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Demon if I am correct comes from the Greek word "daimon". At that time a Demon was considered neither good or bad. It was a sort of guardian spirit or according to some, the "higher self". Everyone was thought to have a demon. So when saying "battling/defeating your demons" you are defeating yourself, in this sense.


Why do we fear them so much?

Certain religions tout them as evil beings.

It is a similar story to snakes. In almost all old religions, snakes were praised and were 'good' Christianity in its attempt to bastardise every religion and become THE religion turn the tables on a lot of things. The date of Christmas for example, came from a South American Gods birthdate I believe. A few items have been stolen or 'demonised' in Satanism. Christianity has a complex, and therefore anything that may contradict what it states is 'evil'. To have a demon that looks after you, negates Gods work, so therefore the demons that are with you are blasphemous and therefore evil.

Jung thought demons were used in storytelling to show aspects of humanity that were considered desireable or undesireable.

We have been taught that demons are evil. plus we fear the unknown

In Christianity a demon is a fallen angel hence carries all those negative aspects.

Simply because the majority of us have been taught so. I know it was stated already, but Christianity turned most aspects of other beliefs into the opposite of what they were supposed to be. Since Christianity is probably the leading religion now (I don't know that as a fact, but it seems that way), most of us have been raised to believe whatever they said....which is that demons are angels that defied God and are therefore evil.

Well put, RAvenEyes. I adore fallen angels, and I think they are superior to demons. They are susceptible to human emotions and that is their weakness. Whereas, demons are pure instinct. Two parts of the human equation. What's the other part?

todays christians bastardize everything they touch. previously the romans chose to adopt parts of other religions to make conversion an easier process. it wasnt just a religion it was a way of life. i chose to ignore human concepts of good and evil. everything has a place. people will always strive to become something better (well we hope anyway).

90% of the Roman Religion is stolen directly from the Greeks.

But yes, it is based on the idea of converting. Either offer them something familiar, or tell them what they have is evil, and rely purely on fear.

the romans didnt have to paint an evil picture of your religion to make you convert. they just conscripted you or put you in the gladiator ring.

Romans didn't use fear within the religion like Christianity does. They used the familiarity approach by stealing the Greek religion and then used fear as a back up.

We were always taught demons are evil beings

In times past...people couldn't explain what physics now tells us about the 4th demension...2nd demension...& the others above and under our own. With a lack of understanding...beings from those demensions would appear to be demons to ancient society. I would say that in most cases they are aliens.

Well done, you have added such an integral part to this conversation. In a word, you are a moron.

Anyways, yes WE have always been taught that demons are evil, but the idea is that our ancestors were not. When and why did this change?

back to topic....

I am sitting here reading my psy book and listening to SOAD, and the book the Dark Material (famous for the golden compass) popped into my head. the world had a concept much like greeks higher being where daemons were a piece of us like our soul/conscious. when the girl and her daemon came to our world she found that people didnt have a visible daemon but it was something inside us that we could bring out with a conscious effort. that would make sense with the phrase "the demons within" if you think of them as that piece of our soul/conscious trying to persuade us to different goals.

I did laugh that they named her daemon Pan

Fear the mighty frying "Pan"

lol



now a days the churches do use fear, according to them we must fear Satan and his demons because he is supposedly a deceiver ... and fear God because he is supposedly almighty or some shit


fear was instilled a lot people after the Witch Trials and Inquisition, I don't know if the Churches planned that or not but it worked on many masses

There are those who fear demons because we hear what they do like possess others if anyone has watched exersist or even the newer verson, Emily Rose. I don't quite understand fearing god though. I don't believe in godly fear or fearing the devil. That is one thing I could not understand about Christianity. I know because I go to church every Sunday. :P

The id of id, ego, superego fame probably stems directly from demon tales. Jung called it our collective unconscious. All these stories underline our universal ideas of Good, simply by designating these beings as the rebels w/o cause. We need them to be Bad.

AX74, you wrote:

In times past...people couldn't explain what physics now tells us about the 4th demension...2nd demension...& the others above and under our own. With a lack of understanding...beings from those demensions would appear to be demons to ancient society. I would say that in most cases they are aliens.

To my knowledge, the second dimension is the plane (squares, etc), and the fourth dimension is time. Were you referring to something else?

