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72-402: The Dictionnaire Infernal (English: " Infernal Dictionary " ) is a book on demonology , describing demons organised in hierarchies . It was written by Jacques Collin de Plancy and first published in 1818. There were several editions of the book; perhaps the most famous is the 1863 edition, which included sixty-nine illustrations by Louis Le Breton depicting the appearances of several of

144-575: A Buddha or a Bodhisattva . In his autobiography, The Blazing Splendor, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche , a prominent Tibetan Buddhist master of the 20th century describes encounters with such beings. Therefore, depending on the context, in Buddhism demons may refer to both disturbed mind states and actual beings. Vedic scriptures include a range of spirits (Vetalas, Rakshasas , Bhutas, and Pishachas) that might be classified as demons. These spirits are souls of beings that have committed certain specific sins. As

216-485: A list of elements would no longer refer to classical elements. Some modern scientists see a parallel between the classical elements and the four states of matter : solid , liquid , gas and weakly ionized plasma . Modern science recognizes classes of elementary particles which have no substructure (or rather, particles that are not made of other particles) and composite particles having substructure (particles made of other particles). Western astrology uses

288-407: A basis for understanding suffering and for liberating oneself from suffering. The earliest Buddhist texts explain that the four primary material elements are solidity, fluidity, temperature, and mobility, characterized as earth, water, fire, and air, respectively. The Buddha 's teaching regarding the four elements is to be understood as the base of all observation of real sensations rather than as

360-549: A new theory called the sulphur-mercury theory of metals , which was based on two elements: sulphur , characterizing the principle of combustibility, "the stone which burns"; and mercury , characterizing the principle of metallic properties. They were seen by early alchemists as idealized expressions of irreducible components of the universe and are of larger consideration within philosophical alchemy. The three metallic principles—sulphur to flammability or combustion, mercury to volatility and stability, and salt to solidity—became

432-648: A number of Indian demons finding permanent niches even in Taoist ritual texts. In the Kṣitigarbha Sūtra it states that heaven and hell change as the world changes and that many new hells with different demons can be created to fit the different ways that the human realm changes. Chinese Buddhism also influenced Taoism with beliefs of hell and the Taoists eventually came up with their own demonology lore which in turn created folk beliefs about spirits in hell which

504-512: A philosophy. The four properties are cohesion (water), solidity or inertia (earth), expansion or vibration (air) and heat or energy content (fire). He promulgated a categorization of mind and matter as composed of eight types of " kalapas " of which the four elements are primary and a secondary group of four are colour, smell, taste, and nutriment which are derivative from the four primaries. Thanissaro Bhikkhu (1997) renders an extract of Shakyamuni Buddha 's from Pali into English thus: Just as

576-726: A purging punishment, they are condemned to roam without a physical form for a length of time, until a rebirth. Beings that died with unfulfilled desires or anger are also said to "linger" until those issues are resolved. Hindu text Atharvaveda gives an account of nature and habitats of such spirits including how to persuade / control them. There are occult traditions in Hinduism that seek to control such spirits to do their bidding. The Hindu text Garuda Purana details other kinds of punishments and judgments given out in Hell ; it also gives an account of how spirits travel to various nether worlds. In

648-495: A skilled butcher or his apprentice, having killed a cow, would sit at a crossroads cutting it up into pieces, the monk contemplates this very body — however it stands, however it is disposed — in terms of properties: 'In this body there is the earth property, the liquid property, the fire property, & the wind property.' Tibetan Buddhist medical literature speaks of the pañca mahābhūta (five elements) or "elemental properties": earth, water, fire, wind, and space. The concept

720-771: A title which refers to what in English is called the Day Star or Morning Star (in Latin, lucifer , meaning "light-bearer", from the words lucem ferre ). There is more than one instance in Jewish medieval myth and lore where demons are said to have come to be, as seen by the Grigori angels, of Lilith leaving Adam, of demons such as vampires , unrest spirits in Jewish folklore such as the dybbuk . Traditionally, Buddhism affirms

