tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80840805596325980022024-03-15T16:52:53.962-04:00DAIMONOLOGIAHallowed Entries About Dark Culture & Thought, the Fantastic and the Supernatural (from an Orthodox Christian Perspective)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger419125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-37623183588099376632024-03-15T16:47:00.004-04:002024-03-15T16:52:19.667-04:00The Real Origins of Carnival (which has nothing to do with Ancient Paganism)<div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLsgIDeS8wurEMNeZ8u5Ke07Yahev18HuQ6CZ1rORz185eFq1t-B_TjMquLp4e2YjqcFmSKm_EYE2kl6KWIVozPl8Et2EKHUhLpH_ofVik94owdvoNrHKMnRGW-1LBafbDF-CxsDiWZe7xSCcgGxeT-Z3QxEX16CYIZ59gKcy3pRxotSCZA5ZzGl1hEMO7/s1280/Pieter_Bruegel_d._%C3%84._066.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1280" height="462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLsgIDeS8wurEMNeZ8u5Ke07Yahev18HuQ6CZ1rORz185eFq1t-B_TjMquLp4e2YjqcFmSKm_EYE2kl6KWIVozPl8Et2EKHUhLpH_ofVik94owdvoNrHKMnRGW-1LBafbDF-CxsDiWZe7xSCcgGxeT-Z3QxEX16CYIZ59gKcy3pRxotSCZA5ZzGl1hEMO7/w640-h462/Pieter_Bruegel_d._%C3%84._066.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Fight between Carnival and Lent</i>, Pieter Bruegel, 1559<br></td></tr></tbody></table><br></div><div style="text-align: center;">By John Bossy<br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br>Sin required penance from the individual, as Dante had expounded it; it also, as a stain on the community of Christians, required penance from the population at large, collective ascetic rituals of which the most important was the annual season of Lent. Though generally felt to be essential to individual salvation and public prosperity, penance remained a daunting prospect: the task of persuading people to enter upon it was likened by the Strassburg preacher John Geiler to getting a horse on to a small boat. The horse might pass more readily if its steps were guided by the formalities of a rite of passage. So by the sixteenth century the moment at which the population passed from its carnal into its penitential state had become a time for the vigorously cultivated rites of separation generally known as Carnival. These were, despite some appearances, Christian in character, and they were medieval in origin: although it has been widely supposed that they continued some kind of pre-Christian cult, there is in fact no evidence that they existed much before 1200. The Italian term <i>carnevale</i> derived from the <i>dominica carnelevalis</i> or Quadragesima Sunday, the feast which in the Roman and Milanese liturgies marked for the clergy the passage from the normal to the penitential regime, and signified the abolition of meat or flesh; those words in use in other vernaculars (<i>antruejo/introitus, carême-entrant</i>) referred to the entrance into Lent. As a period of time and a moral conception Carnival was one half of an entity of which the other half was Lent. The unity-in-opposition of the pair, which seems a notable instance of the structural anthropology practised by Claude Levi-Strauss, was the theme of the French and Spanish poems which diffused the conception in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and also of a line of pictorial representations memorably concluded in the middle of the sixteenth by <i>The Fight between Carnival</i> and Lent of Pieter Bruegel.<br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2024/03/the-real-origins-of-carnival-which-has.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-16466305465796917582024-01-31T15:26:00.000-05:002024-01-31T15:26:45.838-05:00A Miracle of Saints Cyrus and John for Theopompos Who Was Demon Possessed<div style="text-align: center;"><b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB48egZ3l7uWBq1jhO9eECjDjBv0Ix6sW679oa82vWumMG-3UrJgsVCjgZgTbMesrhkT4zt2mQoSPnQTOo5dh2OGUm-Z3EE6FY7TweHJ1unOJxJrEVeogUcVR6ZiIQFe8guHWOQ0vWJogd_o45YCX2dCBI_RfGj79ZHUE-5GS0oI5MzccI1mPN-niwLKRL/s400/cyrus%20john1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="378" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB48egZ3l7uWBq1jhO9eECjDjBv0Ix6sW679oa82vWumMG-3UrJgsVCjgZgTbMesrhkT4zt2mQoSPnQTOo5dh2OGUm-Z3EE6FY7TweHJ1unOJxJrEVeogUcVR6ZiIQFe8guHWOQ0vWJogd_o45YCX2dCBI_RfGj79ZHUE-5GS0oI5MzccI1mPN-niwLKRL/w605-h640/cyrus%20john1.jpg" width="605"></a></div> <br></i></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><i>The Miracles of Saints Cyrus and John<br><br>Miracle 14</i><br><br>On Theopompos Who Was Demon Possessed</b><br><br>By St. Sophronios of Jerusalem <br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br>There was a certain Theopompos who was gravely possessed by a demon and there was nobody who would not cry looking at him. Generally people are more despondent about those who have this kind of malady of the soul; likely because it does not concern the body, which is subject to natural diseases and to corruption due to its origin of the tree of transgression in the paradise (to xylon tes parakoes eiso paradeisou). However, the malady of the soul which is against nature. For it is a kind of alteration of the soul's incorruptible nature created by the grace of God, and a suffering resulting from a demonic machination.<br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2024/01/a-miracle-of-saints-cyrus-and-john-for.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-53180208395167769272023-11-22T16:19:00.007-05:002023-11-22T16:29:24.132-05:00What the Spirit of His Dead Aunt Said to Saint Iakovos Tsalikes<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4QhgwK49naTX7GNpI-wOIepOroOVMTPhuMBxl6oe9p_0xc9plY7G5pw6Qaxx5TqNo6rAEC8u4hYDxA8IlJJlXg_bK_mAPTZkPQiM-W3rOOPTf-UpENkn0JSfkIZLLZ4XxbHkIt4InlW1qtae_dImuB2IcZOObDgFkFXbppEmCoxpQYi02E00kknWnhw/s600/iakovos_tsalikis-xarakt-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4QhgwK49naTX7GNpI-wOIepOroOVMTPhuMBxl6oe9p_0xc9plY7G5pw6Qaxx5TqNo6rAEC8u4hYDxA8IlJJlXg_bK_mAPTZkPQiM-W3rOOPTf-UpENkn0JSfkIZLLZ4XxbHkIt4InlW1qtae_dImuB2IcZOObDgFkFXbppEmCoxpQYi02E00kknWnhw/w400-h300/iakovos_tsalikis-xarakt-1.jpg" width="400"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Saint Iakovos Tsalikes said:<br><br>"Since
I was a child, I go to the cemetery every day and think about death.
