В.О.11 = "Let's make a man in Our image and in Our likeness"... about 99% of human genes correspond to mouse genes, ... 50 percent of human and worm genes are similar. :-)))
I understand that it is difficult to get rid of the materialistic world outlook.
But still, pay attention to the existence of such non-material objects as reason, thoughts, love, compassion, mercy, as well as inspiration, faith, a sense of beauty.
Their carriers (people) live in the material world - and therefore they are material, but high thoughts, feelings belong to another world - the spiritual one.
Man is both a material being (this makes him related to the animal world) and a spiritual being (and this makes him related to GOD).
The image of an animal is everything that you have listed, and everything that is in a person, aimed at the survival of the individual, reproduction and survival of the genus.
Animals also have a soul, and some of them have a feeling of affection, the germ of love and devotion. Perhaps they know God. But they are deprived of spirituality and the possibility of deification. Is it only through a person?
But there is also a danger in human spirituality. Sometimes a person falls below an animal, and the image of a demon appears in him. The face is distorted by malice and cold contempt, in the soul scorched by sins and passions - insane pride, hatred for GOD and for people. Everything that the Lord has given, the demon-possessed turns into evil. Spirituality turns into its opposite - lack of spirituality. His soul is dying. He is a living corpse.
Terrible is the fate of the proud and God-haters - they will burn forever in the lake of fire along with the devil.
The image of GOD is a bright mind, free will, the ability to love and create.
But often, because of the filth of sins and passions in a person, the Image of GOD is not visible. If this process is started, then the image of the unclean appears in the darkness of the soul.
To prevent this from happening, you need to cleanse the soul from sin by repentance, fight passions, turn to GOD for help, unite with CHRIST in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
A goal has been set before a person - to be cleansed of everything vile, non-spiritual, animal and to acquire GOD-likeness, to become like CHRIST.
Reviews
Conclusion is great.
But.
One should not confuse the Image of God and the Likeness.
The image is given from birth.
Demons also have the image of God
And the Similarity must be achieved - this is Christ.
We must remember.
The ancients
There were 7 steps to achieve Similarity.
Azes (Christs), Humans, people, smerds, demons, nonhumans, undead.
Each degree has its own works and its own limits...
Thanks for the review. You are absolutely right that the Image of GOD and the Likeness should not be confused, but there seems to be no confusion in the article on this issue.)) As for the Image of GOD, it is possible that He is given from conception, although there is no consensus.
Demons have the Image of GOD, but the image of Satan occupies a much larger place in them. It is doubtful that demons, non-humans, undead will ever reach Similarity.)) About the 7 steps to achieve Similarity - I don’t remember meeting something similar. I wonder where you found it?) Regards
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The novel "Demons". Time and space.(so far only time) The figure of the narrator-chronicler also helps Dostoevsky to play skillfully with time. The artistic time used by the narrator is represented by two coordinate systems: linear and concentric time, complementing each other in the structure of the plot. The sequence of events is often disrupted by some kind of temporary failure: the narrator sets out rumors, versions, interpretations around the fact that attracted his attention, searches for the origins of what is happening now in the past. The writer stops the time of current events in order to speed up the linear movement of time again as much as possible.
Dostoevsky's chroniclers not only create, but also re-create time. The randomness of the narrator's narration is not a sign of his "ineptness," as D. Likhachev believes5, but the world of his artistic arbitrariness. For the time being, the chronicler has to stagnate, "slip", jump from one to another - in a word, stray. The inconsistency of Goryanchikov's narrative ("Notes from the House of the Dead") is especially noticeable. He makes reservations all the time, running ahead: "I'll tell you more about this", "I'll talk about him later", "I've already talked about this". Dostoevsky needs this in order to build his history concentrically (the first day, the first month, and then the years dragging on in prison), to get closer to the essence of criminals, their human grain, or, in the apt expression of V. Lakshin, "to win the truth"6.
The chronicler in the novel "Demons", like Goryanchikov, is not only a narrator, but also a character. He runs about various cases, spreads rumors, falls in love with Lisa Tushina, etc. So far, Anton Lavrentievich is a completely standard hero, on behalf of whom the story is being told. But here some strange metamorphoses begin: the chronicler describes scenes that he could not observe under any circumstances. Even if he motivates his knowledge by the presence of rumors, it goes without saying that rumors are not so detailed and detailed. For example, the scene when Varvara Petrovna meets Khromonozhka in the church (and Anton Lavrentievich was not present there), he paints with the help of the following details:
“Please, a pen,” the “unfortunate woman” babbled, firmly grabbing the corner of the received ten-ruble note, which was twisted by the wind, with the fingers of her left hand.
Are you shivering, are you cold? - Varvara Petrovna suddenly noticed and, throwing off her burnous, picked up on the fly by a footman, took off her black (not very cheap) shawl from her shoulders and wrapped her own hands around the bare neck of the petitioner, who was still kneeling "(italics mine. - A. G .). Obviously, not a single most observant narrator would have been able to convey this scene to Anton Lavrentievich in such a way as to notice all the nuances, the transitions of the characters' feelings, right down to the corner of a ten-rouble note fluttering in the wind, grabbed by the left hand. tenacious artistic memory. But who could have done this? Those who were present in the church? "... All the familiar, secular faces were seen looking at the scene, some with stern surprise, others with sly curiosity and at the same time with an innocent thirst for a scandal , and still others even began to chuckle. "It is unlikely that the listed ordinary inhabitants were capable of such a brilliant story. By the way, even the way they react to what is happening, the chronicler is not could learn from rumors, but only imagine, imagine more or less truthfully.
Finally, if the chronicler could reproduce such scenes using rumors (let us believe his assurances), then he obviously could neither see nor hear intimate conversations between the two. After all, he, like, say, a Teenager, did not climb into other people's bedrooms, did not eavesdrop, did not peep. In fact, how could he find out about Peter Verkhovensky's conspiracy with Stavrogin in private, where the former offers Stavrogin the honorary role of an impostor, Ivan Tsarevich, at whose command Rus' will be flooded in blood, if only he so desires? How could Anton Lavrentievich, albeit approximately, guess what Stavrogin and Liza were talking about after a sinful night with abduction and passions? Whence such darkness of anachronisms and spatial absurdities?
A natural question arises: is this ubiquitous chronicler not a fictitious figure? Indeed, many researchers have solved this problem in this way: first, they say, Dostoevsky makes sure that the chronicler participates in the events personally, and then completely forgets about him and writes already on his own behalf. It turns out that Dostoevsky is an amateur who is poorly prepared for writing, an amateur, making mistakes and miscalculations at every step.