792-442: Is a body into which other bodies may be analysed, present in them potentially or in actuality (which of these, is still disputable), and not itself divisible into bodies different in form. That, or something like it, is what all men in every case mean by element. In his On Generation and Corruption , Aristotle related each of the four elements to two of the four sensible qualities: A classic diagram has one square inscribed in

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864-414: Is always zoology as well. One prominent classification is given by al-Jahiz , who classifies jinn as: Zakariya al-Qazwini's Aja'ib al-Makhluqat mentions seven types of animals. The jinn are classified as an animal composed of fire and can appear in many forms. Among them, the angels are created from the light of fire, the jinn from a blaze of fire, and the devils from the smoke of fire. Satan

936-508: Is because one or another of the elements doth form their bodies' outer envelope. Each soul , accordingly, while it is in its body is weighted and constricted by these four. The system of five elements are found in Vedas , especially Ayurveda , the pancha mahabhuta , or "five great elements", of Hinduism are: They further suggest that all of creation, including the human body, is made of these five essential elements and that upon death,

1008-470: Is beyond the senses of smell, taste, sight, and touch; it being accessible to the sense of hearing alone. Buddhism has had a variety of thought about the five elements and their existence and relevance, some of which continue to this day. In the Pali literature , the mahabhuta ("great elements") or catudhatu ("four elements") are earth, water, fire and air. In early Buddhism , the four elements are

1080-489: Is counted among these animals. They inhabited the earth before mankind. The German orientalist Almut Wieland-Karimi classified the Jinn in the ten most common categories mentioned in folklore literature: Judaism does not have a demonology or any set of doctrines about demons. Use of the name "Lucifer" stems from Isaiah 14:3–20 , a passage which does speak of the defeat of a particular Babylonian King, to whom it gives

1152-539: Is the study of demons from a Christian point of view. It is primarily based on the Bible ( Old Testament and New Testament ), the exegesis of scriptures, the writings of early Christian philosophers and hermits , tradition , and legends incorporated from other beliefs. Some scholars suggest that the origins of early Greek Old Testament demonology can be traced to two distinctive and often competing mythologies of evil— Adamic and Enochic. The first tradition —

1224-588: The Kabbalistic tradition. While many people believe today Lucifer and Satan are different names for the same being, not all scholars subscribe to this view. A number of authors throughout Christian history have written about demons for a variety of purposes. Theologians like Thomas Aquinas wrote concerning the behaviors of which Christians should be aware, while witch hunters like Heinrich Kramer wrote about how to find and what to do with people they believed were involved with demons . Some texts such as

1296-704: The Lesser Key of Solomon or The Grimoire of Pope Honorius (although these, the earliest manuscripts, were from well after these individuals had died) are written with instructions on how to summon demons in the name of God and often were claimed to have been written by individuals respected within the Church. These latter texts were usually more detailed, giving names, ranks, and descriptions of demons individually and categorically. Most Christians commonly reject these texts as either diabolical or fictitious. Catholics accused Lutherans of believing in diabolatry or that

1368-547: The Middle Ages and into the Early modern period , deeply influencing European thought and culture. The classical elements were first proposed independently by several early Pre-Socratic philosophers. Greek philosophers had debated which substance was the arche ("first principle"), or primordial element from which everything else was made. Thales ( c.  626/623  – c.  548/545 BC ) believed that water

1440-546: The Supreme God created four additional essences of himself during creation. Together, these five essences of the deity correlate with the five classical elements. The elemental system used in medieval alchemy was developed primarily by the anonymous authors of the Arabic works attributed to Pseudo Apollonius of Tyana . This system consisted of the four classical elements of air, earth, fire, and water, in addition to

