Demonicpedia: better know your demons
March 8, 2012 10:39 AM   Subscribe

Demonicpedia exist as a reference and educational resource for demons and demonology. Here you can find references to most demons and information about them as well as topics pertaining to the demonic. Providing more information about demons than those thumbnails from the 1863 edition of the Dictionnaire Infernal that have been bouncing around tumblr recently. See also: DeliriumsRealm's list of demons, American demons, Asian/East demons, European demons, Judeo-Christian demons, and modern magick demons.
posted by filthy light thief (46 comments total) 90 users marked this as a favorite
 
15 year old occult Whelk just JUMPED FOR JOY
posted by The Whelk at 10:41 AM on March 8, 2012


Note: the PDF of the 1863 edition of the Dictionnaire Infernal is 738 pages long, and 97.9 mb, but it is processed with OCR, so you can search through it. From my skim through it, there is no single page with the 69 demons listed as in the thumbnail graphics.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:42 AM on March 8, 2012 [2 favorites]


I am disappointed. Lix Tetrax is listed as "Lil Tetrax," which I read as Lil' Tetrax," which seemed like some sort of rap/early electronica crossover act. Which I guess might live up to the "“I create divisions among men, I make whirlwinds, I start fires, I set fields on fire, and I make households non-functional" claim.

Actually, my household is pretty non-functional. I might want an exorcist rather than a cleaning service....
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:49 AM on March 8, 2012 [5 favorites]


YUP
posted by penduluum at 10:50 AM on March 8, 2012


Essential reading for that Hellblazer pitch!
posted by Artw at 10:51 AM on March 8, 2012 [5 favorites]


Surely THIS...

...will ignite the international demonic gang warfare that was foretold by priestesses of Belial in the fourteenth century.
posted by hermitosis at 10:53 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]


ixnay on the belial-ey
posted by The Whelk at 10:55 AM on March 8, 2012


According to the thumbnail Bael has the body of a spider and three heads: that of a toad, a cat, and Vladimir Putin.
posted by Artw at 11:00 AM on March 8, 2012 [4 favorites]


Scanning down the list, I recognize many names from my reading in religion, magic, and metal bands.

Abaddon (yeah), Beelzebub (of course), Belphegor (oh, forgot him!).

Then, to my surprise, I see Leonard. Not the most intimidating of demonic names, eh?
posted by Boxenmacher at 11:01 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]


Yet again my search for a pacific northwest Wendigo equivalent draws a blank...
posted by Artw at 11:01 AM on March 8, 2012


Great, more biblical fan fiction.
posted by Catblack at 11:02 AM on March 8, 2012 [2 favorites]


Then, to my surprise, I see Leonard. Not the most intimidating of demonic names, eh?

Leonard is "le Grand Negre" - The Black Man of the witches Sabbath, who is clearly an avatar of Nyarlathotep. You do not fuck with Leonard.
posted by Artw at 11:05 AM on March 8, 2012 [5 favorites]


With a name like 'Leonard", he may just be Jewish. And we all know how demonic and dangerous they are.
posted by idiopath at 11:16 AM on March 8, 2012


I love how demons of back then were these insane looking things, not the way they are shown in Buffy or other popular media. I know trends change, but i'd love for something like these to show up in shows or movies, instead of the usual horns and angry face make up.

Also, old descriptions of angels, not the most pleasant things to look at, there was a reason the first thing they said was "Be not afraid." because this: "four faces - a lion on the right, an ox on the left, a human forward, and an eagle backward. They have four wings, with HANDS under the wings, their legs described as simply "straight", and they have hooves. Also, the eyes. Everywhere. Even in the spaces between the eyes."
posted by usagizero at 11:17 AM on March 8, 2012 [3 favorites]


You do not fuck with Leonard.

According to Italian films of the 60s and 70s, this is not true.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:18 AM on March 8, 2012 [3 favorites]


Also, old descriptions of angels, not the most pleasant things to look at, there was a reason the first thing they said was "Be not afraid."

Additionally, because, 95% of the time angels show up, their mission involves smiting. "Be not afraid" is a very short form of "Hey, relax, this an informational visit, no fire and brimstone, no rain of blood, just a message. No, really, no firstborn are going to die, no heifers are going to go lame, nothing bad. Dude, come back, I have a message, just a message. Drat."
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:23 AM on March 8, 2012 [8 favorites]


"Oh, and I emit X-Rays. Sorry about the carcinomas, whoops!"

(Fortunately peak Angel activity was during biblical times when life expectancy was short)
posted by Artw at 11:27 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]


Artw: Yet again my search for a pacific northwest Wendigo equivalent draws a blank...

Hell Horror's list of demons includes a really short entry on Wendingo. Here's a longer entry on the Demon Hunter Wiki, which only has 61 articles at the time of this comment. The Demon Hunters Compendium blog also has an entry on the Wendingo, which provides suggestions on killing a Wendingo, should the stories of them being made of pure ice be true.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:33 AM on March 8, 2012


All sadly North-Easty...
posted by Artw at 11:39 AM on March 8, 2012


Ein jeder Engel ist schrecklich.
posted by penduluum at 11:44 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]


Ah, sorry. You're looking for a parallel entity in the North-West, to which I'd agree with amyms that the Wendigo is specific to the Algonquin-speaking peoples/tribes.

And Wendigo, not Wendingo, right.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:48 AM on March 8, 2012


The Wan-Dingo would be a not-so terrifying demon of Western Australia.
posted by Artw at 11:50 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]


Finally, Demons, Demons, Demons is real!
posted by yellowbinder at 11:52 AM on March 8, 2012


mmmm HMMMMM.
posted by FatherDagon at 11:54 AM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]


I'll give up my copy of Tobin's when you pry it from my cold undead hands...
posted by mikelieman at 12:41 PM on March 8, 2012 [3 favorites]


The entry on Gingrich is interesting
posted by mattoxic at 1:21 PM on March 8, 2012 [6 favorites]


Not Azathoth, but MetaFilter: Rules all time and space from a black throne in the center of Chaos.

