Although debate continues as to whether or not the dialogue Concerning Demons was actually written by Michael Psellos (1018–ca. 1075) himself, to whom it is attributed, or was composed by someone else in the following century, the importance of the glimpse it provides into the complex traditions concerning the nature of demons is undeniable. Where the orthodox tradition largely ignores questions of how demonic beings could actually do the things they are said to do in the stories of hagiography (see this page), Concerning Demons provides logical answers to a slew of problems those stories raise. Contemporary medical and scientific theory plays an important part in the explanations offered in this work for how demons operate, but there is certainly no sense at all of any doubt in their existence. Set against a background of Byzantine persecution of Bogomil heretics in Thessaly, the central character, Thrax (“the Thracian”), tells his interlocutor, Timothy, everything he knows about demons, much of which he claims to have been taught by a monk named Mark, who was formerly an initiate of a demonic cult. Thanks to a partial translation into Latin by the Renaissance scholar Marsilio Ficino (1433–99), the content of this work became a staple source on demonology in western Europe down to the eighteenth century.
Timothy: An older brother of mine was married to a woman who was very sensible, but who experienced great difficulty in giving birth and was afflicted by all sorts of illnesses. Once, while she was in labor, she had a bad turn and went completely crazy; she ripped her dress and started shrieking fluently in a foreign language, one that was not recognized by those who were present there. They, of course, all stood around in dismay, not being able to do anything in the face of such an impossibly bad situation, but some women—for their kind is ingenious and very effective when something happens—brought in a foreigner who was bald, extremely old, and with skin that was wrinkled and burnt black. This man drew a sword, stood beside the bed, angrily took hold of the sick woman, and hurled a string of insults at her using his native language—for he was Armenian. And she, for her part, answered back in the same language. At first, she was full of abuse and sat up in bed looking for a fight, but, as the foreigner increased his conjurations and threatened to strike her as though he was in a rage, the woman then shrank away, started to tremble, spoke submissively, and fell asleep. We were astounded, not because she had acted crazily—because we see that happen everywhere—but because she, a woman who had never ever set eyes on any Armenians and who knew nothing but the women’s quarters and the weaver’s tools, was speaking in their language. When she had come to her senses, I asked her what she had experienced and if she had noticed anything else as a consequence of what had happened. She said that she had seen a demonic apparition, which was shadowy and resembled a woman with windswept hair, coming at her; terrified, she had fallen flat on her bed, but she had no idea what had happened thereafter.
That is what she said and she was set free of the demon. But since then, I have been fascinated by this problem, wondering first how the demon that caused the woman such trouble made itself appear female, for it really is a problem if some of the demons are male and others female, just like animals which are born on earth and die. Second, how it used the language of the Armenians, for that is a very tough one too, if some of the demons speak the languages of the Greeks, others of the Chaldeans, others of the Persians, and others of the Syrians. And lastly, how it shrank back from the sorcerer’s threats and was frightened by his raised sword, for what would a demon suffer from a sword when it cannot be cut and is immortal? These questions are troubling and bothering me a lot, and I need a solution to them. I think that you are well placed to provide that since you have a good grasp of the beliefs of the ancients and you have acquired a lot of information.
