“Another world”, “the realm of the dead”, “the underworld”, “hell” - as soon as they call a reality parallel to us, in which creatures deprived of flesh live. The souls of the dead, angels and demons inhabit it, intersecting with us from time to time. These meetings are far from always pleasant, and therefore it is better for people for the time being (until their own death hour comes) to stay away from everything otherworldly. However, curiosity is a great tempter. And it makes us look beyond the visible line.
Who are demons
The belief in the existence of demons goes back thousands of years. We associate these creatures with various manifestations of evil, witchcraft, rampage, the most terrible and disgusting vices. The philosopher Plato argued that demons are intermediaries between people and gods. From the first to the higher spheres, they convey requests, prayers,victims. And from the second, divine decrees are delivered to the world of people, rewards and punishments are distributed. The names of demons (and each such infernal entity was endowed with its own name and occupied a certain step in the general hierarchy) were usually rarely spoken aloud, so as not to bring trouble on their heads. As a rule, only the initiated knew them (witches, sorcerers, warlocks, alchemists, astrologers, priests, magicians, shamans) and specially educated priests. Occultists needed such information to perform rites and rituals, for divination and various kinds of sorcery. And for the servants of religious cults, the names of demons and knowledge of their basic qualities, weaknesses gave power over evil spirits. With the help of sacred prayers, they could fight against otherworldly obsessions and interferences, drive malicious entities into their world. Therefore, often the inhabitants of the abyss themselves tried to hide, hide from people what their names were.
Christian demonology
The culture and civilization of every nation has its own demonology. This is due primarily to religious beliefs, with the change of one religion to another. Therefore, the names of demons cause different associations and interpretations. In the most ancient sources that tell about the other world, there was no special separation between them and the gods. And they were not always considered terrible creatures of the night, rather, they had a dual nature, sometimes acting in accordance with the code of good, and in the other - of evil. When Christianity began to spread around the world, and other tribal religions weredeclared pagan, outlawed and even persecuted, their gods and spirits were also in exile. The names of demons were replenished with the list of devas - deities of eastern mythologies (they are genies). Those angels who rebelled against God, their creator, and joined Satan, were assigned to the same host. This is where the expression "fallen angel" comes from.
Gender Demonology
Studying the names of ancient demons, the researchers made sure that these creatures are divided into male and female. Of course, there are much more representatives of the "stronger sex", so to speak about spirits. But the ladies' legion is also represented quite diversely. The mythical names of female demons give a clear idea of what area they are responsible for, what function they perform and how important it is in the general system of otherworldly forces. Of course, “girls” do not occupy the highest levels of the infernal hierarchy, but no one can replace them in their sphere of influence, no doubt. Our article is devoted to demons in general. But, following etiquette and good manners, let's let the "women" go ahead!
Wives of Satan:
Agrat
Yes, our "fallen angel" had spouses. The names of the demon girls are Agrat, Lilith, Elizaddra. What is each one responsible for? Let's start with Agrat bat Mahlat - the third wife of the devil. Her diocese is "night butterflies", prostitutes, or, more simply, prostitution and other sexual excesses. The origin of the succubus has Jewish roots, she is considered one of the main progenitors of other demons. Agrat usually does not harm people, except for the time when he wanders through the deserted streets at night.twice a week - from Tuesday to Wednesday and from Friday to Saturday. She is accompanied by a whole army of angels of revenge and anger - about 1800. Agrat has Egyptian and Jewish roots in her pedigree. She is the daughter of a mortal woman of striking beauty and the devil Ygerthiel.
Lilith
Now Lilith. By the way, she was Adam's first wife! Studying the names of demons and their meanings, scientists have established that this image is found in the most ancient texts of the Sumerians, it is in Egyptian mythology, Jewish, and then came to European soil. The pedigree of the devil is very complex. In different interpretations, her name sounds like “night”, “formless”. In one of her incarnations, Lilith is the queen and mother of demons, in the other, she is the main wife of the Devil. And appearance is described differently in different sources. Then she appears before lonely men whom the night caught on the road under the open sky, and kills them. In this case, the she-devil chooses the image of a beautiful woman with long dark hair. According to other beliefs, this child of the night has an ugly fantastic appearance, is monstrously ugly, kills babies by sucking their blood. She is the main danger of women, because she can induce infertility on them, destroy the child in the mother's womb or the woman in labor when she gives birth to a child. According to Judaism, Lilith left Adam, because she did not want to obey him, she opposed the will of God, for which she was punished: all her children should become the same creatures of Hell as she herself. Jews, to protect babies from the devil, hang over the cribs of childrentablets with the names of the angels that she is afraid of. She also cannot stand the color red - hence the old tradition of tying a red thread on the hands of children. Well, in modern interpretations, Lilith is a black goddess. Such mythical names of the demons of the night in female form, such as Hekate, Kali, etc., are associated with her. The image acquires a cosmic, global meaning.