1512-1138: The Zoroastrian tradition, Ahura Mazda , as the force of good Spenta Mainyu , will eventually be victorious in a cosmic battle with an evil force known as Angra Mainyu or Ahriman. Classical element The classical elements typically refer to earth , water , air , fire , and (later) aether which were proposed to explain the nature and complexity of all matter in terms of simpler substances . Ancient cultures in Greece , Angola , Tibet , India , and Mali had similar lists which sometimes referred, in local languages, to "air" as "wind", and to "aether" as "space". These different cultures and even individual philosophers had widely varying explanations concerning their attributes and how they related to observable phenomena as well as cosmology . Sometimes these theories overlapped with mythology and were personified in deities . Some of these interpretations included atomism (the idea of very small, indivisible portions of matter), but other interpretations considered

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1584-610: The fathers of the Christian Church , held that the world was pervaded with spirits, the latter of whom advanced the belief that demons received the worship directed at pagan gods. Not all spirits across all cultures are considered malevolent. In Central Africa , the Mpongwe believe in local spirits, just as the Inuit do; but they are regarded as inoffensive in the main. Passers-by must make some nominal offering as they near

1656-501: The galla dragging the god Dumuzid into the underworld. Like other demons, however, galla could also be benevolent and, in a hymn from King Gudea of Lagash ( c. 2144 – 2124 BC), a minor god named Ig-alima is described as "the great galla of Girsu ". Demons had no cult in Mesopotamian religious practice since demons "know no food, know no drink, eat no flour offering and drink no libation ." Christian demonology

1728-468: The tria prima of the Swiss alchemist Paracelsus . He reasoned that Aristotle's four element theory appeared in bodies as three principles. Paracelsus saw these principles as fundamental and justified them by recourse to the description of how wood burns in fire. Mercury included the cohesive principle, so that when it left in smoke the wood fell apart. Smoke described the volatility (the mercurial principle),

1800-619: The Śūraṅgama Sūtra , a major Mahayana Buddhist text, describes fifty demonic states: the so-called fifty skandha maras, which are "negative" mirror-like reflections of or deviations from correct samādhi (meditative absorption) states. In this context demons are considered by Buddhists to be beings possessing some supernatural powers, who, in the past, might have practiced Dharma , the Buddha's teaching, but due to practicing it incorrectly failed to develop true wisdom and true compassion , which are inseparable attributes of an enlightened being such as

1872-594: The Adamic tradition — ties demons to the fall of man caused by the serpent who beguiled Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden . Thus, the Adamic story traces the source of evil to Satan's transgression and the fall of man, a trend reflected in the Books of Adam and Eve which explains the reason for Satan's demotion by his refusal to worship and submit to God. The other tradition — the early Enochic tradition — ties demons to

1944-541: The Chinese worldview, and were called mo . The idea of the imminent decline and collapse of the Buddhist religion amid a "great cacophony of demonic influences" was already a significant component of Buddhism when it reached China in the first century A.D., according to Michel Strickmann. Demonic forces had attained enormous power in the world. For some writers of the time, this state of affairs had been ordained to serve

2016-514: The Element of Earth. According to Galen , these elements were used by Hippocrates ( c.  460  – c.  370 BC ) in describing the human body with an association with the four humours : yellow bile (fire), black bile (earth), blood (air), and phlegm (water). Medical care was primarily about helping the patient stay in or return to their own personal natural balanced state. Plato (428/423 – 348/347 BC) seems to have been

2088-671: The World") ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus (associated with the Egyptian god Thoth ), names the four elements fire, water, air, and earth. As described in this book: And Isis answer made: Of living things, my son, some are made friends with fire , and some with water , some with air , and some with earth , and some with two or three of these, and some with all. And, on the contrary, again some are made enemies of fire, and some of water, some of earth, and some of air, and some of two of them, and some of three, and some of all. For instance, son,

2160-483: The affairs of the universe are supposed to be under the control of spirits, each ruling a certain " element " or even object, and themselves in subjection to a greater spirit. For example, the Inuit are said to believe in spirits of the sea, earth and sky, the winds, the clouds, and everything in nature. Every cove of the seashore, every point, every island and prominent rock has its guardian spirit. Some are potentially of

2232-522: The ancestors ( Mpémba ), the Kalûnga line that runs between the two worlds, the circular void that originally formed the two worlds ( mbûngi ), and the path of the sun . Each element correlates to a period in the life cycle, which the Bakongo people also equate to the four cardinal directions . According to their cosmology, all living things go through this cycle. In traditional Bambara spirituality,