The Thracian: I would like to provide an answer for the things you are asking about, Timothy, although I am afraid that we may both appear to be going too far, you asking questions about things that no one has studied, and me trying to talk about things that should be kept secret, certainly when bearing in mind that such things are easily misrepresented by ordinary people. But anyhow, since, according to Antigonos, one should trust friends not only with easy things but sometimes also with difficult ones, I will try to resolve your problem, working my way through it on the basis of what I have learned from Mark.[2]
He said that there is no kind of demon that is naturally masculine or feminine, for such properties belong to compound beings, whereas demonic bodies are simple. Since demonic bodies are pliable and flexible, however, they are naturally suited to every kind of appearance. Just as you can see the clouds sometimes take the shape of men or bears or dragons or other things, so it is with the bodies of demons; but, while all these different shapes are taken on by the clouds when they are moved by the winds outside them, with the demons this change of shape happens from their preference for whatever they want for the bodies they are manipulating, and so they sometimes compress them into a smaller volume or sometimes expand them to a very large size, just as we see happening with the bodies of earthworms because of their softness and pliability. And demons can change not only in size, but also in shape and color in various ways—for the demonic body is naturally suited to do both since, being malleable, it can assume the appearance of shapes and, being airy, it can take on all sorts of colors like the air. But while the air is colored by something outside it, the demonic body projects the appearance of colors onto itself by the power of its imagination. For just as when we are frightened “pallor seizes our cheeks” and, when we are embarrassed, redness does the same, our soul, depending on whether it feels this way or that, projects these alterations onto our bodies, and it is in this way we should think of what happens with the demons, for they too are producing the appearance of colors on their own bodies from within.[3] So each demon can make its body assume the appearance it has chosen and imposes on the surface of its body some kind of color. Sometimes it appears as a man, but sometimes it adopts the form of a woman, or it rages like a lion, pounces like a panther, or rushes out like a wild boar; and, if it seems appropriate to it, it can take on the form of a wineskin and even on occasion it can appear as a little whining dog. It changes between all these forms and does not have one that is permanent, for the demonic body does not have enough solidity to keep the appearances it has adopted. But the same thing happens with demons as tends to occur with air and water, where, if you pour color into it or draw a shape on it, it immediately dissolves and breaks up; for in the case of demons as well, their colors and shapes and appearances, whatever they may be, simply slip away.
So that, Timothy, is Mark’s explanation, and it seems plausible to me. From now on you must not be bothered by the idea that there is an inherent distinction between male and female in demons, for such things only exist at the level of appearance and nothing of the sort is permanent or stable in them. So, if the demon that caused problems for your sister-in-law when she was giving birth looked like a woman, it was not female in any permanent way, but was only assuming the form of a woman.
Timothy: But, Thrax, why does this kind of demon not sometimes take one form and sometimes another, like the other demons, but always looks like this? For I have heard from many people that all women who are giving birth see it in a female form.
The Thracian: Mark also provided a credible reason for this, for he said that all demons do not possess the same power and will, but there is considerable variation between them even in this respect, for they can be irrational, as is the case with mortal and complex animals. Among those, human beings, since they possess intellectual and mental capacity, have a well-developed imagination which can extend to almost the entire realm of sense perception—what is in heaven, and what is on the earth; but a horse or an ox and animals like them have only a partial imagination which they use on a handful of things that they can imagine, so that they know the others in their herd, their manger, and their owners; while mosquitoes, flies, and worms have a limited and disorganized imagination, so that each one does not know the hole from which it emerged, nor where it is going or needs to go, but it only has imagination for one thing—its food.
And it is the same with the multitude of different kinds of demons. For even if the fiery and aerial ones among them, which possess a complex imagination, change themselves into whatever kind of appearance they choose, the kind that hates light is the opposite to them, for it has a very limited imagination and so it does not change into many shapes since it cannot imagine many different appearances and it does not possess a body which suits this or is easily altered. But the aquatic and terrestrial demons which are in-between those that have been mentioned can change into many shapes, although they remain for the most part in those which they prefer. Those which live in damp places and enjoy a quieter life frequently make themselves into birds and women, and so the Greeks give them feminine names: naiads, nereids, and dryads. Those that inhabit arid places have dry bodies, like the Onoskelis, and give themselves the appearance of men, but sometimes resemble dogs, lions, and other animals which exhibit masculine behavior.[4] It is no wonder then that the demon which attacks women who are giving birth is seen as female in shape, as it is lewd and likes impure moisture and adopts the shape which corresponds to the kind of life it enjoys.
As for the way it spoke Armenian, Mark did not explain that, because I did not ask him about it. But I think the answer is to be found in the fact that there is no language specific to demons, even if one may speak Hebrew or Greek or Syriac or another foreign language. What need do those who speak without speech have of speech, as I said before? But, just as some angels look after some peoples, so too some demons are associated with some peoples, and so they each learn the language of each people. That is why some of them prophesy in hexameters among the Greeks, others have their invocations in the Chaldean language among the Chaldeans, just as among the Egyptians their assistance is asked for with Egyptian speech, and, why then, the demons which live among the Armenians, even if they happen to have gone somewhere else, employ that language as if they themselves were born there.
