Demons of the Night (Introduction to otherkin people, Part I)
Astaroth, the Grand Duke of Hell, appeared on some occasions as man in many colours and on others as fallen angel – what he really was
By that time when people only had candles to keep the darkness away, a frightful horde of spirits awoke during the long hours between dusk and dawn. They appeared as bodiless shadows or transitory shapes which had been a patchwork of motley parts – goathooves and catpaws, dog-teeth and human faces.
By that time when people only had candles to keep the darkness away, a frightful horde of spirits awoke during the long hours between dusk and dawn. They appeared as bodiless shadows or transitory shapes which had been a patchwork of motley parts – goathooves and catpaws, dog-teeth and human faces. Evil to the backbone, they cowered in hedges or scraped at doors and window shutters, always ready to pinch and to scratch, to seduce, to paralyse and to kill. Common people spoke about goblins, ghosts or gnomes ,and they were afraid of them. Even scholars and sorcerers feared those creatures, but they tried to master and to command these supernatural beings to render them serviceable to human purposes. Learned sorcerers called them demons, sometimes also scions. The signification of this word - that originally designated the scions for grafting the trees – turned into “offspring”. When sorcerers used it, they expressed that the demons were offsprings of Satan, the Foe.
The exact determination of the demons’ powers was a step to dominate them and the scholars went astonishing far in doing so. The most industrious among them asserted for example, that the different spirits which haunted the world constituted an infernal hierarchy with Satan as their leader and that they were classified into six legions. Each legion consisted of 66 cohorts or divisions, each cohort had 666 companies and each company comprised of 6666 soldiers.
This nocturnal army indulged only in the fancies of the scholars: The total number of demons in the system would have exceeded one billion – that would have been more demons existing on the earth than humans at that time. Most scholars were not so much interested in such calculations but more in the denomination and characterization of certain demonic spirits.
The description of powerful demons had been rendered more difficult because they were masters of transformation. A spirit was in the position to assume a harmless shape to attend to his hellish business in the mortal world. He could appear as domestic animal, for example as dog, as fly, toad or mouse to execute his work unnoticed.
His real shape was a hideous reflection of his malignity, a scorn of all natural living beings and shapes. There was for example Eurynome. He devoured corpses, had an ugly, wrinkled skin, sharp teeth and claws at hands and feet. He was said to be Satan’s Prince of Death und his services were useful for those who were up to murder. The demon Ronwe – clumsy, heavy with giant ears and long tail – imparted to the knowledge of all languages – a dangerous weapon for all who worked with magic spells. Xaphan on the other hand, who always carry along with him bellows, was only an ugly curiosity; he was occupied with – so it was said – fanning the eternal fire in hell. Orobas held a high rank in the infernal realm. When he was summoned, he sometimes appeared as a human and another time again as a horse. He could report the truth of all historical events or predict the course of history. Astaroth, the Grand Duke of Hell, appeared on some occasions as man in many colours and on others as fallen angel – what he really was. His once beautiful angelic traits were distorted and his gorgeous wings were lustreless. He was spreading such a terrible stench around him that the sorcerers who summoned him wore a silver ring that should protect them against the demonic evaporation. Like Orobas, Astaroth could also predict the future and reveal the lost past and he possessed of the complete knowledge of all skills that a man or sorcerer could master.
Sorcerers could evoke a lot of other Satan’s servants – Abracax and Flauros, Behemoth and Belial, Buer and Asmodeus – and about their powers had been kept book thoroughly. Of course, the masters of magic knew that they once would have to pay dearly for their servants, but often they made the experience that the price was very high indeed.