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2304-550: The cards, merely human artifacts, not knowing either the future, nor the present, nor the past, have nothing of the individuality of the person consulting them. For a thousand different people they will have the same result; and consulted twenty times about the same subject, they will produce twenty contradictory productions" (p. 82). Contents of the Dictionaire Infernal varied across different early imprints: Demonology According to some religions, all

2376-837: The classical elements are the states of matter produced under different temperatures and pressures. Solid , liquid , gas , and plasma share many attributes with the corresponding classical elements of earth, water, air, and fire, but these states describe the similar behavior of different types of atoms at similar energy levels, not the characteristic behavior of certain atoms or substances. Empedoclean elements [REDACTED]    fire   · [REDACTED] air     [REDACTED] water   · [REDACTED] earth The ancient Greek concept of four basic elements, these being earth ( γῆ gê ), water ( ὕδωρ hýdōr ), air ( ἀήρ aḗr ), and fire ( πῦρ pŷr ), dates from pre-Socratic times and persisted throughout

2448-426: The demons. Many but not all of these images were later used in S. L. MacGregor Mathers 's edition of The Lesser Key of Solomon . Dictionnaire Infernal was first published in 1818 and then divided into two volumes, with six reprints—and many changes—between 1818 and 1863. This book attempts to provide an account of all the knowledge concerning superstitions and demonology . A review in 1822 read: Anecdotes of

2520-415: The devil had unlimited powers. In modern times, some demonological texts have been written by Christians, usually in a similar vein of Thomas Aquinas, explaining their effects in the world and how faith may lessen or eliminate damage by them. A few Christian authors, such as Jack Chick and John Todd , write with intentions similar to Kramer, proclaiming that demons and their human agents are active in

2592-625: The distinctive etiologies of corruption, in later Jewish and Christian demonological lore both antagonists are able to enter each other's respective stories in new conceptual capacities. In these later traditions Satanael is often depicted as the leader of the fallen angels while his conceptual rival Azazel is portrayed as a seducer of Adam and Eve. While historical Judaism never recognized any set of doctrines about demons, scholars believe its post-exilic concepts of eschatology , angelology, and demonology were influenced by Zoroastrianism . Some, however, believe these concepts were received as part of

2664-572: The elements has three properties. Fire is sharp ( ὀξυτητα ), subtle ( λεπτομερειαν ), and mobile ( εὐκινησιαν ) while its opposite, earth, is blunt ( αμβλυτητα ), dense ( παχυμερειαν ), and immobile ( ακινησιαν ); they are joined by the intermediate elements, air and water, in the following fashion: A text written in Egypt in Hellenistic or Roman times called the Kore Kosmou ("Virgin of

2736-446: The elements to be divisible into infinitely small pieces without changing their nature. While the classification of the material world in ancient India , Hellenistic Egypt , and ancient Greece into air, earth, fire, and water was more philosophical, during the Middle Ages medieval scientists used practical, experimental observation to classify materials. In Europe , the ancient Greek concept, devised by Empedocles , evolved into

2808-401: The end of 1830 he was an enthusiastic Roman Catholic , to the consternation of his former admirers. In later years, De Plancy rejected and modified his past works, thoroughly revising his Dictionnaire Infernal to conform with Roman Catholic theology . This influence is most clearly seen in the sixth and final 1863 edition of the book, which is decorated with many engravings and seeks to affirm

2880-488: The existence of hells populated by demons who torment sinners and tempt mortals to sin, or who seek to thwart their enlightenment , with a demon named Mara as chief tempter, "prince of darkness", or "Evil One" in Sanskrit sources. The followers of Mara were also called mara , the devils, and are frequently cited as a cause of disease or representations of mental obstructions. The mara became fully assimilated into

