleged demonic encounters are the result of fear and "wrong thinking". Alleged encounters are then told to other generations in bedtime stories and poems. When they grow up, they remember such stories in a state of fear or loneliness. This encourages their imaginations, resulting in another alleged demonic encounter.{{rp|style=ama|p=37}}

Psychologist Wilhelm Wundt remarked that "among the activities attributed by myths all over the world to demons, the harmful predominate, so that in popular belief bad demons are clearly older than good ones."{{harvp|Freud|1950|p=65}}, quoting Wundt (1906, 129). Sigmund Freud developed this idea and claimed that the concept of demons was derived from the important relation of the living to the dead: "The fact that demons are always regarded as the spirits of those who have died recently shows better than anything the influence of mourning on the origin of the belief in demons."{{harvtxt|Freud|1950}}

M. Scott Peck, an American psychiatrist, wrote two books on the subject, People of the Lie: The Hope For Healing Human Evil{{cite book |last=Peck |first=M. S. |author-link=M. Scott Peck |year=1983 |title=People of the Lie: The Hope For Healing Human Evil|publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9780671454920 |url=https://archive.org/details/peopleofliehopef00peck |url-access=registration}} and Glimpses of the Devil: A Psychiatrist's Personal Accounts of Possession, Exorcism, and Redemption.{{cite book |last=Peck |first=M. S. |author-link=M. Scott Peck |year=2005 |title=Glimpses of the Devil: A Psychiatrist's Personal Accounts of Possession, Exorcism, and Redemption|publisher=Free Press |isbn=9780743254670 |url=https://archive.org/details/glimpsesofdevila00peck |url-access=registration}} Peck describes in some detail several cases involving his patients. In People of the Lie he provides identifying characteristics of an evil person, whom he classified as having a character disorder. In Glimpses of the Devil Peck goes into significant detail describing how he became interested in exorcism in order to debunk the myth of possession by evil spirits – only to be convinced otherwise after encountering two cases which did not fit into any category known to psychology or psychiatry. Peck came to the conclusion that possession was a rare phenomenon related to evil and that possessed people are not actually evil; rather, they are doing battle with the forces of evil.[http://www.salon.com/2005/01/18/peck_5/ The exorcist] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170420045711/http://www.salon.com/2005/01/18/peck_5/ |date=2017-04-20}}, an interview with M. Scott Peck by Rebecca Traister published in [http://www.salon.com/index.html Salon] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051219102002/http://www.salon.com/news/col/horo/1999/12/13/betty/index.html |date=2005-12-19}}

Although Peck's earlier work was met with widespread popular acceptance, his work on the topics of evil and possession has generated significant debate and derision. Much was made of his association with (and admiration for) the controversial Malachi Martin, a Roman Catholic priest and a former Jesuit, despite the fact that Peck consistently called Martin a liar and a manipulator.[http://www.beliefnet.com/story/159/story_15928.html The Patient Is the Exorcist] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081005151954/http://www.beliefnet.com/story/159/story_15928.html |date=2008-10-05}}, an interview with M. Scott Peck by Laura Sheahen

• Classification of demons
• List of fictional demons
• List of theological demons
• List of occult terms
• Acheri
• Empusa
• Erinyes
• Prayer to Saint Michael
• Fairy
• Folk devil
• Goblin
• {{format link|Holy water#Protection against evil}}
• Spiritual warfare
• Troll
• Unclean spirit

{{citation style|date=December 2023}}

{{Reflist}}

{{full citations needed|date=January 2024}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last=Angelini |first=Anna |year=2021 |chapter=Les dieux des autres: entre «démons» et «idoles» |title=L'imaginaire du démoniaque dans la Septante: Une analyse comparée de la notion de "démon" dans la Septante et dans la Bible Hébraïque |location=Leiden and Boston |publisher=Brill Publishers |language=fr |series=Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism |volume=197 |pages=184–224 |doi=10.1163/9789004468474_008 |doi-access=free |isbn=978-90-04-46847-4}}

