Demons, Devils and Djinn by Olga Hoyt
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Demons, Devils, and Djinn
Demons,
and Djinn
Devils,
OLGA HOYT ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS
ABELARD-SCHUMAN y
An
^ H V
New
XLibrary/ifeG
York
London
Intext Publisher
Vf /y
Horace Mann Middle School Denver, Colorado
For permission
to use
copyrighted materials,
acknowledgment is made to the copyright holders on pages 5 and 6 which are hereby made
grateful listed
a part of this copyright page.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reprinted, or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Publisher.
NEW YORK
LONDON
Abelard-Schuman
Abelard-Schuman
Limited 257 Park Avenue South 10010
Limited 450 Edgware Road W2 lEG and 24 Market Square Aylesbury
Published on the same day in Canada by
Longman Canada
Printed in the United States of America
Copyright
©
1974 by Olga Hoyt
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Hoyt, Olga.
Demons,
devils,
and
djinn.
SUMMARY: Examines
the
many forms and appearances
demons throughout history and the world, the charms which call them forth, and the spells that banish them.
of
Bibliography: 1.
p.
Demonology
—^Juvenile literature.
Juvenile literature. natural]
I.
[1.
Demonology.
Title.
BL480.H69 133.4'2 ISBN 0-200-00110-8
73-6190
2. 2.
Spirits
Super-
Limited.
Acknowledgments
The author and pubHsher wish
to thank the following for permission to use the illustrations listed below:
Aldus Books Limited for the pictures from The Supernatural by Douglas Hill and Pat Williams, which appear on pages 80 and 111. From the Aldus Archives.
The Trustees
of the British
Museum
for the picture
on page
136.
Crown
Publishers, Inc., for pictures on pages 40, 42, 54, 120, and 131, taken from The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and Demonology by Russell Hope Bobbins. © 1959 by Crown Publishers, Inc. Used by permission of Crown Publishers, Inc.
6
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., for the pictures from The Island of Bali by Miguel Covarrubias, which appear on pages 96 and 99. Copyright 1936, 1937 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., and renewed in 1964, 1965 by Rosa Covarrubias. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
A Treasury of Witchcraft by Harry E. Wedek, which appear on pages 20,
Philosophical Library for the pictures from 23, 36,
and 113.
Harald Schultz for the picture on page 144. Singing Tree Press for the pictures from Devils by J. Charles Wall, which appear on pages 26, 69, and 150. University Books, Inc., for the pictures from The Book of Ceremonial Magic by Arthur Edward Waite, which appear
on pages 61, 109, and 148, and
for the pictures
from The
Mystic Mandrakeby C. J. Thompson, which appear on pages 87 and 91. Reprinted by permission of University Books, Inc., Secaucus, New Jersey, 07094.
We
are grateful for the assistance of Hans L. Raum, shooting the photographs for this book.
Jr.,
in
Special thanks to Diane DeVore for her rendering of the two drawings that appear on pages 96 and 99.
Contents
9
Illustrations
Introduction
1
Demons and
11
13
Devils
2 Djinn
25
3 Spirits in Ancient Babylonia and Assyria
34
4
Modern
Spirits of the
Middle East
41
7
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
8
5 Chinese Kuei
50
6
Demons on
63
7
Demons
8
Demons and Djinn
of India
74
9
The Demon
Mandrake
85
in
10
The Malay
11
Demons
12
Some
13
The Nature
the Steppes of Asia
68
Japan
of the
Birth
Demon
90 93
of Bali
Tales of of
Summoning
or Exorcising
Demons and
Witchcraft
14 Demons, Devils, and Djinn Today
Demons
101
130 143
Bibhography
154
Index
157
Illustrations
Satan
is
frequently represented as a goat or dragon
20
Reading the Black Book
23
The
26
devil as a serpent
36
Assyrian devil
A
drawing of the head of an
An early drawing One of the lower Hell
Mouth and
A Japanese
evil
demon
40
of a devil
42
order of demons
54
the Devil Chained
61
devil
The Temptation of St Anthony
69
80
9
10
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
Drawing of the mandrake female Gathering of the mandrake with the A demon face on the Pedjeng drum
A
Balinese
Title
The
demon
87 aid of a
dog
99
or buta
page of the Grimoire of Honorius devil carrying
Demons
oflF
represented
111
113
animals
Demoniacal attack of hystero-epileptic Nicholas
Remy
109
a witch
as
fit
of Lorraine
Witches and demons dancing
120 131
in a ring
Exu and his female counterpart The devil struggling with Saint Peter Sculpture of a devil on Notre
91
96
Dame
Cathedral
136 144 148
150
Introduction
Belief in the supernatural has been part of man from at least the time of recorded history. Whether belief in evil spirits, such as demons, devils, and djinn, is associated with religion
—pagan.
Christian, or non-Christian
—or
whether
stems
it
from the
folklore of various peoples of diflPerent lands, it is interesting to study. For what people believed no matter
—
how
—
and extraordinary it may seem to us us something of the moods, feelings, and customs of unscientific
tells
their
times.
have made a random selection of these evil spirits accordI have cited those stories that I hoped would give the reader a lively glimpse of the creatures that many thousands of peoples have believed in through the years. To some, demons, devils, and djinn are still very real. Let I
ing to no certain pattern. Rather,
the reader decide.
Olga Hoyt 11
1.
Demons and Devils
One sunny July afternoon in 1971, the telephone rang in the office of the Reverend John J. Nicola, assistant director of the National Shrine of the
Immaculate Conception, in Washington, D.C. The call was from a Virginia parish priest who wanted to consult Father Nicola "concerning a possible infestation or obsession of a couple's
home by
the
devil."
Arrangements were made, and that evening Father Nicola and the parish priest drove down to a 13
14
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
little
Virginia
town near Washington, and arrived
at the house allegedly possessed by the devil. There they heard the story of the bizarre events of the past four months since the family had moved
into the house.
Night after night there were the sounds of steps running
up and down the
foot-
stairs.
There were sounds of things moving about the house, knocks on doors, voices calling out of nowhere voices identical to those of the family
—
members. whole family thought these phenomena must be in their imaginations. But then one night as they came home late after visiting relatives, they saw every light in the house flash on and oflF, as they drove into the driveway. Another night the parents were watching television when they heard glass crashing in the kitchen. There they discovered the clock, smashed, face down on the floor. Lying beside it was the fourinch cement spike that had supported the clock on the wall it was cleanly cut in two, but the nail hole in the wall was undisturbed. One day the maid was waxing the piano stool. The piano suddenly jumped away and made a sizable dent in the oak mantel of the fireplace. All these events (the maid quit in a hurry) were enough to convince the family that the devil was in the house, and they At
first
the
—
requested a formal exorcism.
Demons and Devils
15
For several days Father Nicola pondered the matter of a formal exorcism, which would consist of addressing the demon directly and commanding it to depart from the person he obsessed or the place he infested. Such a formal exorcism would
require permission from the local bishop. Father Nicola decided against such a course, but instructed the parish pastor to bless the house, for as Father Nicola wrote later to the bishop about the case, the "blessing removed the anxiety which
was responsible," and
"if
perchance there was
some diabolical influence, the blessing and informal exorcism was sufficient to terminate it." The pastor blessed the house, but when Father Nicola visited it a week later, as a follow-up, the family reported that there had been noises coming from the cellar, a part of the house that the pastor had forgotten to bless. The Father immediately blessed the cellar, and the devil has not been heard from in this place since.
The
idea of the devil
is
very, very old;
we know
from the beginning of recorded history people have believed in evil supernatural beings, whether they be called devils, demons, djinn, or by many other names. Devils were associated with evil, the gods and angels with the good; and even as people worshiped their gods long before the Christian era, they feared, revered, and placated their devils. Anthat
16
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
tells of Lilith, a winged demoness of Assyria with long disheveled hair, who was created by God out of filth and mud over 5000 years ago. That legend says she was Adam's first wife, and from their joining came hundreds of lesser demons, closely related to human beings, but inhumah. (Eve appeared on the scene much, much later.)/ Fifty centuries of history show varied and conflictmg views of such devils and demons.
cient religious legend
Some
say they are evil intelligences
who
wait to
pounce upon man, always scheming to overturn the order established by the gods. These demons have alarming power, but can be subdued by strong magicians. Others hold that the devil is the magician's associate, as in witchcraft, and that the devil can be wooed to do one's bidding. The ancient Greeks tell of heroic struggles be-
tween the gods and the demons and devils. They believed a secret name controlled the whole universe, including the gods. He who spoke this fearsome name could be heard by the demons and, when they heard it, the demons cowered; the sun and the earth turned about; hell was troubled; rivers, seas, and lakes were frozen; rocks were shattered into hundreds of pieces. In the seventh century B.C. the great god Ea of the Assyrians knew the magical name. He was called upon to fight against seven horrible demons called maskim who lay in wait to harm human beings, and as he went
Demons and Devils
17
he uttered the secret name. "This name alone can subdue the maskim, " the Assyrian story said, and it was written down on clay tablets. "When it is uttered everything bows down in heaven, on earth and in the infernal regions. The gods themselves are bound by this name and they obey it." These maskim were the evil counterparts of the gods. They were crafty devils, who lurked in amto battle
bush, preparing to spring
upon their victims just as Arab ghul of the same part of the world set traps and waited in hiding for unwary travelers. In ancient times, there was a widespread belief later the
in evil supernatural beings, but these beings could
assume many diflFerent shapes. Thus, in ancient art and statuary we see the mingling of human and animal forms, such as the man-faced bulls of Assyria and the various animal-headed gods of Egypt. Probably from Egypt the Greeks and Romans acquired the centaurs (half-man, half-horse), minotaurs (half-man, half-bull) and the half-goats, halfmen that were satyrs and fauns. From these early animal types came the representations of the devil, during the Dark Ages, or Middle Ages. At that time, the devil was pictured as a black naked figure, half-man, half-goat, with a long tail, horns, and cloven feet. From then on demons and devils could be found in all forms, sometimes human, sometimes not. The devil might be a tortoise with
18
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
cooking pot with arms and legs. As the belief in devils spread in European society and the devil was feared as the patron of a man's face
and
feet, or a
Church began to portray and evil being. Under religious instruction the people became terrified of the devil. The Church encouraged this attitude, for the Christian devil was the archenemy of God and the religious hierarchy. 'Even leaders of the Church said they saw devils. The Christian historian and philosopher, St. Augustine, for example, witches, the Christian
him
as a hideous, frightful,
did not believe that devils possessed fleshly bodies, but he believed that they did exist in some form, and were visible to mortals. St. Jerome, the church scholar of the third century A.D., wrote of devils with half-human bodies. He believed that these beings, little men with curved nostrils, and horns and feet of goats, came from the lower world. The clergy in the seventeenth century told their parishioners that if they did not obey all the teachings of the Church, they would be cast into blazing fires, hung up by their tongues, to sizzle and roast as devils pranced around. In Europe the devil was often seen as a serpent, a shape that seems to be the oldest attributed to him. From this concept he developed to many into a dragon, a sort of serpent with wings, sometimes having the head of a lion, sometimes that of a man, and at other times that of a crocodile.
—
Demons and Devils
19
Some students of demonology believe that the modern devil had his early roots in the great god Pan of Greek-Roman times. Pan was the god of nature, partly joyous, partly terrible. Gradually, over the ages, the bright side of Pan was lost, and the devil assumed more bestial and ferocious characteristics.
Just as there were many views about the devil's appearance, there were many views as to what the devil could do,, and how he could be threatened, controlled, or exorcised (driven out). In
Europe
in
medieval times, images of cocks were placed atop and around churches, because of the belief that the devil could assume the shape of a lion. The lion and the cock, the people said, were mortal enemies. Goblins (malicious spirits) were carved in the moldings of churches to scare oflF lesser demons, but usually a cock was placed on a swivel, to turn in all directions with the wind, and frighten away the devil. The cock was gilded to shine out brightly, so the devil could not miss seeing him. This device has come down to us as the weather vane. In addition to the cock, there were several other
ways of frightening away demons and devils. Salt, example, was considered "an antidemoniac"
for
because
Demons, being creashy away from salt. In the same way the demons were supposed to fear tures
it is
a preservative.
who corrupt and destroy,
a goat or In medieval witchcraft, Satan is frequently represented as black the of practitioners the all by paid is dragon to whom homage arts
Demons and Devils
21
which was beUeved to come from the sky and thus was heavenly. As the Middle Ages progressed, fears grew and everything possible was done to keep the devil
iron,
away. Besides fearing for their souls, people came to believe that the devil could possess human bodies. It was thought there were two ways he might do this. The devil could act as an independent agent; or he might be used by a magician, or a witch. Actually the idea of demoniac possession is ancient and universal. Skulls of aboriginal dwellers of Peru (from a time long before the discovery of America) indicate trepanning, or cutting open the skull. These ancient Peruvians believed that demons could inhabit the head, and the only way to get rid of them was to cut open the skull and let the demons come out. Trepanning was later done in Europe on epileptics. Europeans believed that all epileptics were possessed and that the only cure was to take the demons out of the head. Throughout history, people have tried to sum-
mon
the devil to do their specific bidding, usually to obtain riches, a lover, or for revenge on enemies. This liaison with the devil caused many innocent (and sometimes not-so-innocent) persons to lose their lives during the witch-hunts in Europe, starting in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and culminating in dreadful trials and executions in the fifteenth,
sixteenth,
and seventeenth
centuries.
22
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
Witches were tried because the authorities said they had pacts with Satan the devil. These witches were accused of anti-Church and antisocial activities, and the treatment meted out by the witch-hunters was shocking. Yet it was not strange that belief in demons and devils would be very strong in Europe at the time, since it had existed
—
for centuries.
For example, grimoires (magical textbooks) have been known for hundreds of years. One of the earliest and most complete grimoires, which dates from about 100 to 400 A.D., was called the Testament of Solomon, after King Solomon of Israel in the tenth century B.C. This grimoire was supposed to represent Solomon's own ideas. It catalogued demons and described the "princes of evil," the "fallen angels," and the "great lords of darkness." The most important aspect of this work was that it proclaimed that Solomon had power over all devils, a power he received through a magic ring brought to him by an angel of God. This and later
who the devils were, what and how they could be commanded, or brought under control. In the Testament of Solomon, Beelzebuth was the prince of devils; Asmodeus was the devil of lust who was part spirit and part man. (The names of the devils came from Jewish, Greek, Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian sources.) All these demons had grimoires spelled out
their functions were,
/
Reading the Black Book. The Black Book was a grimoire, a manual commanding, and controlling demons and spirits of the dead for invoking,
and areas of operation. One one wrecked ships, one set fire to
specific functions
strangled babies, crops,
many brought
diseases (each
demon
repre-
sented a specific disease, such as fever, or migraine headaches, or eye ailments, or inflammation of the tonsils).
Later grimoires listed the three supreme powers
24
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
and Astaroth. When by a magician to appear, Lucifer came as a handsome boy, Beelzebuth as a huge fly, and Asof evil as Lucifer, Beelzebuth, called
taroth as a black-and-white
human
figure.
By the end of the thirteenth century someone cataloged 1,758,064,176 devils, and even so august a personage as the Blessed Reichhelm of Schoengan, a German churchman of the same period, claimed actually to see these devils as rain and as the dust sometimes seen in a sunbeam. By the sixteenth century, Jean Wier, physician to the Duke of Cleves, argued that there were only 7,409,127 devils. He went much further; he chronicled the complete hierarchy of hell, listing the princes of death, as well as the land of tears, fire, justice, hell, and the infernal armies, one by one. He even named the demons who were hellish ambassadors to certain countries; they included Mammon (En-
Rimmon (Russia), and These men who wrote so assuredly about the underworld were not eccentrics, gland),
Thamuz
Belial
(Turkey),
(Spain).
They believed, just as almost people of their times believed, in the real existence of demons and devils. Perhaps it is the nature of man to believe in the
or mentally unstable. all
supernatural and in the existence of evil beings.
2.
DjINN
The demons a
name
of the Arabic world are called djinn, which means "covert" or "darkness."
and destructive were created out of fire thousands of years before Adam. The Arabs believed in these demons long before the time of Mohammed (around 600 A.D.). To them the djinn (singular, djinnee) were usually invisible, but they were capable of assuming various forms at will, especially those of snakes, lizards, and scor-
These
fearful, crafty, mischievous,
beings, the Arabs say,
pions.
25
26
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
These djinn could be very dangerous to man. In ancient Arabia a man named Harb, the grandfather of the supreme ruler, the Khalif Mu awiya,
and a companion began for cultivation.
They
some marshland to the marsh and
to clear
set fire
many white
serpents out of the burning weeds. Immediately thereafter both men died, flushed
The
devil as a serpent.
