Magic and the Supernatural in the Ancient World

• What caused the shift in belief from thinking that gods and rituals from another culture were not worthy of belief and weren't dangerous to the view that deities and cults of others were dangerous and demonic?
  
• In Smith's article, he said that it was believed that demons lived beyond city walls (in wild, uninhabited places or ruined cities). This reminds me of the boundary maintenance theory of witchcraft. To what extent can this theory and the other theories of witchcraft be applied to the belief in demons?
  
• Smith also shows a connection between demons and Gnosticism. What exactly is Gnosticism and what is its connection to demons?
  

• Why did the connotations surrounding the word "Demon" change over time?
• Is the idea of deities growing old and dying only in the Greek & Roman world or is it also in other traditions?
• Was spirit possession the standard explanation for erratic behavior?

• Smith believes that ancient thought on daemonology alternated between locative and utopian explanations. Did different classes of people, like philosophers or farmers or nobility, embrace these different viewpoints simultaneously?
• According to Plutarch, does the oracle die when the daemon dies? Can another daemon succeed one that has just died?
• Were all daemons considered to be of equal status or were agathodaemons thought to be more powerful than kakodaemons?

• Lehman and Myers talks of religious ecstacy as beign a type of possesion. Would Rev. Simmons be offended if we offered the suggestion that her feelings of ecstacy felt in her younger days could be attributed to posession?
• In the exorcism ritual from the Great Magical Papyrus in Paris (Luck 190), the exorcist inkoves gods from many cultures in his effort to expel the demon. It makes more sense to me for an exorcist to use the god(s) of the patient. We have seen through our readings that many maladies are psychological, and a patient would likely believe a cure to be effective when their god is summoned.
• Do most religions (especially western ones) incorporate the role of a prophet or prophets into their belief system?

1. When did the term daimon change from good to evil, and why? What was the churches influence on this?
2. Were all demons considered evil?
3. What were demons connection with the devil, if any?

• What were the roles of demons in the ancient world?
• How can we describe demons using literary sources?
• What were demons' associations with established religion and magic in the ancient world?

• How does Plutarch view demonology?
• Was Socrates daimon good or evil?
• Where does the demon receive get its powers from?

• 1.How does an exorcist obtain their power? In light of calling on multiple gods of many different religions? What qualifies them to do the job?
• 2.Why would the Greeks worship the spirits of the lower order in their daily religous practices?
• 3.Do people of today's society believe in the existence of daemons? And if so, how much power do they have?

• At what point does "daemon" begin to take on a negative connotation?
• How is "daemon" interpreted in the different time periods? This will hopefully help to answer the first question.
• Is there a concrete daemonology present before the edicts of Theodocius (spelling?) ?

Bradley Laye: blaye@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu

• 1. Brenk explains when the term daimon changes from a "divine being" to a more negative meaning of then word, but he doesn't explain why... any clues?
• 2. "daimons" are not mentioned directly in the Hebrew Bible (maybe seraphim or similar), yet they seem to "make a come back" in the Christian Canon... why is this?
• 3. What are some of the magic items associated with demons? Brenk mentions a few in his discussion of demons in Lucian and Apuleius.