Demonkin And Demonology

A place to get demon and demonkin information beyond a list of random demon names and edgy aesthetics.

[laughicate]

Journals, articles, books & texts, on folklore, mythology, occult, and related -to- general anthropology, history, archaeology. 

Some good and/or interesting (or hokey) ‘examples’ included for most resources. tryin to organize & share stuff that was floating around onenote.

Journals (open access) – Folklore, Occult, etc

Culutural Analysis - folklore, popular culture, anthropology – The Mythical Ghoul in Arabic Culture

Folklore - folklore, anthropology, archaeology – The Making of a Bewitchment Narrative, Grecian Riddle Jokes

Incantatio - journal on charms, charmers, and charming – Verbal Charms from a 17th Century Manuscript

Oral Tradition – Jewish Folk Literature, Noises of Battle in Old English Poetry

Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics – Nani Fairtyales about the Cruel Bride, Energy as the Mediator between Natural and Supernatural Realms

International Journal of Intangible Heritage 

Studia Mythologica Slavica (many articles not English) – Dragon and Hero, Fertility Rites in the Raining Cave, The Grateful Wolf and Venetic Horses in Strabo’s Geography

Folklorica - Slavic & Eastern European folklore association – Ritual: The Role of Plant Characteristics in Slavic Folk Medicine, Animal Magic

Esoterica - The Journal of Esoteric Studies – The Curious Case of Hermetic Graffiti in Valladolid Cathedral 

The Esoteric Quarterly

Mythological Studies Journal

Luvah - Journal of the Creative Imagination – A More Poetical Character Than Satan

Transpersonal Studies – Shamanic Cosmology as an Evolutionary Neurocognitive Epistemology, Dreamscapes

Beyond Borderlands  – tumblr

Paranthropology

GOLEM - Journal of Religion and Monsters – The Religious Functions of Pokemon, Anti-Semitism and Vampires in British Popular Culture 1875-1914

Correspondences - Online Journal for the Academic Study of Western Esotericism – Kriegsmann’s Philological Quest for Ancient Wisdom 

– History, Archaeology

Adoranten - pre-historic rock art

Chitrolekha - India art & design history – Gomira Dance Mask

Silk Road – Centaurs on the Silk Road: Hellenistic Textiles in Western China

Sino-Platonic - East Asian languages and civilizations – Discursive Weaving Women in Chinese and Greek Traditions

MELA Notes - Middle East Librarians Association

Didaskalia - Journal for Ancient Performance

Ancient Narrative - Greek, Roman, Jewish novelistic traditions – The Construction of the Real and the Ideal in the Ancient Novel

Akroterion - Greek, Roman – The Deer Hunter: A Portrait of Aeneas

Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies  – Erotic and Separation Spells, The Ancients’ One-Horned Ass

Roman Legal Tradition - medieval civil law – Between Slavery and Freedom 

Phronimon - South African society for Greek Philosophy and the Humanities – Special Issue vol. 13 #2, Greek philosophy in dialogue with African+ philosophy

The Heroic Age - Early medieval Northwestern Europe – Icelandic Sword in the Stone

Peregrinations - Medieval Art and Architecture – Special Issue vol. 4 #1, Mappings 

Tiresas - Medieval and Classical – Sexuality in the Natural and Demonic Magic of the Middle Ages

Essays in Medieval Studies  – The Female Spell-caster in Middle English Romances, The Sweet Song of Satan

Hortulus - Medieval studies – Courtliness & the Deployment of Sodomy in 12th-Century Histories of Britain, Monsters & Monstrosities issue, Magic & Witchcraft issue

Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU

Medieval Archaeology – Divided and Galleried Hall-Houses, The Hall of the Knights Templar at Temple Balsall

Medieval Feminist Forum  – multiculturalism issue; Gender, Skin Color and the Power of Place … Romance of Moriaen, Writing Novels About Medieval Women for Modern Readers, Amazons & Guerilleres

Quidditas - medieval and renaissance 

Medieval Warfare

The Viking Society - ridiculous amount of articles from 1895-2011

Journals (limited free/sub/institution access)

Al-Masaq - Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean – Piracy as Statecraft: The Policies of Taifa of Denia, free issue

Mythical Creatures of Europe - article + map

Folklore - limited free access – Volume 122 #3, On the Ambiguity of Elves

Digital Philology -  a journal of medieval cultures – Saracens & Race in Roman de la Rose Iconography

Pomegranate - International Journal for Pagan Studies

Transcultural Psychiatry

European Journal of English Studies  – Myths East of Venice issue, Esotericism issue

Books, Texts, Images etc. – Folklore, Occult etc.