2952-494: The existence of the demons. De Plancy collaborated with Jacques Paul Migne , a French priest, to complete a Dictionary of the occult sciences or theological Encyclopaedia , which is described as an authentic Roman Catholic work. Many articles written in the Dictionnaire Infernal illustrate the author's vacillation between rationalism , faith , and willingness to believe without evidence. For example, he admits

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3024-441: The fall of angels in the antediluvian period. This tradition bases its understanding of the origin of demons on the story of the fallen Watchers led by Azazel . Scholars believe these two enigmatic figures—Azazel and Satan —exercised formative influence on early Jewish demonology. While in the beginning of their conceptual journeys Azazel and Satan are posited as representatives of two distinctive and often rival trends tied to

3096-538: The farmer infringing on the domain of said spirit, and taking his property by cutting the corn; similarly, there is no reason why the less significant pantheon should be regarded as malevolent, and historical evidence has shown that the Petara of the Dyaks are viewed as invisible guardians of mankind rather than hostile malefactors. Demons are generally classified as spirits which are believed to enter into relations with

3168-526: The first to use the term "element ( στοιχεῖον , stoicheîon )" in reference to air, fire, earth, and water. The ancient Greek word for element, stoicheion (from stoicheo , "to line up") meant "smallest division (of a sun-dial), a syllable", as the composing unit of an alphabet it could denote a letter and the smallest unit from which a word is formed. In On the Heavens (350 BC), Aristotle defines "element" in general: An element, we take it,

3240-432: The following descriptions and associations being a later addition. The associations with the classical elements are not grounded in traditional Indigenous teachings and the symbol has not been adopted by all Indigenous American nations. The Aristotelian tradition and medieval alchemy eventually gave rise to modern chemistry , scientific theories and new taxonomies. By the time of Antoine Lavoisier , for example,

3312-418: The four classical elements in connection with astrological charts and horoscopes . The twelve signs of the zodiac are divided into the four elements: Fire signs are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius, Earth signs are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, Air signs are Gemini, Libra and Aquarius, and Water signs are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. The Dutch historian of science Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis writes that

3384-461: The four Elements, of which we teach It and other mixt bodies to be compos’d. The fire discovers it self in the flame ... the smoke by ascending to the top of the chimney, and there readily vanishing into air ... manifests to what Element it belongs and gladly returnes. The water ... boyling and hissing at the ends of the burning Wood betrayes it self ... and the ashes by their weight, their firiness, and their dryness, put it past doubt that they belong to

3456-517: The heat-giving flames described flammability (sulphur), and the remnant ash described solidity (salt). Japanese traditions use a set of elements called the 五大 ( godai , literally "five great"). These five are earth , water , fire , wind /air, and void . These came from Indian Vastu shastra philosophy and Buddhist beliefs; in addition, the classical Chinese elements ( 五行 , wu xing ) are also prominent in Japanese culture, especially to

3528-414: The heavenly regions, the stars cannot be made out of any of the four elements but must be made of a different, unchangeable, heavenly substance. It had previously been believed by pre-Socratics such as Empedocles and Anaxagoras that aether, the name applied to the material of heavenly bodies, was a form of fire. Aristotle himself did not use the term aether for the fifth element, and strongly criticised

3600-488: The higher purpose of effecting a "preliminary cleansing" that would purge and purify humanity in preparation for an ultimate, messianic renewal. Medieval Chinese Buddhist demonology was heavily influenced by Indian Buddhism. Indian demonology is also fully and systematically described in written sources, though during Buddhism's centuries of direct influence in China, "Chinese demonology was whipped into respectable shape," with

3672-569: The human body dissolves into these five elements of nature, thereby balancing the cycle of nature. The five elements are associated with the five senses, and act as the gross medium for the experience of sensations. The basest element, earth, created using all the other elements, can be perceived by all five senses — (i) hearing, (ii) touch, (iii) sight, (iv) taste, and (v) smell. The next higher element, water, has no odor but can be heard, felt, seen and tasted. Next comes fire, which can be heard, felt and seen. Air can be heard and felt. "Akasha" (aether)

