Ghost and Demons

I am enjoying everyone's input. Finding the origins of a belief can often show you how it gets mutated throughout history (good suggestion Sangress). These to cultures below are pretty old, so I thought I would share what they believed and the site I found the info at. So as you read through the descriptions do you see any similarities in some of the beliefs of later cultures and/or today?

gracey,

Are any of these familiar to you?

Or has anyone heard of these?




Babylonian and Assyrian Demonology

Virtually all cultures have believed in good and evil spirits at some point. The belief dates back to Babylonian and Assyrian religions, predating Judaism.

There are generally 2 types of evil spirits:

1. Departed human spirits - Spirits of humans that died were thought to haunt the living. These spirits could be friendly or hostile, depending on the nature of their death or burial and whether they return to haunt friends or strangers. In some cases, a spirit of a friend or loved one could turn hostile after death. Or in some cases, they could be friendly at points and hostile at others - with no rhyme or reason to their actions.
2. Non-human spirits - Aside from departed human spirits that could turn hostile, many cultures believed in spirits that had never been human. Again, these could be friendly or hostile, and in many cultures, they took the form of animals like reptiles, serpents, antelopes, gazelles, anthropoids, crocodiles, lizards, hawks, and jackals. Apep, the serpent-devil of Egypt, and Hebrew beasts like Leviathan and Behemoth are examples.

Demons in Babylon and Assyria

The Babylonians and Assyrians borrowed had many names for spirits including utukku ('spirit), Alu ('demon'), Lilu (a ghost, the feminine versions include Lilitu and Ardat Lili), and Gallu ('devil'). They believed that there were many evil spirits and they swarmed everywhere.

According to Morris Jastrow's Religion of Babylonia and Assyria (PDF, p260ff), these demons lurked in remote or hidden places like graves, mountain tops and in the shadows of ruins. They would go out at night, enter homes through holes and crevices, and torture their victims. They were responsible for anything bad that happened from destructive winds, pestilent fevers, and disease to headaches, petty quarrels, hatred and jealousy.

Classes of Demons
In Sumerian lore, there were three distinct types of demons:

1. disembodied human spirits who couldn't rest
2. half human/half demon entities
3. demons that were of the same nature as the gods

Here are a few of the subclasses of demons.

* Utukku - Utukku was a spirit of a dead human (a ghost). Initially, Utukku was the term used to refer to the spirit of Eabani in the Epic of Gilgamesh who was raised up by the god Nergal at Gilgamesh's request. Eventually, the term came to mean a class of demons who haunted deserted places and could cause injury to man.
* Alu - Alu is a translation of the Sumerian 'Gallu' which means 'tempest.' Alu were half humans and half animals that roamed the streets hiding in dark corners or deserted places. Alu was also the name of the celestial bull that Anu created to avenge his daughter Ishtar which Gilgamesh and Eabani eventally killed.
* Ekimmu - Ekimmu were departed spirits who wandered aimlessly over the earth, unable to find rest. They are able to leave the underworld to torment the living if a body has not been properly buried or relatives have not made the proper offerings.
* The Gallu - The Gallu was said to take the form of a bull and roamed the streets at night.
* Rabisu - The Rabisu is said to be so frighteningly hideous and hairy that it was associated with nightmares.
* Ilu Limnu ('Evil God') - Few details about this demon are known. He may have been related to Taiwaith (the primordial sea who gave birth to everything).
* Labartu - Labatu is the daughter of Anu. She has the head of a lion, the teeth of an ***, and is said to drink the blood and devour the flesh and bones of her victims.
* Lilu - There are three figures closely related in Babylonian mythology. Lilu is a male demon while Lilitu and Ardat Lili are females. Lilitu eventually became known as Lilith in Isaiah 34:14.
* Shedim - See my article on Shedim

http://www.deliriumsrealm.com/deliri...w.asp?Post=384

I know most of my information from back around the time those two religions and societies were alive and bright. The rest is just personal experience.

So yeh, I relate to a lot of what was written up there, even if it is brief.

I tend to shove the two kinds of demonology together because they both entertwine with eachother a lot. I call it Assyro-Babylonian Demonology, I dont know if its a real term but it works well for me.

Demons are a construct of organized religion. Satan’s mignons. Part of what they use to convince us to stay fearful.

Negative energies aren’t more powerful than us. That they are is utter disinformation.

I do firmly believe in ghosts - have even seen one before :) I believe that they can possibly interact with us on some level, but i don't believe they can harm us in any way.
Demons? I believe that the only demons are the ones we create within ourselves. I cannot perceive of demons as outside, separate entities that go around trying to destroy things and create chaos. It makes more sense to me that "demons" are simply a creation of the human mind - just like we can build up positive energy, we can just as easily build up negative, hurtful energies, and that is where I think people find the "source of demons." When you refuse to entertain or abide with those types of hostile, negative energies...they dissipate and disappear. We choose to become, or choose to overcome, our own inner demon(s).
That's my take on it, anyway...:)

Yes, Sesheta, that pretty much sums up my personal beliefs and experiences too. I'm aware of "supernatural" energies - be they of spirits or whatever - but "demons," "bogeymen" and the like, existing, and being capable of causing harm and destruction? I don't believe in that. Evil exists purely in the minds of humans, and humans alone are capable of committing evil. There are no supernatural "demons" or "Satan" to blame for man's wickedness, just man himself.

