Showing posts with label demons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label demons. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Demons and Sorcery
I've been thinking lately about sorcery and demons.
According to most religions, demons are spirits who picked the wrong side in the primordial conflict, and who are now trying in their various ways to deal with their unembodied situation. Demons have always been problematic to the living. Some are relatively harmless, like one I've treated who lived long enough with its human host to absorb a moral sense and to develop a philosophical interest in its own predicament, as well as taking on components of its host’s identity. Some demons, however, are just out to do major damage to all things human, like their titular head.
The difficult thing with demonic possession is to be sure it really is OK with the host. I wouldn’t choose it myself, but hosts sometimes welcome their demons. The demonic dyad allows both human and demon to experience what neither is capable of alone: material, corporeal existence, however brief, along with shared consciousness and uninterrupted metaphysical memory from before the beginning.
Demonic possession of other living creatures is problematic as well. I know of one family whose dog made prophecies, all of which came true. Difficulties arose because the prophecies were things of interest only to a dog, such as that a troublesome cat would soon be moving into the neighborhood, or that there would shortly be a change in his brand of dog chow. The family found it disconcerting enough to get rid of the dog; with Humane Society help he was successfully (and usefully) placed with the owner of a kennel. Disembodied demons can haunt a place, and sometimes it is hard to tell if the haunting is demonic or ghostly. Ghosts won’t possess a person or anything else. They are usually just hanging around trying to get something finished before they move on to the next phase.
Demons are much scarier than ghosts. Sorcerers invoke the demonic by offering corporeality as the bait and then attempting to control the powers they call through black magic. It isn’t the only magic they use, but it is what makes them by definition sorcerers rather than simply magicians or wizards. Sorcery is extremely dangerous and unpredictable. A sorcerer might spend weeks or months calling a particular demon, only to have it, or another, respond unexpectedly. If the demon called is malevolent—and most are—sorcery lays the way open for it to enter the natural, material world and wreak havoc.
No wonder sorcery is illegal.
According to most religions, demons are spirits who picked the wrong side in the primordial conflict, and who are now trying in their various ways to deal with their unembodied situation. Demons have always been problematic to the living. Some are relatively harmless, like one I've treated who lived long enough with its human host to absorb a moral sense and to develop a philosophical interest in its own predicament, as well as taking on components of its host’s identity. Some demons, however, are just out to do major damage to all things human, like their titular head.
The difficult thing with demonic possession is to be sure it really is OK with the host. I wouldn’t choose it myself, but hosts sometimes welcome their demons. The demonic dyad allows both human and demon to experience what neither is capable of alone: material, corporeal existence, however brief, along with shared consciousness and uninterrupted metaphysical memory from before the beginning.
Demonic possession of other living creatures is problematic as well. I know of one family whose dog made prophecies, all of which came true. Difficulties arose because the prophecies were things of interest only to a dog, such as that a troublesome cat would soon be moving into the neighborhood, or that there would shortly be a change in his brand of dog chow. The family found it disconcerting enough to get rid of the dog; with Humane Society help he was successfully (and usefully) placed with the owner of a kennel. Disembodied demons can haunt a place, and sometimes it is hard to tell if the haunting is demonic or ghostly. Ghosts won’t possess a person or anything else. They are usually just hanging around trying to get something finished before they move on to the next phase.
Demons are much scarier than ghosts. Sorcerers invoke the demonic by offering corporeality as the bait and then attempting to control the powers they call through black magic. It isn’t the only magic they use, but it is what makes them by definition sorcerers rather than simply magicians or wizards. Sorcery is extremely dangerous and unpredictable. A sorcerer might spend weeks or months calling a particular demon, only to have it, or another, respond unexpectedly. If the demon called is malevolent—and most are—sorcery lays the way open for it to enter the natural, material world and wreak havoc.
No wonder sorcery is illegal.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Unfair Demonization
I see that the Vatican has initiated another round of attacks on demons. Anti-demon sentiment never seems to go out of fashion, especially among religious groups. Demons tend to be unpopular, and their negative reputation is warranted in many cases, but no group of entities deserves to be entirely condemned.
As a psychotherapist working with demons and their hosts to help them either live beneficially together, or separate amicably and without further trauma, it is very difficult for me to see just how often demons continue to be demonized. "Go back to where you came from!" they are told. Most of the demons I work with in my practice are trying to do just that; they have been summoned by a black-arts sorcerer against their will, and want only to return to where they originated. Often their destructive behavior can be attributed to frustration with our corporeal world. A little empathic listening goes a long way to reducing their understandable vexation with humanity.
We see demons depicted in the media as monumental, tragic, and terrifying,
humorous, 
or silly. 
None of these is necessarily true.
This demon,
for example, was beneficial to humanity, or at least not harmful, and was recognized as such by one of our most renowned vampire slayers.
Not all demons, in other words, are like this:
As a psychotherapist working with demons and their hosts to help them either live beneficially together, or separate amicably and without further trauma, it is very difficult for me to see just how often demons continue to be demonized. "Go back to where you came from!" they are told. Most of the demons I work with in my practice are trying to do just that; they have been summoned by a black-arts sorcerer against their will, and want only to return to where they originated. Often their destructive behavior can be attributed to frustration with our corporeal world. A little empathic listening goes a long way to reducing their understandable vexation with humanity.
We see demons depicted in the media as monumental, tragic, and terrifying,
humorous, or silly. None of these is necessarily true.
This demon,
for example, was beneficial to humanity, or at least not harmful, and was recognized as such by one of our most renowned vampire slayers.Not all demons, in other words, are like this:
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