Varieties of angels and demons in the religions of the world

In Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

In the Western religions, which are monotheistic and view the cosmos as a tripartite universe, angels and demons are generally conceived as celestial or atmospheric spirits. In the popular piety of these religions, however, there is a widespread belief in ghosts, ghouls, goblins, demons, and evil spirits that influence humans in their terrestrial condition and activities. The celestial beings may be either benevolent or malevolent, depending on their own relationship to the Supreme Being. On the other hand, the demons and evil spirits that generally influence humans in their role as terrestrial beings (rather than in their destiny as supraterrestrial beings) are viewed in popular piety—and somewhat in theological reflection—as malevolent in intent.

Angels are generally grouped in orders of four, six, or seven in the first ranks, of which there may be several. The use of four, which symbolically implies perfection and is related to the four cardinal points, is found in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Early Zoroastrianism, much influenced by the astronomical and astrological sciences of ancient Iran, coordinated the concept of the seven known planetary spheres with its belief in the heptad (grouping of seven) of celestial beings—i.e., the amesha spentas of Ahura Mazdā: Spenta Mainyu (the Holy Spirit), Vohu Mana (Good Mind), Asha (Truth), Ārmaiti (Right Mindedness), Khshathra (Kingdom), Haurvatāt (Wholeness), and Ameretāt (Immortality). In later Zoroastrianism, though not in the Gāthās (the early hymns, believed to have been written by Zoroaster, in the Avesta, the sacred scriptures), Ahura Mazdā and Spenta Mainyu were identified with each other, and the remaining bounteous immortals were grouped in an order of six. Over against the bounteous immortals, who helped to link the spiritual and material worlds together, was the counterpart of the Holy Spirit, namely Angra Mainyu, the Evil Spirit, who later became the great adversary Ahriman (the prototype of the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Satan), and the daevas, who were most likely gods of early Indo-Iranian religion. Allied with Angra Mainyu against Ahura Mazdā were Akōman (Evil Mind), Indrā-vāyū (Death), Saurva (a daeva of death and disease), Nāñhaithya (a daeva related to the Vedic god Nāsatya), Tauru (difficult to identify), and Zairi (the personification of haoma, the sacred drink related to the sacrifices of both ahuras and daevas). Among other demonic figures is Aēshma (violence, fury, or the aggressive impulse)—who may well be the demon Asmodeus of the book of Tobit, Āz (Concupiscence or Lust), Mithrāndruj (He Who Lies to Mithra or False Speech), Jēh (the demon Whore, created later by Ahriman to defile the human race), and many others (see also Zoroastrianism).

Angelology and demonology in Judaism became more highly developed during and after the period of the Babylonian Exile (6th–5th centuries bce), when contacts were made with Zoroastrianism. In the Hebrew Bible, Yahweh is called the Lord of hosts. These hosts (Sabaoth) are the heavenly army that fights against the forces of evil and performs various missions, such as guarding the entrance to paradise, punishing evildoers, protecting the faithful, and revealing God’s Word to humans. Two archangels are mentioned in the canonical Hebrew Bible: Michael, the warrior leader of the heavenly hosts, and Gabriel, the heavenly messenger. Two are mentioned in the apocryphal Hebrew Bible: Raphael, God’s healer or helper (in the book of Tobit), and Uriel (Fire of God), the watcher over the world and the lowest part of hell (in II Esdras). Though these are the only four named, seven archangels are noted in Tobit 12:15. Besides the archangels, there were also other orders of angels, the cherubim and seraphim, which have been noted earlier.

Under the influence of Zoroastrianism, Satan, the adversary, probably evolved into the archdemon. Other demons included Azazel (the demon of the wilderness, incarnated in the scapegoat), Leviathan and Rahab (demons of chaos), Lilith (a female night demon), and others. To protect themselves from the powers of the demons and unclean spirits, Jews influenced by folk beliefs and customs (as with Christians later) often carried charms, amulets, and talismans inscribed with efficacious formulas (See also Judaism).

Christianity, probably influenced by the angelology of Jewish sects such as the Pharisees and Essenes as well as of the Hellenistic world, further enhanced and developed theories and beliefs in angels and demons. In the New Testament, celestial beings were grouped into seven ranks: angels, archangels, principalities, powers, virtues, dominions, and thrones. In addition to these were added the Old Testament cherubim and seraphim, which with the seven other ranks constituted the nine choirs of angels in later Christian mystical theology. Various other numbers of the orders of angels have been given by early Christian writers: four, in The Sibylline Oracles (a supposedly Jewish work that shows much Christian influence); six, in the Shepherd of Hermas, a book accepted as canonical in some local early Christian churches; and seven, in the works of Clement of Alexandria and other major theologians. In both folk piety and theology the number has generally been fixed at seven. The angels receiving most attention and veneration in Christianity were the four angels mentioned in the Old Testament and the Apocrypha. Michael became the favourite of many, and in the practice of his cult there was often some confusion with St. George, who was also a warrior figure.

Demonology experienced a renewal in Christianity that probably would have been acceptable in Zoroastrianism. Satan, the archenemy of the Christ; Lucifer, the fallen Light Bearer; and the originally Canaanite Beelzebub, the Lord of Flies (or, perhaps, Beelzebul, the Lord of Dung), mentioned by Jesus, are all devils. The concept and term devil are derived from the Zoroastrian concept of daevas and the Greek word daibolos (“slanderer” or “accuser”), which is a translation of the Jewish concept of Satan. As a singular demonic force or personification of evil, the devil’s chief activity was to tempt humans to act in such a way that they would not achieve their supraterrestrial destiny. Because demons were believed to inhabit waterless wastelands, where hungry and tired persons often had visual and auditory hallucinations, early Christian monks went into the deserts to be the vanguard of God’s army in joining battle with the tempting devils. They often recorded that the devil came to them in visions as a seductive woman, tempting them to violate their vows to keep themselves sexually pure, both physically and mentally.

During certain periods in Christian Europe, especially the Middle Ages, worship of demons and the practice of witchcraft brought about the wrath of both church and people on those suspected of practicing diabolical rites, such as the black mass. One formula from the black mass (the mass said in reverse and with an inverted crucifix on the altar) has survived in popular magic: “hocus-pocus,” an abbreviated from of “Hoc est corpus meum” (“This is my body”), the words of institution in the Eucharist, or Holy Communion. Witchcraft and sorcery have been closely associated with demonology in the thought of Christianity, especially in the West.

In the second half of the 20th century, in connection with a renewed interest in the supernatural, there was evidence of a revival of demon worship and black magic, although this was generally restricted to small cults that proved to be quite ephemeral.

Angelology and demonology in Islam are closely related to similar doctrines in Judaism and Christianity. Besides the four throne bearers of Allah, four other angels are well known: Jibrīl (Gabriel), the angel of revelation; Mīkāl (Michael), the angel of nature, providing humans with food and knowledge; ʿIzrāʾīl, the angel of death; and Isrāfīl, the angel who places the soul in the body and sounds the trumpet for the Last Judgment. Demons also contend for control of human lives, the most prominent being Iblīs (the Devil), who tempts humans, or Shayṭan, or Satan.