That this is not the case is proved by a careful reading of the text. In the scene of the conversation we have mentioned between Stavrogin and Pyotr Verkhovensky, there is a strange remark by the author: "So or almost so Pyotr Stepanovich must have thought" (italics mine. - A. G.). Another, at first glance, completely inexplicable, remark in the final scene of the novel: "Sofya Matveevna knew the Gospel well and immediately found from Luke the very place that I put as an epigraph to my chronicle. I will quote it here again ..." (my italics - A. G.).
What do we see? The chronicle turns into fiction. The narrator refers to sources, rumors, pretends to be an eyewitness to the events, but at the same time emphasizes in every possible way the methods of organizing the material, including the significance of the epigraph introduced into the plot of the novel - in other words, the narrator shows the convention of what is happening, and, therefore, documentary and the moment is only an appearance.
In fact, the chronicler is first and foremost a creator who has the right to fiction. From this point of view, his fictitiousness is removed, it is explained why he is able to talk about the most intimate scenes face-to-face, convey the internal monologues of the characters, interpret rumors and gossip. In a sense, Dostoevsky's chroniclers are co-creators of the author. In essence, they are professional writers, in many ways similar to the artist himself: it is not for nothing that they combine time and space, create and describe the inner world of the characters.
So, on the one hand, their function is to draw the reader into the whirlwind of events, to make them forget about the conventions of artistic space and time. On the other hand, chroniclers, on the contrary, express the imaginary nature of what is happening: completely using the author's will, they either accelerate the rhythm of events, then suddenly make an unusually long pause, then withdraw themselves, then again become participants and witnesses. With the help of the figure of the chronicler, Dostoevsky thus erases the boundaries between the illusory time of a work of art and the real time of the hero's act, carrying out the most complex game with the space-time continuum.
Note from the lecture: The time frame is moved apart: stories of fathers, stories of children. Actions in the novel are created in hot pursuit. 70s – Russia experienced the result of collisions.
Images:
Dostoevsky's novel begins with a quotation from Pushkin and the Gospel of Luke. The work will talk about demons not as mystical creatures, but as forces and people shaking Russia. The main devil, the Great sinner, the Antichrist - Stavrogin, a godless and deified man. His very name is remarkable: Nicholas is the name of a saint especially revered in Russia, Nicholas the Wonderworker (in addition, his name means “victor of the people”); patronymic Vsevolodovich - “managing everything”; The surname Stavrogin comes from the Greek word for "cross".
At the initial stage of preparing materials for the novel, Stavrogin appears as a minor and essentially romantic figure. "Prince, an elegant friend of Granovsky." But in a note dated March 7, 1870, Dostoevsky explains that the Prince in the past was "a depraved person and an arrogant aristocrat", on March 15 - "The Prince is a man who becomes bored."
On March 29, 1870, Dostoevsky makes a cardinal decision: Stavrogin will be the central person in the novel. “So, the whole pathos of the novel is in the prince, he is a hero. Everything else moves around him like in a kaleidoscope.
Over time, the gloomy figure of Nikolai Vsevolodovich is drawn in more and more detail. June 6, 1870: "Nota bene. The chronicler on the death of the prince makes an analysis of his character (of course, the chapter Analysis). Saying that he was a strong, predatory man, entangled in convictions and out of infinite pride, wishing and able to make sure only that it was quite clear ... ". “August 16th. The prince is a gloomy, passionate, demonic and disorderly character, without any measure, with a supreme question that has come down to "to be or not to be?". Survive or exterminate yourself? According to his conscience and judgment, it is impossible to remain the same, but he does everything the same and rapes.
On October 8, 1870, Dostoevsky writes in a letter to Katkov: “... This is another face (Stavrogin), also a gloomy face, also a villain, but it seems to me that this face is tragic, although many will probably say after reading: “What is this? » I sat down to write this poem about this face because I have been wanting to portray him for too long. I will be very, very sad if I fail. It will be even sadder if I hear the verdict that the face is stilted. I took it from my heart."
“In general, keep in mind that the Prince is charming, like a demon, and terrible passions are struggling with ... a feat. At the same time, disbelief and torment come from faith. The feat overpowers, faith takes over, but the demons believe and tremble. “Many do not believe in God, but believe in demons. The prince understands that enthusiasm could save him (for example, monasticism, self-sacrifice by confession). But for enthusiasm there is a lack of moral feeling (partly from unbelief). Write to the angel of the Sardis church."
Dostoevsky avoids the traditional "prehistory" of the hero, which reveals the process of formation of his beliefs; the hero is taken by Dostoevsky at some sharp spiritual turning point that determines his fate. This is how Stavrogin appears before us.
Stavrogin, endowed with the features of Satanism, at the same time is for the nihilists a kind of "icon", "prince from a fairy tale." He's incredibly handsome and terrifying at the same time. “He was a very handsome young man, about twenty-five years old ... surprisingly modest and at the same time bold and self-confident, like no one else among us ... his hair was somehow very black, his bright eyes were something very calm and clear, the complexion is somehow very gentle and white, the blush is something too bright and pure, teeth are like pearls, lips are like coral, it would seem that a hand-written handsome man, but at the same time, as if disgusting. It was said that his face resembled a mask... and suddenly the beast showed its claws.” (X, p. 40) Internal and external inconsistency. He has a diabolical charm, he excites sincere and unfeigned admiration. Demonology naturally entered the structure of his image. At the end of the description, the Chronicler calls him a beast (does not compare, but calls him), and we remember that the Beast is one of the biblical names of the Antichrist.
Stavrogin is Satan, the devil, his soul is terrible. He can accommodate any ideas, any opposites. This is an indicator of incredible breadth and the highest demonism. Stavrogin is a teacher, as nihilists bow before a teacher: he inspires Kirillov with an atheistic idea, Shatov with an Orthodox one. Polar ideas naturally coexist in Stavrogin: atheistic and religious. It seems that in his soul there should be a sacrament, but in fact - emptiness. This is where the whole horror lies: emptiness is extreme immorality, such a soul is by its nature criminal. There is something hellish about this latitude. In Pushkin's and Lermontov's demons there was greatness of soul. Emptiness and indifference live in Stavrogin, Lermontov's demon wanted to be saved by love; Pushkin's demon suffered from loneliness. Stavrogin does not know love, does not suffer from loneliness, therefore, his soul is crippled. There is nothing in Stavrogin that could tell about his maximalism, everything is calculated in him, he cannot even surrender directly to voluptuousness and depravity. In Stavrogin, even depravity is calculated: there is big, medium and small. Every time after his revelry, he experiences a sober, reasonable anger. He has many "feats", and it is difficult to understand the logic of these "feats", as if he deliberately crippled his life. But Dostoevsky, even to such a demon as Stavrogin, sends a certain opportunity to realize his own life, to evaluate it.
