Devils & Demons

 

by John Zaffis

 

The History of Demonology is one that is quite unclear before 1160 B.C. But writings from 1170 B.C. states that Magic was first conceived in a city called Persida and that a Nomad named Klingsor traveled there and brought back with him the art of Magically effecting whatever he wished. When Klingsor found the strength of his true powers he began to brag about how sly and cunning he was to get women into bed, but that served him no justice after he got caught sleeping with the king's wife (The Queen). Klingsor was castrated and turned into a Eunuch and never again looked favorably upon man or woman again, he enjoyed seeing other people suffer and that was the only thing that gave him great joy. This was one of the first recorded examples of the weak becoming empowered by sacrificing themselves to the Devils and Demons in exchange for sweet revenge. We find the word Magic used above simply because any time you entered into the world of conjuring or summoning evil or dark forces that is what it was called, later through the centuries magic took on many forms like Elemental, White, Dark, Black, Etc and then Demonology was given its own Category.

 

I have been very fortunate to be able to study Demonology under Ed Warren for the last 26 years. I did not always believe that there were devils and demons until I started working on cases of a demonic nature. Like they say seeing is believing. When you see people tortured by biting, scratches, burn marks and being thrown around inside churches by unseen forces, you tend to change your mind. It is especially hard not to believe when you know these individuals are physically and mentally sane after reviewing their medicals reports. After working on many cases there are different levels of demons, in the next few paragraphs, I will explain the different things they are capable of. I dedicate this page to my uncle and aunt Ed and Lorraine Warren for all of the hard knocks, bumps, and knowledge that I had to learn to get where I am today.

 

Are demons merely emanations or influences, or powers? There are three attributes of personality. If it can be proven that something has all three of these attributes, then that something is a personality. These three attributes are intellect, emotion, and will. First, do demons have intellect? YES, and this is evident in many ways, demons know their own future doom, demons know that GOD is one, demons have a counterfeit system of doctrine and have the ability to communicate by speech. Second, do demons have emotions? YES, and this can be seen in two ways, first, they have the emotion of fierceness and anger and second, they have the emotion of fear. Third, do they have will? YES, this can be seen in three ways, they have the will to make requests, they have the will to obey commands and orders and have the will to leave a person, and seek a new place to live or return to the place where they came from. Do we know the origin of the Demons? This is a lengthy topic in and of itself. In the interest of space, we will summarize by noting that demons originated when they fell with Satan at the time of his fall. Do we know the number of Demons no we cannot determine their precise number, we can be certain that it is great indeed. For example, a legion of demons residing in one person can consist of anywhere from 3 to 1,000 demons. As to how many demons there are the answer is innumerable.

 

In a more specific sense, we should be aware of particular activities carried out by demons. For instance, a demon can control and inflict physical maladies like dumbness, muteness, deafness, epilepsy and personal injury. Demons can cause suicide, they can give great physical strength, they can possess animals, cause men to worship demons, promote false doctrine and oppose the spiritual growth of believers. They even attempt to separate believers from the love of God and to take control of all from within. But not all physical maladies are caused by demons. There is a distinction between physical problems caused by human frailty, illness and those caused by demons. Demonic control, sometimes inaccurately called demonic possession, must be defined. The Greek daimon izomai means "to be demonized" emphasizing control rather than possession, in fact, the Greek word for possession is never used in conjunction with demons. We must realize that the original Greek though commonly translated as possessed by a demon, implying ownership is much more accurately translated to mean controlled by a demon.

 

Thus emphasizes residency in that the demon is residing within a person. By way of definition then demonic control involves a demon residing in a person and exercising direct control over that person with a certain degree of derangement of the mind and or physical upset of the body. How can one tell if someone is or is not controlled by a demon from within? Before briefly mentioning specific symptoms, a word needs to be said in order to keep a balanced perspective. These symptoms of demonic control by and of themselves do not prove that demons are residing in a person, because there may be other problems that cause these very same symptoms. This balance must be kept and one must be careful not to go overboard in one direction or another. One extreme claims that there is no demonic activity today, the second extreme blames demons for virtually everything. Both extremes must be avoided. Now that you have a good idea of what a Demonologist is and what he is looking for by the way of a person being possessed. We catalog everything going on so when you encounter a Demon you will know as much about it for the next time you either encounter it or come across it.

 

Ghosts, Demons and Devils

 

By Brian McIntyre

 

Many people have wondered what the differences are between ghosts, demons, and devils. The answer is that there is no easy answer, there are general guidelines used when determining which is which but as always, there are always exceptions to the rule. After many years of research and investigations by countless people, there seems to be a set standard by which most paranormal entities have been classified. The following definitions and guidelines will describe their unique characteristics.

Human Spirit
 

This type of spirit is the most commonly reported and accepted by those who have had some type of encounter with one. It is often said that our thoughts, our personality, and essentially that which is our essence survives the process we label as death. Death instead of an end is actually a transition, a part of the process of life and spiritual attainment and advancement. Fundamentally, many theories from different cultures and belief systems adopt the notion that this energy that makes us all unique lives on after the body is long gone and decrepit.
Many individuals report seeing actual physical presences while others feel the presence or sense it. Others may witness the slamming of doors, appearances of spirit or energy in photos, or disembodied voices caught on tape recordings whose vocalizations, when tested, sometimes reside on a frequency which no human on this plane can duplicate vocally. No matter how it manifests you still have a visitor. This is not to say that all locations are haunted, but many homes, business, parks, cemeteries, woodlands, and actually anywhere that exists has the possibility of a haunting.
 