Timothy: Very good, Thrax, but what are they afraid will happen to them from threats and a sword? What do they think they will suffer from those, so that they cower and retreat?
The Thracian: It is not just you now, Timothy, who is puzzled by this sort of thing; I was puzzled too when I was talking to Mark before, but he completely cured me of my confusion. “Every kind of demon is filled with both arrogance and cowardice,” he said, “but the material ones more than the others. For if someone threatens the aerial ones, which possess a lot of sense, they know how to evaluate the person who is threatening them and, unless that person is one of God’s saints and invokes the terrible name of the Word of God with divine power, they will not leave the people they are troubling. But as the material demons fear being sent back into the abyss and subterranean places, and they fear even more the angels who have been sent into those places, whenever someone threatens them with being sent back to those places and pronounces the names of the angels who have been appointed to do this, they are frightened and very upset, for they cannot evaluate the person who is threatening them either, because they are stupid. Even if it is some old woman or some arrogant old man who is casually uttering these threats, they often get frightened and go away, as though the people making these threats were actually able to make them work; that is how timid and lacking in common sense they are. Because of this they are easily manipulated by the disgusting race of sorcerers with bodily waste—I mean saliva, nails, and hair—and when these are bound up with lead and wax and thread, they are made to cause tragic outcomes through illicit conjurations.”
“So, if that is what they are like,” I said, “why do you and many others revere them, when their weakness should be despised?”
“Neither I nor anyone else with even a moderate amount of sense, I think, has anything to do with these vile things, but rather it is sorcerers and other unspeakable people who find them attractive. Those of us who used to distance ourselves from those disgusting activities [of sorcerers related to material demons] would serve the aerial demons in particular and in our sacrifices to them would offer up prayers to prevent a subterranean demon from slipping in. For if it happened that one of those did slink in to scare us, it would also throw stones, because it is typical for subterranean demons to throw stones at those they meet, although with little feeble tosses. And so, we avoid meeting them.”
“But what did you gain from your worship of the aerial ones?” I asked.
“Nothing, nothing useful, sir,” he replied, “because of their arrogance, conceit, deception, and empty illusion. Flashes of fiery light emanate from them onto their worshippers, like the fading brightness of shooting stars, which fanatics dare to call divine visions, although they contain nothing true, nothing solid, nothing reliable—for what could there be that was light in demons which have become darkened? And these are, in fact, tricks of theirs, like optical illusions or those which people who are called conjurors do to deceive spectators. And I, poor fool that I am, long ago searched for the truth about this and tried to distance myself from this cult but, because I was enchanted, I was prevented from doing so until now and my ruin would have been certain if you had not put me back on the right track, like a beacon shining out at night upon a moonless sea.”
As he said this, Mark bathed his cheeks with tears. So as to make him feel better I said, “You can be sad later on, but now it is time to celebrate your salvation and show thanks to God who has set your soul and your mind free from the demons who were destroying them. But I want to know this; tell me if it is possible for demonic bodies to be struck?”
“They can be struck,” said Mark, “so that they may even feel pain when something hard contacts their skin.”
“But how,” I said, “since they are spirits and have no substance? Sensation is something that belongs to things with substance.”
Mark said, “I am surprised you do not know that sensation is not felt either by muscles or sinews, but by the spirit that is in them. So, if a sinew is pinched or chilled or feels something else, the pain is sent by its spirit to the spirit. Substance by itself cannot feel pain, but rather the spirit within it, since substance that has been paralyzed or deadened is without sensation, for it has lost its spirit. The demonic spirit, which because of its nature has sensation throughout, sees and hears directly through every part of itself and experiences the feeling of touch and feels pain when it is wounded, just like solid bodies. It differs from them, however, because, while mortals heal with difficulty or not at all when they have been wounded, demons immediately come back together again after they have been wounded, like masses of air or water do when something solid falls into them, except that it feels distress at the moment the wound occurs; so, it also fears and is frightened by iron spikes. Because they know this, those who practice protective rituals set spits and swords upright in places that they do not want the demons to approach and use many other methods either to ward them off with things that they do not like or to attract them with things they do like.” Mark explained this about them in a credible way, so it seems to me.