I've seen most people in this thread talk about demons as creatures whose natures are twisted by Christianity, and are in fact, not to be feared.

What, then, about truly malevolent creatures, whose form may resemble that of a Christian-type demon, and should be feared for the very fact that they do bad things? It would seem, then, that "demon" is a blanket term, labeling good, neutral, and bad creatures alike.

So it seems a new, stronger word for the bad kind of demon should be made, like bad demon, or demon bad...or dembad. Yes, dembad!

Dembads are badong!

/end Kung Pow moment

Demons were begotten by the angels on the daughters of men (Genesis 6:4).

This perpetuated antifeminine prejudices since the angel's lust was blamed not on them, but on the girlies.

Demons inhabit everything, they live close by, and as someone above said they've been thought of us as both good and bad. Many were ancient deities or nature spirits who were demoted by later cultures. The big demarcation in human "recorded" history, the radical shift, does appear to be with Christianity, and so the finger gets pointed.

Dembads (thank you Arunima) in a very modern sense mimic our current cultural fascination with evil. Look at the media: a serial killer is the Hero of a t.v. series; CSI is as much about the science, as the gore; pyrotechnics and stylized murder scenes are more important than character development or plot.

These are our modern myths, the campfire stories. The come out of us, but they also shape us. Dembads currently rule.

Not everyone fears demons. I guess it would have to take into consideration the religion. Alot of people fear demons for certian reasons.

Demon" is originally a Greek term which meant a wise, guardian spirit. Today, in
religion and parapsychology, "demons" have evolved into meaning, entities which
appear to have malicious intent, and are possibly of a non-human origin:
differentiated from a spirit which proceeded from a once-living person (a ghost).
I believe that "thought forms" can be
believed by a human being and allowed to create one's own reality. Call it our power to create. Some may consider the entertaining of negative thoughts as
demon possession. One might also contend that these fallen thoughts are the same as fallen angels (angels representing a higher, more pure thought form, or truth). This should not come as shocking, for the mind
is powerful. This theory could also explain violent acts carried out by normally calm, sedate individuals. Rather than some malicious, otherworldly beast taking over our subconcious; it is really a darker form on ourselves we find ourselves faced with...

Just another take on the subject.

Growing up most of us were taught that "Demons" were fallen angels, hence they were bad or evil beings.

I think it really depends upon your religion. Every religion sees or interupts every event and aspect differently.

Because I am Atheist and don't believe in anything mystical I have come to the conclusion that the only demons I have ever met have been my ex-girlfriends....

To fear a demon, I would have to believe in the existance of a demon.

So, you can see my issue on why I do not fear them.

Of course, you have those that do believe in demons, and they have been instructed on all of the bad that demons can inflict, therefore, they are choosing to fear something that they do not know for sure exists, based solely on what others have told them to believe.

Kind of like heaven and hell....

I think to word was changed through Christianity. In the bible it says that a demon is bad and evil. It was just passed down that way through the generations. So now we relate it to evil or bad things within or without of yourselves.

So often we change the meaning of words. Gay used to mean happy, joyous, etc now it means homosexual.

How easily we change the language to suit to current times. If the word gay can go from a positive word, to a derogatory term, to an accepted term, who says the same hasn't happened to the term demon.

Origanlly it was neutral, then became evil, now has sort become just to the evil side of neutral

In my filed of work, the demon (also known as the daemon) is our friend.

It is the name given to a background process that runs on a computer. Many times, it is used to listen to and react to instructions from other computers.

It would be incorrect to say that demons are the offspring or “begotten” of the angels. Gen 6:4 does not say anything about demons being offspring of angels. As a matter of fact it does say anything about demons at all. In most Christian translations Gen. 6:4 speaks of the “giants” being on the earth; however, in the Hebrew these giants were given a specific name, the “Nephilim”, which means “inferior ones” not demons. They were referred to as inferior ones because they were the offspring of b'nei Elohim (Son's of God) and the daughters of Man. The offspring, Nephilim, were inferior to their fathers who were godly beings.

The word “demon” does in fact come from Greek. That of course does not mean that the beings we refer to as demons originated from the Greek. Their history is older than that. In Hebrew they are know by other names, such as Shaidim or Mazikin and are mention in the Tanak and Talmud, but a demon by any other name is still a demon. Rabbi Winston wrote that “unlike other views of such Heavenly beings, the Torah perspective sees them as servants of G-d just as much as good angels are. They work for G-d, and quite obediently for that matter, and can never challenge Him or go against His will, no matter how much it looks to the contrary. G-d is not at war with them and they are not at war with G-d.”

