Have you ever talked to a demon?

[creepyoak]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

I think I mentioned this already but pretty much what Maflick said. The word is Greek in origin and was used in Greek translations of the Bible. And because many Christians beleive that anything that is not YHVH is evil then the term came to mean evil spirit.

But I don't understand why Christians believe so? I mean what reasons did they have to change everything? If it's the matter of praying to only one spirit, they also have Mary and angels and a lot of saints, why didn't they just say that demons are nice God-helpers and we can pray to them if we like? It would be a lot easier for people to accept Christianity if they could continue praying to their previous gods.

[Rae'ya]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

If we consider two meanings of the word "demon" - the Christian sense = demon as a malicious spirit, and the Hellenic sense = demon is a spirit in general (correct me if I'm wrong),

then how come this word changed its original sense??

I think I mentioned this already but pretty much what Maflick said. The word is Greek in origin and was used in Greek translations of the Bible. And because many Christians beleive that anything that is not YHVH is evil then the term came to mean evil spirit.

[Malflick]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

Probably because the early Christians co-opted most things that were "pagan" and turned them into something "evil" if they couldn't adopt them and hide them in plain sight. There are probably other linguistic and historical reasons as well, but I'd be surprised if that isn't the biggest one. Vilifying something the other guy disagrees with a relatively lazy but effective way to "turn the tide" in one's favor over time.

Its more Christians co-opting the word. Demon starts appearing when the books are written in Greek, until then the word is never used, but English translations often just steam roll and use "Demon" generically for everything. The Greek writers didn't want to use the hebrew words, so they used the closest synonym they could.

[thalassa]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

Guys, thank all of you for your answers, it's an interesting discussion going on!


I have another question,

if we consider two meanings of the word "demon" - the Christian sense = demon as a malicious spirit, and the Hellenic sense = demon is a spirit in general (correct me if I'm wrong),

then how come this word changed its original sense??

Probably because the early Christians co-opted most things that were "pagan" and turned them into something "evil" if they couldn't adopt them and hide them in plain sight. There are probably other linguistic and historical reasons as well, but I'd be surprised if that isn't the biggest one. Vilifying something the other guy disagrees with a relatively lazy but effective way to "turn the tide" in one's favor over time.

[anubisa]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

No. I've never talked to a demon because I have heard that demons are dangerous creatures. I have used a ouija board (think that is how you spell it) before, but never contacted one. I have only contacted gods and goddesses.

[creepyoak]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

Guys, thank all of you for your answers, it's an interesting discussion going on!


I have another question,

if we consider two meanings of the word "demon" - the Christian sense = demon as a malicious spirit, and the Hellenic sense = demon is a spirit in general (correct me if I'm wrong),

then how come this word changed its original sense??

[ThorsSon]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

Hello, guys!

Hello

I'm a newcomer and I want to ask you some questions about demons.

OK

Have you ever talked to one of them?

no

Were you afraid?

n/a

Is it dangerous?

no

And do you actually believe in them,

no

maybe I came on the wrong forum?

no, you didn't, you came to one of the best places on the Internet... with a diversity of members with a diversity of beliefs and experiences.

Many thanks for considering my question!

You're welcome.

[Aeran]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

I think so. Look at it this way... if you're a deity sitting over there in the Otherworlds tending to your business, and at any given moment you've got something like fifty two thousand people prattling away trying to get your attention, wouldn't you develop an automatic interface that let you get on with your day? Wouldn't you rather divide your conscious attention between the three hundred of your closest, most devoted followers than try to give fifty two thousand people personal attention when three quarters of them really only want you because it's Beltane and you're associated with fertility?

The thing is, the Divine Answering Machine is a part of the deity. It's not like some external answering service that is tended by a third party... it is actually the deity, it's just a small automatic part that is communicating with you while their main attention is elsewhere.

