in popular usage, malevolent spirit or force that is not a deity, but is capable of working evil, by supernatural means, upon human affairs. Among the ancient Greeks, the term (daimon) denoted a power intermediary between gods and humans capable variously of assuming a protective guardianship over people's destiny or acting as the minister of divine displeasure. The gradual differentiation between the benign and maleficent qualities of demons resulted in their classification into good spirits, or guardian angels, and evil spirits, or devils. Christian theology, developing earlier Hebraic ideas, created out of the benevolent category an elaborate hierarchy of angels and archangels and out of the malevolent one a host of fallen angels, or devils, marshaled under the leadership of Satan. In English versions of the Bible the term demon is translated as devil, and in the New Testament demon is identified with evil spirit. See ANGEL; DEVIL,.

Belief in evil spirits and their power to enter into and “possess” the person of human beings, rendering them demoniac, antedates classical and Christian cultures. Early peoples did not differentiate between the human and the divine; every physical manifestation of nature had its spiritual archetype, and the distinction between the two was merely the distinction between the visible and the invisible. Demon and ghost were used interchangeably to denote the spiritual form in which a dead person maintained the influence he or she had enjoyed when living. The conception of the demon was basically that of a being to whose human attributes were added any number of terrible and inscrutable qualities. Those who practiced the cult of ancestor worship and general worship of the dead were thereby enabled to attribute either good or bad fortune to the direct interference of these ghosts, or demons. These same spirits, they believed, not only affected the fortune of an individual but even entered into the physical body, causing frenzy as well as epilepsy and other diseases (see RELIGION,: Primitive Religions). A similar explanation of disease is found in the beginnings of the recorded history of Egypt and Babylonia; revealed there is evidence of a complicated demonism and system of possession, providing a spirit for every important organ of the body and every familiar illness. The belief in demonism spread from these two countries and directly or indirectly influenced all the nations of Europe and western Asia. It was a familiar conception among the ancient Hebrews and held an important place in the life of the Christian peoples until the end of the 18th century.

The necessity for curing possession by expelling the demon occurred even to early peoples and created the function of exorcist, or sorcerer. In early Christian times, energumens, or those demoniacally possessed, were grouped into a class under the care of a special order of clerical exorcists, and after the time of St. Augustine the rite of exorcism came to be administered to all infants before baptism. Exorcists still form one of the minor orders of the Roman Catholic church.

The Role of Demons in Muslim Theology.

One of the most systematic hierarchies of demons is that elaborated by the Muslim theologians. The jinns were created 2000 years before Adam but sinned against God and were degraded from their original high estate. The greatest among them was Iblis; he was cast out by Allah for refusing to worship Adam, who was made of earth, basing his refusal on his own origin in smokeless fire. Eminent among the evil jinns are the five sons of Iblis, who variously cause calamities, inspire evil and hatred, and preside over places in which illicit activities are conducted. Inferior demons include the ghūl, female cannibals who sometimes prostitute themselves to men in the desert.

The Role of Demons in Literature.

Demons exist in literature and folklore in an enormous number of forms, varying with peoples and cultures, but the term is generally applied only to those spirits capable of engaging in relations with the human race. They may be human or nonhuman, hostile or friendly, and devoted to one or many places or functions. They include the demons that cause nightmares; the Slavic vampires, or witch-ghosts, who suck the blood of living victims; succubi, who consort with men in their sleep, and incubi, who likewise consort with women and may impregnate them; the Roman genius, a guardian spirit that accompanies a person through life; the Norse troll, a one-eyed monster; the Hindu rakshasa, a malignant ogre who can assume any shape at will; the Celtic and Teutonic giants, who destroy humans and devour their flesh; the lamias of modern Greece, who take the form of a beautiful woman and suck the blood of children or devour them; and the fiery flying snakes of Russian folklore. In Christian mythology may be found fallen angels such as Lucifer and witches who owe allegiance to Satan.

Demons with specialized functions exist in all mythologies. Among them are the Japanese oni, who bring on the winds and live at the center of the storm; the Chinese air dragons, whose battles cause waterspouts; and the specters and phantoms that infest the sea, such as the kelpies of Scotland, who haunt pools to drown unwary travelers, and Sirens like the Lorelei of the Rhine, who by their comeliness or the beauty of their singing draw mariners to their ruin.

The doctrine or branch of learning concerned with demons is called demonology. See also SATANISM,; WITCHCRAFT,.

For further information on this topic, see the Bibliography, section 73. Angels and demons.