In one main respect they are indeed like the angels where as they also do not possess free will. I have written before that there are stories scattered throughout the Talmud and the Midrash which speak of demons. They are basically described as being part physical and spiritual beings. And unlike angels who are completely spiritual beings with no physical bodies and exist only in spiritual worlds, we could be able to perceive and even unfortunately have interaction with demons on the physical plane and certainly the lower spiritual planes. On a kabbalistic note they like angles would be below mankind on the spiritual hierarchy. They like many people want to elevate up the spiritual ladder and there is only one way for them to do so and this is by being a leech of sorts, a spiritual leech. They are drawn to higher beings like a moth to a flame (higher meaning closer to Hashem and all humans would be considered higher beings compared to them) and they can through various forms of possession stowaway in a human being. I've not come across any older root sources for demons than the Torah. If you have please list the source.

Demons...

You know :) I know that when some people see extraterrestrials, or beings from other dimensions...even those in the astral world...they are sometimes called demons...more relating to the appearance or shadowy auras...or the vibes ppl may get...

Then theres the inner demons..and that doesn't necessarily have to be an outside force..but it can be people and their flaws, or their obstacles, whether they are self originating, or outside sources, from other people or just circumstance, perhaps combinations? It really depends on who you ask, and what type of demon you're talking about :) not everyone fears demons...but many ppl do fear what they don't understand.

As a Sacred Geometrist of the Universal Alchemy, I feel inclined to interject.

What you are conversing about to my knowledge is the two faces of the higher self. The daemonic side, as well as the Angelic side are an allegory for two sides of the same coin.

In the Alchemical studies of the higher self, we want to attain this status by improving our faculties on both the physical plane as well as the ethereal.

Most of the time, our higher selves are battling if you will, the natures of "good" vs "evil". The chaos and the righteous in a sense.

A good example of this is a dream I once had. It consisted of looking into a mirror where my face seemed a bit distorted to look like that of a daemonic appearance with black rain coming down on the top of my head. I felt I should take that face mask off, so I did.

The next part of that same dream, switch to a wilderness scenerio, climbing to the top of a hill, whilst a presence that I could not catch up to along some forked and winding trails always out of my reach, and always turning the corner before I saw its full figure...Seemed to want me to follow it. I kept going the way I wanted to and not the way it wanted me to. Finally when I reached the top of the hill at the end of the trail, I came to a clearing.

Within this clearing I felt I should look up at the sky, before me was a cloud shaped like a sort of angelic skull. A small white ball was floating beside me which formed the shape of a mask resembling that cloud. A voice beckoned me to put on this mask. As I put on this mask, the vision of the mask showed me a set of wings on this cloud shaped angelic skull.

I then took the mask off, crumpled it into a ball and tossed it over the cliff before me.

In a sense, this dream was telling me that I had full control over my higher self, both sides of the coin, that I had made a choice, not to get jumpled into to ethereal politics of "you must choose good or evil". I have been the independant traveler of the ethereal for a reason. I have full control over my higher self, and choose no sides.

Well, the point to this post is to realize that we all have this good vs evil aspect to our souls as well as in our lives. It all depends on how well you have mastered the arts practiced within these Sacred Geometries whether you know it, and or practice them on a regular basis whether you realize it or not.