Elizadra
Continuing to list the names of demon girls, one cannot help but recall Elizadra (aka Elizda) - a terrible creature, a huge giantess about 4 meters tall, with 7 horns on her head. It is difficult to assess the harm it causes to people and the extent of its cruelty. A sea of blood was spilled through the fault of the devil, and Cyprian himself asked the Lord in his prayers to protect the human race from Satan and Elizadra. Belongs to the number of supreme demons, distributes ranks and titles in the hellish "office".
According to some sources, the loving Devil had more wives - Aishet, Naama, Makhallat. In general, not only he, but also other demons used succubi for "carnal" pleasures, entering into an intimate relationship with them.
And more about female demonology
The mythical names of demons are not limited to the representatives of the ladies' society listed above. So, among the Germanic peoples there are legends about Alruns - first soothsayers, then - sorceresses. They easily took the form of any living creatures, harmed people, did nasty things, hunted men. There is also Astarte - the cruel mistress of the world of the dead, the embodiment of unbridled voluptuousness and lust, sexual perversions. Her cult was in Ancient Egypt, Syria, Babylon, Israel. Often duringsecret services and sophisticated rites, the priests-servants, bringing a sacrifice to the demoness, castrated themselves. Although at first she was understood as the supreme female deity, the embodiment of the feminine principle of the Universe. It is impossible not to mention the embodiment of treachery, deceit, intrigue and betrayal - the seductive Barbelo. God created her as an angel of stunning beauty. Taking the side of darkness, she turned into a dangerous demon! As well as Proserpine, Succubus, Bruhu, Kali, Lamia, Ishet Zenunim. All of them are extremely ruthless, evil, dangerous to the human race, seduce people, forcing men to desire them, and then destroy their victims, including children.
Demonology male:
Prince of Darkness
Next in line are the names of male demons. And we will start with the main culprit of all the turmoil in the Kingdom of God - that very Satan, Bezelbub, Lucifer, etc. He is the main fallen angel, cast down from heaven by His Father. It is believed that he is beautiful in face and body, radiance emanates from him. Therefore, "Lucifer" is translated, for example, as "carrying light." Although later - in Christian traditions - it became customary to portray him as vile, disgusting, terrible. In a word, the Prince of Darkness!
Kings, dukes, earls and governors
The infernal world is even more subject to a strict hierarchy than the human one. The host of demons has no number, while the supreme rulers of these hordes, there are 72 "units". Everyone has a certain set of goals and responsibilities, subordinated to a common goal - the destruction of the human race. They all command the infernallegions, have personal seals. At the same time, they are responsible for the sphere of life entrusted to them: the transfer of knowledge, including secret knowledge, teaching the sciences, the transfer of material we alth, predictions, and the arrangement of love affairs. The master magician, calling them, could get answers to his questions and help in witchcraft affairs. The most significant of them can be considered Belial, Beleth, Asmodeus, Gaap. What are they known for?
Belial
Other interpretations of the name - King Agriel, Belial, Berial. This is the spirit of death, non-existence, "nothing". As well as destruction, debauchery, lust, destruction. According to the Bible, he is sometimes stronger than Satan himself, in addition, this is the most powerful and terrible of the demons. His task is to seduce people, seduce them into crimes, vile, shameful deeds. King Belial is a demon of perversions, including sexual ones. Deceives his victims with a beautiful youthful appearance that hides a ferocious essence.
Getting white
White - the king of Hell, whose terrible breath resembles the heat of furnaces and can incinerate the one who summons him. Therefore, a sorcerer who resorts to the services of a demon must necessarily have a silver ring on his finger - silver cools this "fire-breathing dragon." He owns many musical instruments, turns white, causes the passion of any living being for the one who ordered his services. This creepy demon, sometimes represented as a cat, is feared even by other inhabitants of Hell.
Asmodeus
We all went through high school, and therefore we remember that the raznochintsy critic Pisarev used the name of this demon whendismantled the bones of Turgenev's Bazarov. It translates as "tempter". He is often called the king of demons, even Satan. Sometimes Asmodeus plays the role of a judge, the arbiter of human destinies. He is depicted sitting on a throne, on his face is a mask with the muzzle of some animal.
Gaap
Bears the title of great governor, mighty prince of Hell. Appears in the guise of a person who can convey to those who called him, a variety of sciences. He seduces people, can cause love or hatred, gives information about various things, reveals the secrets of the past and the future. Asmodeus also has the gift of teleportation, carrying objects over long distances.
Japanese Demonology
East is a delicate matter, and the Land of the Rising Sun falls under such a definition. The names of Japanese demons are reminiscent of the Russian 3rd person plural pronoun: they. Outwardly, the entities look like devils, only larger, have fangs, and their heads are crowned with horns, like a fighting bull or a mountain yak. They, like giant humanoid gorillas, whose skin is dyed red, blue and black, inhabit hell. Cunning, smart, ferocious, they walk with huge clubs, with which they crumble everything in their path. Unusually tenacious.
Kind infernal beings who want to be friends with people include a demon named Zakuro (Zakuro). She is a half-human, half-spirit youkai of the youkai (demon fox) clan. Quite a nice girl, whose “non-standard” origin is given out by her ears,matching foxes.
Of course, the list of characters of European and world demonology does not end there. The spirit world is so big!..