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3744-777: The human race. As such the term includes: Excluded are souls conceived as inhabiting another world. Yet just as gods are not necessarily spiritual, demons may also be regarded as corporeal; vampires for example are sometimes described as human heads with appended entrails, which issue from the tomb to attack the living during the night watches. The incubi and succubi of the Middle Ages are sometimes regarded as spiritual beings; but they were held to give proof of their bodily existence, such as offspring (though often deformed). Belief in demons goes back many millennia. The Zoroastrian faith teaches that there are 3,333 Demons, some with specific dark responsibilities such as war, starvation, sickness, etc. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that

3816-425: The influential Neo-Confucianists during the medieval Edo period . The Islamic philosophers al-Kindi , Avicenna and Fakhr al-Din al-Razi followed Aristotle in connecting the four elements with the four natures heat and cold (the active force), and dryness and moisture (the recipients). The medicine wheel symbol is a modern invention attributed to Native American peoples dating to approximately 1972, with

3888-483: The locust and all flies flee fire; the eagle and the hawk and all high-flying birds flee water; fish, air and earth; the snake avoids the open air. Whereas snakes and all creeping things love earth; all swimming things love water; winged things, air, of which they are the citizens; while those that fly still higher love the fire and have the habitat near it. Not that some of the animals as well do not love fire; for instance salamanders, for they even have their homes in it. It

3960-431: The malignant type, to be propitiated by an appeal to knowledge of the supernatural. Traditional Korean belief posits that countless demons inhabit the natural world; they fill household objects and are present in all locations. By the thousands, they accompany travellers, seeking them out from their places in the elements. Greek philosophers such as Porphyry of Tyre (who claimed influence from Platonism ), as well as

4032-412: The manifestations and magic of trafficking with Hell ; divinations, occult sciences, grimoires , marvels, errors, prejudices, traditions, folktales, the various superstitions, and generally all manner of marvellous, surprising, mysterious, and supernatural beliefs. Influenced by Voltaire , Collin de Plancy initially did not believe in superstition. For example, the book reassures its contemporaries as to

4104-531: The most popular set of classical elements in modern interpretations. One such version was provided by Robert Boyle in The Sceptical Chymist , which was published in 1661 in the form of a dialogue between five characters. Themistius, the Aristotelian of the party, says: If You but consider a piece of green-Wood burning in a Chimney, You will readily discern in the disbanded parts of it

4176-437: The nineteenth century or stories, recent anecdotes, features and little known words, singular adventures, various quotations, compilations and curious pieces, to be used for the history of the customs and the mind of the century in which we live, compared with centuries past. The cover page for the 1826 edition reads: Infernal Dictionary, or, a Universal Library on the beings, characters, books, deeds, and causes which pertain to

4248-413: The other, with the corners of one being the classical elements, and the corners of the other being the properties. The opposite corner is the opposite of these properties, "hot – cold" and "dry – wet". Aristotle added a fifth element, aether ( αἰθήρ aither ), as the quintessence, reasoning that whereas fire, earth, air, and water were earthly and corruptible, since no changes had been perceived in

4320-470: The physical properties of earth (solidity), water (fluidity), fire (heat and light), wind (movement and energy), and" the expanse of space. These natures exist as all "qualities" that are in the physical world and take forms in it. In traditional Bakongo religion , the five elements are incorporated into the Kongo cosmogram . This sacred symbol also depicts the physical world ( Nseke ), the spiritual world of

4392-444: The possible effectiveness of chiromancy , while rejecting cartomancy : "It is certain that chiromancy, and especially physiognomy , have at least some plausibility: they draw their predictions from signs which relate to features which distinguish and characterize people; of lines which the subjects carry with themselves, which are the work of nature, and that someone can believe significant, since they are unique to each individual. But

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4464-456: The pre-Socratics for associating the term with fire. He preferred a number of other terms indicating eternal movement, thus emphasising the evidence for his discovery of a new element. These five elements have been associated since Plato's Timaeus with the five platonic solids . The Neoplatonic philosopher Proclus rejected Aristotle's theory relating the elements to the sensible qualities hot, cold, wet, and dry. He maintained that each of

