Demons, according to Christian tradition, are called fallen angels. The legend says that one of the angels named Lucifer wanted to take the place of God and persuaded a third of all angels to rebel. But the Archangel Michael with an army of the remaining two-thirds of the angels won this fight, and Lucifer and his minions were thrown into the underworld. There they turned into demons and since then have sowed evil among people. This is the orthodox version.
There are several more options for the origin of demons:
1) in the Middle Ages, it was believed that God specially created demons to do evil;
2) in folk tales, Satan appears as a figure opposite to God, who together with him participated in the creation of the world;
3) the churchmen of the Middle Ages adhered to the version that angels became demons, exchanging heavenly life for the love of earthly women;
4) Jewish legends say that giants were born from the unions of mortal women with angels, whom God subsequently destroyed, leaving their souls free, who became demons;
5) in ancient times it was also believed that part of the Babylonians turned into demons, who fled in fear after the failure to build the Tower of Babel;
6) finally, in modern times it was believed that the souls of sinners and children who were cursed by their parents became demons.
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Belief in the existence of evil spirits is as old as belief in God. Over the past centuries, many treatises have been written, and countless legends and stories about demons have appeared. Moreover, there are full-fledged works in which the customs and habits of demons are described, their classification is carried out, etc.
Demons can belong to one of the four elements, perform different functions, and occupy different positions in the demonic hierarchy.
There are also female demons, demoness (demoness). They are either fallen angels or daughters of demons from mortal women. In the hierarchy of demons, demonesses occupy a low position.
Demons can take over a person. Outwardly, it resembles an epileptic seizure or a nervous seizure. Signs that an evil spirit has taken possession of a person are as follows: the possessed person begins to speak in someone else's voice; he vomits, during which strange objects are expelled; the human body is cramping, the limbs are unnatural and twist with terrible force.
In order to get into the human body, the demon needs to hide in the food that the person will eat. This is usually an apple.
In Europe in the Middle Ages, demons were most often possessed by nuns. It is believed that demons can take over a person's body, but his mind and soul remain free. Priests could expel demons from the body of a possessed person. This procedure was called exorcism.
In addition to priests, healers and monks also did this. The expulsion took place with the help of prayers, laying on of hands, sprinkling with holy water. Another widespread method of driving out demons in ancient times is litany. The meaning of this method was that the exorcist insulted the demon in every possible way, called him different insulting words, at the same time lightly lashing the possessed with a whip so that the demon would get angry and leave the victim's body. Sometimes one of the listed methods has actually helped to heal mental seizures and seizures.