Stavrogin's confession is important: here he appears as a terrible criminal who deserves only hell, because he is a rapist, murderer, perjurer. His worst crime is violence against a little twelve-year-old girl. Stavrogin's confession was not included in the novel for censorship reasons (chapter "At Tikhon's"). Stavrogin tells about one terrible case of his life - reasonable debauchery, a girl who was subjected to violence, she laid hands on herself, she herself did not forgive herself for her fall. Matryosha reproaches Stavrogin for his crime, but does not relieve himself of guilt either. One evening, when he returned to his room, looked at the rays of the setting sun, Matryoshka appeared on the threshold, threatening him with her fist. Stavrogin looked at his watch for exactly twenty minutes, he remembered the incredible naturalism of sensations to the last detail and described it in his notes. And then he left home, met his gang in the rooms, Stavrogin at that time was cheerful and witty, such is the picture of his soul, and he is destined to carry his cross. If suffering were born in Stavrogin's soul, then there would be an opportunity for salvation, but there is no suffering, but there is indifference, so Stavrogin is waiting for suicide, he will commit suicide, like Matryosh. Stavrogin is not guided by anything, he despises everyone, guides them ideologically, he is part of their consciousness and part of their psychology. Stavrogin is characterized by the emptiness of the soul, he died because there was nothing to live with. Stavrogin's breadth - the infernal breadth of the soul - is a sign of anti-nationality, anti-nationality, which is why he is at the head of Russian nihilists. Stavrogin is one of those who hates Russia. It is no coincidence that he dreams of living among rocks and mountains.
As Dostoevsky writes about his hero: Stavrogin makes “suffering convulsive efforts to renew himself and begin to believe again. Next to the nihilists, this phenomenon is serious. I swear that it exists in reality. This is a person who does not believe in the faith of our believers and who requires complete faith in a completely different way. Stavrogin is trying to get faith "in a different way", with his mind, in a rational way: "To make sauce from a hare, you need a hare, to believe in God, you need God." Kirillov notes the special state of Stavrogin: "If Stavrogin believes, then he does not believe that he believes. If he does not believe, then he does not believe that he does not believe."
Stavrogin turns out to be, as it were, crucified (see the origin of the surname) between the thirst for the absolute and the impossibility of achieving it. Hence his melancholy, satiety, split heart and mind, gravitation towards both good and evil. Moral duality, "thirst for contrast", the habit of contradictions throw Nikolai Vsevolodovich to voluntary and involuntary villainy. But all these "failures" and "exploits" of Stavrogin come from the mind, they are more experimental than natural. These experiments finally cool the feelings and kill the soul, making Stavrogin a man whose face "resembles a mask." In the description of Stavrogin, the Chronicler points out as an oddity: that "everyone among us, almost from the first day, found him an extremely reasonable person."
Dividedness and indifference also apply to Stavrogin's ideological passions: with equal conviction and almost simultaneously, he inspires Orthodoxy in Shatov and atheism in Kirillov - teachings that are mutually exclusive. Both Kirillov and Shatov see Stavrogin as a teacher, an ideological "father".
Tikhon invites Stavrogin to confess. Stavrogin's confession is a self-disclosure of enormous power. At the same time, this is evidence of the greatest pride and contempt for people. If Raskolnikov was afraid of repentance, to which Sonya called him, then Stavrogin frankly decided to confess to the most disgusting act - the seduction of a girl who then killed herself. He even printed a special text. But this loudness and demonstrative frankness alerted Tikhon. He immediately realized that Stavrogin's intention was not "resurrection", but self-affirmation. The monk is far from thinking that Stavrogin's confession is sincere repentance. He only sees that the hero has comprehended the full depth of what happened. Therefore, Tikhon proposes to make an effort to shame the “demons”: “The desire for martyrdom and self-sacrifice wrestles you; subdue this desire of yours... Put to shame all your pride and your demon! You will end victorious, you will achieve freedom…” (XI, p. 25) But Stavrogin is not ready for a feat. And from the lack of purpose, faith in living life, he leaves it.
Dostoevsky considered it important to emphasize the primacy in the modern world of that state of extreme unbelief, moral relativity and ideological weakness, which Stavrogin embodies in the novel and which nourishes, supports and spreads small and large, internal and external wars, brings disharmony and chaos into human relations.
At the same time, the writer was convinced that the power of the "black sun" is not unlimited and is ultimately based on weakness. The holy fool Khromonozhka calls Stavrogin an impostor, Grishka Otrepiev, a merchant, but he himself sometimes sees in himself instead of a demon - "a nasty, scrofulous imp with a runny nose." Pyotr Verkhovensky sometimes finds in him a "broken barchonk with a wolf's appetite", and Liza Tushina finds the defectiveness of "armless and legless".
"Greatness" and "mysteriousness" are complicated by the main character's "prosaic" elements, and parodic threads are woven into the dramatic fabric of his image. "Graceful Nozdrev" - this is how one of his faces is designated in the author's diary. The writer admitted that he took it not only from the surrounding reality, but also from his own heart, since his faith went through the crucible of the most severe doubts and denials. Unlike his creator, Stavrogin turned out to be unable to overcome the tragic duality and find at least some “fullness of faith” filling the emptiness of the soul. As a result, a hopeless ending, the symbolic meaning of which was expressed by Vyach. Ivanov: “A traitor before Christ, he is also unfaithful to Satan... He betrays revolutions, betrays Russia as well (symbols: transition to foreign citizenship and, in particular, renunciation of his wife, Khromonozhka). He betrays everyone and everything, and hangs himself like Judas, not reaching his demonic lair in a gloomy mountain gorge.
Dostoevsky, as it were, illustrates the deep semantic significance of the internal development of the image of Stavrogin a few years after the completion of the novel with the arguments of a “logical suicide” in the “Diary of a Writer”. The conclusion that followed from them was that without faith in the immortality of the soul and eternal life, the existence of an individual, a nation, all of humanity becomes unnatural, unthinkable, unbearable: “only with faith in his immortality does a person comprehend his entire rational goal on earth. Without the conviction of one’s immortality, a person’s ties with the earth break, become thinner, rotten, and the loss of the meaning of life (felt even in the form of unconscious melancholy) undoubtedly leads to suicide.