All my relatives have died. Anyway, I commemorate an aunt of mine. I saw
the aunt and she told me:<br><br>'Ah, my nephew Iakovos, thank you
for what you are sending me. You send me a lot, but you know there are
other people who are unfortunate and hungry and have no one in the world
to think of them, to care for them.'<br><br><span></span></div></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2023/11/what-spirit-of-his-dead-aunt-said-to.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-20482124403735309132023-11-07T14:56:00.007-05:002023-11-07T15:08:19.454-05:00Feigning Demonic Possession For Profit<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPiKEPgtkBgyISr-RRx57MeeMy4-AXBP0sVhTvYs84HhadVCw-QtGl1QOHUCTH77czVSv3QqXjKX0ZXIUh6ycnwgHpbGr3ZPNgFg9wRBxxbTZ9TgsZ1lwiumwxp0QF-LUIudp6tGPFHQs66EnR8M_18wRAoNvDRPmuw4lb823szASo412zZKZoBn42w4BX/s829/Screenshot%202023-11-07%20at%2014-41-00%20Oracle%20Of%20Delphi%20by%20Collection%20Abecasis_science%20Photo%20Library.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="829" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPiKEPgtkBgyISr-RRx57MeeMy4-AXBP0sVhTvYs84HhadVCw-QtGl1QOHUCTH77czVSv3QqXjKX0ZXIUh6ycnwgHpbGr3ZPNgFg9wRBxxbTZ9TgsZ1lwiumwxp0QF-LUIudp6tGPFHQs66EnR8M_18wRAoNvDRPmuw4lb823szASo412zZKZoBn42w4BX/w640-h442/Screenshot%202023-11-07%20at%2014-41-00%20Oracle%20Of%20Delphi%20by%20Collection%20Abecasis_science%20Photo%20Library.png" width="640"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Canon 60 of the Penthekte Synod in Constantinople which was held in 692, we read the following:<br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote>Since the Apostle exclaims that he who cleaves to the Lord is one
spirit with Him, it is clear that he who is intimate with His
enemy becomes one by his affinity with him. Therefore, those who pretend
they are possessed by a devil
and by their depravity of manners feign to manifest their form and
appearance; it seems good by all means that they should be punished and
that they should be subjected to afflictions and hardships of the same
kind as those to which they who are truly demonically possessed are justly subjected with the intent of delivering them from the energies of the devil.</blockquote> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2023/11/feigning-demonic-possession-for-profit.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-27770400413825389312023-10-31T10:46:00.003-04:002023-10-31T10:49:54.278-04:00G.K. Chesterton's Defense of Scary Stories from a Christian Perspective<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8wNSUL1gxYemfSb4sLRz5Lx92bWbrmjpmcJ-MCs6N6yH1mp3dfwKuknRdVn2vkhvk134z92fanQfOXOrlZ_KKngjO6TpcFlh8keINKGMfIb0TAXZ6Ihk_hJU32PTE3CsOz9P-dpQxkwZOZ3PHbNDVGYkPM0CiIJG56URH-GPV0a52g7reWHiAmlfswlP/s1600/G._K._Chesterton_at_work.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="1600" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA8wNSUL1gxYemfSb4sLRz5Lx92bWbrmjpmcJ-MCs6N6yH1mp3dfwKuknRdVn2vkhvk134z92fanQfOXOrlZ_KKngjO6TpcFlh8keINKGMfIb0TAXZ6Ihk_hJU32PTE3CsOz9P-dpQxkwZOZ3PHbNDVGYkPM0CiIJG56URH-GPV0a52g7reWHiAmlfswlP/w400-h297/G._K._Chesterton_at_work.jpg" width="400"></a></div><br></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000;">G.K. Chesterton was a mystery writer, literary critic, and revered Catholic theologian. On October 16th 1909, he wrote an article for <i>The Daily News</i> titled "The Nightmare", which is a work of literary criticism regarding why scary stories are so delightful, but also their potential dangers. Unlike later reactionary Christians, Chesterton is fully on board with the telling and enjoying of scary stories, so long as we remember that they are nothing more than "toys". <br><br>Many Christians believe scary stories are evil in themselves, because they associate anything scary with what they interpret as bad feelings as opposed to what they interpret is good, but there is no such thing as an evil story, unless the person hearing the story is evil and when hearing it abandons any sense of Christian hope that lies in his heart. A story changes perspective depending on one's beliefs and disposition, and when a true Christian hears a scary story it will always be with a Christian perspective, and as long as the temptation to judge it as merely evil or demonic is avoided, it can be beneficial if the story contains even a kernel of benefit, and usually scary stories do (for example, in scary stories evil is usually viewed as bad and the audience is usually encouraged to root for the good). It is the same as reading the Bible, where one's interpretation of it first and foremost depends on their personal beliefs and disposition - to some it can inspire piety and holiness while to others it could inspire unimaginable horrors, rebellion and even murder. <br><br>You can read "The Nightmare" <a href="http://www.gkc.org.uk/gkc/books/nightmare.html">here</a>, though he does touch more on this subject in other writings of his as well. Below is an excerpt:</span><br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2023/10/gk-chestertons-defense-of-scary-stories.