Demons are Referred to Throughout History Hey look at that little demon. The word demon seems to be embedded in human language. Demons are spoken about not only in the bible, but referred to throughout history. There was even an 'Isles of Demons' that was charted in 1507. The location was somewhere around Newfoundland. A few hundred years later you couldn't find any map which had them listed anymore. Perhaps the demons didn't like the idea their home was made so public? Who was it that lived on these islands or should I say what? According to legend it was monsters and demons whose sole purpose was to torture and attack humans. According to some stories, several people were banished to the islands. That must have been nice. Isn’t it strange if demons existed, they would want to live on a remote group of islands, rather than in a heavily populated human area? Many stories were written about someone who made a pact with the ultimate demon, the devil, to gain riches or fame and in return had to give him their soul at the time of their death. Is there any truth to any of these stories? There is supposed to be a certain way to make this request and it is outlined in the Formicarius which was written in 1435. Among some of the things that must be done is to renounce God in a church on Sunday and have others with you who have already done this. There are certain things you must consume that are too gruesome to go into in a family oriented magazine. There are also rules which are to be followed. Supposedly in turn the devil might grant you wealth or power for a limited time. Demons are considered to be bad angels. Most of the world's religions recognize the presence of demons. Not everyone however believes they were angels at one time. Satan was God's favorite, but his pride caused him to challenge God and he was cast out and took one third of all the angels with him or so it is said. Some of these angels took wives that were human and had offspring. It is said this was one of the reasons why God caused the flood only Noah and his family survived. He wanted to wipe out all the children and descendants of the fallen angels. The bible mentions the fact a man possessed with demons was cured by Jesus who cast the many demons into a heard of pigs which jumped over a cliff. Christian missionaries in early centuries in Greco-Roman times complained the Gentiles were worshiping gods that were really demons. Mesopotamia depicted demons as lion men who had the body of a lion, the head of a man with long ears and birds’ feet and human arms and hands. It is believed he was associated with Nergal in Babylonian times. Nergal was the god of the underworld and the lion man was often depicted holding a human upside down by the leg. This image changed when the creature became benevolent during the Neo-Assyrian and Babylonian periods. It does seem ancient people would change their ideas about demons from time to time. When angels had children with human wives they were called Nephilim and it is said they were giants. As time marched ever onward, demons became universally known as evil spirits. Many people were accused of evil deeds and witchcraft and accused of being in league with the devil or of being possessed by demons. We tend to think of this happening because the people of that time were uneducated and backward. After all, just look at the practice for determining if a person was innocent of practicing witchcraft. They would throw the person into the lake with their legs and hands tied and sometimes weighted down. If the person didn't float and sunk to the bottom, they were innocent. I wonder what genius thought this test up? It’s sort of, if you win you lose, or if you lose you lose. Since we have decided these things took place because the people were backward, let’s look at more recent history concerning demons. The Catholic Church along with most other churches still practices exorcisms. Exorcisms are religious rites which are used to drive demons and other evil spirits from a body. One of the more famous cases took place in the 1940s in Maryland. It was said that the victim, a boy, was floating over his bed, the voices of many different demons were coming from inside him and there was different types of demonic activity. A priest was called in to rid the boy of the demons. The boy was saved but not without some really turbulent activities. It is said an exorcism can be very dangerous for a priest at times. Most people who believe demons are fallen angels believe they have the power to mislead. They believe demons can come to you with advice that is not only incorrect, but might send you down the path of evil. The word angel means messenger and it is believed this is what they do.
Photo Source: Ken So, do demons really exist? Many will say they do. Could it be possible insanity is mistaken for demonic acts? Maybe, but you don't see too many insane people floating around in the air who have several voices coming from them at once while they use projectile vomiting as a weapon. As a matter of fact, you just don't see much of this type of thing to start with, thank goodness. Certain places that are classified as haunted, are classified as being haunted by demons. The Amityville Horror House is said to contain demons although many think this is a hoax. I have been there and was even chased off the street by the home owner because I was taking photos of the outside. I was on a public sidewalk, but decided to go since the owner was so agitated. The street sign had been changed to a different name and the house number changed. In closing, if there are demons and exorcisms then it follows that we don't find all the demons. What about the ones that get away? Could it be some famous people in our past were possessed by demons? Could there have been a demon in someone like Adolph Hitler or Stalin? That might account for the tremendous numbers of people whose deaths they were responsible for, even if indirectly. So, if you ever wondered why someone seemed to be so very evil and anti-person, maybe it wasn't their fault, maybe the devil made them do it.
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