• {{cite book |first1=Siam |last1=Bhayro |first2=Catherine |last2=Rider |title=Demons and Illness from Antiquity to the Early-Modern Period |publisher=Brill |year=2017 |isbn=978-9-004-33854-8}}
• {{cite book |last1=Black |first1=Jeremy |first2=Anthony |last2=Green |title=Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia: An Illustrated Dictionary |location=Austin |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1992 |isbn=0714117056}}
• {{cite book |last=Boyce |first=Mary |title=Zoroastrianism: A Shadowy but Powerful Presence in the Judaeo-Christian World |location=London |publisher=William's Trust |year=1987}}
• {{cite book |title=A Dictionary of Comparative Religion |editor-first=S. G. F. |editor-last=Brandon |year=1970 |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |isbn=978-0297000440}}
• {{cite book |first=Peter |last=Brown |chapter=Sorcery, Demons, and the Rise of Christianity from Late Antiquity into the Middle Age |editor-last=Douglas |editor-first=Mary |title=Witchcraft Confessions and Accusations |year=1970 |publisher=Tavistock Publications |isbn=978-0422732000}}

• {{cite book |first=Geoffrey W. |last=Dennis |title=The Encyclopedia of Jewish Myth, Magic and Mysticism |edition=2nd |publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-738-74814-6}}
• {{cite book |last1=Drury |first1=Neville |last2=Hume |first2=Lynne |year=2013 |title=The Varieties of Magical Experience: Indigenous, Medieval, and Modern Magic |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1440804182}}
• {{cite encyclopedia |last=Duchesne-Guillemin |first=Jacques |title=Zoroastrianism |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Americana |location=Danbury |publisher=Grolier |year=1988 |volume=29 |pages=813–815}}

• {{cite book |last=Freud |first=Sigmund |author-link=Sigmund Freud |translator=Strachey |title=Totem and Taboo:Some Points of Agreement between the Mental Lives of Savages and Neurotics |year=1950 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |location=New York |isbn=978-0-393-00143-3}}

• {{cite book |first=Dorian Gieseler |last=Greenbaum |title=The Daimon in Hellenistic Astrology: Origins and Influence |publisher=Brill |year=2015 |isbn=978-9004306219}}

• {{cite book |last=Hanneken Henoch |first=T. R. |title=Angels and Demons in the Book of Jubilees and Contemporary Apocalypses |year=2006}}{{full citation needed|date=January 2024}}
• {{cite book |chapter-url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5085-demonology |chapter=Demonology |title=Jewish Encyclopedia |year=1906 |first1=Emil G. |last1=Hirsch |first2=Richard |last2=Gottheil |first3=Kaufmann |last3=Kohler |first4=Isaac |last4=Broydé |access-date=2014-10-29 |archive-date=2014-11-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107172159/http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5085-demonology |url-status=live}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Hutter |first1=Manfred |display-authors=etal |title=Demons and Spirits |journal=Religion Past and Present |doi=10.1163/1877-5888_rpp_COM_03364 |date=2011}}

• {{cite book |last1=Isaacs |first1=Ronald H. |title=Ascending Jacob's Ladder: Jewish Views of Angels, Demons, and Evil Spirits |date=1998 |publisher=Jason Aronson |isbn=978-0-7657-5965-8}}

• {{cite book |last=Kohler |first=K. |year=2020 |title=Jewish Theology |publisher=Outlook Verlag |isbn=978-3752378504}}

• {{cite book |last=Lane Fox |first=Robin |year=1988 |title=Pagans and Christians |place=San Francisco |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=978-0060628529}}
• {{cite book |chapter-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Ddaimo%2Fnion |chapter=δαιμόνιον |last1=Liddell |first1=Henry George |author-link1=Henry Liddell |last2=Scott |first2=Robert |author-link2=Robert Scott (philologist) |date=n.d. |title=A Greek–English Lexicon |publisher=Perseus |access-date=2021-02-20 |archive-date=2020-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201113045816/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Ddaimo%2Fnion |url-status=live}}
• {{cite encyclopedia |first=Rita |last=Lucarelli |title=Demons (benevolent and malevolent) |encyclopedia=UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology |year=2010 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1r72q9vv}}

• {{cite journal |last=Martin |first=Dale Basil |title=When Did Angels Become Demons? |journal=Journal of Biblical Literature |volume=129 |number=4 |year=2010 |pages=657–677 |doi=10.2307/25765960 |jstor=25765960}}
• {{cite book |first1=Benjamin W. |last1=McCraw |first2=Robert |last2=Arp |title=Philosophical Approaches to Demonology |publisher=Routledge |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-315-46675-0}}