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-34607658534870849382023-10-28T13:09:00.013-04:002023-10-28T15:05:10.607-04:00The Georgian Orthodox Church Issues a Bizarre Statement on Halloween<div style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnLrgXbNzFTlUUtYto58F2doY1_Pl1QAz6ycMdm8huU0cNXEhwsBYnbNlyTGtEk0aEJp_ao66TzZaxfqlcwKgB5UVG9znQxUl7de3vug7g6WyMWzMoP4bwXhkac8Y8BkrBwsKGu3hLtUrm1fXfEBGr3zeCIOoAr6Vu9WBweUmlWcwHUuZvZN6DowdccNOb/s720/hall1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="540" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnLrgXbNzFTlUUtYto58F2doY1_Pl1QAz6ycMdm8huU0cNXEhwsBYnbNlyTGtEk0aEJp_ao66TzZaxfqlcwKgB5UVG9znQxUl7de3vug7g6WyMWzMoP4bwXhkac8Y8BkrBwsKGu3hLtUrm1fXfEBGr3zeCIOoAr6Vu9WBweUmlWcwHUuZvZN6DowdccNOb/w480-h640/hall1.jpg" width="480"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">UOP Flyer: Halloween – Pagan-Satanist “Holiday”</td></tr></tbody></table><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In
2008, several young Georgians organized an open air Halloween party in
downtown Tbilisi. Hundreds attended and a special performance was
staged. Everything was going well until a different group of people
appeared. Several men lead by a bishop got on the stage, destroyed the
DJ equipment and got in a fight with attendees. Later on police
intervened and the event was over. Check out a video story by <i>Internews
Georgia</i> (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yb9UrSr49w&t=306s">here</a>) that contains footage from the party.<br><br>The
group that crashed the party proclaimed itself as the Union of Orthodox
Parents (UOP) and since then they refused to allow any kind of
celebration of Halloween in Georgia. According to the Union, it was a
party of drug-addicted satanists and these kind of events are bad for
Georgia, as if Halloween is what made them alleged drug-addicted satanists.<br><br><span></span></div></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2023/10/the-georgian-orthodox-church-issues.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-28745263903188333692023-10-27T10:59:00.003-04:002023-10-27T10:59:23.540-04:00The Kursi Monastery Where Jesus Healed the Gadarene Demoniacs at the Sea of Galilee <div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYC8vWSwRvvgS1rza5C0lULuHVQdmWNgwyGqXcpSbZSKR1yyGIjuwRhyZHYMh-wZEROb4wiUmVVg6NnAhWclqRJHj-uc2wksi0jX3trEyBojd0WRHa6IAZvIso9Ey0QaiNWtt3_E4bbAm2w8mTPZeU3_69UuB65Ahd-_hL6rfgDGr0tHuIdvkYGOqZFRHN/s720/kursi2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="720" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYC8vWSwRvvgS1rza5C0lULuHVQdmWNgwyGqXcpSbZSKR1yyGIjuwRhyZHYMh-wZEROb4wiUmVVg6NnAhWclqRJHj-uc2wksi0jX3trEyBojd0WRHa6IAZvIso9Ey0QaiNWtt3_E4bbAm2w8mTPZeU3_69UuB65Ahd-_hL6rfgDGr0tHuIdvkYGOqZFRHN/w640-h424/kursi2.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kursi (Κυρσοί) is located near the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee on the bank of a wadi, Nahal Samakh, descending from the Golan Heights. It is an archaeological site containing the ruins of a Byzantine monastery and identified by tradition as the site where Jesus cast out demons from two men which then went on to possess local pigs which cast themselves into the sea (Mark 5:1-20, Matthew 8:28–34, Luke 8:26-39). The events take place in the land of either the Gerasenes, Gadarenes or Gergesenes (Mark 5:1, Matthew 8:28, Luke 8:26). Part of the archaeological site is now an Israeli national park. Kursi takes its name from the Talmudic site. A marble slab with Aramaic text discovered in December 2015 seems to indicate that the settlement had, as of ca. 500 AD, a Jewish or Judeo-Christian population. <br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2023/10/the-kursi-monastery-where-jesus-healed.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-88424144102018272642023-10-23T15:24:00.033-04:002023-10-23T15:58:43.069-04:00A Critical Examination of an Announcement on Halloween by Orthodox Christians in Greece<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXquJXWL6yXeAZS8i1rKFf0zW6cCxX8nM38rUvddpXNV_cz3b4oWgKWWSxVpBoo6MRSxuWesdwBhPZvdDH4oCMKL_qXLlZqAhcZkMVPq0HVWb26_ZN5HTqFGB8dxZHAO8GhYzNiqIpzcYMXhKmB0uzzXnOyZCIMZ-JzLEl7xXFxptVLqq5UHhSHaML5wHn/s2000/hall.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXquJXWL6yXeAZS8i1rKFf0zW6cCxX8nM38rUvddpXNV_cz3b4oWgKWWSxVpBoo6MRSxuWesdwBhPZvdDH4oCMKL_qXLlZqAhcZkMVPq0HVWb26_ZN5HTqFGB8dxZHAO8GhYzNiqIpzcYMXhKmB0uzzXnOyZCIMZ-JzLEl7xXFxptVLqq5UHhSHaML5wHn/w640-h640/hall.