Magical Gem Database - Greek/Egyptian gems & talismans [x] [x]

Biblioteca Aracana - (mostly) Greek pagan history, rituals, poetry etc. – Greater Tool Consecration, The Yew-Demon

Curse Tablets from Roman Britain - [x]

The Gnostic Society Library – The Corpus Hermeticum, Hymn of the Robe of Glory

Grimoar - vast occult text library – Grimoires, Greek & Roman Necromancy, Queer Theology, Ancient Christian Magic

Internet Sacred Text Archive - religion, occult, folklore, etc. ancient texts

Verse and Transmutation - A Corpus of Middle English Alchemical Poetry

– History

The Internet Classics Archive - mainly Greco-Roman, some Persian & Chinese translated texts

Bodleian Oriental Manuscript Collection - [x] [x] [x]

Virtual Magic Bowl Archive - Jewish-Aramaic incantation bowl text and images [x] [x] 

Vindolanda Tablets - images and translations of tablets from 1st & 2nd c. [x]

Corsair - online catalog of the Piedmont Morgan library (manuscripts) [x] [x]

Beinecke rare book & manuscripts  – Wagstaff miscellany, al-Qur'ān–1813

LUNA - tonnes from Byzantine manuscripts to Arabic cartography

Maps on the web - Oxford Library [x] [x] [x]

Bodleian Library manuscripts - photographs of 11th-17th c. manuscripts – Treatises on Heraldry, The Worcester Fragments (polyphonic music), 12 c. misc medical and herbal texts

Early Manuscripts at Oxford U - very high quality photographs – (view through bottom left) Military texts by Athenaeus Mechanicus 16th c. [x] [x], MS Douce 195 Roman de la Rose [x] [x]

Trinity College digital manuscript library  – Mathematica Medica, 15th c.

eTOME - primary sources about Celtic peoples

Websites, Blogs – Folklore, Occult etc.

Demonthings - Ancient Egyptian Demonology Project 

Invocatio - (mostly) western esotericism

Heterodoxology - history, esotericism, science – Religion in the Age of Cyborgs

The Recipes Project - food, magic, science, medicine – The Medieval Invisible Man (invisibility recipes)

Morbid Anatomy - museum/library in Brooklyn

– History 

Islamic Philosophy Online - tonnes of texts, articles, links, utilities, this belongs in every section; mostly English

Medicina Antiqua - Graeco-Roman medicine

History of the Ancient World - news and resources – The So-called Galatae, Gauls, Celts in Early Hellenistic Balkans; Maidens, Matrons Magicians: Women & Personal Ritual Power in Late Antique Egypt

Διοτίμα - Women & Gender in Antiquity

Bodleian Library Exhibitions Online – Khusraw & Shirin, Hebrew Manuscripts as a Meeting-Place of Cultures

Medievalists – folk studies, witchcraft, mythology, science tags

Atlas Obscura – Bats and Vampiric Lore of Pére Lachaise Cemetery 

[its-spooky-bitch]

The Dullahan is a creature from Irish mythology described as a headless horseman. The dullahan is said to ride on a black horse and carries his head under his arm. Although the dullahan is typically described as male, female dullahan have also been written about. The creature is described as having flesh with the consistency of moldy cheese, eyes constantly scanning the countryside and a whip made of human vertebrae. If the dullahan calls out the name of an individual the one called by the dullahan will drop dead instantly. Other versions say that it will throw a bucket of blood at their target. To protect oneself from a dullahan a person would have to carry gold on them at all times.