STEPAN TROFIMOVICH is the central character in F.M. Dostoevsky's novel "Demons". The main, although not the only, real prototype of S.T. Verkhovensky was the well-known Russian liberal Western historian, friend of A.I. Herzen, Timofei Nikolaevich Granovsky (1813-1855). The source of information about the historian, whom the writer did not know personally, was N.N. Strakhov's review of A.V. Stankevich's book "T.N. Granovsky" (1869), published in Zarya. On February 26 (March 10), 1869, Dostoevsky wrote to Strakhov: “I need this little book like air, and as soon as possible, as the most necessary material for my composition”; however, in the sketch with which Dostoevsky began work on the novel (February 1870), the features of the idealist liberal were parodied. “All-life pointlessness and unsteadiness in sight and feelings”, “craves persecution and loves to talk about those he endured”, “shed tears here and there”, “weeps for all wives - and marries every minute” - these are the touches to the portrait a pure Westerner, “who has overlooked absolutely Russian life” and whom the author of the novel (conceived as a political pamphlet on nihilists and Westernizers) made morally responsible for Nechaev’s murder, for his monstrous son, the scoundrel Petrusha. “Our Belinskys and Granovskys would not believe if they were told that they were the direct fathers of Nechaev. It is this kinship and continuity of thought that developed from fathers to children that I wanted to express in my work,” Dostoevsky explained in a letter to the heir to the throne, A.A. Romanov. Being a generalized portrait of a liberal Westerner of the 40s, S.T. combines the features of many people of this generation - Herzen, Chicherin, Korsh and even Turgenev.
S.T., whose story begins and ends the action of the novel, belongs to a galaxy of famous figures of the 40s who received a European education and managed to shine in the university field at the very beginning of their career; "A whirlwind of converging circumstances", however, his career was destroyed, and he ended up in a provincial city - first as a tutor for the eight-year-old general's son, and then as a hanger-on in the house of the general's despotic patroness Stavrogina. S.T. He is presented in the novel as the father of the “demon” Petrusha (see article: PETER Verkhovensky) and as the educator of the “demon” Stavrogin. Gradually, the liberal-idealist descends to cards, champagne and club lounging, regularly falling into “civil sorrow” and cholera: for twenty years he stood before Russia “the incarnation of reproach” and considered himself persecuted and almost exiled. With the arrival in the city of his son, whom he hardly knew (since he had given his aunts to raise from childhood), in him, a relaxed aesthete and a capricious, absurd, empty person (this is how General Stavrogina certifies him), a sense of honor and civic indignation ignites. At a literary festival in favor of governesses S.T. fearlessly upholds the highest values (“without bread ... humanity can live, without beauty alone it is impossible, because there will be absolutely nothing to do in the world!”), giving battle to utilitarians and nihilists. However, the provincial society booed and ridiculed the "absurd old man", his finest hour turned into shame and defeat. He no longer wants to remain a hanger-on and leaves the patroness's house with a small bag, an umbrella and forty rubles; in an inn near the main road to the "Russian wanderer" a wandering bookseller reads the gospel story about the healing of the demon-possessed Gadara. “My immortality,” the agitated S.T. is convinced, “is necessary because God does not want to do wrong and completely extinguish the fire of love that once kindled for him in my heart. And what is more precious than love? Love is higher than being, love is the crown of being ... "S.T dies enlightened, recognizing his spiritual responsibility for the nihilists, for Shatov, for his son Petrusha, for Fedka convict, who was once sent to the soldiers to cover the card debt: the emotional drama of the" knight beauty” ends on a high tragic note.
The image of ST, according to most critics, belongs to the greatest creations of Dostoevsky. The writer's contemporaries compared S.T. with "Turgenev's heroes in old age" (A.N. Maikov). “In the image of this pure idealist of the 40s there is a breath and warmth of life. He lives so directly and naturally on the pages of the novel that it seems not dependent on the arbitrariness of the author,” K.V. Mochulsky believed. “The image of S.T. written not without irony, but not without love. There is in him a pseudo-heroic pose, and a noble phrase, and the excessive touchiness of a hanger-on, but there is also genuine nobility and pathetic civic courage in him, ”F.A. Stepun noted. “This is Dostoevsky's most grandiose hero,” Yu.P. S.T., a big spoiled child, to the very end babbles his Russian-French phrases and, without knowing it, joins not the Great Thought, but Christ himself. S.T. expresses ideas in the novel that are close to the author, and by the will of the author is the interpreter of the gospel epigraph to "Demons".
Note from the lecture: S.T. a big child, his speech is completely harmless. He is the father of the main imp. His son, Petrusha, treats his father as obsolete. He is a type of adventurer - a conspirator, with the help of this type we understand how the extreme was born, and the achievement of any goal is the main condition. All means are good. He knows perfectly well that he is a swindler, not a revolutionary. Verkhovensky believes that if he himself was the leader, then his son should also lead and rule. Shmalev's theory is a total dehumanization of people and Peter sees in him an ideal person and sees a brother in him and preaches heaven on earth. The murder of Shatyrev is a guarantee of unity - that none of the five will inform
The meaning of the name Bessy:
Demons are an image of generalization, spiritual confusion, loss of moral reference points, an image of a deadly epidemic. Conclusion, in the center thin. Analysis of the ideology of violence, willfulness. Any violence will lead Russia to the axe. This idea is fully realized in Besakh. The ax is a symbol of the organization headed by Verkhovensky.
Where demons came from and how to learn not to be afraid of them - tells about this Fr. Alexander Tkachenko
Today, people have a very poor idea of who the demons are. Where did they come from, what qualities do they have? For people who are not inclined to read religious literature, literature becomes almost the only source of knowledge about demons.
Exorcism
Depiction of evil spirits in fiction
And here, with some bewilderment, we have to admit that even in the works of the classics, the description of unclean spirits is very contradictory, ambiguous, and rather confuses the reader than helps to understand the essence of the matter. The writers have created a whole gallery of various images that are very different from each other. From one flank in this row are the folklore images of the demon in the works of N.V. Gogol and A.S. Pushkin. In this version, the demon is presented as a rather ridiculous and stupid creature with a nasty appearance and such low intelligence that even a simple village blacksmith easily subjugates it, using it as a vehicle. Or, armed with a piece of rope and a couple of unpretentious fraudulent tricks, the famous Pushkin character with the eloquent name Balda easily circles the evil spirit around his finger. On the opposite flank of the gallery of literary demons is Bulgakov's Woland. This is almost the almighty arbiter of human destinies, the focus of intelligence, nobility, justice and other positive qualities. It is pointless for a person to fight him, because, according to Bulgakov, he is practically invincible, he can only be reverently obeyed - like the Master and Margarita, or die - like Berlioz, but at best - be damaged by reason, like the poet Ivan Bezdomny. These two extremes in the literary depiction of demons, naturally, form in readers the same extremes in relation to the depicted. From the complete disregard of Pushkin's idiotic imps as unquestionably fairy-tale characters to complete confidence in the real existence of Woland the Satan, superstitious horror of his power, and sometimes even direct worship of the spirits of darkness. There is nothing surprising here, the strength of a work of art lies in the fact that a literary hero begins to be perceived by us as a real one. In London, for example, there is a very real museum dedicated to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, and in the Soviet Union, real city streets were named after the fiery revolutionary Pavka Korchagin, despite his 100% literary origin. But in the case of the artistic image of demons, we have a completely different situation. The fact is that even in the space of a literary work, the spiritual world does not exist within the framework of human history, but, as it were, parallel to it - its inhabitants do not age, do not die and are not affected by time, they are always nearby. And if we assume that the fictional characters of the same Mikhail Bulgakov have real prototypes in the spiritual world, then it should be recognized that the reader's delight and admiration for Woland clearly go beyond the scope of literary problems.
