The History of Demons

Bibliography:
Archie Wright, “Some Observations of Philo’s “De Gigantibus” and Evil Spirits in Second Temple Judaism,” Journal for the Study of Judaism in the Persian, Hellenistic, and Roman Period, Vol. 36, No. 4 (2005, 471-488.

Dale Martin, “When Did Angels Become Demons?” Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 129, No 4 (Winter 2010), 657-677.

David Frankfurter, “Master-Demons, Local Spirits, and Demonology in the Roman Mediterranean World: An Afterword to Rita Lucarelli,” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 11 (2011), 126-131.

[brucenatelee]

Moral of the story: poor translation and biased beliefs leads to mistranslation of what things are.

[zachariahpoltergeist]

Don't forget, they also return emails sent to incorrect addresses.

[kaelang]

Daimons, fae, djinn, youkai, yaoguai

It's amazing how so many cultures have the same type of chaotic neutral beings

[tonyzheng]

RPG developers: Daimon? Cool, another monster type

[Pratchettgaiman]

"Meeting with your own daimon" sounds like the title of a New Agey self help book...

[falsebeliever]

As an atheist looking to learn more about religion without being preached to, I absolutely love this channel.

[lnsflare]

Is it just me, or has contemporary mainstream Christianity basically thrown away all sense of nuance that they used to have, resulting in a notably more boring and philosophically clunky cosmology than their forebears used to preach?

[kirknay]

So Daimons were the western equivalent of Yokai and lesser Kami? Cool!

[princesssshortie]

Daimons are a ghoul's best friend.

[dereksyroka]

So Princess Elsa is a daimon, got it.

[tristandukes]

You can definitely see how ancient mythology, especially greek lore influenced the dæmons from His Dark Materials

[josephdanieljirehdimacali]

Just like in most culture. Our Filipino cultures was changed drastically and demonised when Christianity was introduced. Example are lesser gods are recategorized as demons. While the main god Bathala was recategorized as Christian God. While diwatas which is in our cultures fairy are recatogarized as ghost called White ladies and our religous healers called Babaylan are recategorized as Aswang (demon possess beings that eat flesh mostly eating unborn Baby in the womb of the mother.) It is interesting when a new belief is introduce the older belief is either repurposed positively or negatively to fit ones religous narrative.

[mythfreak]

Pazuzu, you ungrateful gargoyle! I put you through college, and this is how you repay me?
(Edited) But seriously, this is a very interesting topic of the reinterpretation of daimon to demon by Christianity. I'm reminded of my own culture (Malay-Indonesian), where our variety of ghosts and spirits, through Islamic influences, have been re-categorised into jinns or syaitan (devils).

[bebeemiller]

I just want an objective and historical approach to religion, it’s so fascinating. I love this man.

[thescoobymike]

Crazy how my fear of demons growing up was all because people 2000 years ago got some things lost in translation and semantics

[daniellogan-scott]

For me, I find it helpful to see the Classical daimons as similar to the Shinto Kami. They seem to be describing the same concept despite being two unconnected cultures. In modern practice, it's like in Jurassic Park using frog DNA to fill the gaps. In this instance, Shinto is the living frog DNA and Classical paganism is the dinosaur DNA being recreated. Also, the goal of Greek philosophy is eudaimonia often translated as "happiness" or "flourishing", but literally means "good spirit".

[daregularperson]

It seems like the translation from “daimon” to “demon” occurred because of how apparently morally divided Judaism and Christianity is (between good and evil) vs. how morally mixed the Greco-Roman gods and goddesses were.

[Howtard]

I was a huge fan of His Dark Materials growing up and it's fascinating hearing the inspiration for much of the concept of daemons and a part of one's soul you can talk to. Great video as always!

[DarklightTarot]

Ive done alot of studying over the last few decades and you are the most accurate with your information considering my own channelings directly to texts modern and ancient. Thankyou. I am a big fan of your channel now that I've found you. I'll be going to have a look at the channel you recommended now. Thanks again!

[emiel]

Rad! My master's thesis was actually on daimones in Egyptian magical papyri from the fourth and fifth century. I looked at how different types of daimones changed as Christian beliefs spread throughout Egypt. Nekydaimones (corpse-daimons), for instance, are hardly mentioned in fifth century defixiones and the like. I found that nekydaimones were always something the practitioner should fear. They have to be adjured, forced, threatened etc., often combined with pleas to not hurt the practitioner. A maleficent force which only those who possess certain skills, religious experts, have the power to redirect.
Hopefully the nazar in the background will protect you from any evil daimones or demons :)