Demons: A General Overview

Not all hauntings are ghosts and not all ghosts are demons, the origin and history of demons; and determining whether a paranormal experience is that of a disembodied human spirit or something more sinister.


Let me first tell you that demonic hauntings are very rare. Fewer than 3 percent of all actual hauntings are of demonic nature. Despite what you see on the Internet or television, these types of hauntings are not common. They are a whole different ballpark. Demons can actually cause great physical harm if they feel so inclined, but again this is extremely rare. Just because an angry ghost tries to frighten you by throwing objects, making loud noises, or messing with your household appliances, this does not make it a demon.

Now that we got that out of the way, I’ll give you a brief background on demons. In Greece they believed in entities called daemons. They weren’t actually evil but at the same time not very good either. They were considered to be below gods but above humans. Many times they were known to cause mischief. In many other ancient religions they were considered mere trouble makers and nothing more. The Roman Catholic Church uses names of gods of pagan religions, including gods of ancient Babylon, as names of demons: Baal, Beelzebub, etc.

In the belief of the Catholic Church and conservative Christian Churches, they believe that demons are fallen angels who followed Satan (Lucifer) in his rebellion against God. Islam believes a being called Ibis created by Allah who was jealous of humans and rebelled. Like the Christian belief, he was cast out of heaven. Now he spends till the end of time tormenting and using persuasion to keep as many humans from heaven as he can. Liberal Christian groups do not believe that demons directly interact with humans or perhaps don’t exist at all. They believe evil is more of a force in the world the same as good.

At SPIRIT we do believe that evil manifests itself in a physical embodiment (in some cases appearing as a person). We believe they feed off fear and this gives them strength. Scientifically there is not much that is actually known. Again demon hauntings are rare and in most cases are probably too dangerous to do any lengthy investigation. Getting the demon to leave should be the primary goal, not interaction with it or studying it. When in doubt get out of your house. Do demons actually exist is a matter of opinion; however we at SPIRIT believe there are evil spirits who only want to cause harm. There are documented cases of demonic type haunting, where people were tormented both physically and psychologically. These type of hauntings aren’t consistent with any normal type of haunting.

How do you know you are being haunted by a demon? Well people who have had demonic encounters say that you just know. You can feel unnatural heaviness and foreboding all around. People have smelt sulfur where that smell should not be. People have been left with sudden burns or have been viciously attacked by unseen forces. Some have suffered from horrible nightmares. When one of SPIRITS investigators was a teenager she saw red eyes appear in her bathroom window. When she looked away there were hundreds of black spiders crawling towards her. I’ve even heard accounts where people were sexually molested by unseen forces. Also the people who actually experienced demonic hauntings have felt their families being torn apart and drastic changes in personalities. Demons are known to possess someone’s body. Although some of the scenes in the movie the Exorcist are based on factual exorcism cases, it is a bit over the top in other scenes. There are reports on the net relating to these topics as well. Also demons do come across as a regular haunting (the ghost of a person) at first, but become more aggressive as you become more afraid.

Again let me point out that just because your faucets turn on by themselves, you get touched by some unseen force, or there are loud bangs in your house, this does not necessarily mean it’s a demon. There are other types of negative hauntings. An angry person, who dies angry, may make an angry ghost. There are angry spirits who do aim to scare you but that is about the extent of their powers. There are also poltergeist cases that can be very dramatic. A poltergeist is not a demon. Yes they can move things around in your home, they can be physical with you, and yes they can be quite frightening. What is a poltergeist you ask? Well the main theory behind these cases does hold the most water. This theory states that poltergeist cases are usually manifestations of strong emotions emanating from an adolescent, usually a female. It sounds nuts but almost all poltergeist activity centers around adolescents. All poltergeist hauntings do center on a particular person. So in these cases this theory may in fact be true.

Let’s get back to demons. So you think that you’re being haunted by a demon. What should you do? Well in this case it may be wise to find yourself a real sensitive. Yes a sensitive is the same as a psychic, but a lot of real psychics like the word sensitive. It means they are more sensitive to the world around them. They can sometimes sense things in another plain of existence if you will. You should however do research first on the sensitive or psychic you are thinking of using. You don’t want to be taken advantage of. First of all you want a sensitive who deals in these cases preferably. Perhaps find someone who has some experience. A person with a good spiritual background would be nice. Keep in mind some sensitive’s can not tell the difference between a ghost of a person and demon. So particularly it may be wise to make sure of that as well. You may look into getting a blessing for your house. It may be a priest, or a pastor, or maybe a shaman. It depends on your preference. Make sure the person blessing your home is very caring of your need. Some religious leaders won’t help and take you as a fool. Afterwards you could burn sage or sprinkle sea salt around the outer walls of your house. Hopefully this may drive the demon away, but sometimes it may make it angrier. That’s why I think it would be wise to find a sensitive with some experiences in these cases. They can give you some information on the nature of the demon and steps you can take to drive it away. You could even contact my team at S-P-I-R-I-T.org. You want to find someone who not only takes you seriously but the situation as well. Demons are very real and can be very dangerous.




Article by Joel Keller Co-founder/investigator for S-P-I-R-I-T.org
“Home of California’s investigative paranormal and supernatural Team”