"Demons" by F. M. Dostoevsky
How safe is the attitude towards demons, formed by their literary images, for a person?
Here, much more serious questions arise - for example, to what extent does the image of a demon created by the writer's artistic imagination correspond to spiritual reality? Or - how safe is the attitude towards demons, formed by their literary images, for a person? It is obvious that literary criticism can no longer answer these questions. And, since the demon migrated to European literature from the Christian religious tradition, it would be reasonable to find out - what does Christianity say about this creature?
Lucifer
Contrary to popular misconception, Satan is not at all the eternal antipode of God, and demons are not the antipodes of angels. And the idea of the spiritual world as a kind of chessboard, where black pieces play against white pieces on equal terms, fundamentally contradicts the teaching of the Church about fallen spirits. In the Christian tradition, there is an understanding of a clear boundary between God the Creator and His creation. And in this sense, absolutely all the inhabitants of the spiritual world equally belong to the category of God's creations.
The nature of demons
Moreover, the very nature of demons is initially exactly the same as that of angels, and even Satan is not some special “dark god” equal in strength to the Creator. This is just an angel who was once the most beautiful and powerful creation of God in the created world. But the name itself - Lucifer ("luminiferous") - is not entirely correct to use in relation to Satan, since this name does not belong to him, but to that very bright and kind angel that Satan once was. Church tradition says that the spiritual world of angels was created by God even before the creation of the material world. The catastrophe belongs to this prehistoric period in every sense, as a result of which a third of the angels, led by Satan, fell away from their Creator: he took a third of the stars from heaven and threw them to the ground (Rev. 12:4). The reason for this falling away was Lucifer's inadequate assessment of his perfection and power. God placed him above all the other angels, endowing him with strength and properties that no one else had; Lucifer turned out to be the most perfect being in the created universe. These gifts corresponded to his high calling - to fulfill the will of God, ruling over the spiritual world. But the angels were not like automata hard-wired into obedience. God created them with love, and the fulfillment of His will was to be a reciprocal manifestation of love for the Creator for the angels. And love is possible only as a realization of the freedom of choice - to love or not to love. And the Lord gave the angels this opportunity to choose - to be with God or to be without God... It is impossible to say exactly how their falling away happened, but the general meaning of it was as follows. Lucifer-Dennitsa considered that the received power makes him equal to God, and decided to leave his Creator.
War in the sky
Together with him, this fateful decision for them was made by a third of all the angels. Between the rebellious and faithful spirits (which were led by the archangel Michael) there was a conflict described in the Holy Scriptures as follows: And there was a war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought against them, but did not stand, and did not there was already a place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent, called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast out to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him (Rev. 12:7-9). So the beautiful Dennitsa became Satan, and the angels seduced by him became demons. It is easy to see that there is not the slightest reason to speak of Satan's war against God. How can he be at war with God who has suffered a crushing defeat even from his fellow angels? Having lost their angelic dignity and place in Heaven, the fallen spirits turned out to be like the soldiers of a defeated army, who tore off their orders and shoulder straps during the retreat.
Crazy Postman
Gadarian demoniac
The word “angel” itself is of Greek origin, translated into Russian it literally means “messenger”, that is, one who brings news from God, communicates His good will to the rest of creation. But whose will can be communicated by an angel who did not want to serve his Creator, what message can such a “messenger” bring - and can this message be believed? Suppose in a small town one postman was terribly offended by his boss for something and stopped coming to the post office for new letters. But he was very proud of the title of postman, he liked to deliver letters, and, the saddest thing, nothing, well, he simply couldn’t do anything else. And he began a strange life. For days on end, he wandered restlessly around the city in his postman's cap with an empty mail bag on his shoulder, and instead of letters and telegrams, he stuffed all sorts of rubbish picked up on the road into people's mailboxes. Very soon he gained a reputation as the city's lunatic. Police officers took away his bag and cap, and the residents began to drive him away from their doors. Then he was terribly offended by the inhabitants too. But he really wanted to carry letters. And he came up with a tricky trick: on a dark night, when no one saw him, he slowly crept along the city streets and threw letters written by ... himself into mailboxes. He worked at the post office for a long time, so he quickly learned to forge the handwriting of senders, their addresses and postmarks on envelopes. And in letters he wrote ... Well, what could such a type write? Of course, only all sorts of nasty things and lies, because he really wanted to annoy the inhabitants who drove him away. …
Liar and father of lies (John 8:44)
Of course, this sad tale about the crazy postman is just a very weak analogy to the tragic story of the transformation of angels into demons. But for a more accurate description of the depth of moral decline and the madness of evil spirits, even the image of a serial maniac would be too bright, soft and unconvincing. The Lord Himself called Satan a murderer: he (the devil) was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks his own, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Angels are not capable of independent creativity, they can only fulfill the creative plan of God. Therefore, the only way of existence for the angels who had abandoned their calling turned out to be the desire to destroy and destroy everything that they could even touch. Envying God, but not having the slightest opportunity to harm Him, the demons spread all their hatred for the Creator to His creation. And since man became the crown of the material and spiritual world, the most beloved creation of God, all the unsatisfied vindictiveness and malice of the fallen messenger angels fell upon him, bringing to people instead of the will of God - their own, terrible for all living will. And here a very important question arises: how can a person build relationships with such a formidable force that seeks to destroy him?
Shish or candle?
In the collection of Russian folk tales A. N. Afanasyev there is a curious plot on a religious theme: you, Satan, - shish. With this, she so angered the unclean that he could not stand it; appeared to her in a dream and began to frighten: “Well, if you only get into hell with me, you will endure torment!” After that, the woman put a candle to both Egoria and the snake. People ask why is she doing this? “Yes, dear ones! After all, we don’t know where else you will go: either to heaven or to hell!’” In this story, despite all its Christian surroundings, the pagan principle of simultaneously establishing relations with both evil and good deities is very succinctly and convincingly presented. And the very path to a practical solution to the problem is indicated here quite clearly: a candle for each and everyone is happy! Why does the prudence of a naive woman look so comical in this folk anecdote? Yes, because only those who do not understand the simple truth can hope to propitiate the demon: it is impossible to establish good relations with evil spirits. Having hated the entire creation without exception, the demons have driven themselves into an ontological dead end, since they themselves are also God's creations. Therefore, hatred has become for them the only possible form of relationship to each other, and even they can only hate themselves. The very fact of one's own existence is painful for demons.