Human spirit is often thought to be attracted to certain individuals because of their sensitivity, or psychic abilities, and also due to the energy field around the body: the human aura.
Human spirit also tends to reside in areas which were familiar and comfortable to them in life.Also they may reside in the vicinity of a tragedy in which they were involved with. With human spirit the possibilities are endless and each case is completely circumstantial based on the actual evidence. With this type of phenomena there can be fright because it is indeed something we do not wholly understand or accept, but the chances of real harm are far less than spiritual beings which are stronger and part of a different categorization.

The Demonic Spirit

Demonology is for the most part considered, especially in such times where science rules modern man, an unconventional science or area of study. Essentially it is a legit field which encompasses many endeavors to explain what most consider to be a myth. By the categorization, study, and actual witness to phenomena which is considered diabolical, one who embarks in this field tries to understand the nature of these energies which have intelligence, the ability to interact on this plane of existence, and the abilities to coerceman into his own downfall.
In referring to the demonic, many visions come to mind. Fiery monsters from some hellish abyss tend to fill the mind of those who have seen their supposed likeness in modern media-based depictions. In regards to investigativework such horrid visions are a complete rarity. When the demonic lashes out it is usually in complete invisibility. The best way to frighten is to lash out almost undetected. If a visual does occur it may be in a completely anonymous form. Often dark black, wispy shapes are seen in cases where the demonic are concerned. It relies on this anonymity to conceal it’s identity. It’s main strength is the ability to conceal itself. By causing disbelief, confusion, and a general consensus of harmlessness, the demonic spirit operates best and at it’s full strength.
The demonic will try to scare and grab a foothold whereinfestation is concerned. This stages precedes encroachment, the stage where permission was granted either willingly or unwillingly for the spirit or spirits to take hold. This stage is much like phenomena caused by human spirit. Attention grabbers and minor scare tactics will arise to establish a fuel source. That fuel the very fear one throws off when experiencing that which they do not understand. It needs to be recognized to gain the ability to grow in intensity and needs it’s fuel composed of fear and basic human weaknesses.

 

Next, if the progression continues, oppression will set in. This stage is far greater than that of infestation. Now a mental barrage of temptation, terrible dreams, and fear may consume the person who is experiencing the assault of senses. Constant sleep depravation may be used as well to break down the targeted individual or individuals. The demonic knows the weaknesses of those who it attacks, using these weaknesses to continue to gain muscle and potency. Also the physical phenomena will increase in both duration and intensity. Larger, heavier objects will move, hard poundings may occur, actual biting and scratching may occur as part of the debasing physical assaults on the intended victim. Oppression may take weeks, months, or even years, and there is no guarantee if the barrage will work so the struggle often becomes more and more intense. Therefore, by slithering about, stalking the essence of the individual, it can be very constant and intensify as resistance is applied. There is no time in the spirit world, these sinister and cunning spirits trying to execute the most intelligent plan of attack to dominate and conquer the will of that person. It is this stage where the demonic is setting the person up for the ultimate goal and desire: possession.

 

Devils

Devils. The term is used to describe those negative spiritual beings which are higher up on the scale pertaining to ability. By categorical means, this spirit is essentially much more powerful, intelligent, and even more menacing and cunning. Where this callous spirit is concerned huge objects may be moved, the manipulation of blessed objects may occur, the materialization of matter, teleportation,levitations of humans and objects, and more vile behavior which transcends basic spirit activity.
These are in essence the commanders of the demonic militia. They will step in and take charge if need be and are more repulsive and sacrilegious than many can even imagine. Thefear God because of their pride, the reason why they are shrouded in darkness to begin with.
Whether it is a demon or a higher-elevated monger of hate, one thing is for sure. You still have a problem to deal with. Few will come face to face with these satanic spirits, but those who have cannot doubt their existence.

 

Do spirits really exist?

 

The answer to a question such as this depends solely on who you ask. The simple answer is YES, spirits do exist. We may never truly understand why although very good theories are prominent.

 

There are those who believe that the existence of spirits is only in the imagination of people. These people will tend to say that if a particular person wants to see a ghost badly enough, they WILL see a ghost... what they are actually saying is people make up their own ghosts. Many skeptics will explain away photographic evidence as dust particles, water spots, film or processing defects or the like. Sometimes these explanations are even more outlandish and far-fetched than the fact that they actually may be Images of spirits. Although skeptics' jobs are to disprove most, if not all evidence of "afterlife", much can be learned by their skepticism. We all must question the authenticity of evidence gathered, even if that evidence was taken by ourselves. Always look for the natural causes before determining evidence as being paranormal.

 

There will always be a controversy between people and organizations as to the true nature of what we are experiencing, in the paranormal way of thinking. There are both people and organizations that believe that every case encountered is demonic or diabolical. In reality, the odds of encountering preternatural entities are much lower than experiencing human spirits. Of course, demonic or diabolical occurrences are much more popular to the public and there are people who will explain most cases as being preternatural in nature for popularity sake.

On the opposite end of the coin are the people who believe that the devil and/or demons do not exist. We have encountered many religious authorities who, although live the life of religion, insist that there is no such thing as evil existing on earth. There are also people who believe the same ideas. We must always remember that where there is good, there is evil. Where there are miracles, there are possessions. Where there are Angelic visits, there are demonic and diabolical infestations. If we close our eyes to the negative side of life and death, we become vulnerable to its influence.

 

The key point is that spirits do exist. Not only do good human spirits roam the earth, bad human spirits do also. In many occasions, where there are human spirits, you may likely have inhuman spirits who are out to torment those earthbound human spirits. Lastly, Angelic spirits are also present, although usually not encountered as often as the others.