Demons and
shapes of many different creatures
djinn
were thought
to take the
DjiNN
27
and everyone believed that the snakes were djinn, who had killed the men for disturbing their home. Many other stories told of men who had been carried oflF or killed by these evil djinn, as they were known to be physically very powerful. Sometimes they rode upon ostriches in the desert; sometimes they stayed near grazing lands, thus preventing the cattle from drinking. Often they lurked in lonely places.
An Arab
clan of
Mecca once
suflFered so
many
by the devil djinn (drinking the water, killing the vegetation, pulling down camels' feet) that they decided on revenge. The men marched out and killed as many snakes, beetles, and other crawling things as they could. They killed so many crawling things that the djinn were forced to sue for peace and agreed to stop their diabolical behavior. The ancient Arabs believed that there were various classes of djinn; among these the most dangerous but inferior of all were the female ghul (or ghool). These evil djinn ate men, and could appear in the form of a human being, or in the shape of various animals. Usually they were described as hideous monsters. An ancient poet spoke of how a ghul came one night to a fire which he had built. The man, fearing danger, cut ofi'her frightful head, a cat's head but with a forked tongue. This ghul also had legs like those of a premature baby, all disasters perpetrated all
28
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
limp and skinny, and her skin was hairy
like a
dog's.
The ghul generally lay in wait at some place where men would come. Sometimes she enticed them to her lair; sometimes she even robbed graves and fed on corpses. Another type of demon in the ancient Arab world was the sealdh (or saalah). This djinnee was found in the forests, and when it captured a man it made him dance, while the demon played with him as a cat plays with a mouse. In the islands of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf lived another demoniacal being, the delhdn, which had the form of a man and rode an ostrich. This creature ate the flesh of men who had been cast ashore from shipwrecks. Many Arabs believed that when a delhdn attacked a ship the mortals might fight, but all the delhdn had to do was utter a mighty cry which made the human beings fall on their faces then they were easy victims.
—
With the coming of Islam, the Moslem faith, Arabs began to believe that there could also be good djinn (these were djinn who accepted the Islamic religion) as well as the diabolical. The primitive superstitions of the ancients were generally accepted by the Mohammedans, not only in Arabia, but throughout the expanding Moslem world, as that religion spread east across the Euphrates and west into Africa and the Caucasus.
DjiNN
The Moslems believed
that
29
God made diflFerent who were
species of intelligent beings: angels
created of light, men who were created of the dust of the earth, and the djinn. There were five orders of djinn: the jann, the djinn, the sheytdns (or devils), afreets, and marids. The chief of the evil djinn was the fallen angel, Iblis, the "Prince of Darkness," who had five sons: Teer, who brought about calamities, losses, and injuries; El-Aawar, who encouraged debauchery; Sot, who suggested lies; Dasim, who caused hatred between man and wife; and Zelemboor, who hovered over places of traffic, creating mischief of all kinds. These wicked demons live in the lowest firmanent of the heavens (in the air) and haunt caves, wells, the woods, the hilltops, and the wilderness. They have the power of taking on any shape they like, thus becoming visible to humans. They can take the form of serpents, scorpions, lions, wolves, jackals. They can even take possession of living people, from whom they then have to be exorcised by charms and incantations. It is believed that all djinn belong to one of three areas: the land, the sea, and the air. In Arab legend it has been stated that the djinn comprise 40 troops of 600,000 djinn each. The djinn are of three basic shapes. One kind have wings and fly; another are snakes and dogs; and the third move about like men from place to place. In human form, they may
30
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
assume the size of an ordinary manjj or they may appear as giants. If they are good djinn, they are extremely handsome; if they are evil spirits, they are hideous. Djinn can become invisible at will, suddenly disappearing into the earth or air or even through a solid wall. Good djinn are friendly to men, and they live all over the earth and in the space above the earth. They inhabit rivers, wells, ruined houses, even ovens; they can be found in baths, marketplaces, crossroads, and the sea. Because the djinn are in the waters, often when the Arabs pour water on the ground, or enter a bath, or let down a bucket they say
Destoor yd mubarakeen ("Permission," or "Permission, ye blessed"), so that the good djinn will not be into
a well,
oflFended.
Destoor,
or
The good djinn are Moslems and the othThe good djinn assiduously per-
ers are infidels.
form
their religious
fasting,
tasks
—prayers,
and the pilgrimage
they are generally invisible to
to
almsgiving,
Mecca
—although
human beings at the
time.
The
evil djinn are
capable of almost anything,
from carrying oflF beautiful women to standing playfully on roofs of houses and throwing down bricks and stones on passers-by. Evil djinn often take over uninhabited houses, and woe be it to the
human being who These djinn
tries to
move
into such a house.
also steal provisions
from inhabited
DjINN
31
When
people lock their doors and cover the breadbasket or anything containing food, they sometimes appeal to the djinn: "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful," and hope that the demons will leave their household goods
houses.
alone.
Some
work hand-in-hand with The djinn go up to the low
of the evil djinn
Arab fortune tellers. heaven and listen to the conversation of the angels which deals with the predestined actions of mankind (predestination is an Islamic belief) and then report on future events to the fortune tellers. If the
angels detect these evil djinn, they hurl shooting stars at them from heaven. That is why when an Arab sees a shooting star (meteorite) he often shouts out: May Go d t ransfi x the enemy of the faith." Evil djimT^e sometimes killed by other ^mn, and even sometimes by men. Since they were created of fire, it circulates in their veins and spews forth when they are fatally wounded, consuming them to ashes. Man must always beware of the evil djinn, for they can even manipulate natural phenomena. ''
The
zoba'ah, a huge, tall pillar of a whirlwind which raises sand and dust across deserts and fields, is believed to be caused by the flight of an evil djinnee. When the zoba'ah is seen, an Arab can only defend himself from the djinnee by exclaiming, "'Allahu
akbarr ("God
is
most
great!"), or call
32
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
out, ''Hadeed! Hadeedr
Clvonllvonr) or ''Hadeed! yd mashoom!'* C^Tonl thou unlucky!"). As with the^
demons and
devils of other lands, the djinn are suppossed to dread iron. Evil djinn can work along with a superior devil to perform satanic magic. They can help discover treasure, and they can help possess people who are then paralyzed, or die, or are afiFected with a great passion for certain objects, or even transformed
into brutes
and
birds.
Men can summon djinn by means of talismans or certain invocations,
and the mastery of these
is
an
art of the Arab world. In the lore of the occult, the most renowned ruler of the djinn was King Solomon of Israel (973-933 B.C.), who, said the ancient students of the occult, had absolute power over these spirits after the angel from heaven gave him a magical seal ring composed of brass and iron, and engraved with *'the most great name" of God. With the brass portion of the ring Solomon stamped out orders to the good djinn; with the iron portion he stamped out orders for the demons. Solomon's power was supreme, not only over the djinn whom it is said he ordered to help build the temple of Jerusalem, but over the winds, over wild beasts, and over birds. These stories come from Arab sources, not Hebrew. Solomon was one of the many biblical figures who loomed large in Moslem
religious history.
DjiNN
33
was a rare man like Solomon who could conthe djinn; most of the peoples of the early Arab world, and the world which later embraced Mohammedanism, believed in and respected these oflFspring of fire, placating the good and the evil djinn who were ever present in their lives. It
trol
3.
Spirits in
Ancient
Babylonia and Assyria
In ancient Babylonia and Assyria, the land be-
tween the two great
rivers, Euphrates and Tigris (which now comprises parts of Iran and Iraq), the people lived in constant fear of demons. Long before the birth of Christ, gods and goddesses were closely associated with the activities of demons.
Sickness and all bodily suflFering were attributed to demons, and that belief was transmitted through
the ages to
much
The demons 34
later civilizations.
of the Fertile Crescent
had two
Spirits in
Ancient Babylonia and Assyria
35
methods of entering a human body: either they in of their own accord, or they came because they had been called by sorcerers who had the power to bewitch. But no matter what method the demons used to enter a body, gods and goddesses could drive them out. The deities were very touchy about demons. They were sometimes ofiFended by individual human beings, or by the very fact that human sorcerers had the power to send the demons into human beings. Whatever the case, to stay healthy one had to have the good will and approval of the deities. If one became ill the people believed it was surely because the gods had
came
been angered by some
mons
into the body.
sin
and had sent the de-
A headache,
a cramp, a shoot-
—
ing pain, a high fever all were attributed to demons. The pains were only symptoms; what had to be done was to force the demon out of the body.
The demon must be
exorcised.
It was impossible to know just where and when the demons lurked; they were ordinarily invisible, but they could assume a human or animal shape, or a mixture of the two. They could slide through doors and hide in out-of-the-way places, waiting to pounce upon victims. The people of these ancient
lands
knew
the
demons were
cruel, horrible-look-
ing, bloodthirsty, fearful, dreadful creatures.
poor cally
human being who was from other human beings had
Any
at all dijfferent physi-
to
beware, for
36
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
demon might well have asform. Giants and dwarfs, the crippled and the deformed, and even human beings with a cast eye could be charged as demons. A series of incantations, used to appeal to the gods to drive out the demons, was found in the library of Ashurbanapal, once King of Assyria (668626 B.C.). These formulas were important to the people believed the
sumed
that
human
Assyrian devil. Symbolic representations of the devil were sometimes in the form of a known animal and sometimes in part human, part animal form
Spirits in
Ancient Babylonia and Assyria
37
people, for not only did they contain a systematic classification of all the demons, but a large number of them were used in rites to exorcise the demons. These were not original with the Assyrians, but adapted from peoples long dead, the Babylonians and men of Ur, that most ancient of Fertile Cres-
cent cities. In these incantations, demons were listed and defined: there were many difi'erent types and they had many difi^erent names, but they all had very special functions. For example, labartu, a dreadful monster with a swine sucking at her breasts, was the demon who threatened the life of a mother at
A whole
group of demons were known collectively as ashakku: they caused all kinds of wasting diseases. Headache with fever was caused by the demon tVu. (The demon and the disease were considered to be one and the same.) Akh^ khqzu was the "seizer" (causing convulsions), and his name was also the name for jaundice. Rabisu was the "one lying in wait." Labasu was the "overthrower:^" etimmu was the gKost suggesting demon identification with the dead who returned to plague the living, and namtar was pestilence. In Babylonia and Assyria a group of seven demons had great renown. Mention of them frequently occurs in texts, and they are depicted on monuments. They are described on one cuneiform childbirth.
tablet as follows:
38
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
Seven, they are seven.
deep they are seven. Settling in heaven they are seven. In a section of the deep they were nurtured; Neither male nor female are they, In the
Destructive whirlwinds are they.
They have no wife, they produce no Mercy and pity they know not.
ofiFspring.
Prayer and petition they hear not.
Horses raised in the mountains are they. Hostile to Ea are they. Throne bearers of the gods are
To hem
the
way they
set
they.
themselves up in the
streets.
Evil are they, they are seven, twice seven are they.
(The Ea mentioned was the god of humanity and was considered the friend of mankind.)
Here
demon
the description of the demon of head troubles and fevers: is
The head like the
Flaming
disease
roams
ti'u,
in the wilderness, raging
wind.
like lightning, tearing
along 'above and
below. Crushing him who fears not his god like a reed. Cutting his sinews like a khinu-reed.
Maiming the limbs
of
protecting goddess,
the
him who has not
a
Ancient Babylonia and Assyria
Spirits in
39
Glittering like a star of heaven, flowing like
water,
Besetting a
man
lik^ a
whirlwind, driving him
like a storm;
Killing that
man.
Piercing another as in a cramp.
So that he
been torn
out.
like
Attacking his
So
is
whose heart has
one thrown into the fire. wild ass whose eyes are clouded.
Burning Like a
slashed like one
is
Ti'u,
life,
who
is
in league with death. like a
heavy storm whose
course no one can follow
Whose
final goal
no one knows.
These ashakku, the group of demons that caused diseases, were invisible and could be found anywhere:
He
stands at the side of a man, without anyone
seeing him.
He
sits at
the side of a man, without anyone
seeing him.
He
enters a house, without anyone seeing his
form,
Ha
leaves a house, without anyone observing
him.
Because demons were
so
ever present in these
40
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
it became important to know how to exorthem, and the ancients' literature is filled with manuals and textbooks to guide the priests in their difficult tasks. Always demons were a very real and constant source of dailger to all mankind.
lands, cise
A drawing of the head of an evil demon
4.
Modern
Spirits
OF THE Middle East
lands of the Middle East have always been the home of hundreds of demons, genii, ghuls, afreets, and other supernatural creatures.
The ancient
Who has
not heard of Aladdin and his magic lamp many other tales of the Arabian Nights? These are stories and legends, but in truth the natives of these lands believed that magic was a matter of everyday occurrence, and it has been so right up to the present time. Early in this century a traveler, making his way through the deserts
or the genii of the
41
An
early drawing of a devil
Modern of Egypt, village
came
around
Spirits
to a
it,
of the Middle East
palm plantation with
near Qasr Dakhl. In
43
a small
this oasis,
the
traveler found a group of Arabs discussing the story of a foreigner named Rohlfs, who was
remembered well by many of the natives. None of the Arabs knew where the foreigner had come from or where he later went; everyone knew the tale,
however)
Rohlfs had visited the oasis
many
years before,
coming to Dakhl to dig for buried treasure in the Der el Hagar, a stone temple near Qasr Dakhl. Rohlfs had employed many men for the excavation, but since the treasure was guarded by an afreet (a spirit) the Arabs were unable to find it. They dug and dug, but still no riches. Rohlfs became very angry and very disappointed at spending so much time and eflFort without finding the treasure. One day he decided to outwit the afreet. the men out of the temple, who then gathered together and sat on the ground a short distance away. Rohlf took a black man into the temple with him, and for some time the men waiting outside heard and saw nothing. Then there were loud cries for help, and piercing, frightening shrieks came from the temple. The men outside smiled, knowing that the afreet was getting his due from Rohlfs, who surely had a lucky talisman with
He
sent
all
him. There was a silence, then the men heard a crackling sound, and dense clouds of black smoke
44
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
arose from the temple. This continued for some time. Finally Rohlfs came out of the temple with
on his face. He told the assemthat he had at last found the treasure and
a smile of happiness
bled
men
them to come with him to see it. All the men were very excited at last they would have invited
—
the riches.
Entering the temple again, the
men saw
that
Rohlfs had found the opening to a chamber, a trap
door over a
flight of steps
was filled with monds and jewels of all vault that
which led down into a and gold, and dia-
silver
kinds. The men looked about for the black man who had gone into the temple with Rohlfs, but they could not find him. In their searches they found the glowing embers of a great fire, and in the ashes was a charred skull.
Rohlfs had sacrificed the black
Those loaded ridden
in the oasis all
his oflF
man
knew
to the afreet!
that Rohlfs
had
caravan of camels with the riches, had into the desert, and was never seen
again.
In the desert lands in modern times the Arabs believe so much in the supernatural that almost every village has its sheykh el afreet ruler of spir-
—
debatable whether these sheykhs actually believe in their own powers, but they have the respect of the Arabs and are much sought after to foretell the future or to guide people to buried its. It is
treasure.
Modern
Spirits of
the Middle East
45
The future is foretold by magic, in which the sheykhs call the spirits, the genii. This ceremony, a mandal, is really the practice of clairvoyance by the means of a pool of ink. One traveler in the Libyan desert (William Joseph Harding King, who chronicled his adventures in Mysteries of the Libyan Desert) witnessed such a mandal, and although this aflFair was a total failure, the tale illustrates the firm
power
of magic
over these people. First the sheykh el afreet, a burly man with tiny eyes in a large flabby face, came to visit the house where the mandal would be held. He climbed up the stairs to the roof of the house, muttering incantations and carrying a stafi^ in one hand. He spoke of the need for a bright sun, and no wind, conditions he said were necessary if he were to conduct a proper mandal. He approved of the conditions, but said that for the ceremony he would need a
young boy
to play the part of the tahdir, the
one
who
gazes into the magic mirror at the seance. There had to be many diS^erent kinds of incense and perfume used in this magic and it was of utmost importance to use the correct kind. The sheykh said he must have just the right kind of
—
—
incense to use in the dawa the invocation for otherwise the genii would become so angry that they might kill the sheykh or even destroy the whole house.