oh..i have to say...
Actually...A.X74 makes a lot of sense...He's not a moron at all...The 2nd dimension or any dimension besides the 3 dimension, is almost impossible for humans to visualize...And no arunima..It's not just squares or planes, even though he is talking about the 4th dimension as being outside of time...he was talking about our neighboring dimensions and all the other dimensions...We are now talking about "quantum physics" and parallel universes..Not just some 2 dimensional object in a 3D world...If humans existed in the 2nd dimension, they could not eat...The diggestive system would not allow us to live and be a functional organism....Our bodies (technically) would be cut in half...if you placed them in a 2D world...we are talking about the 2nd dimension, not just a plane, nor flat squares...we are talking about creatures and beings from other dimensions, 2nd and beyond the 4th..outside of time, and the multiverse in general...and demons, or extraterrestrials (beings) from a 2nd dimension i'm sure they do exist...which dimensions, and which parallels, perhaps all?....what technology do we have today, to allow us to see the 2nd dimension which is talking about a parallel world that we have not seen, yet, can very easily exist based on the knowledge we have of 3D worlds..in fact..i think it's something like, our universe is a hologram...I don't believe as of now we have anything that has showed pictures from the 2D world besides virtual worlds we create, or mathematical based scenerios that are still in this dimension..even if we had a machine, theres no way, human minds would be able to properly make sense of it....even though most theoretical physicists today would not dispute that there are highter dimensions, we still (technically) (supposively) have no instruments to show that the other worlds are their...which in fact, of course they are...the closest thing i have read about when talking about equipment for detecting other worlds or more so, patterns or shapes (as we would see their shadows from their dimension to our dimension) was a machine that can understand (the shadow) of a higher dimensional object...that we as humans could never interperet with our 3d brains....at least not today...but maybe one day we can connect into another plane of existence, if you have not already done that (NATURALLY)...I have experienced very other worldly things, in fact, outside of time...that's a very familiar feeling...kind of like becoming all that exists...no room for thoughts, no room for time, because you are all that exists, and with out distance to travel, there is no time. That's why I like einsteins quote about time being a persistant illusion...

Arunima,

I was referring to all of the dimensions...in all of which there are beings that live both inside & outside of time. Obviously this is where "demons" would exist (or aliens)...otherwise they would walk down the street in physical form...& never fading in & out of the shadows. Sometimes when we see these beings...they appear distorted because we cannot properly view them with our 3 dimensional minds. Yes...the 4th dimension is time. The 5th dimension is outside of time. That's exactly what I'm talking about. I was just taking the topic beyond common superstition...& bringing it into reality.

oh hell..nevermind..no one was even talking about a.x74 LOL..as far as calling him a moron..oops...:P

I believe what you are refering to as the multi dimensional universal planes are the ideas of the ethereal plane theory.

Ethereal Realm theory

Which I mentioned in this forum thread as per the link above. Should give you a clear aspect of what we are discussing. It does consist of a square analogy for the dimensions themselves...Just read it.

Quote - "Why do we fear them so much?"...

Hundreds of years of religious nuts force feeding us sermons telling us that Demons are bad may have something to do with it methinks...

Well if that is the only reason, what about muslims catholics and jews? Aren't they just as evil :P

And yet I still wonder why forum guideline red tape is always duct when discussing matters regarding light religious context.

Hopefully this thread will last a while, some of it does have a valid point. Such as the higher self aspirations in regards to the daemon angel persona analogy for human conditions of the light and dark aspects of the soul.

Yeah fair point *goes and sits back in his corner*

Ok so lets redirect this back away from religion directly, to the broader notion of why we as society see demons as exclusively evil!

Well, it is majority understanding that demons are evil. You even have the dictionary stating that fact, and it would be dificult to prove otherwise to a rational person.

I think we fear them because religion tells us that they're evil. i mean the majority of demons are evil. No one wants them around them or anything... so just fear them... =

i think religion tells us 2 defeat our deamons so we can be cleansed of our fears

i think that the Media has made the Demon into something evil....and as we are susceptable to what we see on television or read, that's how fear is often cultivated.

I think the media has probably had the opposite effect. By at times showing demons as the sympathetic characters, it has shown the 'other side' to demons. Also Chistopher Paolinis portrayal of Kull in Eldest, or the Rippers in Tank Girl, show that no matter how evil we are told something is, it is mostly because we are blinded by our own discriminations.

This is one of my favorite quotes :)

"If you're frightened of dying and you're holding on, you'll see demons tearing your life away. If you've made your peace, then the demons are really angels, freeing you from the earth."
- Meister Eckhart

Funny how we have some posts that suggest that we step back from discussing the religious concext of demons, but the issue is that it is religions that have demonized demons...does that sound right?