I dunno, guess it's a question of different perspective. It's funny cause I remember once, years back as a kid when I first became interested in magic, wondering what would happen if two people summoned the same spirit at the same time... But these days I see gods, at least, in a a more imminent way. I figure that something like a deity shouldn't need to divide it's consciousness to give more or less attention to certain people, purely by merit of what it is, that a deity would have a vast enough consciousness to be able to be able to pay attention to any worshipers and petitioners simultaneously. Same way that I don't need to choose between typing this post and digesting the croissant I just ate but on a vaster scale. Though that seems a pretty poor analogy. But I imagine that the consciousness of a god of war would be directed wherever battle is taking place, that a god of fertility would be present in some small way wherever reproduction is going on.

I think you're probably right that the more devoted followers would get more attention, but I have a hard time imagining Odin screening his calls. Instead it seems more like it'd be a 'whoever has the widest pipes gets more water situation,' with the pipes in this analogy being your relationship to the deity. You'd grow closer to them on a mental level as you integrate them into your lives, and then on an energetic level every time you work with and come into contact with them, and that would naturally allow greater and clearer contact in the future.


I do wonder about some spirits though. Especially local nature spirits or the dead. Seems that some of them would have a narrower scale.

[monsno_leedra]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

Hello, guys!

I'm a newcomer and I want to ask you some questions about demons.

Have you ever talked to one of them? Were you afraid? Is it dangerous? And do you actually believe in them, maybe I came on the wrong forum?

Many thanks for considering my question!

If you are using the Christian notion of demons being some sort of evil incarnation, then no I have not spoken to any. However, if your using daemon / daimon in the Hellenic concept of a Spirit that can be used for inspiration whether it be via so called negative or positive interactions then the answer is yes. Especially so in the consideration of the Chaldean aspect of Hecate / Hekate in which she would dispatch such daemons to inspire or punish humanity for some reason.

[Rae'ya]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

Do you ever worry about an entity latching onto you? Becoming more interested in you than you would like, etc? Do you use protection against that sort of thing, or just not believe in it? If you believe that there's an equal chance of good vs bad or a mixture thereof, then how do you protect yourself from entities that are malicious? How do you feel safe, I guess?

Do I worry about it? No. But that's because I take the proper precautions and practice good spiritual hygiene. Astral nasties and opportunistic entities are out there... but they're relatively easy to protect against if you are careful.

I have good spiritual hygiene, which means that I do aura checks regularly and try to make sure that I have a basic shield going most of the time. I do the majority of my practice in our ritual room, which is in a constant state of sacred space... think a permanent Circle surrounding the entire room and that's what it's like in there... you can feel it the second you walk in there, and even visitors treat the room with instinctive respect. If I do something significant outside of the ritual room then I throw up some extra wards. I also have some spiritual house hygiene too... where there are basic shields as a part of the house and property boundaries. A well constructed ward or shield goes a long way, but you have to be careful not to make big, flashy, over-the-top shields, or walk around wearing the spiritual equivalent of a full suit of armor... that can attract unwanted attention.

The main thing you can do to protect against opportunistic entities is to be careful how you attempt communication. I never open myself up to communication... well ever really lol. When I reach out to a deity (and I include Demons as deities), I have a very specific purpose in mind, as well as using sigils as a sort of direct line straight to the Demon. Sitting down and inviting 'anyone who wants to help' to communicate with you is asking for trouble.

It also helps to have some spirits on your side. Spirit guides, helpers, servitors or familiars can help run interference and keep out the nasties. Having a patron also helps, though if they're anything like mine they may be more inclined to say 'do it yourself, you're capable' and only step in if there's an emergency. It also helps to have a deity or significant spirit who can introduce you to who you want to talk to, so that you go straight to the source. Once you are talking to the Real Deal it's a lot harder for the opportunistic entities to trick you.

And the last thing is simply that I know what to do if I get an attachment. I've had astral nasties latch on to me before, but I've gotten rid of them pretty quickly. Granted, I've never had anything big and terrible and malevolent latch onto me, but that's possibly just because I've never actually put myself in the situation to be taken in by one. It's also possible that I'm just not an easy target, and so they don't tend to bother trying.

But would a spiritual entity, let alone a deity, need something like this? It seems to me that, as they operate outside of physical reality, such beings wouldn't be bound by the mechanics of space and time. At least to a certain degree, anyway.