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000;">The Metropolis of Kifissia, Amaroussion and Oropos and the Metropolis of Piraeus are metropolises under the jurisdiction of the Church of Greece located in the vicinity of Athens. In these Metropolises, like some of the Metropolises in Greece, it has what is called an "Office on Heresies", in which a priest or theologian is designated to make official statements on behalf of the Metropolis regarding various heresies that it sees as posing a threat to its Christian flock. Among these is what they call "<a href="https://www.imkifissias.gr/index.php/orthodoksia/keimena/keimena-orthodoksias/1358-anakoinosi-sxetika-me-to-halloween-xaloouin">An Announcement on Halloween</a>", and this announcement has been making the rounds on Greek websites.<br> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #990000;">Since what is presented below is often misunderstood by Orthodox Christians and they are mislead by the common misrepresentations presented in this article and others like it, I will make some corrections below the announcement (which I translated into English).<br></span><br></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span></span></b></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2023/10/a-critical-examination-of-announcement.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-38482715236582951772023-10-11T14:56:00.008-04:002023-10-11T17:37:37.158-04:00What Some Modern Orthodox Elders and Saints Said About Extraterrestrial Life or Life on Other Planets<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0I12ImOoV6voLKfsrhEfiQ1inNf7JfphUi_0AciLq1Gwn28P5vo5pQ_jbMb4RETivNPTkHUHxhnqOoxdTLZQPwnFBOjzNzVxCn5lKCg6UNVahOHgDJNxqPf45RyCUU-BPZcNYnzrxD4pGveyES5w8_30tiKUP0EnbTsP2MFAJz95OjGkBD9nqTELt5dS/s1200/science-fiction-concept-of-a-man-with-a-torch-royalty-free-image-1684882085.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL0I12ImOoV6voLKfsrhEfiQ1inNf7JfphUi_0AciLq1Gwn28P5vo5pQ_jbMb4RETivNPTkHUHxhnqOoxdTLZQPwnFBOjzNzVxCn5lKCg6UNVahOHgDJNxqPf45RyCUU-BPZcNYnzrxD4pGveyES5w8_30tiKUP0EnbTsP2MFAJz95OjGkBD9nqTELt5dS/w640-h360/science-fiction-concept-of-a-man-with-a-torch-royalty-free-image-1684882085.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The phenomenon of UFO's and alien life, in the opinion of many Athonite fathers as well as other spiritual persons, is that all of these are demonic manifestations and belong to the signs that Christ foretold, when He was asked about the end of the world, "and great signs shall there be from heaven" (Luke 21:11). It is a topic usually spoken of in the context of the End Times. Below are a few specific quotes on the topic:<br><br></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica </b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br><span style="color: #990000;">Question from Professor Z.S.:</span> What can you tell us about the cosmos beyond the earth? Can you tell us whether aliens exist?<br><br><span style="color: #990000;">Response of Elder Thaddeus:</span> Yes, there are... Only they are the energy of thoughts. It is not material energy as we humans know it. Such creatures as we humans do not exist in the universe. Why? Because only the human race is blessed to "fill" God's earth as the Lord said. "And God blessed them, saying: increase and multiply and fill the earth" (Genesis 1:28).<br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2023/10/waht-some-modern-orthodox-elders-and.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-56461749712597863962023-08-16T17:25:00.001-04:002023-08-16T17:25:37.888-04:00The Demon and the Prayer Rope<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIPw9ZTIW0-7ZZJbrpIjThgZsT5-GI1zd2dQrN2i5tV4NeTyh_gpjiJSQpUdCeQcoX37qI-LxYZ2ZUelsNufeRv8oaTEsfKV768wpvtXAgRfaUXbr5NfDQJ3HhBmTyblrSD_0n7p0UMhp8jgvAaNOm8LSZd0XjUPZMoAZAryOuwL503d63sS7-gzAFL6MG/s940/agios_gerasimos_kefalonias_210.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="940" data-original-width="640" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIPw9ZTIW0-7ZZJbrpIjThgZsT5-GI1zd2dQrN2i5tV4NeTyh_gpjiJSQpUdCeQcoX37qI-LxYZ2ZUelsNufeRv8oaTEsfKV768wpvtXAgRfaUXbr5NfDQJ3HhBmTyblrSD_0n7p0UMhp8jgvAaNOm8LSZd0XjUPZMoAZAryOuwL503d63sS7-gzAFL6MG/w436-h640/agios_gerasimos_kefalonias_210.webp" width="436"></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: center;">By St. Paisios the Athonite<br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br>Once, there was a monk from the Monastery of Saint Paul who had gone to the Monastery of Saint Gerasimos on the island of Kefallonia. During the Divine Liturgy, he stood in the Altar and was praying with his prayer rope - he would noetically say the prayer Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon us - while outside they were chanting. They had also brought a possessed person into the church to be cured by Saint Gerasimos. While the monk was saying the prayer in the Altar, the demon was being seared outside and was shouting:<br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2023/08/the-demon-and-prayer-rope.