Media giving sympathetic sides to demons is giving them weaknesses, hence removing fear, bringing them down to a more human level

because the context has changed... they did not say they were battling their inner demons back then... that is a more recent term, and it has been used ever since demons were considered to be bad

In both those examples they still do not show weakness. Both show that it is just humans fear that has caused them to be labelled as demons from hell. Both are shown to be similar to any other race on Earth, just trying to survive and live their own life. However, the existence of both questions the supremecy of the human race, so thus they must be demons sent forth by Satan himself

With the whole 'inner demon' thing, I think it is just an excuse by religious types. They like to think they are exclusively pure of heart, and good willed. So if they screw up, they have something to blame it upon.

Fine... Maybe not in those 2 examples but think of other ones they are often made to look weak, even in shows where humans are hunters killing them, the hunters always win or there would be no show!

Of course there can be a show.

You just replace your hunter with a new one. Just as the demons in the show are always replaced with new ones.

I would actually enjoy a show where the heros lose as often as the demons/bad guys...

Sometimes "inner demons" is just a figure of speech too...especially if you are talking about "self battles" or struggles with yourself. Then you have ppl who do like to blame their human flaws on demons, and not take fault for their own actions. No ones perfect though...and some ppl are easily brain washed. *shrug*

People can fight their inner demons, the bad parts that are in theirself (addictions etc.), their weaknesses, and as for religious people blaming doing wrong the the inner demon thing this was fully touched on the the People or the forces thread, of people taking responsibility for their own actions.

Well when you are suggesting the hunter type shows, they aren't the sympathetic character are they, so completely different kettle of fish.

The hunter type shows once again try to reinforce that no matter what malovent, insidious being their is, humans are better than it. This has been done right throughout the ages, with giants, dragons and such being made out to be dumb, brutal, vicious beasts, and then humans being able to outwit and finally kill them.

Isn't that sort of what I said before, til you said not in those 2 exsamples you gave?

Trying to show the difference between what you are rambling about and what I'm trying to show.

Showing them as a sympathetic character usually is done through interaction with a human, showing what they are really like, and the human going "Damn we have a really warped vision of you guys. You's are alright. Lets go have some tea and crumpets"

Your hunter type shows just go "PHWOAR KILL THE EVIL DOODLEHEADED THING"

How often do you see on tv humans sitting down having tea and crumpts with a demon?
And by humans going a killing them is making demons and humans more equal!

At times, some of the shows identify that some of the demons are "not so bad" and do the tea and cake thing.

Go figure, a group were not all of its members are not evil, as they are expect to be...

Yeah, and all Drow elves for evil as well...

OK, to go back further to the original topic, originally, in Ancient Greek, the term meant Spirit, or Higher self.

In Modern Greek the term takes on the same meaning as the English Demon.

The law of the trapezoid! Now that's nice....Actually...Speaking of Trapezoids.....I really like...
Die elektrischen Vorspiele...Which talks about other dimensions...I think that certain beings which come from other dimensions are also depicted as demons :)
Okay...I really like pieces or passages from it...they are as follows...

"They are the guardians of the cycles, and they lurk at the threshold of time, and their space-planes move about them, hiding them well. They move only through angles, though free are they not of the curved dimensions. Strange and terrible are the Hounds of the Barrier, follow they consciousness to the limits of space. Unseen they walk among thee, in places where the Rites have been said."
(skipps a few passages)(and continues)
"Think not, o men of mildewed minds, that ye can escape the great beasts by entering thy shrines, for they follow fast through angles and they lurk within the Trapezoid. I know them for I am as one with them, and I have approached the great Barrier, and seen on the shore where time exists not the monolithic forms of the Hounds of the barrier." (skips and continues)

"Yea! hiding in the abyss beyond time I found them, and they, scenting me afar off, raised themselves and gave the great bell cry that can be heard from cycle to cycle. Dwelt I then, in lairs remote from man, on the gray shores of time, beyond the world's rim, and ever with me they moved, in angles not known to man. On the dark threshold they crouch their jaws agape and ravening for the sould of those who are without!"

I do know that, my only point from the beginning was when you continuously see something that is feared brought down it brings down the fear level making it more equal to your own.

Part 1: Sympathy for the daemon so to speak seemed to run rampant at the beginning of Tales From The Crypt: Demon Night. The antagonist is seen kissing his daemonic children, then telling his "kids" to have fun.

