In cultures throughout the world there is a belief in malevolent entities known collectively as demons. In some religious traditions, particularly those which are monotheistic, demons are responsible for the existence of evil. In his book The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Carl Sagan writes:
“The gods watch over us and guide our destinies, many human cultures teach; other entities, more malevolent, are responsible for the existence of evil. Both classes of beings, whether considered natural or supernatural, real or imaginary, serve human needs.”
In his book In Gods We Trust, Scott Atran writes:
“Throughout the world, societies cast their enemies as physically or mentally warped supernatural beings, or at least in league with the supernatural.”
In Christian England, the plague was felt to be caused by demons. Demons would enter the body and cause ill health, such as the plague and other diseases. There was also the belief that demons were sent by the Christian god as a punishment for both personal and social sins.
From the perspective of European Christianity, the old pre-Christian religious traditions were often seen as demonic. With regard to the founders of the European Christian Church, Carl Sagan writes:
“They taught that all of pagan religion consisted of the worship of demons and men, both misconstrued as gods.”
The famous Greek oracular shrine at Delphi which had been consulted for a thousand years by both Greeks and Romans, was seen as a demonic force. In The Ancient Gods: The History and Diffusion of Religion in the Ancient Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean, E.O. James writes:
“Christianity, however, did not deny that behind the oracle were spiritual powers; it considered them demoniacal and, therefore, in line with other manifestations of possession by evil spirits.”
Etymology
The word “demon” came into English about 1200 from the Latin daemon meaning “spirit” which came from the Greek daimon meaning “deity, divine power; lesser god; guiding spirit, tutelary deity.” The Greek daimon also carried the meaning of “one’s genius, lot, or fortune.”
Going back further in time, we see that the Proto-Indo-European root is *da- meaning “to divide” which is the basis for the Proto-Indo-European *dai-mon- meaning “divider, provider” with regard to fortunes or destinies.
The Christian Greek translations give daimon the meaning of “god of the heathen” and “unclean spirit.”
Demons as Natural Entities
In the Christian tradition, demons are viewed as supernatural, spiritual entities, but this is not true in all cultures. Carl Sagan writes:
“Belief in demons was widespread in the ancient world. They were thought of as natural rather than supernatural beings.”
European folklore, which has its roots in pre-Christian pagan traditions, has many stories of natural demons which are described as trolls, faeries, and other entities.
One example of what we might call a natural demon is the kelpie. For those unfamiliar with the kelpie, it is a supernatural shape-shifting horse that haunts the rivers and streams of Scotland. The kelpie would disguise itself as a beautiful, peaceful horse in order to entice the weary traveler. Anyone who tried to ride the horse would be drowned as the horse plunged into the depths of the water.
When the kelpie appeared as a horse, it is often described as being white with a curly mane and tail. In some stories the mane is described as being sky blue. Some say that its skin was like that of a seal, smooth but cold to the touch.
The kelpie could also transform itself into a beautiful woman in order to entice men into their traps.
Among the ancient Celts, waterways such as rivers and streams were places of special spiritual power. In the pantheon of gods and spirits, many were associated with water. The traditional kelpie stories are found primarily in western Scotland.
In 563 CE, it was reported that the Christian missionary Colm Cille (later known as St. Columba) had been preaching to the pagan Scots when he came to the River Ness. Here he found the people burying a man who had been attacked by a kelpie in Loch Ness and had died from its wounds. The man’s boat was still floating in the loch, so St. Columba had one of his monks swim out to retrieve it. The monk, however, was attacked by the kelpie and St. Columba made the sign of the cross and commanded the creature to be gone. The kelpie released the monk and disappeared.
Demonic Possession
In many religious traditions, it is possible for demons or evil spirits to possess the body of a human, which results in culturally strange or inappropriate behavior. To cure demonic possession or to rid the person of the evil spirit, a priest, shaman, or medium may conduct a special ceremony.