• {{cite book |title=The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World |first=Catherine |last=Nixey |year=2018 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0544800939}}

• {{cite book |first=Valery |last=Rees |title=From Gabriel to Lucifer: A Cultural History of Angels |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-857-72162-4}}
• {{cite book |first=Jeffrey Burton |last=Russell |url=https://archive.org/details/luciferdevilinmi0000russ |url-access=registration |title=Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=1986 |isbn=978-0801494291 |oclc=557921104}}

• {{cite book |last=Taylor |first=Pinchas |year=2020 |title=A Jewish Guide to the Mysterious |publisher=Torah Lab Publishers |isbn=978-1946351890}}

• {{cite book |last=VanderKam |first=James C. |chapter=The Angel Story in The Book Of Jubilees |editor1-first=Esther G. |editor1-last=Chazon |editor2-first=Michael E. |editor2-last=Stone |title=Pseudepigraphic Perspectives: The Apocrypha And Pseudepigrapha In Light Of The Dead Sea Scrolls |place=Leiden |publisher=Brill |year=1999 |pages=151–170}}

• Wundt, W. (1906). Mythus und Religion, Teil II (Völkerpsychologie, Band II). Leipzig.

{{refend}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite book |last=Baglio |first=Matt |title=The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist |year=2009 |publisher=Doubleday Religion |isbn=978-0-385-52270-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/ritemakingof000bagl |url-access=registration |ref=none}}
• {{cite web |last=Chattopadhyay |first=Subhasis |year=2022 |url=https://www.esamskriti.com/e/Spirituality/Philosophy/Of-Demons-And-Exorcism-In-Sanatana-Dharma-----------1.aspx |title=Of Demons and Exorcism in Sanatana Dharma |website=eSamskriti |access-date=2023-12-24 |ref=none}}
• {{cite book |last=García Martínez |first=Florentino |year=1994 |title=The Dead Sea Scrolls Translated: The Qumran Texts in English |place=Leiden |publisher=E. J. Brill |isbn=978-90-04-10088-6 |ref=none}}
• {{cite book |last=García Martínez |first=Florentino |chapter=Magic in the Dead Sea Scrolls |editor1-first=Jan N. |editor1-last=Bremmer |editor2-first=Jan R. |editor2-last=Veenstra |title=The Metamorphosis of Magic from Late Antiquity to the Early Modern Period |year=2002 |place=Leuven |publisher=Peeters |isbn=978-90-429-1227-4 |ref=none}}
• {{cite book |last=George |first=Andrew |date=1999 |chapter=Glossary of Proper Nouns |title=The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eCZRK_61adMC&pg=PA225 |location=London, New York City, Melbourne, Toronto, New Delhi, Auckland, and Rosebank, South Africa |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-044919-8 |ref=none}}
• {{cite book |last=Oppenheimer |first=Paul |title=Evil and the Demonic: A New Theory of Monstrous Behavior |year=1996 |publisher=New York University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8147-6193-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/evildemonicnewth0000oppe |ref=none}}
• {{cite book |first=W. Gunther |last=Plaut |title=The Torah: A Modern Commentary |publisher=Union for Reform Judaism |year=2005 |ref=none}}
• {{cite book |last=Vermes |first=Geza |title=The complete Dead Sea scrolls in English |year=2011 |publisher=Penguin |location=London |ref=none}}{{missing ISBN}}
• {{cite book |last1=Walton |first1=John H. |first2=J. Harvey |last2=Walton |year=2019 |title=Demons and Spirits in Biblical Theology: Reading the Biblical Text in its Cultural and Literary Context |publisher=Cascade Books |isbn=978-1625648259 |ref=none}}

{{refend}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• {{Wiktionary inline|δαίμων|demon}}
• {{Commons category-inline|Demons}}
• [https://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/index/d.htm#Demon Catechism of the Catholic Church:] Hyperlinked references to demons in the online Catechism of the Catholic Church
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050330091329/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-79 Dictionary of the History of Ideas:] Demonology

{{Witchcraft|state=collapsed}}

{{Horror fiction}}

{{Fantasy fiction}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Paranormal terminology

Category:Religious terminology