Hope I did that right, only my second time (blushes).
posted by kemrocken at 1:54 PM on March 8, 2012


I have eaten the souls that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast...
posted by Artw at 2:11 PM on March 8, 2012 [5 favorites]


(Fortunately peak Angel activity was during biblical times when life expectancy was short)

Not just that but we were living to hella oldbefore the whole Flood kerfuffle.
posted by griphus at 2:51 PM on March 8, 2012


better know your demons

ITYM "Better the demon you know".
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 3:26 PM on March 8, 2012


No entry for Pazuzu. Hmph.
posted by ShutterBun at 3:39 PM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]


Anecdote: In 1974 I wrote what was, at that time, the world's most comprehensive, contemporary demonology, The Book of Demons (my bf got credit for typing the manuscript, which I wrote longhand).

The premise was a compilation of fifty mini biographies about demons around the world to match the Collin de Plancy illustrations. Unfortunately, because a) I was a dumb 19 year old and b) the lack of decent information then that was not written by missionaries or hard core Christians judging others' religions, I included a number of things that make me cringe now, like calling Kali a demon, which missionaries did when they arrived in India because of her skull necklace and scary face etc.

Example of Cerberus.

The best thing about the book were the fifty great Collin de Plancy lithographs, which were used to illustrate the book.

What was also cool about writing the book was going to the British Museum Library, ordering up and looking at ancient books, demonologies written centuries ago, you know, enormous tomes, vellum covered, hand written in Italian or French, which purported to have conjurations of demons, witnessed them first hand. Frankly, I was so scared of the dark by the time I finished the book (written in just over a month) it took me years to be able to walk through a dark room.
posted by nickyskye at 6:46 PM on March 8, 2012 [15 favorites]


Spent my early teens scouring the net for something like this... it was how I learned about boolean operators. I was trying to research for a sprawling pseudo-manga period piece about parallel political intrigues in 16th century Europe and in Hell, abandoned forever when I realized I couldn't draw the same thing twice, or even all that well once.
posted by Rustmouth Snakedrill at 6:54 PM on March 8, 2012


More demons.
posted by unliteral at 10:20 PM on March 8, 2012


The White Council is gonna be pissed...
posted by Thistledown at 8:58 AM on March 9, 2012


Best collection I could find of high resolution Collin de Plancy images in one place on the web.
posted by nickyskye at 11:10 AM on March 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


It's missing Tutivillus, so it still needs some work apparently.
posted by demonic winged headgear at 11:58 AM on March 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


Hey Gang,
I'm the webmaster for this website. I've been reading over the comments and I thank you for your recognition of my website and I see quite a few ideas for improvements I can make. Please expect them in the future!.

To the "Lil Tetrax" remark, I've updated it to the proper name and I do apologize.

If you guys have any more ideas you would like to see on the site or would like to contribute (as I would love to expand beyond the common demon information) please let me know.
posted by demonicpedia at 5:04 PM on March 10, 2012 [6 favorites]


Just a reminder if anyone would like to contribute, go to the contact page on the site!
posted by demonicpedia at 7:27 PM on March 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


Howdy Billy, thanks for the great site, and welcome to MetaFilter! I started a MetaTalk thread where people might comment on the site, or go on other odd tangents.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:34 AM on March 16, 2012


So long as you are looking for corrections, the entry on 'Leonard' cites Leviticus 16:8 as describing the ritual where really it is just one verse in the middle of the paragraph describing it, 16:8 just happens to be the first use of the word עזאזל (azazel) generally translated as scapegoat but only from context. He also looks kinda goatish so you might also cite Leviticus 17:7 right nearby about not sacrificing to goat demons.
posted by Blasdelb at 12:30 PM on March 16, 2012


Then, to my surprise, I see Leonard. Not the most intimidating of demonic names, eh?

"Do it to me, Leonard. You're an animal, Leonard. Ride me, big Leonard."
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:06 PM on March 16, 2012 [1 favorite]


Awesome! I'll make the update soon. I'm also a paranormal investigator and I have a case in a few hours at an old theater. I'll let you guys know if anything interesting comes of it.
posted by demonicpedia at 12:46 PM on March 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


And thank you for the welcome :) Yes I joined just to talk to you guys. I've been looking for some input from people for a while. But I removed the commenting system because really that's not what the site's about, you know?

This website really started out as a hobby and turned into a lot more once I seen the amount of traffic and readership it gained in such a short time (after it's initial launch). It really made me want to expand on it and try to contribute even more.
posted by demonicpedia at 12:48 PM on March 17, 2012 [1 favorite]


demonicpedia, should it be of any use to you, feel free to download any part of The Book of Demons I wrote, some is online already.
posted by nickyskye at 5:08 PM on March 17, 2012


Awesome great! I will check it up. Sorry about getting back so late to give an update. I've been busy going over evidence and trying to rush through it as I have another investigation tomorrow night at a Museum a few towns away.

Last week's investigation went really well. I would even say the old theater we investigated is within the top 3 of the most haunted places I've investigated. It may even be number 1. Still going over audio and video, though, as total audio ranged about 30 hours (multiple recorders) with about 10 hours of video.

In regards to Demonicpedia itself, I've been thinking about using it as a forefront for the cases I feel or are reported to be demonic in nature. There are plenty of people who believe their "haunting" is demonic in nature. I think it would be fun to post real, possible, evidence of this stuff.
posted by demonicpedia at 12:13 PM on March 23, 2012


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