How to kill the devil--looking for some thoughts

MRasey · Dec 10, 2007

Hi. I'm working on a spec fic short and my protag is currently cooking a kill-the-devil stew.

So far, I've got holy water as the base along with a rosary steeping while the chicken cooks.

Any other tokens of ill will I could add? The protag is Catholic, although not necessarily knowledgeable about what it takes to kill the devil.

This part of the story is going to be the recipe itself, which is why I'm trying to brainstorm other elements.

Thanks!
M

Marlys · Dec 10, 2007

You could have her throw in things traditionally used to ward off evil or in purification rituals: salt, rowan, garlic (not just for vampires), rosemary, verbena, etc. (Google for protective herbs, and you'll find more if you need them).

AnnieColleen · Dec 10, 2007

Umm...that would be a pretty uneducated/superstitious Catholic character.

Not that you can't write one of those. But the notion that the devil -- an immortal spiritual being -- can be killed, and by cooking various sacramentals* into a stew, is so far off from actual Catholic teaching that it would be hard for me, at least, to suspend disbelief for. I'm trying to think of what sorts of things you could use for the story and drawing a total blank. Sorry!

*Holy water, rosary, etc. are sacramentals, which are supposed to be treated with respect -- e.g., a rosary broken beyond repair is supposed to be burned or buried, not thrown away -- and stewing definitely does not fall into those parameters!

blacbird · Dec 10, 2007

MRasey said:
Hi. I'm working on a spec fic short and my protag is currently cooking a kill-the-devil stew.

Be patient. Wait out the devil. In just over a year, Dick Cheney will be history.

caw

benbradley · Dec 10, 2007

I vaguely recall that a good ingredient for such a potion would be milk from a lactating virgin. Seems like I heard that from a movie, but can't remember where.

Inky · Dec 10, 2007

*note to self: Ben watches bizarre movies; hence, has hidden humor he's not yet explored. Must drag him to the Cabaret. Most entertaining.*

benbradley · Dec 10, 2007

inked09012 said:
*note to self: Ben watches bizarre movies; hence, has hidden humor he's not yet explored. Must drag him to the Cabaret. Most entertaining.*

Now I'm thinking it was from a M*A*S*H episode. I only watched it the first few seasons it was on, so it wasn't from a later one.

Inky · Dec 10, 2007

I was raised on M*A*S*H!
And Benny Hill.
And Phyllis Diller.

Now you begin to see why I'm warped.

Mac H. · Dec 11, 2007

AnnieColleen said:
But the notion that the devil -- an immortal spiritual being -- can be killed, and by cooking various sacramentals* into a stew, is so far off from actual Catholic teaching that it would be hard for me, at least, to suspend disbelief for.

You'd almost think it was fiction ...

You could take another approach. Lucifer is Latin for 'light bearer'. The Greek equivalent is 'Phosphorus'.

So perhaps bones in the stew would be the ideal thing to kill Lucifer. The calcium in the bones would react with Phosphorus to create harmless Calcium Phosphate.

Yes, that is a stretch. (Particularly since even oxygen would react with Phosphorus) But it's no worse than the widely accepted stretch of connecting 'Lucifer' with the devil in the first place ! Since that is widely accepted, why not this ?

Mac
(PS: In traditional mythology the Devil is immortal ... but is there a particular reason to think that? The tradition is a beautifully open for interpretation - according to Resh Lakish the names of the archangels came from Babylonian mythology anyway!)

badducky · Dec 11, 2007

Go find yourself some info on the Book of Enoch, some apocrypha.

Frankly, if I was going to kill the devil, I'd convince him he didn't exist.

C.bronco · Dec 11, 2007

Trans-fat. Make sure he orders the super-size portion.

DraperJC · Dec 11, 2007

How about killing the Devil by replacing him? Start tempting as many people as possible and when that fails, have the protagonist take the job.

