Demonologists in the Hizzy?

I think Julie Kenner just used Asmodeus in her last book. She used Goramesh in the book before.

Catholics don't actually have many named demons. Not too many named good angels, either (I can only think of 4). So, there wouldn't be *that* many in the Catholic lexicon... Jewish folklore, however, is quite rich.

Some sources:
www.newadvent.org - Catholic encyclopedia online, look up demonology, possession, angels, etc.
Here's the entry for Asmodeus: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01792c.htm
(Note: Apocolypse is called Revelation in the Protestant bible)

The text of the Douay Rheims Bible (English translation of Latin Vulgate, predate KJV, look in OT for names of foreign gods...)
http://www.drbo.org/

Catechism of Catholic Church (mostly stuff on Satan here) (English translation)
http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm

Some stuff on angels (Catholic doctrine is that Satan is a fallen angel, but still retains his angelic nature, and can do things the 'good' angels can; also many theologians believe that demons mirror the heirarchy of angels)
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/angels.html

I'm in the middle of a screenplay that deals with possession - just finished researching a bunch of this. Also I am a Catholic and have lots of books etc. on theology, etc. that aren't available online (some quite old), so I'd be more than happy to chat about it if you have any particular questions.
And no, I'm not telling you the name of my demon!

Oh, and Asmodeus was a demon in last year's Demonhunter movie.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0435631/

Don't know if your WIP is a script, novel, or graphic novel, but it's pretty common, as demons go.

Wikipedia lists a bunch of appearances:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asmodai

A question: You're asking for a demon out of Catholic lexicon, but you mention Asmodeus, but my source books tell me that Asmodeus is originally a Persian/Arabic concoction and later added to Jewish lore. Not Catholic. Now, I could check with some Catholic friends, but I believe the 'demons' there were all fallen angels. Like Lucifer and the like. Which would (it seems from my sources) rule Asmodeus out. I would mention Sameal but he's off limits as he's being used in one of my own works so there! ;P Rabe...

Rabe,
Asmodeus appears in the book of Tobit, which was removed from the bible by Protestants post-Reformation, on the grounds it was written in Greek, not Hebrew. Other books removed are collected in the "Apocrypha", but are still found in every Catholic bible. (Maccabees, the foundation of the Jewish feast of Hannukah, was also removed, as were parts of other books).

mommyjo2 said:

Rabe,
Asmodeus appears in the book of Tobit, which was removed from the bible by Protestants post-Reformation, on the grounds it was written in Greek, not Hebrew. Other books removed are collected in the "Apocrypha", but are still found in every Catholic bible. (Maccabees, the foundation of the Jewish feast of Hannukah, was also removed, as were parts of other books).

Click to expand...

Thanks for the information. I'm not very 'up' on Catholicism above the basics. I do recall reading about Asmodeus previously though because I was looking for a suitable demon and how he/it/(in one instance even a 'she') was mentioned in arabic/jewish lore and came from that tradition. Now, of course it's not a *huge* leap to go from Jewish to Catholic where most things are concerned - of course. But as an information junkie, I'm glad you posted a correction to what I wrote. Rabe...

Andariel, because chicks aren't villians often enough.

She may technically be an angel; but I'm sure you can make it work.

Just a question,
Why does it have to be in the Catholic lexicon?
Because most demons are not 'officially' named in Catholicism, and Catholics generally believe that one third of all the angels in Heaven followed Lucifer, you could just make up any name and give them a backstory.

Just don't pick these names"
Uriel
Michael
Raphael
Gabriel

and you'll be ok.

A lot of Iranian/Babylonian demonolgoy lore is often mistaken for Catholic - and some is accepted, also (don't forget, modern day Baghdad is actually the ancient city of Babylon) so any ancient sounding name or Persian deity would probably work.

One time, a gentleman came to the church I attended, and talked about a demon named Azrael. According to this individual, Azrael was supposedly Satan's personal death-angel.

I believe the gentleman's name was Dave Benoit. I'm not certain I spelled his name correctly, but he claimed to know quite a bit about demons and demonology. He used to run a ministry called Glory Ministries.


I hope this helps.

Well, if he's speaking of secret texts, then the names probably wouldn't be out there... they'd be secret, wouldn't they?
Keep whatever name Latin-sounding, and you'll be good.

Peccata means sin - might be a good demon name.

Here's a Latin-English dictionary online - type in a few deadly sins,etc. and you could come up with some good names.
http://www.freedict.com/onldict/lat.html

I would not use a demonic name from the lexicon. I would make up a name, even if it was for a demon from the lexicon. To use RL demonic names in fictional writing is to invite... bad stuff. You don't have to believe me, of course. But when I looked at this thread the other day I thought, "Hm... I should say something to him about this," and I decided not to. Today I find I would rather err on the side of caution, however.

Take a demon from the lexicon and make a name up for it, or just make up a demon from scratch. I write about demons in my fictional work a lot and learned long ago not to use their actual names.

You may want to check with AW's resident expert on all things angelic and demonic, Liam Jackson. Or, you could buy his book and pick a name.