Part 2: As for the Daemons from other dimensions, I think you are refering to the Cthulhu mythos. Information regarding this subject may be found at the almighty

Demons are scapegoats. something that is depicted as the ultimate evil, that can be capable of nothing but evil, because it is helpful to always see things in black and white. that is why, when the media attempts to depict one particular group of people as being utterly evil, we say they are "demonizing" them. Demons are the old Gods, rebranded by christianity to depict them as utterly evil and something to be avoided completely for the good of your soul.

unfortunately, they are in essence, spiritual beings and as such very suceptable to belief systems. in short - if you believe in them they are real, and what you believe about them is true.

we create our own demons.

_Carsho (Forgive me if I spelled it wrong), in response to you speaking about languages and how we humans have twisted the meanings, i.e. Gay from happy to homosexual, I say this, Every language is an evolving thing. There is no definite meaning for anything anymore. Just as the word Bitch used to mean a female dog, now it means an extremely rude person, however, you'll mostly see a female called a bitch no? But who's to say that some day, bitch won't mean daughter?_

_Now back on topic: Demons, to me, have always been the witty characters. Christianity, to me, warped the meaning of a demon. The Bartemaeus (sp?) Trilogy is an excellent read, and follows a demon over a span of...well...a bunch of years. To me, it gives good insight as to the true meaning of demons. I wish I had more for you than that. But seriously, for those of you that read such books, pick it up and take a look, it's a brilliant story. As for what I think.....Demons will and always will remain a mystery to me, and while some of them are good, there are also some that are not so good, or are evil, which I think some people may confuse with devils. In either case, someone previously stated that in many religions along the globe, demons are not to be feared in the sense of screaming and running away, more along the lines of revered and treated as teachers. However, here there seems to be one culprit in making the "demon" evil...and the voice is ringing loud and clear of the Christian religion. However, I suppose it's based on what you believe. If you believe that the demon is evil, than it is, but if you believe it is not, then it isn't, simply put. I know I've said this, but I believe that there are good and evil, just as we humans are diverse, so are the demons._

I dont know personally I have only heard and referred to demons as the ones that a person tends to battle with in their soul. That to me is not fearful, yet is a necessity of life. Everyone at one time or another needs to battle with their inner demons in order to awaken their soul and find a more enlightened path.

I was going to ask has anyone met a demon but then thought better of it lol

I'm not afraid of the unknown, just curious, if I ever got to meet a demon I think I'd like to get to know him/her before I decided I was afraid of it or not.

This link will offer you lots of insight on Demons in general:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon

This link is a good general research starting point:

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=34430

Oh..I do love Cthulhu....

But...I'm not just talking about Cthulhu when I talk of them coming from other dimensions...I'm talking about beings or creatures that we having 3 dimensional brains cannot see in their true forms..because..we could never see a creature in the 5th dimension for example..our brains couldn't comprehend...and perhaps we would see shadows or things that appear as other things...Haha. I'm talking about a combination of things really....

I was reading this book by Michio Kaku, a theoretical physicists...and when he was talking about higher dimensions....he also talked about an analogy of...lets say humans are able to see a 2D universe, and in the 2D creatures are dubbed the name, FLATLANDERS....Well...we would have an advantage over them...If you take a piece of paper...and lets say a flat lander lives on that paper...if you tape one end of the paper to the other, making it roll up..then the flatlander wouldn't be able to understand how it was walking the same path over and over again..it wouldn't be able to make sense of this...but we as beings from the 3rd dimension, easily can see that the flat lander is just walking the same path, because we joined the top of the paper to the bottom...AND...another example...would be trying to show a flatlander a 3d cube....they would have 2D brains, and so would not be able to conceive this 3D cube (unless there was some tehnology that enabled them too, or somethign else beyond)...but generally...the if you held a cube and it made a shadow on their 2d world...they would only be able to see the shadow of the cube..and if you rotated the cube, they really wouldn't understand what it was...they would only see shadows....

I don't know...basically what i'm saying is...is that...not everything is what it seems..and what ppl call demons may be various diff. things....from extraterrestrials, to the energy of the deceased, to higher dimensional beings...or perhaps ppl in the astral world...
I have left my body and wandered in the astral world..and i have seen what look like gargoyles....um...not to mention i have read ppl's stories, and when they leave their bodies, they can shapeshift..or do whatever....Um......
I just think the word demon..is vague and it's variable....it can be speaking of many things at once...or combinations.