Nateskate · Dec 11, 2007

MRasey said:
Hi. I'm working on a spec fic short and my protag is currently cooking a kill-the-devil stew.

So far, I've got holy water as the base along with a rosary steeping while the chicken cooks.

Any other tokens of ill will I could add? The protag is Catholic, although not necessarily knowledgeable about what it takes to kill the devil.

This part of the story is going to be the recipe itself, which is why I'm trying to brainstorm other elements.

Thanks!
M

Lol, I don't want to mess with your story, but I think it's a story that already has a sequel. You cannot kill the devil, only contain him. Still, it is an amusing idea to tinker with.

Saanen · Dec 11, 2007

Nateskate said:
Lol, I don't want to mess with your story, but I think it's a story that already has a sequel. You cannot kill the devil, only contain him. Still, it is an amusing idea to tinker with.

Yeah. My first thought was, "What's going to go wrong once the devil is gone?" Maybe by killing the devil, god disappears too. Maybe everyone just gets a little bit eviler. Maybe the MC is crazy and only thinks he's going to kill the devil, and instead poisons/exorcises/whatever someone who's kind to him.

Lots of things you could do with this to give it a fun twist.

AnnieColleen · Dec 11, 2007

Here's maybe another way to look at it. When you make use of terms people are familiar with from the real world, they come with certain expectations based on people's experiences/beliefs in the real world: boiling a rosary does nothing but make a mess; the devil can't be killed. In order to make the story work for those readers, you have to address those expectations.

One option would be through characterization: the character is ignorant/superstitious/crazy/whatever. Then either the character's expectations clash with what actually happens (and the story follows the rules of the real world) or you get into the second option, building the fictional world such that the reader knows it won't meet those particular expectations and is ok with that. That doesn't mean ignoring the real world; it means including character comments or references to other elements of the fictional world to build a framework where the new expectation fits and is 'believable' (suspending disbelief). The more familiar or important the real-world elements are to each reader, the more of a hurdle the writer has to get over in using them. And, not every fictional world will work for every reader -- but paying attention to reader expectations up front maximizes the story's chances.

MRasey · Dec 11, 2007

There have been some really funny responses to my question. Thanks for the laugh. I love the Cheney comment.

I like the phosphorus idea, but I think it might take too much explaining.

And to clarify, I didn't say the devil was going to die, just that my protag was making a kill the devil stew in the hopes of killing him/her/it. So whether or not the devil could be killed or not, what iconic whatever would you put in the stew?

Because this section of the story is going to be the recipe, I need it to stand on it's own almost as if it is prose.

For those who are really curious, I have a short snippet up on my blog of the story that gives an idea of the tone I'm going for.

Thanks
M

AceTachyon · Dec 11, 2007

Communion wafer. Communion wine. Crucifx. Copy of The Omen and The Exorcist.

FennelGiraffe · Dec 11, 2007

A sliver of wood from the True Cross.

zornhau · Dec 11, 2007

Richard Dawkins...

The signed front piece from "The God Delusion".

Ziljon · Dec 11, 2007

Be sure to throw in a Care Bear.

AceTachyon · Dec 11, 2007

Oh, and the spear that pierced the side of Jesus. The shroud of Turin (or a bit from it).

benbradley · Dec 11, 2007

Ziljon said:
Be sure to throw in a Care Bear.

You need background music, cranked up to foreground volume when the time comes: a sound recording of a singing purple dinosaur.

AceTachyon · Dec 11, 2007

A Tickle-Me Elmo doll.

Angelinity · Dec 11, 2007

AceTachyon said:
A Tickle-Me Elmo doll.

they can be evil.

Angelinity · Dec 11, 2007

stew won't kill the devil, devil loves stew - woohoo yessiree it maketh stew of everything.

only way to kill the Devil is to cease believing in the Devil -- maybe you can make Devil fear itself. Does Devil believe in the Devil? there, you killed it.

How to kill the devil--looking for some thoughts

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