[pagan-book-club]

Demon Books

These are the books we currently have cataloged on demons, demonology, demonolatry, and Goetia. Feel free to suggest more books or add your thoughts on any of these!

The Book of Solomon’s Magic by Carroll “Poke” Runyon

Free PDF

Daemonolatry Goetia by S. Connolly

Free PDF

Connolly has a number of other books on demonolatry, too

The Dictionary of Demons by Michelle Balanger

Includes some entities that are arguably not “demons,” but good for quick reference.

The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonoloy by Rosemary Ellen Guiley

The Grand Grimoire

Free PDF

The Lesser Key of Solomon by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley

Free PDF

Luciferian Goetia by Michael Ford

Free PDF

The Malleus Maleficarum by Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger

Free PDF

Modern Demonolatry by S. Connolly

Free PDF

Psuedomonarchia Daemonum by Johann Weyer

Free

[its-spooky-bitch]

In 1931 Voirrey Irving discovered an odd creature near her parents farmhouse on the Isle of Man. The creature began mimicking the animal noises and then eventually the creature began to speak and said its name was Gef. The creature said it was a mongoose that was born in New Delhi India in 1852. The creature began to warn the Irving’s of mice and dogs that would approach the property and it eventually began to talk non stop. Gef initially claimed to be a mongoose and took the shape of one, but according to the Irving’s he stated that he was a freak with hands and feet he also told them that if they saw him they would faint or turn to stone or salt. Gef began talking about how he had powers and was the “eighth wonder of the world” and an “earthbound spirit”. Gef made himself known by making knocking noises and leaving behind hair and footprints. Gef stayed with the Irving’s and was regularly fed biscuits, and would travel around the island. Psychic investigators looked into the case and concluded that Gef must be some kind of poltergeist. However, paw prints and hair attributed to Gef came from the family dog. Others have speculated that Gef was an alternate personality of Jim Irving. There is no evidence that Jim had DID and to this day people believe that Jim’s daughter Voirrey was a talented voice actrsss and made the voices up. This would explain people hearing Gef but not seeing him.

[aztec-religion]

Ancient and Magickal Alphabets

[tikkunolamorgtfo]

[jewblog]

demons don’t speak aramaic either! that’s the reasoning for why we continue some traditions (e.g., much of the pesach seder) in aramaic.

[skepticaloccultist]

Of Pacts & Spirits

I have been increasingly considering the nature of pacts, that is, those agreements we make with the spirits with whom we traffic. Pacts are, on the face of it, a natural arrangement of dealing with any sort of being (material or immaterial) with whom no preexisting trust has developed. A contract that stipulates the services required and those that will in turn be rendered as payment.

Recently I have done a bit of work in the striking of a bargain and have found myself in a precarious position, one in which my dealings with regular humanity have chaffed against the more important, and considerably private, parts of my life. The terms of the pact having been well laid out there is little recourse I have been afforded by my own undertaking. The path ahead, though uncertain, is still well laid out before me.

Given the nature of our dealings with spirits, we must consider the way in which a pact is to be reinforced. The power of the spirit as a threat is ultimately the damocles sword that drives the need to fulfill our end of the bargain. Yet what recourse does the magician have in dealings with wayward spirits to whom no appeal or previous threat have been successful?

This depends in the main on the nature of the spirit itself. If it is of a goetic character, finding itself listed among the tables of the grimoires, it will likely have rulers to whom it answers, or kings to which you can apply to straighten out the wayward demon. An hierarchy is good to have, one to which you can appeal in particular.

If, on the other hand, the spirit is of the land, called sidhe or fae, mouros and many other names, the path of control is likely outlined in the historic character of the being. Folklore leads a path toward the dealings of each landscape spirit, the necessary tools and offerings that can implore a spirit to stick to its end of the deal found in the likely sources (such as Dalyell, Crofton Croker, Briggs, et al).