I love this topic! Most of you have covered what I would have said or asked about, so I won't repeat...I've always been fascinated with demons, fallen angels (nephilim), and the like. I am learning a lot more here. Thanks, all!

I have research the Angel Belial (Demon) and have found the following information at this link:

http://www.deliriumsrealm.com/delirium/articleview.asp?Post=113

Belial in the Dead Sea Scrolls
Belial (or Beliaal) is Hebrew for "without value." He is known as Beliar in Greek. Among certain sections of the Jews, this demon was considered the chief of all the devils. In The War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness (1QM), one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Belial is the leader of the Sons of Darkness:

"But for corruption thou hast made Belial, an angel of hostility. All his dominions are in darkness, and his purpose is to bring about wickedness and guilt. All the spirits that are associated with him are but angels of destruction."

Belial is also mentioned in the Fragments of a Zadokite Work (which is also known as The Damascus Document (CD)), which states that at the time of the Antichrist, "Belial shall be let loose against Israel, as God spake through Isaiah the prophet." (6:9). The Fragments also speak of "three nets of Belial" which are said to be fornication, wealth, and polution of the sanctuary. (6:10-11) In this work, Belial is sometimes presented as an agent of divine punishment and sometimes as a rebel, as Mastema is. It was Belial who inspired the Egyptian sorcerers, Jochaneh and his brother, to oppose Moses and Aaron. The Fragments also say that anyone who is ruled by the spirits of Belial and speaks of rebellion should be condemned as a necromancer and wizard.

_Actually, I'm followed by a demon all the time. He never does anything to me, just watches. Although, while some people believe that demons are here to cause harm to humans, I find that that isn't always the case. The demon that follows me everywhere has protected me a few times. It's kinda weird, but after that, I fail to see the "evilness" in all demons. Judging a book by the cover can be a dangerous path with a dead end at the end of it. I don't see him, however, I do know that he's there. One of my friends was a medium, and while he scared her a little, she told me about him, and I wasn't afraid. You see...demons can take all shapes and forms, mine just so happens to be in the form of a draconic being. Interesing huh? My family considers dragons to be our protectors. Either way, not all demons are evil._

Well when people talk about "fighting their demons" I've always seen that as fighting temptation inside yourself, basically the good part of yourself vs. the bad part of yourself. Of course, I've also met people who took that very literally, as fighting these supernatural demons that whisper to do bad things in their mind.

Because now they're portrayed as being evil; Creatures out of Hell so to speak. It's only natural to fear the darkness and what lies beyond it.

I think like many old pagan thoughts, rituals and beliefs, certain religions took it and twisted it to suit themselves to control others.

Maybe another possible take on this would be the development of exocism.

The church is confronted by a person who is now possessed by a demon, so they have to respond by compelling with the power of Christ.

Assume that you have someone in the 1000-1200's who is schizophenic, I could see how they would respond with the belief of demonic beings.

Not for another 600-800 years do we develop this thing called pshychiatry, that we then realize that it is a mental issue that has manifested over the years into the things that we call demons.

The church stole all most all of it's beliefs from the pagans such as pagan holidays and used them for their own,like for instance:the Goddess Estora give birth to her son in the easter time, yet amazingly the church said NO NO NO! You have it all wrong! that was when the Jesus man arose from the dead.

then they bastardised any other belief of the pagans by calling it evil and/or demonic.

i have one simple question, or maybe THree Why when we go to hell, does the devil/demon punnish us? If he opposes god, then why would he punnish us for not going to heaven? Also, i was taught that the devil was gods fallen angel because he wanted to learn all the secrets of god power, which were stored in a book somewhere....... my grandfather told me this and i really have no religion, anybody know where that came from?

Oh, and by the way, if you can't see this u r an idiot. The goddess Estora's name....move the A after E....EASTOR...hmmmmm

They say everyone has demons, but yet some people can hold them back whilst others lash out. So, can we control the demons inside, and if we cannot are we lacking self discipline?

Demons can be very scary if approached the wrong way. They can give off an erry feeling and be able to scare you off screaming with heart beating a mile a munite while your running to get away from them. They also can come in many forms to make it known that they are aware of your presence

there is alot of evil in this world. whether demons are a part of it or not, i dont know. but if they arent, then who/or what is?

DrainingMeSoftly -

Would depend on your views of the world, wouldn't it?

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