Demons in Christian theology are supernatural entities and many people feel that demons have an ability to enter a person, taking control of their lives for evil or satanic purposes. Demonic possession is usually diagnosed on the basis of behavior, of things such as a woman who enjoys sex or who lives alone, people who talk to themselves, people having convulsions or fits, or speaking a strange language (although this may be appropriate in some Christian ceremonies). Some Christians feel that modern attitudes towards sex (including masturbation and homosexuality), pornography, drugs, alcohol, and immodest dress open the doorway for demonic possession.
Once a person has been possessed by a demon, according to some Christian theologians, an exorcism might be conducted to drive the demon out. This exorcism might include the use of sacred symbols, such as the cross and the Bible, special incantations, and magical elements such as holy water, sacred relics, and so on.
In shamanistic religious traditions, a shaman may go into a trance to determine the identity of the demon and the reason for the possession. Once this has been determined, an appropriate ceremony can be conducted to entice the demon to depart.
Christianity and Native Americans
The early Christian church taught that pagan religions, such as those of Native Americans, were focused on demon worship. Since demons were seen as being allied with Satan, pagan religions were therefore satanic. As Christian missionaries, often with the aid of well-armed soldiers, encountered pagan religions outside of Europe, they engaged in warfare, both spiritual and physical, against what they viewed as Satan’s army.
In 1523, the instructions given to the first 12 Spanish missionaries to New Spain (what is today Mexico and the American Southwest) told them that the Indians were under the control of Satan, captive to the vanity of idols, and they must be redeemed for Christianity. According to the instructions, the souls of New Spain were “being unlawfully reaped by the devil and the flesh, Christ does not enjoy the souls that he bought with his blood.”
Europeans, firm in their belief that all people descended from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, attempted to explain the presence of Indians in a land far away from where the Garden of Eden is supposed to have existed. In Historia natural y moral de las Indias Spanish Friar José de Acosta postulated that American Indians arrived in the New World by walking across a land bridge from Asia. According to historian José Rabasa, in his book Inventing America: Spanish Historiography and the Formation of Eurocentralism:
“But Acosta also faces the task of explaining how the descendants of Noah became the idolatrous barbarians of the New World. For this he provides a theory of their degeneration to a state of savagery and a posterior reinvention of culture under the tutelage of Satan.”
In 1634, the Christian theologian Joseph Mede sent letters to New England ministers suggesting that Indians had migrated to the Americas because the Devil had lead them there. In an article entitled “Satanizing the American Indian,” in the New England Quarterly, David Lovejoy explains:
“An increasing fear of losing his dominance in Europe as the Gospel spread had provoked the Devil to gather together hordes of barbarous northerners who had never heard of Christ. An empty land superior to their own, the Devil promised them, where they might thrive in a kingdom over which he would rule.”
In New England in the seventeenth century, the English colonists described the Pequot Indians as the “Children of Satan.” Thus their war against the Indians was seen as a religious war pitting good against evil, God against Satan. The Pequots were characterized as aggressive, bellicose, blasphemous, and satanic by the English colonists.
Writing about the Salish Indians and the Jesuits in Oregon Historical Quarterly, Elizabeth White writes:
“Catholicism represented the good, true, right, and divine; Native religion signified the bad, false, wrong, and diabolical. Priests of the Catholic faith conducted God’s work; medicine men of the Native religion worked for the Devil.”
Many missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant, believed that at some point in human history, Indians had been led away from God’s favor into the realm of moral darkness. According to historian Ronald Niezen, in his book Spirit Wars: Native North American Religions in the Age of Nation Building:
“The frequent concern of missionaries in North America with the pervasive influence of Satan was thus more than religious bigotry: it was based upon a version of degeneration theory, explaining the differences between Indians and Europeans as stemming from a savage fall from primitive religious grace.”
Not only were the shamans seen as being satanic, but all of their activities, including their healing ceremonies and use of healing herbs, were also seen as being a form of Satan worship.