When the spirit is that of the ancestors, a horse rider, lwa, spectre, barrow wight or other deceased persons to whom the magician calls on for aide, the ability to have them keep their word is in the main the domain of one’s own trustworthiness. If the magician is honest, and sticks to their end of the deal, there is little chance of an ancestor spirit not doing as agreed. Failure of the spirt is invariably a failure of the conjuror in heart or intent.

The agreement itself, the pact, is more often than not actually written down on a virgin piece of paper. Though it can be simply an oral agreement I find those are about as solid in the spirit world as they are in the judiciary of mankind, i.e. not at all. In my opinion the best pact is one written and signed by all concerned parties, bound in sigil and seal and hermetically sealed into some container. Jars, boxes, bells, skulls, bones, gourds, all have been brought to this purpose the world over.

In the written pact one should be sure to include all of the demands of both sides, much in the way one would write a mundane contract. But like a music contract beware that the terms themselves limit the range or scope of the true intention of the magician. The pact should be simple and concise, the more words it contains the more likelihood of mistaken intention.

As in the regular world you would not sign a contract with a person you had just met. Take your time in developing a relationship with those spirits with whom a pact may eventually lead. Get to know them, their desires and whims, their moods and powers, before you come to any arrangement with them. A spirit is of a necessarily transient and shifting nature. What you bind is often not exactly what you wished to conjure.

There are those beings who linger on the edge of the Veil, waiting for you to poke a hole in its gossamer membrane, that they may slip into materialization on the back of your work. They will claim an identity, conforming to your desires in appearance and character. Seeming to perform the tasks you wish all while undermining your goals. Learn to know with whom you traffic, to recognize their true voice as you would an old friend. Be sure to cleanse one’s space of undesirable elements before and after any work is done. Always assign a license to depart.

Remember that a pact is binding in two directions. The spirit is bound to you, as you are to it. It helps if your goals and theirs are aligned, though it isn’t always necessary. Working with a spirit to ends other than its desires is a dangerous practice that can lead to madness and death. Remember to look both ways before you cross the threshold of the crossroads.

[starrywisdomsect]

The Munich Manual of Demonic Magic is a fifteenth century grimoire primarily composed in Latin. It is currently in the collection of the Bavarian State Library in Munich. The text focuses largely on demonic and necromantic magic, but contains sections on conjuration, astrological magic, and divination as well.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

The world's largest occult library has a public online archive

Amsterdam’s Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica (AKA “The Ritman Library) houses more ths 25,000 occult texts, covering “Hermetics, Rosicrucians, Theosophy, alchemy, mysticism, Gnosis and Western Esotericism, Sufism, Kabbalah, Anthroposophy, Catharism, Freemasonry, Manichaeism, Judaica, the Grail, Esotericism, and comparative religion.”

The library has begun to scan and post its core collection to an online archive called The Hermetically Open Archive. The project was underwritten by Dan Brown in thanks for the library’s contributions to his books “The Lost Symbol” and “Inferno” (the library houses the first illustrated edition of Dante’s “Divine Comedy,” from 1472).

Though the scans are all in the public domain, the library uses Javascript tricks to try to block scraping, though, according to Maika at Haute Macabre, there are plans to enable downloading in the future.

Haute Macabre has assembled a kind of highlight reel of the collection, which has some gorgeous illustrated texts in it.

Hermetically Open [Ritman Library]

Bury Us Beneath Occult Books: The Ritman Library Digitized [Maika/Haute Macabre]

https://boingboing.net/2019/08/21/gnostic-gnowledge.html

[savagedefectives]

[niktipolos]

Thin Places, Jordan Kisner. 

[dianasson]