From what little reading I've done, I believe Zoroastrianism at its purest takes this viewpoint too.

Night owl,

i have studied all religions and demons come along with it. I like Hinduism (the oldest religion in the world). And Buddhism (which stemmed from Hinduism) explanation of demons...its all in our minds...even after death if we stay earthbound.

as for demons that are not human.....elemental could be perceived that way. There are celestial elementals (especially fire) that has been said to be of a "demon" origin, again it is all a matter of perception.

It does not surprise me that Jesus's parabells were rarely understood back in his day and today for the most part.

I do not think that demons are entities, I see them as negative energy...I see it kind of like this Native American wise saying;

"Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil.
The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog, all of the
time." When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and
replied "The one I feed the most."

I sometimes think that this applies as well as when a spirit passes over...it is attracted to the type of energy one moved in life...maybe that is why there will always be good and evil energy in the world because they are always being fed even on the other side.

I believe religion created 'demons' to try and understand and explain this hidden energy that can drive man to do evil things...it was their attempt to explain something they didn't have knowledge of...

I've had experiences with both ghosts and demons and from those experiences along with my spiritual beliefs I believe ghosts to be spirits who have been trapped between lives. That is, they have gotten lost or due to their own heavy emotions they get stuck. They will eventually move out of the state and take another birth. There is also phenomena where pieces of history become imprinted. This happens in places with particular types of rock round (quartz, and I think granite). Scenes from the past loop over and over again and appear as ghosts but are not actually an intelligent haunting.

Now on to demons. This is where things get interesting. These are entities from lower realms and they are absolutely nasty. there are different categories of demonic beings. Unlike Western faiths, we do not view them as being fallen angels nor do we see them as the pure embodiment of evil. They are jivatma just like the rest of us. However through their extreme greed, lust, hate, and anger they have been reincarnated as demons. Demons are not immortal and eventually that being will be reborn somewhere else. Until then though they can be very violent, scary, and dangerous. I've encountered them personally twice in my life for extended periods and they can very much so interact with people and the environment and they are sadistic. In as much as it has left emotional scars in my family, it is also very sad. these creatures are consumed by so much hate that they resort to this. It is an obvious sign of their own suffering.

Interesting topic and I've really enjoyed reading everyone's posts.

Aum Hari Aum!

Originally Posted by Krishna-prem

I've had experiences with both ghosts and demons and from those experiences along with my spiritual beliefs I believe ghosts to be spirits who have been trapped between lives. That is, they have gotten lost or due to their own heavy emotions they get stuck. They will eventually move out of the state and take another birth. There is also phenomena where pieces of history become imprinted. This happens in places with particular types of rock round (quartz, and I think granite). Scenes from the past loop over and over again and appear as ghosts but are not actually an intelligent haunting.

Now on to demons. This is where things get interesting. These are entities from lower realms and they are absolutely nasty. there are different categories of demonic beings. Unlike Western faiths, we do not view them as being fallen angels nor do we see them as the pure embodiment of evil. They are jivatma just like the rest of us. However through their extreme greed, lust, hate, and anger they have been reincarnated as demons. Demons are not immortal and eventually that being will be reborn somewhere else. Until then though they can be very violent, scary, and dangerous. I've encountered them personally twice in my life for extended periods and they can very much so interact with people and the environment and they are sadistic. In as much as it has left emotional scars in my family, it is also very sad. these creatures are consumed by so much hate that they resort to this. It is an obvious sign of their own suffering.

Interesting topic and I've really enjoyed reading everyone's posts.

Aum Hari Aum!

This is an interesting view on demons kind of along the lines of what I think...A person is reincarnated/or becomes the evil the practiced and embraced??? Their negative energy actually becomes a form of some kind???

It's like they spent one life time or many cultivating very negative mental states and eventually those states become the sum of their experience and they take birth in lower places.

With that said, Hindu scripture does refer to some demons who started off very bad however in their life as a demon repented and took very high rebirths. The one that comes to mind is the story of the demon king, Bali. Bali wanted to control the earth and the heavenly realms. He wanted it all and was quite vicious about it. One day he consulted some magicians about what could be done to seal the deal so to speak. They suggested that he perform a particular yajna (fire sacrifice) and he would be unstoppable. Having seen this the Lord incarnated in the form of a dwarf brahmin. He arrived at Bali's palace and asked for an audience. Despite Bali's greed he recognized that this man was a brahmin and followed tradition and greeted him. The Lord said he would leave only after Bali had given him a gift (as was the custom). Bali asked what he wanted and the brahmin said a piece of land where he could stay that was only the size of three steps. Bali laughed and agreed. The brahmin grew enormous. In His first step he strode across the world. His second step spanned space. He said to Bali that he couldn't fulfill his promise as there was no where else Bali could give him to step. The demon king bowed down and offered his head. The lord then blessed him and gave him the boon of being a high ranking being of light (deva) in his next life. Bali in that life gave up his pursuit of becoming a global dictator.

Whether this really happened or not doesn't matter. The message is though that even the most terrible of demons can be redeemed.

Aum Hari Aum!