Curtseys towards the forces of evil
Such a terrible attitude can be compared, perhaps, only with the state of an unfortunate animal dying from a viral infection, which is colloquially called rabies, not without reason. The main symptom of this terrible disease is spasms of the esophagus, which do not let any liquid into the body. Water may be very close, but the animal dies of thirst, not having the slightest opportunity to quench it. Maddened by this torture, the sick beast rushes at everyone who had the imprudence to approach him, but if there is no one around, he bites himself in complete stupefaction. But even such a terrible picture can give only a very weak and approximate idea of \u200b\u200bwhat a creature can experience that fiercely hates the whole world, not excluding itself and its own kind. And now - the question to fill: would a sane person try to make friends with a rabid dog? Or, for example, could Kipling's Mowgli survive in a pack of rabid wolves, constantly tearing at each other? The answer in both cases is obvious. But then it is an immeasurably more hopeless undertaking to try to propitiate the demon in order to secure a comfortable place in hell. Curtsying towards the forces of evil is a senseless and useless exercise. The Holy Scriptures clearly state that for Satan people are of interest solely as a potential victim: Be sober, watch, because your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8). And although it is not at all a pious thing to poke a fig into the icon of St. George the Victorious, as the heroine of Afanasiev’s anecdote did, and, of course, you shouldn’t do this, nevertheless, for those Christians who experience superstitious fear of demons, it would not be bad to remember that in the very order of the Sacrament of Baptism, every Christian not only shows the fiddle to the demon, but literally - spits on him three times, renouncing Satan. Moreover, later on, the Christian daily recalls this renunciation in the prayer of St. John Chrysostom, read before leaving home: “I deny you, Satan, and your pride and service to you; and I unite with you, Christ God, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. But where does such boldness come from among Christians? The answer is simple: only those who are under reliable protection can spit on such dangerous and strong enemies.
Who drowned the pigs?
People who get acquainted with the Gospel for the first time sometimes pay close attention to those details of the Gospel narrative that are secondary and insignificant for a church-going person. One such case is described by N. S. Leskov in the story “At the End of the World”, where an Orthodox bishop, traveling through Siberia, tries to explain to his Yakut guide the essence of Christian doctrine: “Well, do you know why Christ came here to earth? He thought and thought and didn't answer. - You do not know? I say. - I do not know. I explained all Orthodoxy to him, but he either listens or doesn’t, but he himself all hoots at the dogs and waves the weeds. “Well, did you understand,” I ask, “what I told you? - Well, the tank, I understood: I drowned a pig in the sea, spat in the eyes of the blind - the blind saw, he gave the people a loaf of fish. These pigs sat in his forehead in the sea, a blind man and a fish, and then he wouldn’t rise in any way ... ”Paradoxically, all the same pigs that sat in the forehead of Leskov’s illiterate Yakut can sometimes embarrass already quite civilized people with higher education these days . How did the meek and loving Christ, who “will not break a bruised reed and quench a smoking flax”, be able to mercilessly drown a herd of pigs? Doesn't God's love extend to animals too? The questions seem to be formally correct (although they could probably arise only from a modern person who does not associate the ham on his table with the pig from which this ham was made). However, there is an error in such reasoning. And it's not even that the pigs mentioned in the Gospel would sooner or later fall under the butcher's knife anyway.
Temptation in the desert
Christ did not drown the unfortunate animals
Upon careful reading of this place in the Gospel, a simple fact becomes obvious: Christ did not drown the unfortunate animals. Their death is to blame ... demons. When He came ashore, a man from the city met Him, possessed by demons for a long time, and who did not wear clothes, and lived not in a house, but in tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and said with a loud voice: What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torment me. For Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of this man, because he tormented him for a long time, so that he was bound with chains and bands, saving him; but he broke the bands and was driven by a demon into the wilderness. Jesus asked him: What is your name? He said legion, because many demons had entered into him. And they asked Jesus not to command them to go into the abyss. Right there on the mountain a large herd of pigs grazed; and the demons asked Him to let them enter into them. He allowed them. The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake and drowned (Luke 8:27-33). Here, the destructive power of the hatred of demons for all living things is very clearly shown, forcing them to act even contrary to their own interests. Driven out of man, they ask Christ to let them enter into the swine, to live in them and not go into the abyss. But as soon as Christ allows them to do this, the demons immediately drown all the pigs in the sea, again left without shelter. It is impossible to understand such behavior, because there is neither logic nor common sense in hatred.
Demons are not at all free in their actions
A madman walking through a kindergarten with a dangerous razor in his hand will look like a harmless and peaceful layman against the backdrop of demons. And if such creepy creatures could freely operate in our world, then nothing living in it would have been left long ago. But in the gospel story with pigs, the Lord clearly showed that demons are not at all free in their actions. Here is how St. Anthony the Great says about this: “The devil has no power even over pigs. For, as it is written in the Gospel, the demons asked the Lord, saying: command us to go to the pigs. If they do not have power over swine, much less do they have power over man, who was created in the image of God.” By renouncing Satan in baptism, a person entrusts himself to the One who has absolute power over Satan. Therefore, even if demons attack a Christian, this should not frighten him too much. Such an attack is possible under the only indispensable condition: if the Lord permits it.
Possession with evil spirits - God's permission
A snake bite is deadly, but a skilled doctor knows how to prepare medicine from snake venom. So the Lord can use the evil will of demons as a means to heal the human soul. According to the general opinion of the fathers, God allows demon possession to those people for whom this path turns out to be the best in acquiring humility and salvation. “In a spiritual sense, such a punishment from God does not at all serve as a bad testimony about a person: many great saints of God were subjected to such a tradition by Satan ...” writes St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov). “Meanwhile, being burdened by a demon is not at all cruel, because a demon cannot at all cast one into hell, but if we are awake, then this temptation will bring us brilliant and glorious crowns when we endure such attacks with gratitude” (St. John Chrysostom). Temptation of St. Anthony Demons act only where the Lord allows them, turning the evil plans of fallen spirits to the good of people. This partly explains Goethe's famous paradox of Mephistopheles' self-determination: "I am part of that force that always wants evil and always does good." Although even in a literary work, the demon still continues to lie: he, of course, is not able to do any good and, as always, ascribes to himself other people's merits.
What can a demon really do?
