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Bronze statue of the Assyro-Babylonian demon king Pazuzu, c. 800–700 BCE, Louvre. A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. [1] Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in media including comics, fiction, film, television, and video games.
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 a Buddha or a Bodhisattva.
Shedim (Hebrew: שֵׁדִים, romanized: šēḏim; singular: שֵׁד šēḏ) [3] are spirits or demons in the Tanakh and Jewish mythology.Shedim do not, however, correspond exactly to the modern conception of demons as evil entities as originated in Christianity. [4]
In many Abrahamic religions, demons are considered to be evil beings and are contrasted with angels, who are their good contemporaries. Evil, by one definition, is being bad and acting out morally incorrect behavior; or it is the condition of causing unnecessary pain and suffering, thus containing a net negative on the world. [1]
The evil demon, also known as Deus deceptor, [1] malicious demon, [2] and evil genius, [1] [3] is an epistemological concept that features prominently in Cartesian philosophy. [1] In the first of his 1641 Meditations on First Philosophy , Descartes imagines that a malevolent God [ 1 ] or an evil demon , of "utmost power and cunning has employed ...
The Testament of Solomon is a pseudepigraphical work, purportedly written by King Solomon, in which the author mostly describes particular demons who he enslaved to help build the temple, the questions he put to them about their deeds and how they could be thwarted, and their answers, which provide a kind of self-help manual against demonic activity.
The Oxford English Dictionary has a variety of definitions for the meaning of "devil", supported by a range of citations: "Devil" may refer to Satan, the supreme spirit of evil, or one of Satan's emissaries or demons that populate Hell, or to one of the spirits that possess a demoniac person; "devil" may refer to one of the "malignant deities ...
This is a list of demons that appear in religion, theology, demonology, mythology, and folklore. It is not a list of names of demons, although some are listed by more than one name. The list of demons in fiction includes those from literary fiction with theological aspirations, such as Dante's Inferno.