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-53731847778712874772023-07-26T17:24:00.008-04:002023-07-26T17:29:24.030-04:00The Church of Saint Paraskevi of the Dragon in Arta of Epirus<div style="text-align: center;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3pb2h-6crgEtpvuFCFdqZweWzVahbDZMyUCX1tcyCVVmcLS3GQsCTsPEfexT-RbdHU1dbKDZh5c6Jxo4KL3vwM0n3CjLsN9uEt56ugDzXfPJfPruygvtRjYOv9VKDsaPkakd4JjAhxcemTymd2M7WTOPPgnqPE0DCsZ-LF8S-kk49yHMZA8msZ8OSJoaG/s2136/1-11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="2136" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3pb2h-6crgEtpvuFCFdqZweWzVahbDZMyUCX1tcyCVVmcLS3GQsCTsPEfexT-RbdHU1dbKDZh5c6Jxo4KL3vwM0n3CjLsN9uEt56ugDzXfPJfPruygvtRjYOv9VKDsaPkakd4JjAhxcemTymd2M7WTOPPgnqPE0DCsZ-LF8S-kk49yHMZA8msZ8OSJoaG/w640-h360/1-11.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Church of Saint Paraskevi of the Dragon is located 11 kilometers north of Arta in Epirus, above the settlement of Ampelia Ammotopou and 2 kilometers approximately northeast of the provincial road Artas-Hanopoulos-Ammotopou. Isolated in the southern area of Xirovouni, on the smooth slopes of Gelperina, it connects its establishment with the adjacent cave or "dragon hole" as the locals call it.<br><br>The legend of the building of the temple, as well as the nickname "of the dragon", is based on the well-known and particularly popular theme of dragon slaying which symbolizes the victory over evil, most popularly associated with Saint George.<br><br>According to folk tradition, a dragon lived in the cave, which once a year appeared at the village festival and grabbed the most beautiful maiden. The inhabitants begged Saint Paraskevi to free them from this evil, so the Saint clashed with the monster and killed it. In her honor, the residents erected the small church.<br><br><b><span></span></b></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2023/07/the-church-of-saint-paraskevi-of-dragon.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-83213070995685309712023-07-24T12:42:00.003-04:002023-07-24T12:42:53.039-04:00Saint Christina and the Reptiles of the Magicians<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDf4-qjJLn1W-7nMws_-8edjrhc8AUUY01t35UNT3C3kjxz-8UpXY4vqqJGfHY847p_GMapRAM13Ig9wZvD0eSRJjrjH5ZHCMs2AvXz2cG7TrMHpyuSiGAH20EuTrubwRMOuLkSkWrwuh_1Caai43CtP6agBpid0pv9TZSq52tS9SzVGqFmIFUTfrqg9HN/s1024/cristina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDf4-qjJLn1W-7nMws_-8edjrhc8AUUY01t35UNT3C3kjxz-8UpXY4vqqJGfHY847p_GMapRAM13Ig9wZvD0eSRJjrjH5ZHCMs2AvXz2cG7TrMHpyuSiGAH20EuTrubwRMOuLkSkWrwuh_1Caai43CtP6agBpid0pv9TZSq52tS9SzVGqFmIFUTfrqg9HN/w640-h426/cristina.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Julian, the governor of the city of Tyre, wanting to defeat the young maiden Christina, the invincible Martyr of Christ, at any cost, called magicians and sorcerers, who knew how to bewitch all kinds of reptiles, and ordered them to use their spells to gather a multitude of snakes, vipers and scorpions, and to hurl them all at the Martyr to tire her out with their poisonous bites. When they released the reptiles on the Saint, not a single one hurt her, even though they crawled around her and wrapped themselves around her body. In the immediate vicinity stood a senior witch doctor who, with his incantations and spells, enticed the reptiles to bite the virgin. However, all the reptiles, according to God's order, attacked that soothsayer, bit him and he died at that moment. And the Saint said to the reptiles: "In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you reptiles: snakes, adders and scorpions, go each to your place, without hurting anyone!"<br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2023/07/saint-christina-and-reptiles-of.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-79729525193388854792023-05-12T17:30:00.010-04:002023-05-12T17:32:23.860-04:00An Exorcism by Saint Amphilochius of Pochaiv (+ 1971)<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1u-9ybOUTcP49sVeDgzJoEMHsIBeHvLygZ5nm3UkiKEstRufeyzhG6oBCvhP01f6ttmSirCjnrOK3c6_RInPuC58I7l0qZAzdXyqVtJH_jU-pwcJmB_8eTIVmSRm-glyTQcjzK1p0v94SomPLMKSkf-4mAk--OfQnTqLiCOQDDaogzY1113yYChNUA/s600/%CE%B1%CE%BC%CF%861.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="600" height="408" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1u-9ybOUTcP49sVeDgzJoEMHsIBeHvLygZ5nm3UkiKEstRufeyzhG6oBCvhP01f6ttmSirCjnrOK3c6_RInPuC58I7l0qZAzdXyqVtJH_jU-pwcJmB_8eTIVmSRm-glyTQcjzK1p0v94SomPLMKSkf-4mAk--OfQnTqLiCOQDDaogzY1113yYChNUA/w640-h408/%CE%B1%CE%BC%CF%861.jpg" width="640" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWW3b_rlfSY_wvfS8WcRJIA0uSpdgdNOyjkG3b6qf3_MpqiPZQNekfkhvNxBI73J8yTgmhIO8IN8BEl0mh1KGeXxFXoFzJ3CL-z4aeO6r4pjWqkEW6WMLE62jldVkKoszBXfnvbO_vaYFV2DAEm4NIoxLOWSn27PeOnPhexp7F-yAN9lI52JVwosyvLA/s1019/%CE%B1%CE%BC%CF%862.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="1019" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWW3b_rlfSY_wvfS8WcRJIA0uSpdgdNOyjkG3b6qf3_MpqiPZQNekfkhvNxBI73J8yTgmhIO8IN8BEl0mh1KGeXxFXoFzJ3CL-z4aeO6r4pjWqkEW6WMLE62jldVkKoszBXfnvbO_vaYFV2DAEm4NIoxLOWSn27PeOnPhexp7F-yAN9lI52JVwosyvLA/w640-h396/%CE%B1%CE%BC%CF%862.