But what can a demon actually do? On this issue, the opinion of the father of Christian monasticism, Anthony the Great, can be considered more than authoritative, since the demons fought with him in the desert for several decades. The famous painting by Hieronymus Bosch, The Temptation of St. Anthony, depicts a terrible picture: a flock of fanged and horned monsters attacks a lonely monk. This plot was not invented by the artist, it was taken from the real life of St. Anthony, and the saint actually experienced all these terrible attacks. But here is what an unexpected assessment of these horrors is given by Anthony the Great himself: “In order not to be afraid of demons, we must also consider the following. If they had power, they would not come in crowds, they would not produce dreams, they would not take on various images when they plot; but it would be enough for only one to come and do what he can and wants, especially since everyone who has power does not strike with ghosts, but immediately uses power as he wants. The demons, having no power, seem to amuse themselves at the spectacle, changing their disguises and frightening children with many ghosts and ghosts. Therefore, most of all, they should be despised as powerless.
How does God respond to the hatred of demons?
The further, the worse... Demons hate God. But how does God respond to this hatred? The Monk John of Damascus writes: “God always provides blessings to the devil, but he does not want to accept. And in the next age, God gives blessings to everyone - for He is the source of blessings, pouring out goodness on everyone, everyone partakes in the good, as far as he has prepared himself for those who perceive. Despite the depth of the fall of demons, God does not fight with them and is always ready to accept them back to the angelic rank. But the monstrous pride of the fallen spirits does not allow them to respond to all manifestations of God's love. Here is how a modern ascetic, Athonite elder Paisios the Holy Mountaineer, says about this: “If they had said only one thing: “Lord, have mercy,” then God would have thought of something for their salvation. If only they would say “I have sinned,” but they don't say that. By saying “I have sinned,” the devil would again become an angel.
God's love is infinite
God's love is infinite
The love of God is boundless. But the devil has a stubborn will, stubbornness, selfishness. He doesn't want to give in, he doesn't want to be saved. This is scary. After all, he was once an angel! Does the devil remember his former state? he is all fire and fury ... And the farther, the worse he gets. It develops in malice and envy. Oh, that a person would feel the state in which the devil is! He would cry day and night. Even when some kind person changes for the worse, becomes a criminal, he is very sorry. But what to say if you see the fall of an angel!.. The fall of the devil cannot be healed by anything other than his own humility. The devil is not corrected because he does not want it himself. Do you know how glad Christ would be if the devil wanted to correct himself!” Unfortunately, the devil does not give any reasons for such joy. And the only correct and safe attitude for a person towards fallen spirits, mad with malice and pride, is to have nothing to do with them, which is what Christians ask the Lord in the final words of the Our Father prayer: ... lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Amen.
Alexander Tkachenko
Information taken from the missionary Orthodox portal -
In any religious culture there are antagonists of divine beings. In Christianity - Satan, the Devil, in Islam - Iblis, Shaitan, in Hinduism - Kali (demon, goddess of evil and vice). Even among the ancient Sumerians, Marduk and Tiamat opposed each other.
Demons are servants of the Devil. In Christian culture, former angels of God are declared demons. Those who rebelled against Him and were cast down after the rebellious Lucifer from heaven to hell. However, they did not lose many of their features. They are also wise, powerful. Able to remain invisible. But at the same time, they can change the image and appear to a person in various guises.
Semantically, the word "demon" goes back to ancient Slavic roots, meaning "fear", "terrifying", "to be afraid". In Old Church Slavonic literature, the word "demon" was translated as the Greek equivalent of the word "demon". In modern Russian, the words "demon", "demon", "devil" and others are synonymous.
In church literature, all evil spirits were called demons, which is not entirely correct, because. "Evil spirits" were also declared all pagan deities. It is believed that demons, being the servants of Satan, personify everything vicious and their main task is to incline a person to sins. It is they who are the tempters who preach fornication, gluttony, drunkenness, anger, pride, idleness. Special attention is given to people leading a righteous lifestyle: monks, ascetics, saints, hermits. The lives of the saints are full of all sorts of tricks of demonic temptation.
In Eastern mythology, demons are called "Virgos" and "". They are also not suitable for any contracts that plan a good deed and a successful outcome. In all known illustrations, they are presented as incredibly unpleasant, ugly creatures.
In Western culture, they are portrayed as similar to ancient Greek satyrs, fauns: horns, hooves, tail. Often, in memory of being angels, in the images the demons are endowed with wings, sometimes these are the wings of a bat, according to the myths of an unclean animal. However, it is argued that the servants of the Devil, when they appear, are able to reincarnate and appear in various images. They can appear as animals, birds, insects, and in some cases, people. In mythological literature, cases of people being seduced by demons in the form of a man () or a woman () are described. Some saints were even tried to be deceived by appearing before them in the image of Jesus Christ. Actually, the images of a black cat and a black dog are also considered canonical for evil spirits. It is not for nothing that a black cat is present in all the stories about witches, and it is surprising if it is not there.
One of the signs of the proximity of a demon is nausea. Hence the Russian expression "nausea force." One of the exorcism sessions conducted by Christ was accompanied by nausea of the possessed, which he could not overcome in any way. When Jesus helped the sick man, he vomited up a huge worm that crawled to the side. The Son of God took two stones and smashed the worm's head, and advised the man from now on to lead a righteous life in the name of God, so that Satan would not return to his body and begin to torment again, like for many years before.
These days, images of demons are everywhere. In literature, this is a poem by Pushkin, and a novel by Dostoevsky, and Dante, who wrote the Divine Comedy, two-thirds of the book described the horrors of hell and purgatory. Dr. Goethe's "Faust" and countless imitators and successors of this theme immediately come to mind. The Master and Margarita and The Diaboliad. Not to mention the novelists of the 20th century. Especially after 1969, when the 1st official Church of Satan was founded in San Francisco by Anton Szandor Lavey.
In painting, these are endless Bosch, Schongauer, Veronese, Grunewald, Jan Gossaert, Lucas of Leiden and many others. Often, demonic images appear in pictures of the temptation of all sorts of saints. The most illogical is the depiction of demons in the paintings and architecture of temples, cathedrals and churches. This is especially true of the Gothic style.
Cinema also did not bypass this topic. At the moment, at least 8 films and TV series are called "Demons", and not all of them filmed Dostoevsky's novel. In addition, countless horror films are full of various incarnations of evil spirits. The Exorcist, The Exorcist of Emily Rose, The Omen, Constantine, and others illustrate the obsession.
The music did not bypass the theme of demonism. Many heavy metal bands appear in demonic form, sing about them in the lyrics, depict them on the covers. But not only rock music has been charmed. Blues artists consider demons to be the main inspiration for their music. The main legend of all bluesmen: at midnight you need to go to a deserted crossroads, meet the Devil and, in exchange for your soul, sign a contract about fame, prosperity and the ability to play like no other. As for modern “good” pop music, naked singers, drunken singers and songs glorifying sex, a beautiful idle life and other delights of life leave no doubt under whose influence the performers and authors are.