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
46
The sheykh
el afreet left
and returned the next
day, carrying his staflF and his rosary beads. He sat down and drank a cup of tea, looked over the young boy who had been provided for the mandal, and approved of him. Then the sheykh called for
which to start a charcoal fire, and some paper and ink. With these he went into a room which had been cleared for him. Carefully he closed the door and the shutters, so that the light in the room was very dim, went over to the darkest corner of the room, and sat down on a black sheepa brazier in
skin with the brazier placed beside him.
everyone the
initial
He
asked
room while he carried out ceremonies. For some time there was
to leave the
silence, and a faint smell of incense floated out from the room. Then muttering could be heard and an occasional shout as the sheykh invoked the
After about ten minutes the magician called out that he was ready for the visitors to enter and that the young boy should be brought in to spirits.
him. The sheykh directed the youth to sit cross legged on the sheepskin rug in front of him. First, the boy was directed to hold out his right hand, and the magician drew in ink the khatim the seal on the palm of the boy's hand. Then he placed a piece of paper on which there was writing on the boy's forehead, licking the paper to make it adhere to the skin. The paper slipped away, so the sheykh tucked the top edge of the paper under the
—
—
Modern
Spirits
of the Middle East
47
rim of the boy's cap. Then the sheykh put a large blot of ink in the center of the square khatim on the boy's palm, and he directed the youth to gaze into the pool of ink there and to fear nothing. Next he began his incantations to the afreet. He repeated them over and over, his body swaying back and forth. During his appeals to the spirit, sometimes his voice was almost a whisper, sometimes it rose to a deafening shout, louder and then softer, louder and softer, faster and faster. The magician swayed back and forth, the perspiration now rolling down his face. From time to time as he chanted he dropped pieces of incense into the earthenware dish that he was using as a brazier. The smoke rose around the boy, and the air was sickly sweet with the smell of the burning perfumes. The visitors at the mandal had not seen the slip of paper on the boy's forehead, but on it was written the following: "We have set forth your propositions, and according to the Koran we beg our Prophet Mohammed to answer our prayer." The incantations the sheykh had chanted to bring forth the
spirit
were: 'Toorsh, toorsh, Fiboos,
fiboos, Sheshel, sheshel, Koftel, koftel, Kofelsha."
Each of the four repeated names also formed one side of the frame of the square khatim which was drawn on the palm of the hand. Kofelsha was a magic word. The invocation which had been whispered and
48
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
shouted over and over could be translated
as fol-
lows:
Descend here with
he this
this day.
desires.
Descend
very minute.
mon,
Oh! Celestial
Spirits, so that
he
may see you with his own eyes and talk to you his own mouth and set before you that which
in the
cious, to
I
name
obey and
quickly,
call
on you
and without delay, in the
name
of Allah the clement to
submit yourselves
of Solo-
and to
gra-
my
or-
ders for the love of Allah.
The
last
part of the incantation was untranslat-
able:
Zaagra zagiran Zaafiran hafayan nakeb, Zaagra Zagiran Zaafiran hafayan nakeb, aaagra aagiran zaagiran hafayan nakeb.
Interspersed throughout these incantations were loud shouts of "Maimum," which was interpreted to be the particular spirit the sheykh was calling upon. From time to time the sheykh examined the boy closely to see how efiFective the magic had been. Finally deciding that the ceremony would soon come to an end, the sheykh grew more excited, chanting at an ever faster pace, suddenly dropping his voice, then shouting. Finally, exhausted, he leaned back against the wall and stopped the cere-
mony.
Modern
Spirits
of the Middle East
49
Wiping his damp face, he turned to the boy and asked him to say the word atare. ''Atare," said the youth.
"Now,
tell
me what
manded the sheykh. The boy stared and
you see stared,
in the ink,"
and was
com-
silent.
Finally he spoke: "Nothing." ,^The sheykh had not been able to get the spirits under his control when he summoned them. He apologized to his audience, but was not dismayed. He would try again another time. The important point is that in the Middle East, belief in the sheykh is so strong that the failure had in no way diminished his power or the faith of the people in
the processes of the mandal.
Chinese Kuei
5.
For thousands of years the Chinese believed yin and yang theory of nature.
The
yin
in the
encom-
evil: the earth, the moon, evil spirits demons or kuei), darkness, and the female sex. The yang were the good: the heaven, the sun, fire, light, and the male sex. The kuei were every-
passed the (the
where: in water,
They were
dogs, cats, tigers,
be 50
forest, soil, air,
and mountains.
in all kinds of animals: in wolves, foxes, fish, birds,
and snakes. They could
in clothes, furniture, old trees, or stones.
A
leaf
Chinese Kuei blowing in the wind could be a
kuei.
Some
51
of the
demons ate men; others were gigantic with horned foreheads, long fangs, and fuzzy red hair. They
came
size, and could even be Everywhere one turned a kuei could be lurking. These demons were responsible for evil and misfortune. They hid in ponds and rivers to entice people in and drown them. They could bring famine and poor crops, cause a mother to die at childbirth, strike down a whole city of people, and bring all kinds of disease. Faced with such possible disaster from the kuei, it was important to find methods to keep them away or drive them out of the body. The customs
in
human
every shape and
in form.
that arose in dealing with the kuei afi'ected
all
of
Chinese life just as much as did the more formalized religions. Appeal could be made to the gods by carrying images of the deities in a procession through the streets. Firecrackers and gongs, which were associated with the good, virile, yang could be set ofi* and bonged. Since the kuei loved darkness and hated light, the blood and head of the cock, which heralded the coming of morning sun, was often used in rites to ward oS^ the kuei. Magic characters and symbols written on paper were attached to the doors; charms and amulets were displayed. Mirrors were put on the foreheads of children so that when the demon saw the reflection of his ugly
being he departed quickly.
52
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
These customs began thousands of years ago, and many of them existed into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Justus Doolittle, a mid-nineteenth-century observer, noted
hundreds of rituals
Social Life of the Chinese
very complicated
—
in his
—some
of
two-volume
them were
practiced by the Chinese peo-
ward oflF demons and evil spirits. Take the question of the marriage ceremony: one custom calls for the visit of the new bride to her parents on the third day after the wedding.
ple to
She
is
carried along in a black sedan chair, ordinary
in all respects except that there
is
a special
charm
painted on the outside. This shows a grim-looking
man
on a tiger, a sword raised up in one though to strike someone or something.
sitting
hand, as This charm is considered a blessing to the bride, for with it she need never fear those evil spirits lurking in wait to injure her or cause her to become ill. Also there are the ceremonies accompanying the impending birth of a child, which are important because two female demons who intend to kill the mother are present at the time of childbirth. These demons must be wooed so that they will not destroy her but rather bear her good will. Just before the time of birth a table is spread with eight or ten plates of food, with incense, candles, flowers,
and mock money. A priest recites specific chants. Then ten or twenty pieces of a certain kind of
Chinese Kuei
53
about an inch, and several from ordinary paper, are put into a censer (an ornamental incense burner used in religious ceremonies) and burned. On grass, cut into lengths of
likenesses of a crab, cut
some occasions several live crabs are produced for the ceremony and then, after the paper crabs are burned, the live crabs are put out to roam the streets. All this is done both to frighten the bad and to gain their good will. Next, the food that was put on the table is removed, and more plates of incense, candles, seeds, wine, and a cup of clear water are brought into the room and placed on the table. The husband, who is now present, is invited by the priest to give worship to the ruler of the Bloody Pond of hell, and to all the evil spirits of hell./ There are more incantations by the priest. Some ashes from spirits
the incense are put into red paper and hung up near the censer. This ceremony is repeated twice a day until childbirth. Each time after the ceremony, a stick of incense and one pair of candles are burned before the red paper parcel, which remains hanging for thirty days after the birth. It is then burned in a thanksgiving ceremony, honoring the ruler of the Bloody Pond who has harmed neither mother nor child. As in other lands, in China too, illness and disease are thought to be caused by the evil spirits. If anyone who has been in good health is suddenly
One
of the lower order of
with disease
demons
that
was thought
to
plague
man
Chinese Kuei
55
attacked by dizziness, pain in the eyes, or paralysis of the hands or feet, the illness is ascribed to the
malignant power of one of 72 evil beings. Immediately steps must be taken to get rid of this diabolical influence. A table is put in the lightest part of the sick man's room. On the table are arranged three cups of wine, a censer, a pair of candlesticks, a platter holding five kinds of fruit, and a quantity of mock money which is made ready for burning.
A priest is hired to perform the necessary formulas, and sometimes this holy man calls upon a certain demon
him out
in the ceremony. which he rings as he chants, and he holds a bowl of water, which he sprinkles on the sick person and on the various articles ofi'ered up to the evil spirits. During the recitation the incense and candles are burned, and
headless
The
to help
priest has a small bell
times the priest strikes the table with a small wooden stick and burns some of the mock money. At the end of the ceremony one paper charm is hung up over the door of the room, another is put on the body of the sick person, and a third is burned. The ashes, mixed with hot water, are given to the patient to drink. If the priest has at certain
successful in judging which charm and which chant to use, the evil spirits will leave the body and the patient will regain perfect health. Sometimes when a person is very ill, in the grip of the evil spirits, a more dramatic move is used to
been
56
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
make
the demons depart. This is called the ascending a ladder of knives. A special ladder for the occasion is made with swords or long knives, edge upward, attached as rungs to vertical poles. At a given time in the ceremonies, a barefooted priest climbs the knives to the top of the ladder where he recites certain spells. On witnessing this, the demons are so frightened by the swords that they do not dare approach the sick man. The gods are impressed at the daring of this heroic act, and are persuaded to act favorably toward the sick person.
Thus
be effected. One of the most spectacular and widespread ceremonies for ridding whole communities of disease was the idol procession. This was held to mollify the "five emperors or rulers" who controlled epidemics and diseases in general. Many temples were dedicated to these idols and their many attendants, most prominent of whom were the "tall white devil" and the "short black devil." In the summer of 1858 cholera swept Foochow and hundreds of people were dying. Sick men were carried in their sedan chairs to the burying places, along with their coffins and grave-clothes, so swift and sure was the coming death. The people of the city gathered together and raised sums of money for a procession of idols, the main features of which were the images of the five emperors, borne along in large sedans by eight bearers, a cure can
Chinese Kuei
—
57
and images of the servants of the emperors the white and black devils. These devils were made as ugly as possible. The white devil was about eight to ten feet high; its body was made with a bamboo frame, covered with a light-colored silk, and bluish cotton cloth. The white devil had a head, arms, and hands, but no feet of its own. The feet of the man inside the frame could be seen below the idol's dress, and there was a hole in the front where the man could see out, so that he would not stumble. The short black devil was only about four or five feet high, very fat, and very black. Its frame was also made of bamboo, and it was carried along by a man or boy inside of it. A hat with a hole in it was placed on top of the idol so the person inside could see out. These emperor and devil idols, followed by all the townspeople, were paraded through both the narrow and the main streets to the music of beating gongs and drums. Day and night they marched through all the neighborhoods, driving the evil spirits from one place to the next, then from there farther and farther to the outskirts of the city, and finally out of the city itself. This idol procession was completed at the beginning of August, with a ceremony of burning huge (twenty to thirty feet long) paper boats on the banks of the river Min. These boats came from the various temples for the five emperors. Before they were carried to the river they were consecrated by the
58
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
priests in special ceremonies, with the
burning of
incense and candles, the beating of gongs and drums. Then at night the boats, made of bamboo covered with multicolored papers, were carried by men with torches through the streets to the river bank. Now, as the boats arrived, all the black and white devils ran around them. Then everyone knelt down in a row by the boats to watch them burn to ashes. This procedure assured that the five emperors were willing to banish to sea all the diseases
and
evil influences.
Unfortunately the idol processions did not cure the cholera at Foochow, but this failure did not shake the faith of the people in the need for these ceremonies. Perhaps the processions failed because the boats were too small, or because the people did not have enough money to pay the expenses of an ocean voyage for the evil spirits. The citizens of Foochow gathered courage and more funds and planned more idol processions to rid the city of the demons of disease. The Chinese feared the devils, demons, and evil spirits, and they believed that if they used spells and charms, they could keep these sinister influences away. For example, the color red had magical properties to
often
sewn
keep away
evil.
into the pockets of
Red
little
them from being mutilated by the
cloth
was
boys to keep
devils.
Red
silk
thread was braided into the quieus of the children, to keep the quieus from being cut ofi'by the spirits.
Chinese Kuei
59
To the Chinese of this period, the quieu or long ybraid of hair worn down the back was a protection of the soul. Charms on yellow paper were also very common. Some houses might have ten or more of them on the front side, or under the eaves. The paper could be any length, from a few inches to two feet long. Generally on the paper was a picture of an idol, printed or drawn with red or black ink. These papers would be pasted over a door, pinned on a bed curtain, worn in the hair, or put in a red bag and hung from a buttonhole. Often the paper was burned, the ashes were mixed with tea or hot water, and the mixture was drunk specifically to keep away the evil spirits. Ancient coins were often used as charms. They were put on red string and worn on the body; many young children wore them on their wrists soon after birth. Newly married couples often placed several sets of five coins of the five emperors under their bed. A knife that had been used to kill a person could be hung from the top of a bedroom door frame, or
I
from one of the bedroom windows, and the wicked spirits would keep away. Iron nails which had been used in sealing up a cofiin were considered excellent for keeping away the evil. These nails could be carried in a pocket or braided into the quieu. In China it is believed that peach
wood and
60
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
peach stones have miraculous powers to ward oflF evil. Often ceremonial padlocks are made from the kernels of the peach, and the mother puts one of the padlocks on the feet of her children, in the belief that thus the evil will be kept away and the child will have a long life. Branches of the peach tree are sometimes taken into the room of a sick person and used to beat the bed, driving away the devils who are afraid of the supernatural powers of the peach.
Old fishnets are feared by the evil spirits who believe they were used by the ancient priests to catch the demons. Thus strips of these nets are often worn by children around the waist as girdles, or are hung over the doors of chair sedans used by pregnant women. To keep the demons away from an only son, a silver lock called a "hundred-families'-cash-lock"
is
name from the way in which it was man who wants such a lock collects money from various families. With the money used.
It
gets
its
procured, for the
he buys
silver,
which
is
then fashioned into a padThe father does not
lock about two inches long.
to be poor to ask his friends for money; even the rich do so, for the Chinese say that with the contributions of many there is a force of security behind the padlock. This lock is put on a silver Xihain or ring around the young boy's neck and is worn until he is sixteen years old, when it is then
have
Hell
Mouth and the Devil Chained, representing the belief that evil could be warded oflF by various charms
spirits
62
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
offered in thanksgiving to sold for something to be aptly caUed mother. the goddess of children, Chmese hterally For thousands of years, the of charms, amuhave had hundreds and hundreds evi against devils, demons, and lets, and spells s in the modern Peop^ spirits, and although
are not acceptable, Republic of China such ways the villages and even they still die hard. In the demons. their still beheve in cities some Chinese
m
6.
Demons on the Steppes
OF Asia
The
Tartars, or Tatars,
were Mongols who overran
Europe and Asia in the thirteenth century and then settled in Northwest China and Siberia. They believe as do their Chinese neighbors that illness is caused by the demon tchutgour entering the body. But among the Tartars, it is believed that parts of
way
demon
medicinal. appropriate The lama (priest-physician) seeks the cure for the illness, and since the Tartars do not use minerals in their medicines, the cure will consist
the best
to exorcise the
is
63
64
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
of ground-up vegetables which have been put into water or made up into little pills. If the lama does not have the necessary medicine with him on a visit to a patient, he merely writes the names of the remedies on little pieces of paper, wets the papers with his saliva, and rolls these up into little pills for the patient to swallow. entirely
either
The
Tartars believe that the
name
of the
pill is as
good as the pill itself. However, medicines are not enough to bring about a cure. The lama must also exorcise the demon, and his methods of doing this depend upon the wealth of the patient. A poor man gets no consideration at all; only a tchutgour very low on the scale of demons would bother such a human being, and thus could not cause too much trouble. For these poor people there is no prayer or pill; the lama merely tells the family to await cure or death. The ill health of the moderately poor man is caused by an inferior tchutgour, and for this demon only a pill, and an oflFhand prayer are oflFered. However, the lama knows that only a very powerful devil would presume to visit a wealthy man. The tchutgour must be one of the chiefs of the lower world, and many preparations must be made by the family for this demon to depart. A handsome suit of clothes, a pair of fine boots, and an excellent horse, saddled and bridled and ready to ride, must
be made
available, for otherwise the
demon would
Demons on the Steppes of
Asia
65
never think of leaving. For very rich men one horse is not enough, for a powerful demon surely is attended by many lesser demons, all of whom
would need a horse. The chief lama and a number of other lamas from the monasteries nearby gather in the sick man's tent and oflFer prayers, drink tea, and eat
week
sheep
for at least a
leave,
hoping that the
or ten days.
Then they
and that cured. They are not dismayed if the devil, too, has left
the patient is patient dies, for then the lamas reason that the prayers were so eflFective that not only did the devil leave, but the patient has
gone on
to a better
world.
