 | | History of Demon names.
Names of the demons
According to some Christian theology, many Pagan deities are demons. So,when names of demons are spoken, one must consider that they wereincorporated to Christian demonology, as were Jewish demons, Pagan deities,folkloric supernatural beings, and sometimes imaginary names given bypeople interrogated under torture during the witch trials, by mentally illpersons (energumens) that were considered possessed, imaginative priests,etc.
In this way, we have Jewish names like Asmodai (Book of Tobit), Azazel(Leviticus 16:8-10), or Belial (Deuteronomy 13:13, Book of Judges 19:22,Books of Samuel, part 1, 1:16, 2:12 10:27 and 25:17, and part 2 16:7 and22:5, Books of Kings part 1, 21:10-13, Books of Chronicles, part 1, 13:7);Semitic deities like Adramelech, Baal (see Baal (demon), Baal was also ageneral Jewish name for a false god), Ashtaroth (derived from Astarte);Greek, Roman and Egyptian names like Bifrons (See Bifrons (demon)), Lamia,Phoenix (see Phenex); and so on. All biblical references were taken fromthe Vulgate.
Lilith, a female demon important in Judaism, does not count in Christiandemonology. However, the newer generation of demonologists (and some modernexorcists/deliverance counsellors) recognize Lilith as a general demon, theargument being that if other Judaic demons exist in Christian demonology,so should Lilith as well, introducing her as the wife of Samael, and as aprincess and queen of Hell. Also, from the aforementioned 'everything otherthan God and His angels, if spirit, is demon' vein of reasoning - we findvalid logical reasoning for there being a 'Lilith demon' - if simply tocreate confusion and add validity to the following of Lilith as deity.
Some grimoires like The Great Book of Saint Cyprian, Le Dragon Rouge,Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and The Lesser Key of Solomon (see Ars Goetia)among others provide us of more of these names.
Sebastien Michaelis in his classification of demons (see Michaelis'classification of demons) gives more names.
Abaddon, an angel of destruction extracted from the Bible (Book ofRevelation 9:11) was also incorporated as a different demon.
Lucifer, Beelzebub and Satan, were originally one Devil who wastransmogrified into three different characters by demonology and the Devilremained as such. Beelzebub was a separate entity in Judaism, laterappearing as a fallen angel, and Satan is the leader of fallen angels:while Lucifer was originally an unnamed angel, the one who talked Sataninto joining him in the rebellion. Whether all three (as well as othernames such as Baal) are considered the same being or different depends onopinion.
Goblins, drudes, Familiars and other folkloric creatures became part ofChristian demonology.
Thus there is little agreement on who is whom, for many names thatoriginally were only one being have been separated into several entities.Others have been "created" by people, like Sonnilon, Olivier (demon), Raum,etc. Many demons have several spellings of their names, not all of themwith a valid fundament.
Some of these demons are mentioned in the bible, but have no officialnames, such as the Raging Demon, or some of the demons that were cast outby Christians during the time of the New Testament, or by Jesus Christ.
Also, many deliverance counselors and exorcists in modern times, such asDr. Ed Murphy in his book "The Handbook For Spiritual Warfare", citeexamples of demons named after the afflictions they cause, or the effectthey produce. In his book, Dr. Murphy retells his encounters with multipledemons manifest in a lady named Betty, naming themselves through use of hervocal cords, with names such as "Hellbent" (its purpose was to ensureBetty's place in Hell (although it was defeated)); "Unbelief" (purposed toinspire exactly what it's named for) and "Destroyer" (meant to destroy thevictim's spirit).
Information collected by Tammy Wood.
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