In any case, as they used to say in Rus', "don't be dashing while it's quiet."
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In Christianity, the word "Demon" has become synonymous with the word "Demon". Christian chroniclers sometimes refer to pagan deities with the same word.
Evil spirits, servants of Satan.
Under various names, demons existed in almost all world religions. Despite the different names, among all peoples they were considered invisible enemies of man, carriers of all the most vile things and invariably caused horror and disgust. It was these qualities that determined the Slavic name of demons, which in the ancient Indian language sounds like "causing fear and horror".
In the pagan mythology of Ancient Rus', such revered gods as Perun, Beles, Moksha were considered demons, the images of which were continued in many other creatures.
The roots of the Slavic word "demon" lie in the Indo-European language, where there is the concept of "bhoi-dho-s", which literally means "causing fear."
In Christian ideas, demons are the devil's spies, fighters of his unclean army, opposing the Holy Trinity and the heavenly army of the Archangel Michael. According to legend, demons were considered sworn enemies of man, they sent mental illness (possession), caused quarrels between family members, boss and subordinates, student and teacher.
There is a well-known Russian proverb "The demon has beguiled", denoting an illogical act.
Mike Igor. Moon Thief or Silent Happiness
The evil essence of demons, which were considered the cause of the appearance of negative phenomena in society and the soul of a person, accompanying mental illness, family and social conflicts, did not allow any agreements with them, and if this happened, it could bring misfortune to a person in the future.
Suffice it to recall the famous poem by I.-V. Goethe's "Faust", where the author convincingly proved the danger of dealings with evil spirits. However, the evil inclination was not always inherent in demons: in legends they appeared in the form of angels, and then insidiously betrayed the creator, becoming the devil's helpers.
As a reminder of their originally angelic past, they retain wings; in Western mythology, demons had bat wings.
At the time when they were angels, demons possessed great knowledge, wisdom and power. Having preserved all these qualities in an evil image, the demons skillfully used knowledge for insidious deeds, penetrating deeply into a person’s thoughts, directing his activities to harm those close to him and society.
Like many mythical creatures, demons are invisible, but they can take on any form, using their appearance to achieve their own goals. The true essence of the demon is described in detail in the sacred texts of various religions, differing only in details.
So, a typical demon is a horned creature, densely covered with hair, with human hands, with hooves on its feet and a long tail.
In some nations, demons are endowed with huge ears, wings (as a reminder of the angelic past) or long claws. In the appearance of the Slavic demon, its resemblance to the Greek satyr and faun is clearly traced: small horns, hooves, tail.
Another idea of demons is associated with religious fanaticism. For example, the Slavs often endowed the demon with the appearance of a resident of Muslim countries, thus emphasizing their dislike for the Gentiles. In Russian mythology, demons were represented by Ethiopians ("black murins"), Poles (Poles) and even Germans.
According to legend, the approach of a demon was marked by a feeling of hopelessness, a strange longing; the man was tormented by nausea and convulsive laughter for no reason. In the 15th-16th centuries, rumors arose in some European countries about demons forcing people to carnal copulation. Their male images were called incubi, and female images were called succubi.
Bes. Kononenko V.A.
According to Christian ideas, the unclean power paid special attention to hermits and religious ascetics. Probably for this reason, during the period of the birth of monasticism, hermits settled in dense forests or in endless steppes, that is, in those places where, according to legend, evil spirits lived.
Knowing that, like angels, demons arise and disappear at will, the hermits tried to fight the tempting demons on their territory. The most instructive story of the greatness of the spirit of a true believer was the legend of the temptation of Anthony the Great, who was considered the founder of the monastic movement.
Hieronymus Bosch. "The Temptation of Saint Anthony"
Demons - in Slavic mythology, evil spirits hostile to man. It is in this sense that this term is used in folk art, especially brightly in conspiracies. Traces of beliefs in demons are rooted in antiquity. At that time they were imagined as creatures covered with wool, with wings and tails, horns and hooves, with a pig's snout, shrouded in stench or smoke.
According to ideas, demons could easily change their appearance, turning into any "unclean" animals (most often, pigs) or pretend to be a person.
The Russian proverb is characteristic: "The undead have no appearance of their own, they walk in disguises."
The very word "demon" is generally applicable to all evil spirits. The soul of unrighteous (sinful) people after death could not get into Iriy (Vyriy, Paradise) and toiled on Earth, attracting attention to itself with various tricks. Negative emotions, dishonor, debauchery, chaos and other negative phenomena caused by these tricks in living people served as food for such spirits.
Demons are evil spirits, which for the followers of Satan were the same as for the righteous Guardian Angels.
Bes is the Slavic designation "without", and then any positive concept follows, for example: without ... conscience (conscienceless, shameless - an absurd, but "officially approved" mistake, either deliberately introduced into the Great Russian language, or remaining in it for some reason - then a misunderstanding), without ... God (godless, think for yourself whether there can be godless ... godly), without ... righteous (unrighteous - right, demon ... righteous - the same absurdity, can a demon be righteous and live according to the Pra-Vedas and Rule?), without ... honor (dishonest - right, dishonest - honest Demon, comments in this case are generally unnecessary, can a Demon (Servant of Satan) who constantly deceives people be honest?), etc. d. But there are also words where the use of "demon" would be quite appropriate, for example, incomparable - that is, demon-like.
As Christianity spread, pagan ideas about hostile spirits merged with ideas about Christian demons. According to legend, angels who opposed the Lord God ("fallen angels") became demons.
As a punishment, they were cast down from heaven to earth, lost their angelic features and turned into numerous demons. In ancient legends, it is also said that demons are the servants of the Devil (Satan). The pagan origin of demons determined their power over the elements: the ability to spin whirlwinds, raise blizzards, send rain, storms.
At the same time, demons retained some of the properties of angels: superhuman power, the ability to fly, read human thoughts and inspire a person with their desires. The main function of demons is associated with causing various, most often minor, harm to people.
Numerous tales are known among the people, in which the demon takes the form of a man and seduces gullible people. It was also believed that a demon could send a disease, deprive a person of strength or simply deceive, in rare cases it could even destroy. Special activity is attributed to demons on Christmas night and on Christmas time, which are traditionally considered the time of rampant evil spirits. There was a belief that demons attacked monks, ascetics and hermits, trying by any means to interfere with their service to God.
Since the demon was always somewhere nearby, close to the person, as if waiting for him to stumble, his mistakes, everyday failures were usually associated with him. From here come sayings like: "The demon has beguiled", etc. To protect themselves from demons, pagans wore an amulet around their necks, while Christians wore a cross.
