There is an ancient Persian tradition that holds if you know a spirit or deity’s name you have some control or power over the said entity. This tradition was assimilated by the Hellenistic cultures of the Mediterraneanand was a fundamental idea in ancient witchcraft, sorcery, divination and worship. Early Judaism also held this concept; portions of the Talmud and Kabalistic teachings support this notion of the power over an entity by knowing its name.
How did this concept come about? In ancient times, as well as in many indigenous cultures within the last few centuries, names had meaning. A person was named in order to describe the characteristics of that person. Take the Apostle Peter, whose name meant "Rock". Christ had named him Peter because he was to be the solid foundation of the church. In Western cultures, the surname Smith comes from the ancestral role of Blacksmithing. The same goes for Potter, Baker and Turner among many others. Demonic names also describe what they are or do. They can describe their main characteristics or how they manifest themselves in our world. Here are a few examples:
- Lucifer: The Latin translation of the Old Testament Hebrew word 'Helel' which means "Shining One" (Isaiah 14:3-20). Which points to the attribute of Satan posing as an 'angel of light' (2 Corinthians 11:14) to deceive and misdirect the ignorant or innocent
- Beelzebub: From the Hebrew 'Baal Zebub' which literally means "lord of the flies" which originally was coined to show the entities unclean nature (flies associated with disease from rotting flesh).
- Pazuzu: From the Babylonian 'Zu' which means "Storm Bird". Pazuzu was the child of the wind demon Hanpa. He had the power to spread disease through the air.
- Asmodeus: From the Zoroastrian 'Aesma-Daeva' meaning literally "Wrath-Monster". He was adopted into the Talmudic literature, notably the "Book of Tobit".
Therefore, knowing what a demon is or does helps the individual to understand how to guard himself or manipulate the being by pandering to its innate motivation. Likewise in exorcism, it lets the practitioner know how the entity has manifested itself in the victim. An example would be if an infesting demon is a demon of wrath then it is likely the victim had succumbed to an uncontrollable wrath that bordered on the psychotic.
Beginning in the Dark Ages and carrying on well into the Renaissance, Europeand the Middle Eastsaw a resurgence in occult thought. Occult philosophy became a science as scholars attempted to contact and control spiritual forces through detailed formula and ritual. Many of the ancient traditions of the occult were rediscovered, utilized and used as a basis for further research. One of these was the name/power association. Occult scholars began to build a database of demonic names from ancient literature and began to refine an authoritative structure and hierarchy to the demonic world. Much of this was not based on actual manifestations of the demonic but rather it was rooted in a zealous quest for the demonic in anything different or non-Christian.
Sometimes localized pagan deities or heroes became loosely associated with demonic entities and after time the names stuck. Many times entities and their names seemed to be created or invented out of current myths and misconceptions of the time and later became iconic figures of infernal power. The prime example of such is the demon Baphomet. Today Baphomet is a classification of demons that are tied to the occult and is visualized as "The Sabbatic Goat" a winged being with a goat head, female breasts and a pentagram on it's forehead. It has been so closely associated with demonic influence that it has been portrayed as the iconic demon figure in cinema, most notably the movie "Drag Me to Hell". However the origin of the name Baphomet comes from the crusades; it is an Old French version the name "Mahomet". "Mahomet" is actually the Latinized name of the prophet Muhammad. Crusaders in the 12th century chronicled that the Muslims would pray to Baphomet, while the Christian crusaders would call upon God to help and called Mosques "Bafumaries". So Baphomet is in reality a spiritual vilification of Muhammad and Islam.
Other demonic names were derived from words or phrases that were forgein or uncommon for the writer. Take the Mammon, the demon of greed and injustice. The word Mammon comes from the New Testament, it is a Latin word literally meaning "Wealth" or "Riches". In the parable of The Unjust Steward (Luke 16:9-13) and The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:24) Jesus tells his followers that they cannot serve both God and riches. The word for riches or money is 'Mammon'. A primary focus of the Christian faith is to overcome injustice for the poor and needy and over the centuries of preaching the original word Mammon became personified. Early New Testament translators left the word untranslated in many versions (most famously being The King James Version) and many readers unaware of the Latin word saw this as a real personification of the sin of greed and associated the word Mammon with a demonic force of greed. So Mammon entered the demonic hierarchy when it originally was just a word used by Christ to teach his followers to give to the needy.
The 19th century also saw a rise in occult interest and many demonic names were introduced by authors of fiction and occult lore. Some of these authors made obscure demonic references popular and others seemed to be literally pulling names out of nowhere. Many names of demonic entities known to demonologist today are works of fiction or embellishment.
When it comes down to it, a demonic name essentially describes the nature and character of the being. There are hundreds of entities that claim the name "Satan" or "Belial". In my experience some have even claimed the name "Jesus", fooling the victim in believing that his destructive impulses and addictive behavior is from God instead of from the pit of Hell. Dealing with such deceptive spirits is very challenging, and it will be the topic of our third and final part of this series later this week.
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