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFHQXQ-sK3waKzW3-4gQKATGTEaQmL99ZK1EqdWgFK5Y9LucaKx3EWE0sbS5jK751GMV_psDqsndOiFAsz-0dtREVBq6HkCAmEiYCamCuOAa5WXx2b6zgZNulURESTGLA_dkkeUfzMosJzKofGG1O-tTxqTU8eAGr9YFVPRt0nfTnFscSx9RhdpLoaJA/s1023/%CE%B1%CE%BC%CF%863.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="629" data-original-width="1023" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFHQXQ-sK3waKzW3-4gQKATGTEaQmL99ZK1EqdWgFK5Y9LucaKx3EWE0sbS5jK751GMV_psDqsndOiFAsz-0dtREVBq6HkCAmEiYCamCuOAa5WXx2b6zgZNulURESTGLA_dkkeUfzMosJzKofGG1O-tTxqTU8eAGr9YFVPRt0nfTnFscSx9RhdpLoaJA/w640-h394/%CE%B1%CE%BC%CF%863.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />His feast day is May 12th.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-55346555807082942852023-04-24T16:33:00.003-04:002023-04-24T16:40:42.380-04:00Saint Eumenios Saridakis, the Demon Possessed Girl and the Miraculous Icon of Saint George<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuwowpt1DK4R5svR1iZNwT7F3S5prJQKJGLsXYhUHteaJbq5Unx4F0LShS4jMaYIhJb2SCAfPZW5trdiYKWUIkOWrU6oW23b8Zj50SRMhbTi636ILn5StLdvX6-0klmd3H5wo3vAx9sZKWQ9XZBu6fIaTMkgq41VQau4Kw7424Z2DI1GZsrTU45KaGlg/s300/george.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="207" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuwowpt1DK4R5svR1iZNwT7F3S5prJQKJGLsXYhUHteaJbq5Unx4F0LShS4jMaYIhJb2SCAfPZW5trdiYKWUIkOWrU6oW23b8Zj50SRMhbTi636ILn5StLdvX6-0klmd3H5wo3vAx9sZKWQ9XZBu6fIaTMkgq41VQau4Kw7424Z2DI1GZsrTU45KaGlg/w276-h400/george.jpg" width="276"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One afternoon in the year 2005, a girl and her father from Larissa visited the Koudouma Monastery in southern Crete, asking to visit the Church of the Panagia.<br><br>Entering the church, the girl could not offer veneration, because something prevented her. The father explained to the Abbot that his daughter was suffering from demonic influence and the late Elder Eumenios from the village of Ethia in Crete appeared to her in a vision before this time (they had never heard of him) and urged her persistently to come to his tomb and he would heal her, because, as he told her, He had suffered the same from demons, "only I suffered from pride, while you from blasphemy."<br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2023/04/saint-eumenios-saridakis-demon.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-90467790977295254682023-03-22T11:38:00.009-04:002023-03-22T11:46:19.877-04:00The Gruesome Copper Tripods of Emperor Trajan That Flowed With Grace<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmZWxUwqAkashTmsogzMjC_nsavf4ccBRmQbektIdyXFzMHVX9JdqOMA_QmFHfmLRQkPp2ih5TsU1XTdZWNDNLMSW-bXAMDkfeNLP5T7dKPzy-WKnQG2JOZ5TM8AOOuVB9FfounNgCePuLPhGWp_5xVN3lpVsjuTfPvAxVaGychF3rPSNvfbcqQ4uMg/s640/snapshot.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmZWxUwqAkashTmsogzMjC_nsavf4ccBRmQbektIdyXFzMHVX9JdqOMA_QmFHfmLRQkPp2ih5TsU1XTdZWNDNLMSW-bXAMDkfeNLP5T7dKPzy-WKnQG2JOZ5TM8AOOuVB9FfounNgCePuLPhGWp_5xVN3lpVsjuTfPvAxVaGychF3rPSNvfbcqQ4uMg/w640-h480/snapshot.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When the emperor Trajan reigned [98-117 AD], he not only killed Christians on a daily basis who confessed Christ, but the cursed man threw their holy relics into dishonorable and impure places. At that time there were five nuns [Agalida, Apollinaria, Daria, Mamthusa and Thais] who lived as ascetics in a hermitage and kept the commandments of God. In addition to other virtues, this was also their indispensable labor: collecting the honorable bodies of holy martyrs, anointing them with perfumes, wrapping them in shrouds, and burying them in their hermitage.<br><br>Learning of this, Drosis, the daughter of the emperor Trajan, sneaked out of the court one night, and went to these nuns, carrying with her expensive coverings, and asked them to go together and collect some relics of the martyrs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2023/03/the-gruesome-tripods-of-emperor-trajan.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-32258789468190433652023-03-10T12:17:00.004-05:002023-03-10T12:35:36.702-05:00Documentary Trailer: "Satan Wants You" (2023) Explores the Roots of the Satanic Panic of the 1980's<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Nd2g636-LbeFLW3BAhrcCiYK2ZZgNnJdSQ9Yvn-9VAu6rGTRePlo6S-L4hBAiK4In9I7yCRnzTY1SgZsRa1IBEDo3GS50_Bb9Oy-jcevhmbh94hgB9bbsq4fC-Rea3d12o4yfYI2MOt_8vZ1cSFZhB77ZWfiiUN8nVSHRSwaMU3ACtJzOsU-oDpc2w/s768/satan_wants_you_2023_tv_michelle_larry.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="768" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Nd2g636-LbeFLW3BAhrcCiYK2ZZgNnJdSQ9Yvn-9VAu6rGTRePlo6S-L4hBAiK4In9I7yCRnzTY1SgZsRa1IBEDo3GS50_Bb9Oy-jcevhmbh94hgB9bbsq4fC-Rea3d12o4yfYI2MOt_8vZ1cSFZhB77ZWfiiUN8nVSHRSwaMU3ACtJzOsU-oDpc2w/w640-h430/satan_wants_you_2023_tv_michelle_larry.webp" width="640"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Premiering at SXSW, <i>Satan Wants You</i> is a new documentary from directors Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams that’s set to explore the infamous “Satanic Panic” wave of the 1980s.