I think so. Look at it this way... if you're a deity sitting over there in the Otherworlds tending to your business, and at any given moment you've got something like fifty two thousand people prattling away trying to get your attention, wouldn't you develop an automatic interface that let you get on with your day? Wouldn't you rather divide your conscious attention between the three hundred of your closest, most devoted followers than try to give fifty two thousand people personal attention when three quarters of them really only want you because it's Beltane and you're associated with fertility?

The thing is, the Divine Answering Machine is a part of the deity. It's not like some external answering service that is tended by a third party... it is actually the deity, it's just a small automatic part that is communicating with you while their main attention is elsewhere.

[Aeran]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

Basically, the Divine Answering Machine is an automatic human-deity interface that picks up some of the contact that we have with deities. I'm a hard polytheist and I tend to feel that most deities have better things to do than jump to our every whim. I think they have this automatic interface that means they can interact with us on a fairly superficial level while continuing on their 'more important things'. The DAM is pretty complex... but basically it accepts offerings, gives out rote answers, sends a bit of the deity's energy your way, or gives out the 'thanks, but no thanks' response.

I can't remember where I first saw it called the Divine Answering Machine... online or in a book somewhere... it's not my term, but when I first saw it I had one of those 'ping' moments. You know... that moment where you see or hear something and it's like getting hit over the head with a spiritual two by four. You get this enormous feeling of "THIS... right here... THIS". I had this concept in the back of my head, but didn't have a name for it, and then wham... there it was. I've seen the term used by lots of people since then.

Personally, I think that most of the temporary 'for this spell only' interactions that we have with deities are really a DAM... which is not to lessen the experience at all... some people don't even get the DAM, just silence. I've gotten the DAM from several Demons, even while in the same working a different Demon has given me personal attention. There's... a difference to the attention that you get. The depth and quality is different, and even though you get a successful piece of magick out of it (and you still have to make payment), there's just something a bit... 'more' when you have personal attention. I also got the DAM from Skuld once, which was a bit of a shock. But at that particular time I was being a bit slack and it was Her way of telling me to lift my game, because if I wasn't going to put in the effort why should She. Needless to say I learned my lesson lol.

Sometimes it's hard, because when you talk about the Divine Answering Machine, some people get offended and feel like you're minimising their experience or relationship with the deities. It's not like that. It's just that they are bigger than us and have more important things to do. So they have an automatic answering service that gives you what you need, while reserving the personal attention for those who have a more ongoing, regular, committed relationship with them.

But would a spiritual entity, let alone a deity, need something like this? It seems to me that, as they operate outside of physical reality, such beings wouldn't be bound by the mechanics of space and time. At least to a certain degree, anyway.

As to the question at hand, nope. But I had an encounter with what I'm fairly sure was the ghost of my recently deceased friend (I actually ended up accidentally banishing him :/ felt kind of rude when I realized what I'd done).

[axbancroft]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

As a Satanist, I speak with a lot of demons. every one I have spoken to thus far has been friendly. Also if you think of a horned thing with red eyes when you hear demon, that is really not what they look like. Thats some hollywood type stuff.

[Shahaku]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

lol, for you, Rae'ya. I didn't think it was too far out of topic, though anyone who practices these beliefs, I'd be interested in their answer too.

[Rae'ya]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

Do you ever worry about an entity latching onto you? Becoming more interested in you than you would like, etc? Do you use protection against that sort of thing, or just not believe in it? If you believe that there's an equal chance of good vs bad or a mixture thereof, then how do you protect yourself from entities that are malicious? How do you feel safe, I guess?

Is this question for me or the OP?

Just checking rather than jumping in and answering something that wasn't meant for me lol

[Shahaku]

Re: Have you ever talked to a demon?

Do you ever worry about an entity latching onto you? Becoming more interested in you than you would like, etc? Do you use protection against that sort of thing, or just not believe in it? If you believe that there's an equal chance of good vs bad or a mixture thereof, then how do you protect yourself from entities that are malicious? How do you feel safe, I guess?