Demonology is the study, classification, and interpretation of demons and related spirits. In Western religious history it has included theological arguments about the nature and powers of demons, lists of named spirits, explanations of possession and temptation, magical techniques for summoning or constraining spirits, and folklore about dangerous supernatural beings. Modern theistic Satanists and…
Religions that give Satan a central symbolic or divine role, with substantial differences in belief and practice.
The Massachusetts prosecutions of 1692-1693, the spread of accusations, spectral evidence, and the surviving court archive.
A German magical fraternity whose teaching gives Saturn a central symbolic and initiatory role.
Ceremonies intended to clear, delimit, or reorder a ritual setting, with methods that vary by tradition.
Beelzebub and related spellings appear in distinct biblical contexts. Later demonological interpretations should not be retroactively read into each earlier occurrence.
An initiatory order whose Draconian system brings together Qliphoth, Goetic magic, alchemy, and other esoteric traditions.
An initiatory organization associated with Thelema and the public celebration of the Gnostic Mass.
A late nineteenth-century British initiatory order that shaped modern ceremonial magic, Tarot, and Hermetic Qabalah.
Faust is the scholar or magician at the center of a European legend about bargaining with the Devil. The 1587 Faust book, Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus, and Goethe’s Faust give the story different treatments of knowledge, desire, damnation, and human striving.
Mastema is a leader of harmful spirits in the Book of Jubilees. His appearances in the stories of Noah, Abraham, and Moses connect temptation, accusation, and hostility with a power that remains subject to divine limits.
How witchcraft has meant an accusation, a magical practice, and a modern identity, with examples from museums and trial records.
A Goetic president described as a winged boy on a two-headed dragon, associated with treasure and serpents.
A school of the Western mysteries associated with Paul Foster Case, Ann Davies, Tarot, and Qabalistic study.
The author and religious figure associated with Thelema, The Book of the Law, and a large body of magical instruction.
An English artist and occult author whose treatment of desire and sigils influenced later magical practice.
The Watchers are heavenly beings whose descent, teachings, and punishment are narrated in 1 Enoch. Their literary identity must be distinguished from later religious interpretations.
1 Enoch brings together accounts of heavenly beings, judgment, celestial order, and righteousness. It is a composite work rather than a single continuous biography of Enoch.
The Nephilim appear in brief biblical passages and in later traditions about giants. Different texts should be distinguished before their accounts are combined.