A western traveler saw one such Tartar exorcism middle of the nineteenth century. While the traveler was visiting a tribal chief named Tokoura, in an encampment in the Valley of Dark Waters, on the Russo-Chinese border, Tokoura's aunt was stricken by an intermittent fever. Tokoura hesitated to call in the lama-doctor, for he feared that if a very big tchutgour was present, the expenses would ruin him. However, his aunt grew worse with the passing days, and at last he called upon the lama. It was as he had thought: the demon present was said to be one of very high rank, and
in the
it
would require haste (and much expense)
him. Eight other lamas
came
to expel
to the household.
Im-
66
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
mediately they began building, out of dried herbs, a great puppet which they called the Demon of Intermittent Fevers. When the figure was finished, they put it on a stick in the sick woman's tent. At eleven o'clock that night the lamas formed a semicircle around one part of the tent, and the family formed the other part of the circle, squatting on the ground close to one another. In the center the patient crouched on her heels, opposite the Demon of Intermittent Fevers, near a fire of dung-fuel. Musicians played cymbals, bells, and tambourines. When the lama gave a signal, the musical instruments were played at the loudest pitch, and the family clapped their hands in rhythm with the music. Then the lama raised his hand, everyone stopped, and there was total silence. The Grand Lama held a copper basin filled with millet and some small images made of paste. He put them down before him, opened the Book of Exorcisms which was on his knees, and began to chant. From time to time, he took a handful of millet and threw it to the east, then the west, then north and south. He chanted softly, then louder, then softly again. Suddenly he stopped, and, feigning rage, he shouted and waved threateningly at the herb puppet. Then quietly he stretched out his arms, and the lamas began their noisy music again. The family all ran out of the tent. One after the other they ran around and around the outside of
Demons on the Steppes of
Asia
67
the tent, beating the tent with sticks, and yelling at the top of their lungs. Three times they made the circle around the tent, then they quietly filed back in and resumed their places on the floor. Everyone in the tent covered his eyes with his hands, and the Grand Lama stood up and set fire to the Demon of Intermittent Fevers. There were loud cries, and the herb puppet was seized by family members and taken out of the tent to a field far away. There it was left to be consumed by the flames. When the family returned to the tent the lamas who had been chanting broke into joyous chatter. Each person was now given a lighted torch, and one by one they left the tent and formed a procession outside. First came the laymen, then the patient who was supported on each side by a family member, and finally the nine lamas, playing their instruments. The group marched to another tent, where the lama had directed that Tokoura's aunt would stay for a month. The demon was gone. All
was
well.
7.
Demons
Long ago
in
Japan
Japan there existed a culture called the Heian civilization, one of the brightest in Japanese history. The Heians presided over a period of ascendance in the arts, at the same time that strong emperors united the country. The civilization extended from the middle of the tenth century to the middle of the eleventh, and it centered around Heian, the capital of Japan at that time. Although this was a very sophisticated court culture, it was in
also a court in
which the nobles believed in goblins,
demons, and
spirits.
68
^
iim!i(\J,il][i]G in;; v:
U^ A
Irro,
Japanese devil of the Heian civilization
70
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
Among the demons the
tengu were hideous redfaced creatures that lived in the hills and the forests; they could be recognized by the feather fans that they carried. Other evil spirits lived and acted like foxes who could turn into human beings at will. Foxes were feared, for the fox demons had the power to bewitch people. One legendary demon, Rashomon, was famous at the flowering of the court at Heian. In the year 974, one person after another disappeared most mysteriously from the capital of Japan. The populace became alarmed, for people knew a demon had been haunting the area of the Rasho Gate at the southern end of the city. As the disappearances continued, panic mounted among the inhabitants until finally a brave man named Watanabe no Tsuna declared that he would find and get rid of the demon. He stationed himself at night outside the Rasho Gate, but he saw no strange creatures. One night,
however, as he was riding home from his vigil, he saw a beautiful young girl wandering alone in the rain. The maiden spoke to Tsuna, and after some conversation she invited him to come home with her. Tsuna remembered how she had waited by the gate, and he remembered that the evil spirits in foxes could turn into
human
beings.
He
hesi-
companion could be other than what she seemed. However, the tated, fearing this beautiful
Demons
in
Japan
71
maiden spoke reassuringly and told him that her father was a fan-maker and other details of her life. The more she spoke, the more Tsuna was beguiled by her beauty and charm; he agreed to take her home, and she mounted his horse behind him. After they had ridden for some miles in comfortable silence, Tsuna turned around, and lo, what should he see! The girl was in the very act of transforming herself into a horrible demon. As he watched this transformation, he felt as though he were being lifted into the air. Desperately trying to free himself, he quickly drew out his famous sword, higekiri, cut oflF one of the demon's arms, and the evil creature shot into the sky to vanish from sight. When Tsuna came to his senses, he was lying on the ground with the hateful arm beside him. Shaken, he mounted his horse and rode home as fast as he could. Carefully checking to see that no one was about, he opened an old coflFer, put the arm in it, and locked the box. Tsuna became a hero in the capital. Everyone knew of his vigil at the Rasho Gate, and that the disappearances had stopped. Once again the city was peaceful, and the people were sure that the demon had been frightened away. One day an old woman came to the city to visit Tsuna, claiming to be his old nurse of many years before. She amused him with familiar stories about
72
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
and soon Tsuna felt he had a true he could unburden himself about his horrifying experience. He worried lest he talk too much, but the knowledge of the arm in the coflFer weighed heavily on Tsuna, and finally he his childhood,
friend to
spoke
whom
kind old nurse about it. The old wanted to see the arm; he unlocked the
to this
woman
chest and lifted
up the
lid.
In a flash the
woman
beside him was gone; in her place stood the hideous demon of the Rasho Gate. The demon snatched up the arm from the cofi'er; before Tsuna's eyes she disappeared up into the sky and was never seen again.
The Heians and their successors in Japan knew countless other demons invisible to humans. Many had the power to cause misfortune; since no one knew when they would strike, precautions were taken to keep these evil
spirits away. Charms, and incantations were popular to persuade such demons to stay away from households. At spespells,
places such as sacred areas of the palace, extra routine precautions were taken. The timekeepers cial
who
patrolled the courtyard outside the emperor's
residence noted the time every half hour on a board; then they strummed on their bowstrings to warn the demons that they could do no harm in the forthcoming half hour. In addition, a special guard would announce the time, among loud bong-bongs on a gong.
Demons
in
Japan
73
As with the early ancients of the Middle East, the Japanese believed that illness was caused by evil entering a human body. People spoke of "catching an evil influence" rmono no ke'') just as today people speak of catching a cold. To become spirits
free of disease, one had to drive out the demons by exorcism. The exorcist examined the striken person to determine if he was possessed by demons. If the exorcist was convinced that the demon
was
there— and
word was taken very seriously, for most often the exorcists were members of the Buddhist clergy— then he would recite spells and inhis
cantations to persuade the
demon to leave and go over into another person, who was the official "medium." If the transfer came to pass, the exorcist could eventually drive the evil spirit out of the medium, and both the patient and the medium would be healthy again. Japanese demons were much like those of other peoples; that similarity across the globe the fascinating aspects of demonology.
is
one of
8.
Demons and Djinn
OF India
One
of the notable
demons
was Mara, the destroy the Gautama Budin India
Evil One, who tried to dha, Prince Siddartha, the founder of the Buddhist religion. Almost 2500 years ago, at Buddh Gaya, Gautama sat in the shade of a spreading bo tree and defied this evil demon. Thus he attained the
enlightenment he needed to go forth as Buddha to the people. The legend of Buddha is well known, but his defeat of demon Mara is not. Buddha came down from the heavens to try to help the world, 74
Demons and Djinn of
India
75
and he was born on earth as the son of Mya, the wife of the King of Kapelavastu. Here in his royal home near the Himalayas, the young Prince grew up a solemn thoughtful child; later visions that showed his future came to him as he drove in his chariot, and he decided to follow them, to renounce worldly afiFairs and seek in solitude the way to a better life for mankind. Gautama set out from his father's capital, but shortly the demon, Mara, the Evil One, appeared in the sky and tried to dissuade Gautama from completing his mission. Gautama was determined. He moved on into the hills where he studied for a time with hermits who lived there in caves. With five disciples he went to
Buddh Gaya and began
six years'
penance,
sitting
cross-legged each day on the banks of the river from dawn until dark. Summers and winters came
and went; the sun and the wind and the rain beat upon the fasting Gautama. He became weak in body, but not in spirit. Many evil beings surrounded him, day and night, trying to persuade him to seek more earthly pleasures. Always he resisted. Finally
he realized that he was getting too
feeble to continue this course. Determinedly, he bathed himself in the river, put on new clothes,
and took some food from a young girl in a nearby village. His body became vigorous and beautiful again, and he began a march, accompanied by thousands of divine and semidivine beings, toward
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
76
the bo tree. Flowers rained down from heaven, music filled the air, and finally Gautama reached the tree and sat down on the grass to begin his celebrated meditations.
The demon Mara had watched had
also
seen
many
religious
and he persons come to pay all this,
homage to Gautama. Every day, every hour, every moment, he became more furious, until finally he made his presence known to Buddha. Suddenly, the holy
man
ble flame, to
shot forth from his eyebrows a terriEvil One, that Buddha
warn Mara, the
would triumph in any struggle between them. Mara was infuriated. He determined to challenge Gautama to battle under the bo tree. He called in hundreds of his lesser demons, all of them hideous, some of them headless, and some with many heads. These terrifying monsters, with poisonous serpents tangled in their feet, swarmed around Gautama, beating the air, spitting fire, with eyes blazing and voices howling. Yet Gautama was undisturbed; the demons' darts and arrows turned to flowers as they touched him, and Gautama sat peacefully under the bo tree. Furious with this complacence, the demon Mara decided on a new plan. He called for human maidens of overwhelming beauty; they came to Gautama, made enticing gestures, and tried to divert him. But all their charms were useless; Gautama remained steadfast. Mara decided to
Demons and Djinn of
India
77
make one last grandiose tacked Gautama under
effort: he personally atthe bo tree with huge superheated globes of fire, but even these were powerless; Buddha only had to hold out one hand to cast the globes harmlessly to the ground. Gautama had triumphed. Mara, the demon, took his hordes back to the underworld. The Buddha had become enlightened and was now a true Buddha. Another important demonic figure in India was the demon Rakut Beij-Dana. He was to be responsible for a frightening system of murder, called thuggee, which has been carried on down into modern times and exists today. Rakut Beij-Dana lived a very long time ago, and no one knew when he was born or created. As he grew to full size he became so huge that he could stand at the very bottom of the ocean, and still his body would rise high above the water. He was so vicious a demon that all of India feared him. His
purpose was to destroy the whole human race. He set out on this task, but the goddess Kali took pity upon men and decided to save them from the evil of Rakut Beij-Dana. Kali came and slashed the dreaded demon in two with her mighty sword, but alas, that did not destroy the creature, for from his blood sprang up hundreds and hundreds more demons. The more the goddess Kali killed these demons, the more appeared. Finally, exhausted and
78
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
discouraged, Kali took a bead of the sweat which ran down her arm and from this created two men. For protection she gave them roomals (handkerchiefs) and told them to strangle the evil demons with these, which they did. When the men had strangled all the demons, they came to Kali to return the roomals. Kali, however, was so grateful that she told them to keep these roomals and hand them down from generation to generation so that
man would
always be protected from evil. Their handkerchiefs to destroy all men who were not of their own kind. evil men The two men went back to their homes and used their roomals against strangers certain that these were evildoers. These men became killers, but they had the protection of Kali, who assured them they would be safe and would always prosper if they murdered strangers when the omens were right, and with the proper ceremonies. Thus Kali became the patron saint of the "thugs" who were bound to murder outlanders unless they wanted to suflFer the displeasure of their goddess. From those early days, thuggee grew more formalized, and leaders changed its purpose; all types sons
were
to use these
—
—
of men
from
all
segments of society became thugs,
carrying out cold-blooded premeditated assassinations for gain, under religious sanctions. The thugs
developed a secret language, secret signs, and secret plans. When a killing was to take place, the
Demons and Djinn of India
79
thugs would meet at a designated place along a road and then, assuming various disguises, they would fall in with the travelers to be murdered. When a suitable opportunity came, the thugs would suddenly set upon the innocent travelers. They took everything of value they could find on their victims, and then, using a "sacred" ax to dig, buried the dead as fast as they could. Accounts of British Indian government efl'orts to capture the thugs began as early as the thirteenth century, when over a thousand of these assassins were seized, but it was really not until the early part of the nineteenth century that the government made strenuous efforts to stamp out the system. With the capture of a handful of thugs who had lost faith in the goddess Kali and turned King's witness to save their
own
lives,
the government
secured its first really important information about the secret rites, the superstitions, and the methods of operation. Thus the British governors were able to track down a sizable number of the thugs and prosecute them. One thug leader Durgga was captured and accused of murdering a trader. Deciding he was
—
doomed, Durgga
—
told his story to the British.
when
He
group of thugs discovered that a certain important figure was to travel to Oudh with an escort of 50 men, the assassins gathered together a group of 150 men and told the judges that
his
The Temptation of
Dutch
painter,
St. Anthony, in which the fifteenth-century Hieronymus Bosch, depicts the saint surrounded by
devils in the shape of grotesque monsters
Demons and Djinn of
India
81
waited for the trader to pass through a certain jungle where there was a statue of Kali. One rule of the thugs was that they could not engage in armed combat. To be a proper sacrifice to Kali a victim must be killed suddenly. The murderers joined the travelers, and safe in numbers, accompanied them on their journey. Two thugs joined with each traveler, and no one could have extended themselves more in conversation and helpfulness. After three days the travelers and thugs were all fast friends. On the third evening when they camped, the thug leader persuaded the whole group to break camp two hours before dawn, ostensibly to avoid walking in the heat of the day. In the fading darkness of early morning the leader signaled his men; two thugs approached each victim. Silently, quickly,
innocent
one thug immobilized each
man by grabbing his legs while
the other threw a lassoo around the unfortunate victim's neck and strangled him. Each pair of thugs killed in the same way. Then the whole group dragged the bodies into a nearby riverbed and buried them. Somehow one man escaped this fate, reported the massacre to the authorities, and identified some members of the gang, including the leader. When the leader was apprehended he mourned his situation, saying he was a "pearl taken: it will be pierced and hung on a string, and it will float unhappily between heaven and earth." All he la-
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
82
merited, the murderer said, was that the goddess Kali would punish him for not oflFering up to her the number of bodies due her in his lifetime. "Oh, black goddess!" he cried. *Thy promises are never empty ones thou who ceaselessly drinkest the blood of demons and of mortal men!" A twentieth-century traveler in India told how one day a strange man came up to a holy man and took a position at his feet, claiming that he had come a thousand miles to this holy man to be a .
disciple.
follower.
.
.
He was accepted and became a devoted He had only one peculiarity: he wore a
green shade over his eyes, as though his eyes troubled him. One day in casual conversation the disciple asked the holy man if he knew who he, the stranger, was. "No," said the guru. "I
am
really a djinnee."
The holy man laughed, but one morning while deep in prayer the noisy screeching of overhead disturbed him, and he asked his
starlings disciple,
the djinnee, to drive them away. To the guru's surprise the djinnee stretched out his hand and caught the birds, though they were far beyond the reach of his hands. Showing oflF one day, the djinnee caught a young fox by merely putting out his foot and placing it on the fox's neck. The disciple continued to wear the green eyeshade, for it concealed the fact that he could not wink, a trait of all djinn.
Demons and Djinn of India The djinnee and
the holy
man were
83
constant
companions, and so the djinnee came
to
one of the many
pay homage.
visitors
who came
to
know well
Unfortunately, the djinnee had had a quarrel with this particular visitor. Having no human morals or compassion, the djinnee walked through closed doors into this man's household and strangled his babies. Later the mother of the infants came to the holy man to tell the bitter, sad story. The guru said she should take the case to the law courts. The woman said this was impossible, for it was clearly magic and not a matter for the judges. The holy man was greatly distressed and threatened the djinnee with banishment. The spirit
promised better behavior. To show how sorry he was for his misdeeds, he promised to give the father whatever he should desire. The father was not mollified, but one day he was in sudden and great need of four rupees and remembered the promise of the djinnee. He held out a cloth, called to the djinnee to keep his word, and there fell into his cloth four rupees. After this success the father his financial need to be great time and time again, and called upon the djinnee, who kept his
found
word each
was going well until some prying member of the household discovered where the money came from and bragged about it to neighbors. The djinnee learned this and was furious that his trust had been betrayed; he killed two time. All
84
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
of that family. The holy man, equally furious now, told the djinnee to leave
more members forever. again.
The djinnee did
so
and never was seen
The Demon OF THE Mandrake 9.