4536-404: The spirits' residence. The occasional mischievous act, such as the throwing down of a tree on a passer-by, is believed by the natives to be perpetuated by the class of spirits known as Ombuiri . Many spirits, especially those regarding natural processes, are often considered neutral or benevolent; ancient European peasant fears of the corn-spirit would crop up during irritation, as a result of

4608-623: The systematic classifications of Aristotle and Hippocrates . This evolved slightly into the medieval system, and eventually became the object of experimental verification in the 17th century, at the start of the Scientific Revolution . Modern science does not support the classical elements to classify types of substances. Atomic theory classifies atoms into more than a hundred chemical elements such as oxygen , iron , and mercury , which may form chemical compounds and mixtures . The modern categories roughly corresponding to

4680-439: The theory of the classical elements "was bound to exercise a really harmful influence. As is now clear, Aristotle, by adopting this theory as the basis of his interpretation of nature and by never losing faith in it, took a course which promised few opportunities and many dangers for science." Bertrand Russell says that Aristotle's thinking became imbued with almost biblical authority in later centuries. So much so that "Ever since

4752-582: The torments of Hell: "To deny that there are sorrows and rewards after death is to deny the existence of God; since God exists, it must be necessarily so. But only God could know the punishments meted out to the guilty, or the place that holds them. All the catalogues made herebefore are only the fruit of a more or less disordered imagination. Theologians should leave to the poets the depiction of Hell, and not themselves seek to frighten minds with hideous paintings and appalling books" (p. 164). The skepticism of Collin de Plancy increasingly subsided over time. By

4824-507: The underworld (Kur) was home to many demons , which are sometimes referred to as "offspring of arali ". These demons could sometimes leave the underworld and terrorize mortals on earth. One class of demons that were believed to reside in the underworld were known as galla ; their primary purpose appears to have been to drag unfortunate mortals back to Kur. They are frequently referenced in magical texts, and some texts describe them as being seven in number. Several extant poems describe

4896-620: The world. These claims can stray from mainstream ideology, and may include such beliefs as that Christian rock is a means through which demons influence people. Not all Christians believe that demons exist in the literal sense. Some believe that the New Testament's exorcism language was originally part of curing ceremonies for what we now recognize as epilepsy, mental illness, etc. Many demonic or demon-like entities are not purely spiritual, but physical in nature and related to animals. Julius Wellhausen states, that Islamic demonology

4968-460: Was a combination of beliefs from the two religions. However, the demons in hell are viewed differently than Abrahamic faiths who instead of being pure evil are more of guards of hell although they are still viewed as malicious beings. They are ruled over by Yama which came from Buddhism's Hindu influences but certain scriptures and beliefs also state that there are 18 different Yamas in hell which have an army of demons and undead at their side. Also,

5040-508: Was extensively used in traditional Tibetan medicine . Tibetan Buddhist theology , tantra traditions, and "astrological texts" also spoke of them making up the "environment, [human] bodies," and at the smallest or "subtlest" level of existence, parts of thought and the mind. Also at the subtlest level of existence, the elements exist as "pure natures represented by the five female buddhas", Ākāśadhātviśvarī, Buddhalocanā, Mamakī, Pāṇḍarāvasinī, and Samayatārā, and these pure natures "manifest as

5112-411: Was the first to propose the four classical elements as a set: fire, earth, air, and water. He called them the four "roots" ( ῥιζώματα , rhizōmata ). Empedocles also proved (at least to his own satisfaction) that air was a separate substance by observing that a bucket inverted in water did not become filled with water, a pocket of air remaining trapped inside. Fire, earth, air, and water have become

5184-419: Was this principle. Anaximander ( c.  610  – c.  546 BC ) argued that the primordial substance was not any of the known substances, but could be transformed into them, and they into each other. Anaximenes ( c.  586  – c.  526 BC ) favored air, and Heraclitus ( fl.   c.  500 BC ) championed fire. The Greek philosopher Empedocles ( c.  450 BC )

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