Inugami Dog Spirits

“Inugami are a kind of familiar, or spirit of possession, which are found in Kyushu, Shikoku, and elsewhere in West Japan. They are very similar to fox spirits like Kitsunetsuki, however Inugami are more common in those areas where foxes are not found. There is even evidence of an ancient tradition of Inugami worship stretching from Western Japan down to Okinawa. Powerful sorcerers were said to be able to create these spirits through monstrous ceremonies and use them to all sorts of nefarious deeds. Inugami are also known as In’game and Irigami in various local dialects. How long the practice of creating Inugami begun is unknown, however, by the Heian period (some 1000 years ago, at the height of classical Japanese civilization) the practice had already been outlawed, along with the use of other animal spirits as tools of sorcery. According to legend, the creation of an Inugami is accomplished like this: the head of a starved dog must be cut off (often this was accomplished by chaining a dog up just out of reach of some food, or else burying it up to its neck, so that it would go berserk out of desperate hunger and its head could be cut off at the point of greatest desperation). Then, the severed head is buried in a street — usually a crossroads where many people pass. The trampling of hundreds or thousands of people over this buried head would add to its stress and cause the animal’s spirit to transform into an Onryou (a a malificent spirit with a serious grudge). Occasionally these severed heads were said to fly about, chasing after food — such was the power of the spirit’s hunger. The head was then baked or dried and enshrined in a bowl, after which the spirit could be used as a kind of fetish by a wicked sorcerer, doing whatever he or she commanded for the rest of time. Like other Tsukimono, or possession spirits, they are beings of powerful emotion and are very good at possessing emotionally unstable or weak people. They do so usually by entering through the ears and settling into the internal organs. Signs of Inugami possession are chest pain, pain in the hands and feet or shoulders, feelings of deep jealousy, and suddenly barking like a dog. Other victims develop intense hunger and turn into gluttons, and it is said that people who die while possessed by an Inugami have markings on their body like a dog’s tooth and claw marks. Not only humans, but animals like cows and horses, or even inanimate objects, could be possessed by Inugami. Tools that were possessed by such a spirit were said to become totally and completely unusable. People who found themselves possessed by an Inugami, or even if it was only suspected that a person was possessed, were in for an unfortunate treatment. The only way to be cured of an Inugami-tsuki was to hire another sorcerer to remove it. This could take a very, very long time. On the other hand, as binding souls in this manner was illegal and certainly frowned upon, if an inugami-mochi family was even suspected of bring evil upon another family, the accused family member was forced to apologize and then leave his comfortable estate (for usually it was the upper class who were involved in such black magic) and live on the outskirts of town, secluded from family, friends, and aristocratic life. Even if the victim was eventually cured, the accused family member (and all of his offspring for all generations to follow) usually had to maintain his solitary lifestyle, separated from the rest of society, as he was viewed by others to be wicked and tainted. The technique for creating these fetishes was passed down along bloodlines, and such families are known as Inugami-mochi. These Inugami-mochi families kept their Inugami hidden in the back rooms of their houses, under their beds, in dressers, or among water jars. It is said that a family owned as many Inugami as there were members of the household, and when a new person joined the family, they too received their own spirit. Inugami were treated like family members by Inugami-mochi families, and most of the time would quickly run out to do their master’s bidding any time their master wanted something. However, like living dogs, occasionally a resentful Inugami might betray a master that grew too abusive or domineering, savagely biting him to death. And while Inugami, like other familiar spirits, were created to bring wealth and prosperity to their families, occasionally they might also cause a family to fall into ruin.”

– via Michael Strojan

[demonology-encyclopedia]

Could you like explain your ideas on demonkin

Some are legit, others are just people looking for a sense of community or belonging. I think we could learn a lot from the legitimate ones, but they are generally more reluctant to share. What are your thoughts?

[thelaughingmandrake]

The “Folkloric Devil” is a term applied to the figure who appears in folk-tales and legends and who is often called “the devil”, but it’s obvious that he emerges from a different source than the theological background of Christianity.

Old divinities or diminished Gods that maintained a presence in the minds or cultures of European peoples are suggested (often enough, and for good reasons) as a source of this figure; but beyond that, the pre-Christian societies had spiritual forces and persons that they related to in the sense of “outsider” powers that could be shady or tricky or dangerous at times, but who often had kinds of relationships nonetheless with human beings. These are the main source of the “folkloric” Devil/Devils.

The Folkloric devil isn’t concerned with damning souls, primarily, but he always wants to make deals or pacts to help humans who need things, but so that he can gain, too- a sign of his origin in the older world of spirit-relationship and spiritual ecology. In Christian gloss, he begins more and more to want “souls” for his help, but he is always able to be tricked, himself- and this is very important. Human heroes or protagonists can outwit him. This is something that would be impossible to do to the Theological Devil, who is far beyond humans in power, and second only to God himself in power.