From
the earliest days of recorded history diflFerent peoples throughout the world have worshiped or feared trees, believing that both good and evil spirits dwell there. In British New Guinea certain female devils are said to live in large trees, devils so very dangerous to human beings that the trees are never cut down lest the demons be loosed on mankind. In Malaya, trees which have poisonous sap are said to be the abodes of evil spirits, and anyone who fells such a tree will die within a year.
85
86
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
The Chinese beUeve
that the spirits of plants often
take the form of other beings, so when a man cuts a tree he is always careful, and fearful that the tree spirit will rush out in the shape of a blue bull to attack him. In Rotti, an island to the south of Timor (southeast Indonesia), when a tree is cut to make a cofiBn, a dog is sacrificed to the spirit that
down
lives in the tree.
The
Alfoors of Poso, in the central Celebes (In-
donesia), believe that certain trees are inhabited
by demons trees,
in
human
but leave
form.
They do not
cut these
trunks in order to people want to cut
oflFerings at their
placate the demons.
When
they call out to the demon in the tree, asking him to leave and go elsewhere. Then they put food under the tree for the demon's trip. Only then do they dare fell the tree. The Iroquois Indians in America believed that each tree, plant, or herb had its own spirit. The association of certain plants with demons and evil spirits is as old as tree worship. One of the most
down a tree,
unusual mystical plants is the mandrake. It is dark green, with fruit of a ruddy hue, but its most striking property is that the odd-shaped, long, forked root has a marked resemblance to the human body. Through the years the mandrake has meant different things to difi'erent peoples. Some thought that it would bring wealth and good luck. Some
Drawing of the mandrake female. The mandrake plant, which human body, has always been associated with demons and evil spirits resembles the
88
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
be a love stimulant and used it in love potions. Sometimes, such as in ancient Rome, mandrake was used in surgical operations as an anesthetic. Modern man has found that mandrake does indeed have medicinal qualities; although it is poisonous and the berries are especially dangerous, a narcotic drug can be made from the root. The mandrake is not found everywhere. It is thought
it
to
native to the countries bordering the Mediter-
ranean Sea, and Syria,
and
is
also
found in Mesopotamia,
Palestine, in Crete, Sicily, Spain,
and
northern Africa. In the tenth century it was duced into England. Through the ages, in various parts of the world, peoples believed and many that a demon lives in each plant. In Swestill do den, the root is considered the home of the demons; it is popularly known as "devil's food" or intro-
—
—
"devil's candle,"
and
its
fruit
is
called "devil's ap-
ples." The Arabs, too, called the mandrake the "dev-
candle," for they noted its shining appearance in the night, a brightness caused by glowworms that usually covered the leaves. The Arabs also believed that the root was the home of an evil djinnee. When the plant was gathered, the demon il's
would leave his abode just as the root was coming from the ground and attack. Thus when digging mandrake root the Arabs took along a dog, so that as the mandrake root came above ground, the demon would pass into the dog and kill it immedi-
The Demon of the Mandrake ately,
making
safe for the
it
89
person to touch the
root.
The idea that the plant was extremely dangerous and could be removed from the ground only with the aid of a dog is centuries old. In a manuscript written in the fifth century A.D. an artist depicted a dog writhing in agony as it was dying, having
mandrake root. The root was considered so fearful that if it were pulled out by a human being, it would let out a horrible shriek in revenge pulled out the
on the person who tried to drag it from the earth, and thus the person would die from fright. In 1121, an Anglo-Saxon poet wrote a description of the gathering of the mandrake, which conforms to the legends of the
The man who
is
to gather
it
past:
must
fly
round about
Must take care he does not touch it. Then let him take a dog, bound. Let it be tied to it which has been close shut up and has fasted three days and let it be shown bread and called from afar the dog will draw it to him the root will break it will send forth a cry the dog will fall dead at the cry which he will hear. Such virtue this herb has, that no one can hear it but he must die and if the man heard it he would directly die. Therefore, he must stop his ears and take care that he hear not the cry, lest he die as the dog will do which shall hear the it.
—
—
cry.
.
.
.
—
— —
10.
The Malay Birth Demon
Among
the most frightening demons of all places and all times were the ancient birth demons of Malaya, a country in Southeast Asia which is now part of the Federation of Malaysia. These evil beings were called bajang, langsuir, pontianak, and penanggalan, and their specialty was to attack women and infants at childbirth. Some of these demons took the shapes of animals. The bajang appeared as a skunk and caused slight fevers and convulsions in children. (It also made people quar-
90
A
thirteenth-century conception of the gathering of the
mandrake
with the aid of a dog
The bajang was male; his female equivalent was the langsuir, which appeared as an owl, or sometimes as a beautiful woman with a horrible wound in the neck. This demon came from women rel.)
92
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
who had
died in childbirth. If caught, a langsuir could be tamed by cutting her nails and her long hair, and stuffing the nails and hair into the hole in her neck. The pontianak came from stillborn children and also took the form of an owl. More horrifying to view was the penanggalan which was a head without a body, with trailing entrails. It flew about in the night and glowed in the dark. All of these demons needed blood from living bodies, and when they caused a death, they incorporated part of the dead body into their own beings. Thus women or children who died in childbirth had to be treated carefully so that part of them would not be taken over by the demons. To
prevent a dead
woman from becoming a
langsuir,
were put in the mouth of the corpse, a hen's egg was put under each armpit, and needles were placed in the palms of the hands so that the poor victim could not open her mouth to shriek or wave her arms as wings, or open or
a
number
of glass beads
shut her hands to help her in her
flight.
The penanggalan could be warded
ofi'
by
plac-
ing a barrier of thorns or bent nails about the woman in childbirth, for this demon feared that its trailing intestines might be caught on such a barrier.
11.
Demons of Bali
In the beautiful lush island of Bali in the East Indies the Petanu River runs its course through a land of
mountains, volcanoes, lakes, and fertile valleys. But not a drop of the river's water is used to irrigate the rice
The
accursed. If rice were watered from Petanu the harvest would give forth the blood of the mighty demon Maya Danawa, wounded here in a battle with the gods. fields.
Maya Danawa
is
river
is
real to the Balinese,
believe in a host of other
demons and
and they
devils
who 93
94
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
are constantly at war with the gods. The gods belong on high, in the mountains, with their lakes
and rivers;
evil
belongs below, to the sea where the
tenget, the evil spirits, lurk.
The legend of Maya Danawa relates the long struggle between that demon and the gods, who were once thoroughly vanquished by the evil spirit and forced to drink from a spring which had been poisoned by the demon. All the gods died but one, who managed just in time to strike the ground and bring forth a spring with which to revive the others. (This spring today is one of the holy springs of Bali.) Restored to good health, the gods attacked Maya Danawa again and wounded him, so that the demon's blood flowed into the river Petanu, which no longer could irrigate the rice fields.
The legend of Maya Danawa is hundreds of years old, and tells of a time when this terrible demon ruled over the land. He was a jealous demon who did not want his subjects to give gifts to the gods. In the inevitable conflict the gods rose up and defeated Maya Danawa in a terrible war in which even the demon was killed. But Maya Danawa was immortal, and he was able to live again, although
changed. The demon's
spirit migrated to a coconut on the slopes of the great mountain Gunung Agung. Then, after the gods had blessed this flower, twins arose from it, a boy and a girl. These two married and had twins. The second generation
flower,
Demons of Bali
95
did the same. Finally there were seven generations of royal twins who all became kings and queens. The seventh-generation twin boy refused to marry his ugly sister, choosing instead a girl dancer. This break in the royal line brought turmoil. The disobedient twin was gifted with magical powers: he could have his head cut oflF, and he could pick
up and put it back on again. One fatal day when he was practicing his magic, his head fell into the river and was lost. To replace it the head was cut from a pig and placed upon the king's shoulders. No one seemed to notice the diflFerence, perhaps because henceforth, the king lived in a high tower and forbade his subjects to look upward. But a small child saw him and spread the news about the pigheaded king. In a temple in Pedjeng, the home of Maya Danawa, there is a great bronze drum which the it
Here they bring oflFerings to propitiate both the good and the evil, for they consider their world to be in harmony when these two Balinese revere.
contending factors are in proper balance. Good, which comes from the gods, brings health, cleanliness, luck, and fertility; evil beings bring ill health, misfortune, and disharmony. The demons include the harmless rakshasas, who are giants and ghuls, and kalas and butas, huge, sometimes amorphous, terrifying creatures; they haunt the low places the seashore, the dark forests, cemeteries, and
One
of the
demon
faces
on the Pedjeng temple drum
in
Bah
Demons of Bali crossroads.
creatures
97
The only aim of these vile, fearsome is to make human beings miserable.
They cause illness and pollute everything they touch. They can even go into people's bodies and turn them into idiots. To keep the gods happy, the Balinese oflFer tempting gifts on beautiful altars; they give money, chicken, fruitcakes, flowers, pigs, rice, and cakes. For the devils, however, it is diff'erent: the people ofi'er them only the foulest half-decayed food. Where the common populace can eat or take home leftovers of the ofi^erings to the gods, the remnants given to the devils are eaten only by wild
animals and dogs. So as not to displease the demons too much, however, certain days are set aside for special pleasant ofi'erings. Trays of flowers, food, and money are set out for them. The Balinese try to avoid angering the butas, for when aroused these demons can cause sickness, failing crops, and many other disasters to the people. Once a year the Balinese celebrate at a festival which purifies the whole island of Bali and cleanses it from all evil spirits. This fete, the Nyepi, comes in the spring, when the rains have quit pouring from the skies, and when the Lord of Hell has chased the devils from Hades, down to Bali. Nyepi is a riotous, exciting time. During the morning of the first day, the Balinese hold cockfights accom-
98
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
panied by gambling, for they believe that the land is purified if blood is spilled. The cockfights are raucous, tense afi'airs, with the winners taking all. Having fought to the death, the poor cocks are taken home to be cooked and eaten. Before sunset the devils have to be lured to the ofi'erings and then cast out by the priests of the village. Tall altars are filled with offerings, one of which is dedicated to the kalas, the evil gods. The gifts are stacked in the center: samples of all the seeds and fruits that grow on the island nestled in banana leaves; pieces of flesh from every type of domestic and wild animal; all kinds of food and strong drink. These are carefully arranged in the shape of a star, and certain magic colors a white goose, a black goat, a yellow calf, a red dog are
—
—
placed at the points of the star. Colored rice and chickens with five-colored feathers are carefully arranged in patterns. Opposite the ofi'erings the priests chant prayers and ring bells to get rid of the devils who are attracted to the ofi'ering. Drums hollowed from tree trunks beat out the rhythm; firecrackers explode
everywhere; the people mill about, their faces and bodies painted. Carrying torches, they parade and beat drums and tin cans and anything that will clatter,'all the time shouting, ''Megedi! Megedi!" (''Get out! Get out!") They do everything possible to scare away the butas, until long past midnight.
J/
A Balinese demon or become
ill
and crops
buta who, to fail
when
aroused, will cause people to
100
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
The next
day, exhausted, but exalted at having cleansed the island of the devils, all Balinese observe a day of silence. They go back to the serenity
who now
are again supreme over the But the people are ever watchful, for the butas and kalas and all the myriad other demons and devils are sure to return, little by little. of their gods
island of Bali.
12.
Some Tales of Summoning
OR Exorcising Demons
For centuries men have summoned the spirits, whether afreet's, djinn, or the devils of many lands.
Men have also tried to drive out—exorcise — all the demons and
devils. In Assyria
and Babylonia, over
2000 years before the birth of Christ, the ancients had devised systems and rituals for expelling the evil.
The ashakku, the demons who caused
all
kinds of disease, for example, could be driven out
by two methods
—but both had to be used. 101
102
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
was an appeal to the gods and goddesses (who had the power to make the demons leave); second, there was the performance of certain magical rites, which would drive the demon First there
out of a person's body,
The mands
if
the gods willed
it.
exorcist appealed to the gods in his for the
demon
com-
to depart:
Away, away, far away, far away. Be ashamed, be ashamed! Fly, fly away! Turn about, go away, far away. May your evil like the smoke mount to heaven! Out of my body away, By Ea, the lord of the universe, be ye forsworn, .
By the
fire-god,
.
.
who consumes you be
ye
forsworn.
From my body be ye
restrained!
The plea to the gods was accompanied by rites involving water and fire. One method was to sprinbody of the victim with water taken from the sacred Euphrates or the Tigris or from ground springs. As the body was sprinkled the priest chanted:
kle the
With pure, clear water, With bright, shining water, Seven times and again seven times. Sprinkle, purify, cleanse!
Some Tales of Summoning
103
May the evil Rabisyu depart! May he step to one side! .
.
.
demon was made of bronze and put on a Uttle boat, which was set afloat in water, with the plea that as the image went, so might the evil spirit depart. The boat was then capsized, and the image sank or was thrown into the water. The second element used in rituals to exorcise the demon was fire. The priests made an image of the demon and threw it into the fire, exhorting: In other cases an image of a
pitch, clay, dough, or
images I burn, The images of the Utukku, Shedu, Rabisu, I
raise the torch, their
Etimmu Of Labartu, Labasu, Akhkhazu, Of Lilu, Lilit and maid of Lilu, And all evil that seizes men. Tremble, melt and dissolve, Your smoke rise to heaven. Your limbs may the sun-god destroy.
.
.
.
When
it was not considered necessary to make images, palm cones, seeds, bits of wool, and dates were thrown into the fire to the accompaniment of
a special
magic chant:
As the onion
peeled and thrown into the Consumed in the flaming fire. In a garden will never again be planted. is
fire,
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
104
In furrow and ditch will never be imbedded, Its
root will never again stick in the ground.
Its stalk
never grow, never see the
light of the
sun.
Will never
So
may
come on
the table of a god or king.
the curse, ban, pain and torture.
Sickness, aches, misdeed, sin,
wrong
transgression.
The
sickness in
my
body, in
my
flesh, in
my
muscles,
Be peeled
as this onion,
This day be burned in the flaming
May
the ban be removed,
The people
may
I
fire
see the light!
of these ancient lands
knew many
medicines and treatments for disease, but these properties
mons
were directed
at driving out the de-
that caused the sickness. They made proper medicinal use of herbs (along with religious and magical incantations), but they did not believe the herbs alone aflFected a cure; rather, they thought that their demons did not like the smell or taste of those particular herbs and thus left the body. If a remedy for stomach trouble caused vomiting that was how the demon escaped the body. All kinds of noxious substances were given for illness rotten food, fat, earth, crushed bones, urine, excrement of animals and human beings. These vile potions were supposed to distress the
—
Some Tales of Summoning
105
demons so that they would fly out of the bodies into more pleasant surroundings. Sometimes sweet, good substances were given the patient, to appease the demons and coax them Thus
to leave.
and milk were often The exorcist—priest— would rub a victim with oil, at the same time chanting a special foroil,
butter,
used.
mula:
^
Pure oil, shining oil, brilliant oil. which makes the god shine, Oil which mollifies the muscles of man. Oil
The
oil
of Ea's incantation
.
.
.
pour over thee; with the healing oil, Granted by Ea for easing [pain] I rub thee; I
Oil of
life I
give thee;
Through the incantation
of Ea, the lord of
Eridu, I
will drive the sickness aflflicted
with which thou art
out of thee.
These ancients used amulets to ward oflF the demons and persuade them to leave. The most common amulets in Babylonia and Assyria were stones which were given magical powers. These were strung on white, black, or red lengths of wool, tied together, and hung about the neck, or fastened around the hands, feet, or head. By the time of King Solomon a whole litany of incantations and suppHcations had been devel-
106
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
But King Solomon's mastery of such magic captured the imagination of the people so that tales of his control of the demons of the Infernal Regions and of the elements became legendary for hundreds of years after his death, especially during the Middle Ages. His methods and his exploits were studied throughout Europe. They became part of the folklore of China and were well known in India and in the Arab-speaking lands. (The Koran tells that the djinn worked under Solomon's supervision.)
oped throughout the
civilized world.
Solomon became known as the first lord of the occult both in the Orient and in the West. Old men told tales about his seal and lamp, and his magic cauldron, and about how his throne was guarded by sculptured lions that could shriek and howl. They said he owned a magic carpet that could transport huge armies through the air. They believed he knew the language of birds and beasts, that he was master of the demons whom he subdued with his magic ring, and that he could seal demons in urns, and bury them in the ground. Solomon had subdued the djinn so that they dined with him each day, seated at iron tables. But even Solomon was wary and always drank out of crystal cups so he could watch the demons even as he drank. (If his view was obscured for a moment the demons stuck out their tongues at him in scorn.) These djinn, ordered by Solomon and work-
Some Tales of Summoning
107
ing under the chief demon Asmodeus, built the great temple at Jerusalem. Asmodeus brought Sha-
worm, to Solomon, and through the use worm, which was no bigger than a barley grain (and had been created in the twilight of the Friday in the week of Creation), the temple was
mir, a tiny of this
without the use of tools. King Solomon's celebrated magic carpet was sixty miles long and sixty miles wide. It was made of green silk, interwoven with gold, and heavy with rich and intricate designs. An entire army was carried aloft on it, along with slaves and stables for horses and camels. At the command of the King, the carpet appeared at the city gates; Solomon alighted, and the wind raised the carpet and carried it along to wherever King Solomon wanted to go. Thousands of birds flew over the carpet to probuilt
King from the sun. Tales of King Solomon's relationship with the demons came down in the grimoires (magic manutect the
which were purported to be the testaments of Solomon. These writings of magical lore explained how Solomon controlled the demons, and his Key of Solomon became the source book for all medieval magic. It was used by sorcerers and, as recently as the seventeenth century, by scholars and als)
physicians, too.