<br><br><i>Satan Wants You</i> tells the untold story of how the Satanic Panic of the 1980s was ignited by “Michelle Remembers,” a lurid memoir by psychiatrist Larry Pazder and his patient Michelle Smith. Supported by the Catholic Church, the bestselling book relied on recovered-memory therapy to uncover Michelle’s childhood abduction by baby-stealing Satanists.<br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2023/03/documentary-trailer-satan-wants-you.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-21140095501798430712023-02-16T04:15:00.000-05:002023-02-16T04:15:10.734-05:00A Linguistic Analysis of How "Mediums" Lie<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2TpGbxxd9E4" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> </div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">How does Tyler Henry, the "Hollywood Medium", perform his “psychic readings”? Which linguistic and psychological strategies are involved? This language analysis gives a scientific explanation of Tyler’s self-proclaimed abilities. The video zooms in on Tyler’s reading of Hoda Kotb on <i>The Today Show</i> and makes relevant comparisons to other “psychic mediums” like Long Island Medium and John Edward.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto">Links to previous analyses of self-proclaimed mediums: </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikwyh14UtEU&t=0s" spellcheck="false">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikwyh...</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto"> (John Edward)
</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a class="yt-simple-endpoint style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyccctwwmFI&t=0s" spellcheck="false">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyccc...</a><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto"> (Long Island Medium)</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto"> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="style-scope yt-formatted-string" dir="auto"> </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-36769804314503730382022-10-31T15:03:00.036-04:002022-10-31T16:48:07.445-04:00A Critical Examination of One Orthodox Christian Article on Halloween<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3WV-iDHF5WBDFPyG5FnOh8JV3P1UlH2gKuIHdEWjspp4ivgEhwJn5W463ZpW52pRcbzPYlmTSKK_IeF_XFyy3jJEjyxpagJVFEN1oDyzka_rVIWYKqCGHWuJujWDzNekCrOGwFwFAJ1XnGqdAv9T6kDpROqwiQ6oG88Av9oaIHbBQDNPIZbvrD3iEg/s900/halloween-art-prints-9865315225.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="900" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3WV-iDHF5WBDFPyG5FnOh8JV3P1UlH2gKuIHdEWjspp4ivgEhwJn5W463ZpW52pRcbzPYlmTSKK_IeF_XFyy3jJEjyxpagJVFEN1oDyzka_rVIWYKqCGHWuJujWDzNekCrOGwFwFAJ1XnGqdAv9T6kDpROqwiQ6oG88Av9oaIHbBQDNPIZbvrD3iEg/w640-h311/halloween-art-prints-9865315225.jpg" width="640"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #660000;">A few weeks ago the Orthodox website Pemptousia.gr published an article titled "<a href="https://www.pemptousia.gr/2022/10/halloween-chalogou%ce%90n-i-sigchroni-ekdochi-tou-archeou-keltikou-paganismou/">Halloween: The Modern Version of Ancient Celtic Paganism</a>". The article is in Greek (translated in English below; </span><span style="color: #660000;">all endnotes numbered in this article are found in the original article</span><span style="color: #660000;">) and was published in the ecclesiastical tri-monthly periodical <i>Διάλογος</i> (April-June 2017, issue 88). With the rise in popularity of Halloween in Greece, and all over the world for that matter, the author sought to set the record straight on what exactly Halloween is and what its origins are. Unfortunately, the author did a terrible job and presented a lot of misleading information. This is especially unfortunate that it is published in Orthodox Christian periodicals and is now online on an otherwise very good and beneficial website associated with Vatopaidi Monastery on Mount Athos. <br><br><span></span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2022/10/a-critical-examination-of-one-orthodox.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-21766460262209517732022-09-03T11:08:00.003-04:002022-09-04T02:35:36.772-04:00How Is It That More Than One Demon Can Inhabit a Human Body?<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQaTOyyAJ5CWyGLJWbOSFFFZFRw-jf1CgPcH8ceDvnRPuCj_UMIgUAP4F3YlLuiEVaYQVMFZeWw2k4BG6dtz96irky34iA5ckbBo4w9g6QnR6m5z6OjFHmFfNO-ARBxwENfLTSbxAx_qRCMIxX1otakRFr__1KrJCp8_699MM9X-WetQsxZ4XtLnapQ/s267/demons.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="189" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQaTOyyAJ5CWyGLJWbOSFFFZFRw-jf1CgPcH8ceDvnRPuCj_UMIgUAP4F3YlLuiEVaYQVMFZeWw2k4BG6dtz96irky34iA5ckbBo4w9g6QnR6m5z6OjFHmFfNO-ARBxwENfLTSbxAx_qRCMIxX1otakRFr__1KrJCp8_699MM9X-WetQsxZ4XtLnapQ/w283-h400/demons.