Modern Pop Culture produces surprising emergences of the old Folkloric Devil- Charlie Daniel’s song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” is an appearance of a Folkloric Devil, who can be out-played by the intrepid and arrogant local boy, on the fiddle. There is the Christian conceit of the Devil seeking souls in that song, but that’s just a minor detail, more suited to a Christian audience and born from the imagination of a low Protestant folk singer.

The Folkloric Devil is a being- and a representative of a whole class of beings- who can be engaged with by humans, for gains. They can be harmful, they can be helpful, and they can be outwitted or outdone at times. Sometimes, they become protagonists themselves.

Theological Elites in the Pre-Modern period of Europe saw no distinction between their Theological Devil and the various emergences of the Folkloric Devil. The “Devil” of witch cults and covenants and of individual sorcerers or witches was of the Folkloric variety, though in their own personal understandings, even they may have believed that he was the same as the theological devil, such was the nature of their times. It’s not like there was a neat chart that spelled all this stuff out to earlier people, and folk in Pre-Modern times heard Christian ministers ranting alongside fire-side bards telling folktales, and so the Folkloric Devil/Devils could take on Christian gloss and attributes at times, and the Theological devil could appear in decidedly “folkish” ways.

What’s important to remember is that the Theological Devil doesn’t exist except as the shadow of Christian psychology. He is born from the idealistic Christian imagination, as the necessary counter-ideal or counter-force to their idealistic notion of good, the warped good, the fallen good, born in their continuation of earlier dualistic religious tropes that posited a cosmic war between good and evil cosmological forces.

The Folkloric Devil, on the other hand, very much exists, both in the form of a powerful former divinity worshiped by practically every human culture known previous to Christianity, and as a folk-memory of certain spirit-entities (very much tied to this world) that people have always engaged in relationships with, though they are a group of entities who are, in ways, challenging, dangerous at points, and ambiguous.

The Theological Devil is a remnant of idealism and the diseased imagination of absolutists and idealists. The Folkloric Devil is a remnant of ancient spiritual ecology and human relationships to the wilder, stranger Otherworld. - Robin Artisson

[dateamonster]

original theory: succubi are always women, incubi are always men 

facts: in fact succubus comes from the latin word “succubare” which means “to lie under” and incubus comes from the latin word “incubare” which means “to lie on”

new improved theory: incubi are always tops and succubi are always bottoms. gender doesn’t matter at all.

[aimofdestiny]

addendum: if the sex demon in question is versatile, they’re a concubus, from the latin for ‘to lie with/beside’.

[deadcatwithaflamethrower]

Proper Latin headcanon accepted.

[v-o-i-d-thing]

any of ya’ll know anything or know anyone who knows anything about demons or demonology? I had An Experience today and have some questions. A lot of questions.

[demonology-encyclopedia]

The Cunning Female Demons and Ghosts of Ancient Japan

What seems to trap a woman between this life and the beyond is the anguish of being hurt by those closest to her.

I found this interesting article on a variety of demons and evil spirits from Japan folklore. Let me know if you prefer me sharing this type of source like this or if you'd prefer me to put it into my usual text posts.

[demonology-encyclopedia]

I can't find any motherly demons or demons who would attract young men for wholesome reasons, not sexual. I guess there's Lilith, but I don't know, is there any more chaotic mommies..?

In general, demons are classified by their demonic or less savory tendencies. Wholesomeness is not something demons are usually associated with although that does not mean that demons are incapable of being wholesome. If you are trying to identify demons, you should start with what makes them demonic. Any creature could act motherly or attract young men because they wish to be with them (humans are an example of a creature that attracts young men to spend their life with them also known as a relationship). These things are individual preferences or character traits, and do not determine a specific type of demon. However, I could always be wrong; I do not claim to know all there is about demons. If anyone else knows of a wholesome motherly demon, please do let me know.