The grimoire, for example, told of the "great invocation of the spirits with whom you wish to
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
108
make a Pact," which threatened, cajoled, and commanded the demons: Obey promptly, or you will be tortured eternally. ... So come forth instanter! Or I shall torture .
.
.
you endlessly by the force of these powerful words of the Key: Agion, Telagram, vacheon stimulamaton y ezpares retragrammaton oryoram irion esytion existion eryona onera brasim moym messias soter Emanuel Saboot Adonai, te adoro et invoco.
To banish a demon attempting to extract human hearts, King Solomon used the following incantation:
Lofaham, Solomon, lyouel,
lyosenaoui.
Many
other grimoires were written through the is a record of the incantations to invoke demons and to send them away. The Greeks called the demons thus: ages, so there
—
I
invoke you, holy ones, mighty, majestic, glorious
and earth-born, mighty archdeguardians of secrets, captains of the hosts
luminaries, holy
mons: of hell
.
.
.
.
.
.
omnipotent, holy, invincible, perform
my commands.
Mystic figures from the book of magical lore
title
page of the Grimoire of Honorius, a
no
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
The ancient Hebrews used
demon
these lines to have a
shrink away:
Shabriri Briri Riri Iri
Ri
ancient times until the present, summoning the devil was an integral part of witchcraft. Witches were common early in the Christian era,
From
but the height of the persecution and punishment of witches in Europe was not reached until the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and the furor lasted until the seventeenth century. In proving witchcraft at the thousands of trials held then, the authorities always looked for signs of the pact with the devil, a necessary part of being a witch. As far back as the grimoire of King Solomon, there were directions for making the pact with demons:
When you want principal
to
demons
.
make your .
.
pact with one of the you will begin, on the evening
before the pact, by cutting, with a
new
knife that
has never been used, a wild nut-tree twig that has
never borne fruit and that is like the thundering rod ... at the exact moment that the sun appears
on our horizon. This being done, you will fortify yourself with a
This sixteenth-century ItaHan illustration shows the devil carrying oflF a witch to help him in his evil enterprises
blood stone and consecrated candles, and you will
then choose a spot for the operation where nobody can disturb you. You may even make the pact in a secluded chamber or in a hut of some old ruined castle, because the demon has the power of transporting whatever treasure he pleases to that spot. After which, you will trace a triangle with your blood stone, and that only the first time that you
make your on the
pact.
Then you
side, placing
will set the
two candles
name
of Jesus be-
the sacred
hind, to prevent the
spirits
from
inflicting
any
harm on you. Then you will stand in the middle of the triangle, with the mystic wand in your hand, with the great
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
112
invocation to the demon,
.
.
.
the request that you
want to make, with the pact and the dismissal of the demon. Having performed scrupulously all that is indicated, you will begin to recite the invoca.
.
.
.
tion.
.
.
.
.
.
Demons were very real to the peoples of all ages, including those times closely associated with Christianity. A popular story during the Middle Ages
shows how deeply even the devout were convinced of demonic reality. One saint, in all seriousness, was called upon to expel a devil from the interior of a nun. She had inadvertently swallowed the devil while eating her salad, for who could
know the demon would be resting on leaf? The devil, when questioned about
a lettuce his inges-
complained churHshly. "What have done?" he asked. "I was sitting on the and she ate me."
tion into the nun,
could leaf,
The
I
early Christian Fathers described in detail
devils who appeared in human form, and as Rons, leopards, bulls, bears, horses, wolves, snakes, and scorpions. Their grimoires described each devil's
appearance, so that a magician would know when the one right for a specific purpose appeared. There was some confusion of course, because not all the authorities agreed. This has always been so in history the magician or exorcist had to make
—
and follow
his choices.
X
In medieval demonology, demons were frequently represented as animals or as part human, part animal creatures
During the Middle Ages, people in various counfound literally hundreds of methods for summoning the devil. The devils were almost always summoned for specific purposes, among the most popular of which was the finding of treasure. Some devils were irascible by nature, but they could be cooperative, given their price. For curiosity-seekers, however, they were reputed to be deadly. Here is one recipe (from the grimoire Red Dragon) for summoning the devil: tries
114
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
Take
a black
hen and
seize
not emit a sound. Carry
by the throat
so
to a crossroads
it
can
and at draw a
[when the clock strikes] on the ground with a rod of cypress. [The cypress is an emblem of death.] Stand in the circle you have made, and willing your magical powers to work to the utmost, tear the live bird in two with your hands, at the same time saying, Euphas Meta-
exactly midnight ^.
it
it
circle
Then turn to the east, to come to you, and he will
him, frugativi et apellavi.
and command the devil come.
The
sorcerers
in
—^
Greek and Roman times
chanted a strange rhythm, the sounds going up and down like the howling of a hungry wolf. The magicians spoke strange words, now roaring them, now recessing them, but never speaking flatly always with that same definite rhythm. In the Grimoire of Pope Honorius (falsely attributed to either Pope Honorius II, in the twelfth century, or Pope Honorius III, in the thirteenth century, but authored in the fourteenth century by a master of black magic named Honorius) there is an evocation for a recalcitrant demo n: ^ you do not obey promptly and without tarrying, I will shortly increase your torments for a thousand years in hell. I constrain you therefore to appear here in comely human shape, by the Most High Names of God, Hain, Lon, Hilay, Sabaoth, If
Some Tales -OF -Summoning
115
Helim, Radisha, Ledieha, Adonay, Jehova, Yah,
Tetragrammaton, Sadai, Messias, Agios, Ischyros, Emmanuel, Agla, Jesus Who is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, that you be justly established in the fire, having no power to reside, habit or abide in this place henceforth; and I require your doom by the virtue of the said names, to wit, that St. Michael drive you to the uttermost of the infernal abyss, in the
Name
of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. So be
it.
one had trouble conjuring up a demon, there^ were solutions to the problem. A manuscript in the If
British
Museum gives a conjuration for compelling demon to appear. First, build a fire of
an obstinate
brimstone, dried manure, and any other stinking material; then write the demon's name on clean parchment and burn it in the fire, while praying to God to curse the disobedient demon. The magician must turn to the powers of hell and speak forcefully:
^
Oh, thou most puissant prince Rhadamanthus, which dost punish in thy prison of perpetual perplexity the disobedient devils of hell, and also the
men
dying in dreadful despair, I conjure, bind and charge thee by Lucifer, Belsabub, Santhanas, Jauconill and by their power, grisly ghosts of
and by the homage thou owest unto them, and also I charge thee by the triple crown of Cerberus his
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
116
head, by Stix and Phlegiton, by your fellow and private devil Baranter, that you do torment and
punish
this
disobedient N. until you
make him
my sight and obey my will and
come corporally to commandments in whatsoever I shall charge command him to do fiat. fiat. fiat. Amen.
or
Greek mythology Rhadamanthus was one of the judges of the lower regions. Cerberus was the three-headed dog which guarded the gate of Hades (hell). The underworld's main river was the Styx, which flowed around it seven times. Phlegethon was another lower region river, but it was made of flames instead of water. Fiat and amen meant "let it be so." In
In a celebrated court case in fifteenth-century
England, a jury was called to decide a case in which two men were charged with summoning an evil spirit and promising to sacrifice a Christian to
demon
if it led them to buried treasure. The did as instructed, and the men found the treasure more than 100 shillings; but they were
this
spirit
—
unwilling to keep their bargain with the devil, and they cheated. They took a cock, baptized it with a Christian name, and then burned the bird as an oflFering to the devil. The case did not record what punishment the devil wrought upon the men, but they were tried and convicted by their peers.
A
similar case occurred in 1841,
when
treasure-
Some Tales of Summoning
117
hunters in Italy murdered a boy and sacrificed him to a demon who had promised to find buried treasure for them. As recently as 1865 in England, the Manchester police came across a very practical incantation to the devil, when searching the house of John Rhodes, a known astrologer and magician
who was also suspected by the authorities of telling ^^
fortunes. /
I adjure and command you, yet strong, mighty and most powerful spirits who are rulers of this day and hour, that ye obey me in this my cause of
placing
my
husband
former situation under I adjure you to ^banish all his enemies out of his way, and to make them crouch in humiliation unto him and acknowl(edge all the wrongs they have done unto him, and T bind you by the Name of Almighty God, and by our Lord Jesus Christ and by His Precious Blood, and on pain of everlasting damnation, that your
j
the Trent Brewery
labour for
in his
Company, and
him and complete and accomplish the
my will and desire, and not depart whole of this my will and desire be fulfilled, and when you have accomplished the whole of these my commands you shall be released from all these bonds and demands, and this I guarantee through the Blood of the Redeemer and on pain of my future happiness. Let all Angels praise whole of
this
until the
Lord.
Amen.
118
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
The Magistrate, Mr.
TaflFord, sent John
Rhodes
to
prison for seven days.
A demon
or devil could act in
two ways
—
first,
through the commands of the sorcerer or witch who had pledged himself (or herself) to him with a pact; second, as an independent creature who desired to cause disease, death, and harm, or who decided to invade a human body. What is called
demoniac possession was the result in either case. Hundreds of cases of demoniac possession were reported during the height of the antiwitchcraft persecutions in Europe and New England. One of the earliest cases of possession in a convent occurred in France in 1491, among the Augustinian nuns at Quesnoy-le-comte, near Cambrai. One young nun, Jeanne Potier, a gentle, quiet girl, was suddenly overtaken by a great passion for the confessor, who was understandably upset by the
new situation. He withdrew in confusion, and an elderly priest took over for him. But things grew worse. Jeanne Potier began to rave wildly, to shriek blasphemies and obscenities, to sing bawdy songs, which she could not have learned in her secluded life. When anyone sought to restrain her, she showed tremendous strength in resisting. Soon other nuns became similarly afflicted, and there was panic and pandemonium in the cloister. Obviously, said the learned fathers, the nuns were possessed by demons. Someone discovered that the demons afflicting the nuns were Tahu, Gron, and strange
Some Tales of Summoning Gorgias.
Monks and
119
came from all over the countryside to try to exorcise these demons, but to no avail. The rantings and ravings and bawdy songs echoed through the halls until finally the Bishop of friars
Cambrai, Monsignor Henry de Bughes, was called, and he came to the convent amid much pomp and ceremony. On the second Sunday after Easter he assisted at High Mass and blessed the whole cloister. Then he sought out the possessed nuns and exorcised them with prayer and exhortation, and managed to rid all the nuns of demons except Sister Jeanne Potier, whom he directed to be kept in strict seclusion until she too showed signs of recovery. Order, at last, was restored to the convent. In New England, a strange case occurred at Groton in 1671, when a young girl, Elizabeth Knap, began acting very peculiarly. Sometimes she wept,
sometimes she laughed, sometimes she even made violent motions, and her body writhed as she called out "Money, money." That was in October. One day in November her tongue roared. She
got stuck to the roof of her mouth in a semicircle, and no one could bring it down. They took her to doctors. It was no help. Disheveled, she skipped about the house yeUing like a wild girl. In December the demon in her began to speak up. Although she did not move her lips, the words could be
heard: the demon was speaking, ranting against the good pastor and shouting blasphemies against the Church. Then Elizabeth was speechless for a
Demoniacal attack of hystero-epiliptic fit, showing classic symptoms of contortion, tearing of the garments, lacerating the body, and extending the tongue
Some Tales of Summoning while, but the
121
came
again, only this time the declared that one of her neighbors was the cause of her behavior. No one could believe it, for this neighbor was a very holy and good woman, who often came to visit Elizabeth and prayed for her in her affliction. After this outburst Elizabeth suddenly had a turn for the better and told her confessor that Satan had tricked her into accusing her good neighbor. The neighbor was absolved, and the priest prayed over Elizabeth. With this, the torments of the devil ceased, and the girl resumed her normal behavior. fits
girl
Missionaries in China in the nineteenth century reported many cases of demon possession. One such case occurred in the village of Sa-wo in June,
1882. In this village lived a family of the clan of
Chu, who had two sons, Wen-heng and Wen-fa. The father arranged with the family Li that Wen-fa would marry one of their daughters, and he brought the girl into the Chu household to Hve. But the future mother-in-law Chu treated the Li girl shamefully, and the Li girl grew so unhappy that after a few weeks she drowned herself. The Li family was ashamed, and little was heard of them for a long time. Then another wife was secured for Wen-fa some years later, from a family named Yang. But this time the young woman remained in her own household until time for the marriage. A few days before the marriage this girl became
122
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
wondered if her illness was They soon found out. On the night after the wedding ceremony when the guests had left and the happy couple were taken to sick,
and the
families
caused by an evil
spirit.
their quarters to drink wine together, as was the custom, the bride was seized by a fit of rage. In the voice of the dead Li girl, she began to berate Wenfa. Then in a fury she seized him by the throat,
shouting, "You never treated me in this fashion; you never gave me wine to drink. My life in this family was very wretched." The new husband cried out for help; the family came running to his assistance and quieted the new wife. After a few days' rest she seemed to
recover.
Shortly afterward, however, the wife of the
elder brother, Wen-heng, was similarly afi'ected and also assumed the voice of the dead girl. Wen-
heng,
who was
a Christian,
was distraught.
He
to another Christian, Chu wen yuen, and asked him to come and cast out the demon in the name of Christ. Chu wen yuen agreed, and in the
went
middle of one afternoon, accompanied by a number of other Christians, he went to the house where he was greeted by a large crowd. News of the strange occurrences had spread through the village.
Chu wen yuen met with the women of the family and began to address the devil: "You have
Some Tales of Summoning
123
no right to come here to trouble this family, and we have come here to insist on your leaving."
The
devil replied: "I will leave,
I
will leave."
But it did not. So the Christians knelt down and prayed for God's help, and when they arose both women were well and normal. The Christians then
went away. Suddenly that same day, Wen-heng came running into the room to announce that Wen-fa was now possessed by the demon and had lost consciousness. This posed a difficult problem, for Wenfa was not a Christian, and the friends of Chu wen yuen had departed. However, he had promised he would come back later if necessary, and Wen-fa did need help.
So Chu wen yuen returned to the house that evening. Again a great crowd surrounded the house, and the people questioned the devil, who stated that he was a friend of Wen-fa and had come to visit him. "Where do you come from?" they asked the devil.
"My home
southwest of here." The people continued: "It seems that you are a friend of Wen-fa. How do you like these Christians? Are they your friends, too?" "No," the devil answered, "they are far from being my friends." is
124
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
Wen-fa's mother then asked: "Why do you not take possession of me instead of Wen-fa?" The devil replied: "Oh, everyone has his afiBnities and preferences; we do as we please." On entering the house Chu wen yuen found that
Wen-fa was truly possessed, rolling and tossing about on his bed, and, worse, the two women were again possessed. Now came a long prayer session, and when the three arose, they were normal again
and had absolutely no recollection of
their actions
while possessed. The next day when Wen-fa went to the village square, he again fell unconscious, and his friends feared he was dead. They ran to get guns and swords (Chinese demons hate and fear swords) and shouted and waved the weapons about to frighten the demon away. Fearing that Wen-fa would die, his friends dragged him to the chapel in the village. Again he fell down, but this time, in the chapel. Wen-fa arose, perfectly himself again, and asked what had happened. After this Wen-fa remained well and healthy, and all the villagers, including Wen-fa, acknowledged the power of Christianity to cast out evil spirits.
Demons not only have
the power to possess people, but they can also persecute them. One such case that received wide attention occurred in the seventeenth century in France, concerning S. Jean
Some Tales of Summoning Baptiste
125
Vianney, an honored and holy cure
(priest).
Father Jean Baptiste was preparing to retire for the night around nine o'clock when he heard three loud knocks on the door of the house, as though someone was beating on it with a club. He opened the window.
