An understanding of what demons are, where they are, and how they interact with those of us in the physical world is essential to understanding why so many cases that have been rubber-stamped as a “demonic haunting” have been identified in error – the real cause completely overlooked.
Let’s face it, very few of us can get the “warm fuzzies” when talking about demons, in particular if those demons are of the rank and power we are about to discuss. But it is important for the paranormal investigator and even the armchair ghost hunter to endeavor to understand the nature of the genuine demons in order to better understand why these demons should be the last suspected in the types of cases encountered by the average investigator, even if the case is extreme.
Lords of the Infernal Regions
The Judaic mystical tradition as expressed in the Qaballah is one of the cornerstones of the Western magical tradition. In that tradition, the demonic potentates of our current cosmic condition are beings that survived an older, unknowable universe that was a realm of such unbalanced force it destroyed itself after only a short period of existence – in cosmic terms this “short period” would still be an inconceivably long time in our current understanding. Nor were these destructive powers the only survivors of that prior cosmos; other cosmic beings also arrived here with them (we know them as the gods, goddesses, and daimonic beings of our many world pantheons) and all have their place and purpose in our universe.
These destructive forces are called the “Qlippoth” which in Hebrew means “husks” or “shells,” and this is just what they are in the Qaballistic tradition – fragmentary and unbalanced (and consequently dangerous) powers whose energies are in some way necessary to the current cosmic balance. So dissolute is their energy that it shattered the “vessels” or spheres designed to contain their emanations; these spheric shells are all that remain of their original “homes.” Although the Qlippoth are essential and fulfill a definite purpose, they can be more destructive to humankind than anything else in nature or that we can conceive of in our spiritual or scientific imaginings. Our interactions with them - reality dangerous interlopings in their territory - are made possible by missteps in our collective cosmic evolution and sometimes through the innate curiosity of certain magical pioneers; otherwise, we are phantoms to their reality, and unless we go looking for them we (thankfully) can’t relate to them at all.
In the Kingdom of the Shells
The kingdom of the Qlippoth is called “Da’ath” by Qaballists; to us it is simply the Abyss.
The Abyss of Da’ath is the dark chasm separating all that is spirit from all that is not spirit. Across the Abyss all opposites are reconciled in perfection; in the Abyss, the personalities of humankind “exist” in unresolved conflict and irrationality. Crossing the Abyss forces the human to leave everything behind, all that he or she is, was, will be, might be, might have been, and all thoughts or conceptions connected to the physical world dissolve in the chaos of the Kingdom of the Shells.
In the Abyss, or more accurately beneath the Abyss, the great demon Choronzon is met. He is the Arch-Demon of Dispersion and the consumer of the human consciousness, and he is not alone. Here can be found Abaddon, whose name is “Perdition”; Titahion, the “Clay of Death”; and Tz’elmoth, the “Shadow of Death.” The paths through the Abyss are Sheol, the “Depths of the Earth”; Bar Shasketh, the “Pit of Destruction”; Sha’ari Moth, the “Gates of Death”; and Ge’hinnon, which is “Hell.” The watchtowers of the Abyss have their guardians in four evil Cherubic powers: Rahab, Moloch, Machaloth, and Na’amah, the strange and terrible, and all four rule elemental kingdoms beneath the Abyss.
The Princes of the Abyss are Bai’riron the Dragon-Lion; Adimiron, the Lion-Lizard; Tz’Elladimiron, Dog of the Triangular Heads; Schechiriron, the Insect Crab; Sh’elhabiron, the Merciless Jackal; Tz’Ephariron, the Corpse Ghoul; Obiriron, the Goblin Fiend; Necheshe’thiron, human-headed Insect Devil; Nachashiron, Dog-Headed Serpent; Dagdagiron, the Fish-headed; Behemiron, the flat Insect with the elephant head; and Neshimiron, the Blue Skeleton Women. All these Princes have their minions, myriad numbers of “clones” of each hideous form, as well as other evil spirits and elementals, and all serve Choronzon, the Lord of the Abyss.
In the midst of the Abyss we meet Qlippoth with some familiar names, but in all their infernal glory, these are the Infernal Chiefs whose thrones are in the averse (negative) Sephiroth (the spheres of the Qaballistic Tree of Life): Samael dwells at the top of the Qlippotic Tree; Beelzebub and Belial rule just beneath him; Ashtaroth and Asmodeus are beneath these, then Belphagor, Baal, and Adramalech; Lilith follows all of these in her throne on the averse side of Yesod; and at the last comes Nahemah, the plague of Malkuth. With them in the Abyss are all their legions.
One demon identified as a Marshal of the Abyss is Lucifuge, the Man Dragon, “he who denied God,” and with him is Othiel, a horrible Insect Man. Three loathsome demonic forces serve Samael and these are Qematiel, the seven-headed snake that coils about the root of the tree at the feet of Nahemah; Behemoth, the Dragon Elephant who does the will of the Qlippoth in all the lands (consciousness); and Leviathan, the beast of the infernal cosmic sea (the unconscious), each of whose scales is a separate head.
Your Closet Is Not Big Enough …
By now it should be obvious that meeting one of the Arch-Demons - or any of their innumerable cosmic minions - on this side of the Abyss is extremely unlikely especially among the types of haunting the majority of teams deal with on a day-to-day basis. There are situations, such as when someone in the haunted environment practices or has experimented with ceremonial ritual magic, where contact with the lesser emanations of the Qlippotic realm may have occurred. But, although there are real dangers incidental to ceremonial magic, this is rare as successful practitioners of ritual magic, though they are in no way perfect, certainly take all necessary precautions to perform and complete rituals properly. It is where such magic has been practiced by amateurs and neophytes that the investigator must proceed warily.
The fact is that the natures of the Arch-Demons and other “genuine” demonic beings – that is to say, non-human discarnate entities with a highly-developed intelligence and negative aspect – are such that a good deal of complicated work and ritual is necessary to bring oneself into any kind of meaningful interaction with them. The real Demons do not hover about on the edge of boredom waiting for an unwitting human to come along and suddenly strike, overwhelming us like a supernatural tidal wave and sweeping us off into a depraved existence of foaming at the mouth or vomiting pea soup. These beings have a greater purpose which is, not surprisingly, nothing like the activities assigned to them by the later Christian traditions; and unlike stupid humans, these Demons are not trolling around in the lower etheric depths with their version of an Ouija board looking for likely candidates to possess.
This is not to suggest in any way that the Qlippoth are not possessed of a very real, dangerous objective reality. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is simply that, if humans are to relate to them we must bring them into our reality – contact MUST be initiated from the physical realm - and this can only be accomplished through the precepts and rituals of ceremonial magic. Though we may interlope upon their realm through our imaginations, perversions, and wanton magical daring, the Qlippoth, subjects of primordial hypercosmic “failsafe” laws, cannot so easily reciprocate in kind. And for this the paranormal investigator – either self-styled “expert” or weekend hobbyist - should be very, very thankful.
To put it simply, the average sized closet, attic, or under-bed space – and for that matter, the human psyche – cannot possibly contain even an atom-sized portion of even one of these beings.
When faced with extreme haunting conditions, such as those in which everything seems to point to a “demonic” presence, the ability to differentiate between the unlikely presence of Arch-Demons and the more common “demon-like” influence of badly-devolved human discarnates is essential to the educated investigator.
To learn more about the ways in which these devolved spirits can mimic even the most horrific deeds of Demons, Part Three: Thirty Years Among the Dead. http://www.hauntedamericatours.com/haunted/demons3.php
