Demons.
A demon is an evil spirit, but the greek word daimon, from which it derives, mean only a supernatural being. This shift of emphasis was influenced by Christianity, which taught that pagan gods and spirit were associated with the devil. Additionally, demons are often black and repulsive to look at and this in how they are represented in medieval art. Lack of any tangible shape was one of their supposed characteristics, though they had the ability to borrow the form of other beings, often of humans. One saint saw them as swarms of flies and they sometimes appeared as composites, like the horned dog. Their numbers are legion in Judeo-Christian tradition. some inhabit the earth, other the atmosphere. The Protestant reformation bishot and martyr, Hugh Latimer, remarked to his congregation, "I am not able to tell how many thousand be he amongst us". They were also said to poison the air, causing illness. It was an ancient and common belief that demons of desease frequented the desert and lonely places. The Jews visualized them as hairy and addicted to dirty, unhealthy locations such as privies, marshland, dank and squalid street. Attack by them could be limited to specific parts of the body. In 1651 Christiana Weekes of Clyffe Pypard, Wiltshire, claimed to have successfully removed a demon from a patient's leg. Mental health was another sphere of their activity and for centuries demonic possession was the explanation universally offered for nervous disorders and insanity. The demons of the sir brought winds and tempests. Durandus, a thirteenth-century French scholar, wrote: " At the sight of a storm rising, the church rings its bells". Evil spirits reputedly detested the sound of churches bells, a Christian rationalization of an ancient belief that they fear the sound of metal. It was for this reason that bells were also rung at the time of a death to repel the demons supposedly clustering round to seize the soul of the dying person. He was specially vulnerable, according to jewish custom, if his or her arms and legs stuck out of the bed. Demons were also blamed for arousing night terrors, illicit passion and generally troubling men and women, especially those of blameless life. The seven sins are related to seven demons, which are: Lucifer: Pride, Mammon: Greed,Asmodeus (Asmodai): Lust, Satan: Wrath, Beelzebub: Gluttony, Leviathan: Envy, and Belphegor: Sloth. Remember folks, To believe, is to feel it. to feel it, is to be possessed. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far.
COMMENTS
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