"Who is there?" he called. No answer came, and in the moonlight
the snow had fallen, not a footprint to be seen. The cure went to bed, but then heard noises on the staircase that led to his room. His first thought was that a burglar was trying to steal some
was
as
pure
as
of the church's
it
new vestments
or the rich gilded
more happened, and the frightened priest went to sleep. However, on following nights he took the precaution of having the village blacksmith come and sleep in the room adjoining his own. The village blacksmith was a strong man, and for their protection he brought a gun with him. At midnight on the first night of the blacksmith's stay suddenly all the furniture flew about the room, there was the sound of crashing candlesticks, but nothing
and wailing, and the blacksmith felt sure the whole building would tumble. He and the priest lit the rooms and searched, but they found nothing.
The
devilish noises continued night after night. chairs were pulled across the bare
Sometimes
floorboards,
and the dishes
in the kitchen
thrown
126
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
about. At other times the sounds were apparently those of a carpenter: sawing, hammering, planing of boards. By now S. Jean Baptiste was convinced that the devil was persecuting him, and he gave the devil a name: Grappin. He prayed, and said
nothing about his troubles. Yet soon the village people were gossiping, especially after the night the curtains of the priest's canopy bed burst into flame when no candle or fire had been near them. A few months later the time came for a meeting of local clergymen held regularly at the parish; they had heard of the "hauntings" of the demon, and teased the cure about them, pointing out that they were in reality just the result of "hallucinations, dreamings, and delusions." The other clergymen laughed and chided the priest for believing in Grappin. 'The presbytery [priest's house] is nothing but an old barn without order or arrangement. The doors slam, the boards creak, the rats hold high carnival there, for they play their pranks night and day and you think you are persecuted by the devil." "Come, dear friend," they urged him, "behave like other people, eat more and all this Satanic phantasmagoria will stop soon enough." After dinner all the priests went to bed; then came midnight. As the clock struck twelve, enormous noises shook the house. Windows rattled, shutters flew back, doors opened, the walls trembled, and footsteps sounded up and down the stair-
Some Tales of Summoning case. All of the
doubting
visitor-priests
were
127
fright-
ened. They dressed hastily and ran from their rooms. Father Jean Baptiste was calm. He assured his friends that the occurrence was nothing more than usual— the demon Grappin. From that time forth, the clergymen did not jest about persecution by the devil.
The good cure was plagued during
the next
by these noisy activities, but never again was he doubted about the visitations of the demon. He endured them stoically as a penance levied by God for his sins, without complaint or thirty years
fear. Finally,
the torments ended and he was at peace with himself. Six months later Father Jean Baptiste died, a happy man.
Across the Atlantic Ocean at this time, the colony in Massachusetts knew about many cases of evil spirits infesting houses. One of the most flagrant attacks by the demons occurred in the house of William Morse of Newberry in 1679. William Morse kept a diary of the strange happenings. On December 3, during the night he and his wife heard a sound like the beating of sticks and throwing of stones on the roof of the house. Morse got out of bed, but could find nothing. A short time later, at midnight, the Morses heard a hog grunting and squealing. This time when Morse got up he actually saw a hog in the house. No door was open, and when he opened the front door the hog ran out. In days following, the Morses encountered the
128
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
bizarre time and again. Bedsteads rose from the floor; a long staS* danced around the room; chairs
flew about. When the family sat down to supper, ashes from the hearth blew into their food
thrown by demons, they said. A three-pound stone landed on William Morse's stomach while he was in bed. On January 26, as Morse was writing, his inkhorn was snatched away from the table and dropped out of the air down by the fire. Ashes blew
up in his face and on his clothes; he was hit on the head with a shoe. In bed the next night he was pulled by the hair of his head and by his beard. Another night Morse and his wife both felt something pricking their shins and found that someone had put knitting needles and sharp-pointed sticks in their bed. When Mrs. Morse went to milk the cow, something struck her on the head; at that moment an iron hammer flew up at Morse and hit him on the back. A grandson who was staying with them was thrown about the room and on three difi'erent occasions was thrown into the fire; he was pricked by knives and forks and was struck dumb for awhile. Soon the boy could only make noises like a dog and a hen. The grandson went from bad to worse. He began to roar, and he ate ashes, sticks, and wood. During all this time of persecution the devil did not appear to the Morses in any visible shape; sometimes the Morses thought they had him as
Some Tales of Summoning
129
they struck out, but the devil pulled away. The did not speak, but one night the Morses heard a scraping on the floor and then a drumming, followed by a voice, singing, "Revenge! Revenge! Sweet is Revenge!" The frightened Morses called upon God and prayed. Then, suddenly they heard the words: "Alas! me knock no more! me knock no more!" These phrases were repeated six times, and therewith the devil departed. Peace returned to the household, and the family was free again from persecution.
demon
The Nature of Demons AND Witchcraft 13.
One of the greatest experts on demons was Nicolas Remy, who,
Duke
as
Privy Councillor to the French
of Lorraine in the sixteenth century,
exam-
ined every case and trial for sorcery in the duchy. He was called the "scourge of witches," an apt epithet, for over nine hundred persons were put to death for witchcraft as a result of trials he conducted. By interrogating the witches, he became very familiar with the nature and habits of the demons who were responsible for the dreadful activities
130
of these sorcerers,
and he grew
so
famous
The Nature of Demons and Witchcraft that his book, Demonolatry,
became
131
a respected
classic in the field.
Remy's accounts showed that demons can make for themselves any kind of body they wish, according to their particular purpose; the difi'erent shapes and appearances are limitless. They make their bodies sometimes from fire and sometimes from air;
they can compress themselves into the smallest
^it
Nicholas trials in
Remy of Lorraine, who presided at over 900 witchcraft the sixteenth century
132
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
of shapes or
expand
into those of
tremendous
size.
They can appear as women, as men, or as any kind of animal. They can make any kind of sound they wish: they can roar like lions or bark like dogs.
woman
One
when her "little Master" sometimes he came in the shape of a bird flying in the window, and at other times as a mouse. Another woman said he appeared to her in the shape of a black dog, and still another that he was in the likeness of a crab. Often he was in the form of a cat, but he most readily took the shape of a man, for that made conversations and meetings with women less conspicuous. But these were not the shapes of normal men; the demon in human form either had an ugly face, or the hands and feet were distorted and hooked with claws, or the opening of the mouth was wide and deep and always gave ofi* a sulphurous smell. One woman claimed that she had sometimes seen her demon appear without a head, or with one foot testified
that
visited her in prison,
missing.
Remy, whatever shape the demons never successfully quite match the human form, so as to be undetected. The same According
to
took, they could
true about their speech: they could not perfectly imitate the human voice. One demon spoke as if
is
his voice
came from
a jar or a cracked pitcher;
another in a voice so confused, muffled, and feeble that it was hard to understand; and another in
The Nature er Demons and Witchcraft
1^
Some demons gave utterances that sounded like harsh, thin hissing. In Remy's time it was acknowledged by the Church that when demons attacked men on earth they were not mere empty phantoms of fancy, but they assumed tangible bodies and appeared openly. On first approach to a man or woman the
whispers.
demons preferred
to converse, not to cause terror
by any unusual appearance. Therefore they often took the shape of a man of substance, and wore long black cloaks, as did honored men. (The cloak could also serve to conceal clawed feet and a tail.) At the Remy witch trials the demon was vari-
man in all proportions, saving that he had cloven feet," "a man apparelled in a suit of black, tied with silk,'' a man "clad in a ously described: "like a
gown with
upon
head." Black seemed to be the favorite color, a symbol for black deeds. It was after the initial meetings, when the demons felt they had gained the human beings' confidence, that they changed themselves into diS'erent animals. When they went traveling with anyone, they most often took the form of a dog, for a dog would not be likely to arouse suspicion. Such was the case of an Italian named Andrea, tried in 1548, who led a blind red dog about wherever he went. The dog would tell him everyone's secrets. In France, a man named Didier Finance kept his dog curled around his feet whenever he sat down
black
a black hat
his
134
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
He
used to reach down secretly with his hand and take poison from the dog's collar, which he sprinkled on the food of anyone he chose to kill. When one of the demons described by Remy had to transport a witch to a meeting of witches, he would change into a horse, for that was the at a
meal with
fastest
way
others.
of getting there.
When
the
demon had
witch and there were other people present, he took the form of a little fly and buzzed around the witch's ear, whispering. Claudine Simonette, convicted of witchcraft in September, 1588, said she saw the demon in the shape of a fly as she was being led to prison, and he warned her not to confess to any guilt no matter what the tortures were. If she did, she would receive the cruelest of punishments, while if she held her tongue she would soon escape unharmed. The demon could be summoned in the shape of a wolf when a man wanted to harm his neighbor's flocks of sheep. Two Germans, Petrone Armentarious of Dalheim and Joannes Malrisius of Bad Sulze, confessed to calling demons, and explained their to give information to a
method. They tore up some grass and threw
it
against the trunk of a tree, saying certain words,
and immediately there came out of the tree a wolf
who
attacked the flocks. Sometimes the demons took the shape of a bear. (This was especially true when they were causing
The Nature of Demons and Witchcraft
135
storms.) Barbeline Rayel, convicted at Blainville,
France, in January, 1587, said she saw the demons as monstrous howling bears who dragged behind them chains with cymbals and bells. One of the most familiar shapes the demons assumed was that of a goat. They took on this form, not when they did specific tasks for anyone, but rather when they attended meetings or celebrations and wanted to be worshiped. The demon is sure to be acknowledged as present when he has the foul smell of the goat. Goats are protective and like to attack and so do demons. Goats have a fierce look and horns and seem to be the form most pleasing for the demon to assume when he wants some
honor from
his disciples.
The demon by nature
likes filth
and uncleanli-
ness and thus relishes the stench of the goat, just as he enjoys being inside a dead body. If he is in a living body, the
same
foul
odor emanates from
The demon also likes to give gifts that smell, made from manure and dung, and at banquets he
him.
serves the decayed flesh of dead beasts. For the most part, the demons have filthy old hags for ser-
Hands should never be washed, they makes incantations inefi'ective.
vants. this
Demons
say, for
promise their disciple anything, and it is well known that they have great treasures that have been dug out of the earth, or lie hidden there. Yet they use their wealth only to lure people will
Witches and demons, assuming various forms, dancing in a ring
be their followers; they never fulfill their promof riches. There was a man in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1530 who was told by the demon where a great treasure was hidden. The man dug at the spot, and he found a vault, in which there was a chest guarded by a black dog. When the man to
ises
The Nature of Demons and Witchcraft went
137
grab the chest, the vault collapsed and the man was crushed to death. This was all seen by the man's servants, who fled in terror. to
Remy documents the fact that on September 30, 1586, a
woman, Sennel
of Armentieres, France, was given a gift of money by the demon; when she arrived home and opened her purse to count the
money, she found only bits and pieces of coal. The same deception happened to Catharine of Metingow, only she found swine's dung in her purse. Claude Morele (tried at Serre, Italy, December 3, 1586) found only the leaves of trees. Jeanne le Ban (tried at Masmiinster,
the
demon
wrapped
in
France, 1585) testified that had told her of a certain gold coin
paper
to
be found on a
specific road.
She found the paper, but when she got home
show the coin
to
to
her husband, she discovered not
gold, but a rust-colored stone which crumbled to powder when she touched it. Not only can the demons take any shape, talk in a strange manner, lure with money, but they are
capable of branding those that they claim as own. The devil's mark was often made on witches by the talons of the demon, and on the spot where the witch was so marked, no pain no matter how great— could be felt. These marks played an important part in the witch trials. Alexee (at Blainville, France, January 16, 1587) said her mark was on her forehead; Quirina Xallaea (Blainville, also
their
—
138
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
February 25, 1587), on the back of her head; Dominique Euraea (Charmes, France, November 27, 1584), on the hip. The devil marked them at the time that the witches were renouncing the Christian faith. The marks left scars on the skin, and the proof of witchcraft guilt was given when a needle was thrust into such a scar and no pain was felt, nor a bit of blood seen. At Porrentruy, Germany, on October 30, 1590, Claude Bogart was about to be tortured, and her head had been shaved in preparation. Suddenly the torturer noticed a scar on the top of her forehead. The judge ordered a pin to be stuck deeply into the spot, and when it was, there was no pain and no blood. The woman denied her guilt in spite of the devil's mark, but after torture, she admitted that the devil had scarred her. Once the demons win over their converts, they teach them the arts of witchcraft and provide them with the material to carry out their evildoings.
The demon first gives them a fine powder, which mild form (ashen or reddish color) can cause sickness, and in potent form (black) can cause death. The powder need not be put in food or drink, but merely dusted on the intended victim. The witches are also given a powder of a third color (white) which they can use, if for some reason (usually pity) they would like to undo the harm they have done. in
The Nature of Demons and Witchcraft Claude
Fellet
139
Mazieres,
France, November 9, 1584), Jeanne le Ban (Masmlinster, France, January 3, 1585), and Colette Fischer (Gerbeviller, France, May 7, 1585) all testified as to the properties and uses of such powders given to them by the demons. The witches also have their wands filled with the powder, for it is not always convenient to carry handfuls of it, and they use their wands to strike down men or cattle that they wish to
harm. was said by
It
(tried
many
at
that the
demon was
responsible for the dreadful plague that scourged Milan, Italy, in 1629-30. The disease was known as La Pestedegli Untori, after the untori evildoers who
—
claimed that they had, at the devil's instigation, collected the pus from the sores of plague-stricken corpses and kept it in phials. The demon promised them their own safety, but any person they touched with the vile matter would be infected
and
die.
In Milan, Italy, one warm April morning when the disease was at its height, it was discovered that many of the doors and walls of houses were smeared with thick matter from the pustules and sores of the sick. The populace became frightened, for the pestilence increased rapidly. The people believed that witches were going about the city
smearing benches, handles of doors,
fruits, flowers,
and food with the deadly material. Hundreds of
140
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
witches (untori) were seized and condemned. After being tortured on the rack, one barber named Mora confessed that he was in league with the devil to infect all of Milan and that he had smeared houses and various kinds of articles in the city with the poisonous substance of the plague. Whatever the cause, the plague ravaged Milan, and many of the untori, rightly or wrongly, were accused and killed for their deadly liaison with the devil. Not only did the demons cause harm to human beings, or cause the witches to do such harm, but they were violently opposed to nature itself. They were the ones who caused hail and snow and whirling windstorms. Alexia Violaea at her trial told how the demon gave her a fine powder for destroying nature, and she sprinkled it over the fields. From the powder arose so many caterpillars, locusts, and other eating creatures that all the crops were these
ruined. Another group of women tried in 1585-86 said that they had sprinkled the powder and that a
whole army of mice came forth and ate all the roots of the crops.
The arrangements for evildoing are reciprocal between witch and demon. In some cases the de-
mon
helps the witch accomplish an odious task, such as in the case of Alexee Drigie (tried Haraucourt, France, 1586). Alexee was very jealous of a shepherd's daughter and she wished to have her die. Alexee's demon gave her a handful of fern to
The Nature of Demons and Witchcraft
141
on the path that the shepherd's daughter most frequently used and assured her that though others might travel the same path, only the shepherd's daughter would be harmed. It turned out just as the demon had said. Out of all who passed that way, only the shepherd's daughter died. Sometimes, however, the witches do not dare to commit a particular crime, and then they call upon their demon with whom they have made a pact to do the grisly deed for them. Nicole Morele (tried scatter
Serre, Italy, January, 1587) said that at her request
the demon had sprinkled a black powder over the horses of Nicolas Dominique as he was driving them to a nearby spring and that the horses became suddenly and violently ill and soon afterward died.
There were which witches
hundreds of cases in testified to wrongdoing, either to their own misdeeds or those done at the instigation of the demons. As Nicolas Remy commented:
Away
with them, then, away with
that the talk of a pact
\
1
1
/
I
literally
all
who
say
between witches and de-
mere nonsense; for the facts themselves give them the lie, and are attested and proved
mens
is
by the legitimate complaints of many men. But some are so obstinate as to be unable to perceive this; they are such double fools that no misfortune can bring them wisdom.
142
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
For Remy there was "no question but that there are demons," and his detailed observations of their habits and powers and their liaisons with witches were instrumental in the continuation of the witch purge and executions in Europe. As Remy said of the witches in conclusion: ... I shall
not fear to proclaim freely and openly
my
all in my power to bring namely, that their lives are so notoriously befouled and polluted by so many
opinion of them, and to do the very truth to
light:
prodigious lusts and have no hesitation in saying that they are justly to be subjected to every torture and put to death in the flames; both that they may expiate their crimes with a fitting punishment and that its very awfulness may serve as an example and a warning to others.
blasphemies,
sorceries,
flagrant crimes, that
I
14.
Demons, Devils,
AND DjiNN Today
A
full-leafed tree
towered
starkly over the corner
of a crossroads outside a village in Brazil, its outline black against the night. Quietly a woman approached the tree, stared at it for minutes, then
broke into prayer. "Oh, Exii. Exii of the crossroads! Exii of the I need your help." So began a supplication to the devil.
trees!
