Are demons real?

Millions of people in our culture believe angels are real, and a great many of those people also believe in the reality of demons. The belief has been part of our culture for thousands of years, and despite our contention that we are abandoning unproven superstitions in favor of science, we are more open today to the occult that we have been in many, many decades.

The subtext of television's The X-Files, Millennium, The Unexplained, and so many more shows is that there are dark forces we do not understand and cannot control. That same subtext infuses countless movies, from The Exorcist to Hellraiser.

And even those who contend demons have no physical status must acknowledge that they have a reality in the minds of those who are convinced they are real. And who is to say this reality does not have equivalent status to the "physical"? We cannot see the "dark matter" of the universe, but do not dismiss its reality on that basis. And what is it to be "real" anyway?

Malevolent creatures from the other side. Fallen angels. Minions in the service of Lucifer, the rebellious outcast of Heaven. This is a true description of demons from the Scriptures read and treasured by people in numerous religions and sects and churches and cults worldwide.

Separation of church and state means we are used to leaving our religious beliefs at the door when we enter courthouses and the halls of government. But sometimes we cannot abandon our religion so easily. Sometimes it is obvious that to abandon a belief we hold is to adopt another in its place - another belief that perhaps denies the truthfulness of that which we believe. If we believe in our hearts and in our churches that demons are real, then are they not just as real in the courthouse and the halls of government?

Do we throw away our belief in angels, or in God, when we enter into the courtroom? Hardly. We may keep our mouths shut about it, but that doesn't mean we embrace atheism in the process.

In a culture of freedom of religion and of expression, we are witnessing a growth of religions, practices and music that are grounded in the same occult beliefs that flow through Scripture, except from another perspective. Satanism flourishes in its many incarnations. Paganism and Wicca are held in very high esteem in many circles, especially now that the occult arts are achieving widespread tolerance and acceptance.

Much of our popular music today celebrates the white and black occult arts and principles in one way or another - music from Black Sabbath to Mercyful Fate to Deicide to Slayer to Marilyn Manson. Occult themes are found in the music of The Rolling Stones, Guns'n'Roses, Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac and many others. It is no longer any big deal. It is folklore, or fantasy, or thought-experiments, or art, or fun, or free expression, or belief.

Certainly there are bands that portray the dark side of the demonic forces - and the death metal bands are at the forefront of this effort, along with industrial and experimental outfits like Skinny Puppy and Ministry. They, like Marilyn Manson, evoke the dark side of humanity and human spirituality. Countless Goth bands play with dark images of vampires and the undead and ghosts and evil spirits. Listen to Siouxsie and the Banshees, or Killing Joke, or Peter Murphy, or Dead Can Dance, or any of the myriad other bands working with those themes. The music is sensual, evocative, disturbing, mystical and very, very, very, very dark.

Satanists and demon-worshippers of one form or another advocate the use of dark music to evoke the appropriate atmosphere for Black Masses and other dark works. Dark music opens up dark hallways of the soul, and lets the individual explore hidden caverns of thought. It lets the person explore thoughts of anger and revenge, thoughts about death and killing, thoughts of decay and suicide, thoughts of depression and mutilation. All human potential is embraced as liberating. The dark side of the soul is released in the name of the will to power. The soul is freed from the constraints of millennia of religion, and the individual is invited to drink the succulent juices of things too long forbidden to mortals by the power-mongers and fear-mongers in control of things.

The average kid listening to such music or watching violent video games or enjoying dark films is not aware of the doctrines of liberation strongly held by occultists. Many of the producers of these works may, too, be unaware of the extent of the influence of the occult. But occult themes are circulating in our society like popular ideas, and they tend to permeate cultural works. Kids embrace the sights and sounds for whatever reason - perhaps because they are different or maybe because there is something forbidden and powerfully magnetic about them - and the experiences make gradual shifts in their perception and thinking.

A kid wearing black, listening to dark music and mimicking the behavior of his dark heroes is experimenting with identities. All kids try to determine where they fit in. They are tenacious about choosing the right music, the right clothes, the right image. They are building who they are. It is deadly serious work. How deep does the identification go? Is it possible they are inadvertently embracing things far deeper than styles and sounds? Is it possible they are being sucked into the funnel of a conspiracy that is the creation of no particular artist but is a growing movement around the globe? Are they becoming the prey of demons?

Taken metaphorically, a "spirit" is an idea that galvanizes people. We speak of the "spirit of the age" (zeitgeist) as a subtext of belief which flows underneath major cultural shifts and spurs the action of individuals. There may be a spirit of democracy, a spirit of rationalism, a spirit of tolerance which becomes an overriding theme that people naturally embrace.

But what of the spirits moving through society that are darker, destructive (or deconstructive), malevolent, or manipulative? What of the movement to tear down institutions and long-held traditions? What of the movement to discredit heroes and re-humanize saints? What of the movement to undermine history itself and discredit notions of truth? Surely these spirits are with us, but are they constructive or are they vicious?

Metaphorically, a person possessed of a demon is a person driven by a conviction in a dark principle. He sees the world, not through rose-colored glasses, but through dark-tinted lenses. His focus is on the dark underside of humanity, and he places himself in his world in relation to his view of it. His views are reinforced by the dark music and lyrics and games and films and writings in which he immerses himself. He cannot see things from another vantage point because he is being driven by a view that discredits other vantage points. Everything pulls him into the downward spiral.

Literally, who is to say these spirits are not embodied essences of another realm? It is not such a stretch to embody essences that we already name in abstract terms. The explanation works the same. And for young people who go deeper and more openly into the occult, these demons become quite literal. They take on form, and the formed beings exert a powerful ruling presence in their lives. They are like addicts of drugs, bound in chains by something more powerful than themselves. The source of the internal will to power becomes displaced to another more-powerful being, and the individual feels subordinate and enslaved. They are freed from bondage to religious institutions, but enslaved to that which has freed them. Freedom in slavery is the consequence, and they embrace this state of affairs.

The child addicted to dark thoughts and a dark vantage point loses his freedom to see the world through a child's eyes. He is poisoned. He is possessed. He is not his own person. He is under the control of something disembodied. Dark forces move him and direct his thoughts in evil directions. Things he would not ordinarily do he now considers. He revels in thoughts of things that once disgusted him. He is like a drunk man who cannot get sober; a stoned man who cannot get straight; an insane man who cannot get his feet on the ground.

This does not happen to all children - obviously. Some toy with certain identities only to move on later to others. But some embrace their identities with steel arms. They lose their grip on what they once were, and they become people they are not. There is evidence of the change. They are seen to be darker, more withdrawn, more paranoid, more brooding, more deliberate, more cold, more malevolent in imagination, more dark in tastes, more violent in verbal imagery, more threatening in demeanor.

A person possessed of such a "demon" is not himself. When the demon is exorcised, he must be embraced as his old self, or else you will forbid him the opportunity to escape his demonized self. To force a man to bear the blame for his demonic acts is to tell him the demons that drove him are a part of him - perhaps that he himself is the demon. Wish that hell on no man or boy.