In spite of deep Christian religious belief, Brazilians for hundreds of years have been believers in
143
144
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
Church and belief have long gone hand-in-hand. Exii the devil is respected, feared, endured, exhorted, and revered by thousands of Brazilians. On this particular black night the woman had come to ask Exu to save her home. Her landlady had served her with eviction papers for no obvious reason. Now the woman sought help from Exu. She spoke softly to Exii at the tree by the crossroads spiritualism. Here, the Catholic in the devil
—
—
Left, a clay figure of Exii the evil spirit of the macumba pantheon and, right, his female counterpart modeled in iron
Demons, Devils, and Djinn Today and
told
145
him the landlady was wrong and asked
make her
take back the papers. I need you," she said. Then she continued to speak, describing to Exii the present she had for him a bottle of cachaga assuring him that it was the very best sugarcane alcohol. She opened the bottle and poured some of the liquid into the ground at the base of the tree, still talking to Exu. She urged him to drink. Slowly, she erected six white candles in a circle around the tree and lit one after the other, circling, telling Exii that the papers she had with her were copies of the landlady's legal papers. She placed the packet in Exii to
"I believe in you.
—
—
the center of the burning circle and asked Exii to read it and tell her what to do. She placed another present for Exii an expensive cigar on top of the legal papers, opened a box of matches, and put
—
them down beside it. Then the woman turned from the
—
tree,
never
looking back, and walked along the dirt road home to her village. Three days later the woman's landlady called to tell her she could stay in the house as long as she liked.
Magic? Chance? "Thank Exii!" shouted the woman. Brazilians believe in spirits, both bad and good, and they do not hesitate to call on them if they feel the need. One popular belief about Exii holds that when the two right-hand archangels of God were
146
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
odds and one of them was cast out of heaven into hell, this archangel became the devil (Satan, or Exu). The other archangel, who stayed with God, was Jesus, or Oxala. At this time hell was full, for many who had claimed allegiance to Exii had been sent there. The remaining fallen angels, who could only achieve forgiveness by doing good, and thus earn their way back into heaven, were sent to earth. All human beings, according to this belief, were such fallen angels, and the score of their good and bad deeds would be reckoned when they left earth. After death, they could come back to earth as spirits and mingle with living human beings. at
The way
these spirits behaved depended on whether they could ascend to heaven, or were slated to stay on earth. So two forces were embattled, those of God (fesus/ Oxala) and those of the devil (Satan/ Exu). The spirits of both existed on earth to be called upon to do good or evil. According to this scheme, Exu has many workers, but he is Lucifer, or chief, or King Exu. Although Brazil is the largest Catholic nation in the world (80,000,000 inhabitants all born Catholic), the thread of pagan spiritualism runs through
the daily lives of its people, as
it
does in other South
American countries. Under this mixed religion, called macumba, the same worshipers who extol Jesus and the Virgin Mary on Sundays appeal to the pagan gods for cures, and even exhort the devil,
Demons, Devils, and Djinn Today whether
it
147
be King Exii or one of
his minions. So great are the legions of devils that can be summoned that a regular lore of rules exists. Exu of the Closed Paths is a very popular devil
in Brazil.
To
close the paths for someone is to be sure that everything goes wrong for him. He could lose his job, or become ill; his wife could leave him, or nothing will prosper for him. He will be un-
happy, but he
will
not
die.
Such was the case recently when a foreigner who was residing in Brazil and having bad luck witnessed an eerie, wild, night service where the curse of the closed paths was to be lifted from him. His description of the drum-beating, the candles, the gyrating dancers, the shouting women, and the cries to Exii are spine-tingling. Exu was represented by a woman dressed in a tattered blood-red blouse and filthy red skirt. Her feet were bare. A polished child's skull with a dead snake tied between the eye sockets hung from a gold chain
around her neck. She laughed loudly, spat out food, and drank bottle after bottle of cachaga. She smoked cigars and called out commands to the
who seemed possessed. Shouting to the "Do you know what my name is? My name is Exii. I am the God of Evil! I can kill you if I wish! Does that make you afraid?" Then dancers
foreigner she asked: .
.
.
she laughed and spat some of the whiskey in the To the beating of drums and the
foreigner's face.
devil struggling with Saint Peter. Devils have always played a part in man's religions
The
chanting of Exii, two mediums held the foreigner between them. The exorcising was in process. For ten minutes Exu chanted and sang, the dancers danced, the drummers beat; then Exu announced the curse had been lifted and that it would return twofold to the person who originated
Demons, Devils, and Djinn Today
149
it. The occurrences of the next days and weeks proved to the foreigner that there was truth in what Exu had foretold, and now, in the twentieth century, he does indeed believe in the pagan spir-
its
of Brazil.
From
the beginning of recorded history,
man
has always believed in the supernatural, whether pagan or Christian or non-Christian. The devil has
played an important role in religions of the world, and though the intensity of the belief in him has wavered through the centuries within various cultures, it is perhaps not surprising to find that now in the 1970's there is a resurgence of interest in the occult, lief in
and more particularly a reaffirmation of bethe devil.
Only recently Pope Paul of
all
VI, the religious leader
Catholics, publicly stated his concern that
Satan is very active these days, especially within the Roman Catholic Church. From St. Peter's in Rome, the Pope spoke out forcefully about this devil, the "Prince of Darkness," arguing that "this obscure and disturbing being really exists." He called the devil "a perfidious and astute charmer who manages to insinuate himself into us by the way of the senses, of fantasy, of concupiscence, of Utopian logic, of disorderly social contacts." There were those within the Church, and those outside of it who scofi'ed at the Pope's concern. Someone foretold that this emphasis on the devil
A
sculpture of a devil on Notre
Dame
Cathedral in Paris
Demons, Devils, and Djinn Today
151
would bring only "bright and
profitable days for the occult scientists, magicians and witches all celebrating the unexpected but authoritative return, after many years, of His Highness, the Prince of Darkness."
But there are many who would agree with the Pope that the devil is "the tempter par excellence ... the secret sower of errors and misfortunes," and even today churchmen everywhere are vitally concerned with demonic works. One famous case of possession by the devil (the true story later
became the
basis
for
the im-
mensely popular novel, The Exorcist) occurred
in
1949, in Mount Ranier, Maryland. Here a fourteen-year-old boy was so possessed by the devil that when sleeping his mattress slid across the
when
floor;
While these mystifying events took place, strange noises were heard.
A
priest
sitting, his chair tilted.
was called
in
by the
family.
He
confirmed the diagnosis of "possession" and sought permission from his bishop to exorcise the devil. The bishop granted permission, and the priest set to work. He commanded the demon to depart
from the I
b(
command
and
all
God
... I
you,
whoever you
are,
unclean
spirit,
of your associates obsessing this friend of
command
thee to obey in
all
these things
152
Demons, Devils, and Djinn
nor ever again in any manner to offend ture of God. ...
this
crea/
^
DuringtKe exorcism the boy broke into a great tantrum of cursing and screaming and he used Latin phrases, a strange occurrence since he had never studied Latin. These rites of exorcism were performed repeatedly by the priest for a period of two months. The devil was driven out, and the boy never again suffered from "possession." According to the Reverend Edmund G. Ryan, S.J., a highly placed Catholic official at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., there can be possession by the devil. In an interview which appeared in the Washington Post late in 1972, Fa-
Ryan said that "a demon or an evil force can possess a body but cannot take over the soul, and destroy free will." Symptoms of possession show themselves as "spastic movements or hysterical convulsions, loss of memory, occasional levitation, ther
speaking in strange strength, tongues and understanding foreign languages."
extraordinary
However, the true sign of possession "would be speaking against God, would be reviling God, reviling things that are good."
Father Ryan accepts the fact that exorcism
is
acknowledged and approved by the Catholic Church, and he describes exorcism as "the act of driving out or warding off demons or evil spirits
Demons, Devils, and Djinn Today
153
from persons, places or things, that are believed be possessed or infested by them, or are liable
become
to to
victims or instruments of their malice.
nothing more than a prayer to God, is sometimes made publicly, but always in the name of the Church, and in the name of Christ, to restrain the power of the demons over men and .
.
.
Exorcism, really
is
things."
Demons, according
to Father Ryan, are "subject the Catholic Church does not perform exorcisms in its own name but in the name of Christ." Demons are "spirits who have rejected to
God and
God and remain in a state of alienation from Him because they have made an irrevocable choice." In non-Christian countries. Father Ryan said, "the witch doctor will exorcise the demoil in the name of a greater
demon."
Father Ryan believes that the incidence of actual possession has lessened through the years. Today, exorcisms in the United States are rare, according to the author of The Exorcist, William Blatty. "You have to be in the climate of belief," he said. "In Asia being possessed by a demon is like having a headache. You go to an exorcist like you would take an aspirin." And so in the world of the supernatural, for some, what they cannot see, cannot exist; for others there have been, and there still are, demons
and
devils
—and djinn.
Bibliography
Cavendish, Richard. The Black Arts.
New York:
Capricorn
Books, 1968
Christian, Paul. The History and Practice of Magic. York: Citadel Press, 1969
COVARRUBIAS, MlQUEL. Island of Bali.
New York:
New
Alfred A.
Knopf, 1937
Crow, W.B. A
History of Magic, Witchcraft and Occultism. California: Wilshire Book Company,
North Hollywood, 1968
DooLiTTLE, Justus. Social Life of the Chinese. Vol. I and Vol. II. New York: Harper & Bros., 1865 Elworthy, Frederick Thomas. Horns of Honour and
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Other Studies in the By- Ways of Archaeology. London: John Murray, 1900
Endicott, Kirk Michael. An Analysis of Malay Magic. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1970 Hill, Douglas, and Williams, Pat. The Supernatural. New York: The New American Library, 1967
Hughes, Pennethorne.
Witchcraft. Baltimore, Maryland:
Penguin Books, 1963
Jastrow, Morris, Assyria.
New
The Civilization of Babylonia and
Jr.
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1971
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Middle
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Latourette, Kenneth Scott. The Chinese. Their History and Culture. New York: Macmillan, 1964 Morgan, Harry T. Chinese Symbols and Superstitions. South Pasadena, California: 1942
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Oman, John Campbell.
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Index
Afreets, 29, 43
New Guinea, 85 Buddha, Gautama, 74-77
Akhkhazu, 37
Butas, 95, 97, 100
Adam,
16,
25
British
Aladdin, 41 Alexee, 137 Alfoors of Poso, 86
Amulets, 105 Andrea, 133 Antidemoniacs, 19
Arabian Nights, 41 fiP., 88 Armentarious, Petrone, 134 Ashakku, 37, 39, 101-4 Ashurbanapal, 36
Arabs, 25-33, 43
Asia,
demons
Asmodeus,
in,
16-17,
Dark Ages, 17-23 34-40,
101, 105
Astaroth, 24
Babylonia, 34-40, 101, 105 Bajang, 90-91 Bali,
demons
of,
93-100
Beelzebuth, 22, 24 Belial, 24 Bogart, Claude, 138 Brazil 143 fiF.
Clairvoyance, 45-47
63-67
22, 107
Assyria(ns),
Catharine of Metingow, 137 Censer, 53 Cerberus, 116 Charms, 58, 59, 62 China, 86, 121-24 Chu, Wen-fa, 121-24 Chu, Wen-heng, 121, 123 Church, 18, 143flF. Chu wen yuen, 122-24
Dasim, 29 Dawa, 45 Delhdn, 28 Demonolatry, 131 Demon(s), 13-24 in ancient Babylonia and Assyria, 34-40 in Asia, 63-67 of Bali, 93-100 in China, 50-62 exorcising,
19-22, 35-37,
157
Index
158
54-56, 63-65, 73, 101-
29 history of, 15-24 in India, 74-84 in Japan, 68-73 Malay birth, 90-92 of the Mandrake, 85-89 in Middle East, 41-49 nature of, 130-42 pacts with, 110-12 and sickness, 63-67, 104-5 summoning, 101-29 today, 143-53 in trees and plants, 85 ff.
warding 60-61
ofiF,
51-52, 58-59,
Hagar, 43 Devil(s), 13-24
Der
el
in animal forms, 17-21
19-22 exorcising, 19-22
control
of,
hell, 24 15-24 invocations, 45-49 numbers of, 24
hierarchy in history
summoning, 32 today, 143-53 Dominique, Nicolas, 141 Doolittle, Justus, 52 Drigie, Alexee, 140-41
Durgga, 79 Ea, 16-17, 38, 105
El-Aawar, 29 Etimmu, 37 Euraea, Dominique, 138 Europe, 18-23, 118-24 Eve, 16 Exorcism, 19-22, 35-37, 54-
101-29 Exorcist, The, 151, 153 Exii, 143-49 56, 63-67, 73,
Claude, 139 Finance, Didier, 133-34 Fischer, Colette, 139
Fellet,
Foochow, 56-58
of,
possession, 21
summoning, 21-22 today, 143-53
Djinn, 25-33, 106 S. classes of, 27-28, 29
32-33 and fortune tellers, 30 in India, 74-84 shapes, 29-30 stories of, 26-27
controlling,
Genii, 41, 45-46 Ghul(s), 17, 27-28, 95
Goblins, 19 Gorgias, 119
Grappin, 126-27 Greeks, 16, 17, 108 Grimoire of Pope Honorius, 114 107-8, 22-24, Grimoires, 110, 112-14
Gron, 118
Index Macumba, 146 Malaya, 85, 90
Harb, 26
Hebrew
invocations, 110
Honorius Honorius
159
Malay birth demon, 90-92
114 III, 114
II,
Malrisius, Joannes, 134
Mammon,
29
Iblis,
Idol processions,
56-58
Incantations, 36-37, 108 India,
demons and
djinn
in,
74-84 Iroquois Indians, 86 Islamic religion, 28
Jann, 29
Japan, demons in, 68-73 Jesus /Oxala, 146 Kalas, 95, 98, 100 Kali,
77-82
Key of Solomon, Khalif
Mu
107, 110
awiya, 26
Khatim, 46-47 King, William, 45
Knap, Elizabeth, 119, 121 Koran, 106
24 Mandal, 45, 47 Mandrake, demon of, 85-89 Mara, 74-77 Marids, 29 Maskim, 16-17 Maya Danawa,. legend of, 93-95 Middle Ages, 17-23 Middle East, 41-49 Milan, 139-40 Mohammed, 25, 47 Morele, Nicole, 141 Morse, William, 127-29 Moslems, 28-29, 30, 32-33 Mya, 75 Mysteries of the Libyan Desert (King), 45
Nam tar, 37 New England, Nicola, Rev.
Kuei, 50-62
Nyepi, 97
Labartu, 37 Labasu, 37
Pan,
Lama, 63-67
Paul VI, 149 Pedjeng, 95
Langsuir, 90, 91, 92 Le Ban, Jeanne, 137, 139 Lilith,
16
Lucifer, 24
118, 119, 121
John
J.,
13-15
and origin of
devil,
19
Penanggalan, 90, 92 Peste degli Untori, La, 139
Pontianak 90, 92
160
Index cr
Possession, 21, 150-53 Potier, Jeanne,
Sot,
29
Summoning,
118-19
tales
of,
101-
29
Sweden, 88
Qasr Dakhl, 43 Quieu, 58-59
TaflFord, Mr.,
118
Rashomon, 70
Tahdir, 45 Tahu, 118 Tartars, 63-65 Tchutgour, 63-65
Rayel, Barbeline, 135
Teer, 29
Red Dragon, 113
Tenget, 94
Reichhelm of Schoengan, 24
Tengu, 70
Rabisu, 37
<
oO»y^
Rakshasas, 95 Rakut Beij-Dana, 77
Remy,
Nicolas, 130-34, 137,
141-42 Rhadamanthus, 115-16 Rhodes, John, 117-18 Rimmon, 24 Rohlfs, 43-44 Roomals, 78 Rotti, 87 Ryan, Rev. 152-53
Edmund
Testament of Solomon, 22
Thamuz, 24 Tin, 37, 38-39
Tokoura, 65-67 Trepanning, 21 Tsuna, Watanabe no, 70-72 Untori, G.,
139-40
Ur, 37
Vianney, Jean St.
124-27
Augustine, 18
Jerome, 18 Sealdh, 28 Sennel of Armentieres, 137 Shamir, 107 Sheykh el afreet, 44-49 Sheytdns, 29 Siddartha, Prince, 74 Simonette, Claudine, 134 Social Life of the Chinese, 52 Solomon, 22, 32-33, 105-10
St.
B.,
Wier, Jean, 24 Witchcraft, 21-22,
110
130-42 Xallaea, Quirina, 137
Yin and-y^ng, 50
Zelemboor, 29 Zoba'ah, 31
fiF.,
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