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">By St. Theophan the Recluse<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“My name is Legion, because we are many” (Mark 5:9). Spirits are not corporeal, so they do not fill or occupy places like bodies. This explains the physical possibility of many spirits staying in one person. The possibility of morality on the part of spirits is clear from their immorality or the absence of any moral principles, and from the human side – from the multilateral contact of his spiritual structure to the gloomy realm of impure forces. <br /><br />But this only explains the possibility; the reality of the possession of demons is subject to conditions that we cannot determine. We can only say that the infestation of spirits is not always visible, it is not always revealed by the known actions of the possessed. There is an infiltration of spirits that is undetectable, hidden; there is also the power of the spirits over the minds, besides the body, when they lead them as they please, through the passions at work in them; people think that they are all acting on their own, being a laughing stock of evil forces. What to do? Be a true Christian, and no enemy force will defeat you.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-15628554553287584862022-07-12T12:22:00.005-04:002022-07-12T12:22:39.072-04:00On the Monk Who Pretended He Was Demon Possessed (St. Paisios the Athonite)<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuvXd_iiratu2m6Kj5XiufDCQ1SYYNpT7NlWJ2Rbqcz6o0Yq_qOUwXXnYhg7RFrM4hQIoMro8xD5yh4z7l9PLvBnVehgLNmlWzTG95JRX6J7FfZniMvD_R2d7C8fVMUTLZMLzBeP-yC4d32fDxyOItecqgTt47GpwMw95ZxByUijDEUU6EhItbZMszAg/s1600/paisios4.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuvXd_iiratu2m6Kj5XiufDCQ1SYYNpT7NlWJ2Rbqcz6o0Yq_qOUwXXnYhg7RFrM4hQIoMro8xD5yh4z7l9PLvBnVehgLNmlWzTG95JRX6J7FfZniMvD_R2d7C8fVMUTLZMLzBeP-yC4d32fDxyOItecqgTt47GpwMw95ZxByUijDEUU6EhItbZMszAg/w300-h400/paisios4.webp" width="300"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the old days there were Fathers who even pretended to be demon possessed, in order to hide their virtue and spoil the good opinion others had of them.<br><br>When I was in Philotheou Monastery [1956-1958], which was idiorhythmic at the time, there was a Father who had previously been an ascetic in Vigla.*<br><br>He, as soon as he realized that the Fathers there had taken a whiff of his asceticism and his spiritual advancement, left with the blessing of his spiritual father.<br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2022/07/on-monk-who-pretended-he-was-demon.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-31069631372628116602022-05-28T11:01:00.002-04:002022-05-28T11:01:08.688-04:00 Saint Andrew the Fool's Vision of the Demons at Work During Divine Services<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqOApk275tRj13nJErCaXcGGTjigpKbmVBfvVFA6fZB6_I_IHoMlkeDFc3b8lv17GZIrRNY_4jjXppymtpourvg1wOO9KYp6esLrryWO_QWGrl9degnP4B23wgPzyymv9C1ySSvPROeJIS8g0DwhFXtAphASRzCvrYk56CuXoVtTKealgb5jrf1ur6w/s1026/andrew3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1026" data-original-width="736" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqOApk275tRj13nJErCaXcGGTjigpKbmVBfvVFA6fZB6_I_IHoMlkeDFc3b8lv17GZIrRNY_4jjXppymtpourvg1wOO9KYp6esLrryWO_QWGrl9degnP4B23wgPzyymv9C1ySSvPROeJIS8g0DwhFXtAphASRzCvrYk56CuXoVtTKealgb5jrf1ur6w/w460-h640/andrew3.jpg" width="460"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When the righteous man had given this advice, they stood up and entered the church. The reading began and Epiphanios sat down on one of the benches, while the blessed man sat down on the floor like one of the poor, his body covered by a cheap rag. When those present noticed him sitting on the floor they wondered, "What happened to this demoniac, since he has come in here?" And some said, "Perhaps for a moment he was relieved from the evil spirit that disturbs his mind." Others said, "He happened to pass by and went in to see as if it were an ordinary house, for how could he know that this is a church? May the Lord punish similarly the one who did this to him!"<br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2022/05/saint-andrew-fools-vision-of-demons-at.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-24500206089615846222022-04-18T13:46:00.010-04:002022-04-18T16:35:27.261-04:00Christ the Bridegroom and the Demonic Monster<div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh08kvAvdR13Zs6xiCIMxelCnMXTEuzJWDv9RsUsgSI74L4SZA4J1gB-IZB5G6RMYV6YNxVAO-Sn4SHGCxiltJiwqU1jTy9xs0596lQ1uTQVpdr9U3_NSC3ffSXUQMFQXK-2glbGCcKo46INl0Be5y_xo7ddm0-ajhaNLwcUcoPjCjbUHT5voVV75Cz5w/s508/bridegroom.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="481" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh08kvAvdR13Zs6xiCIMxelCnMXTEuzJWDv9RsUsgSI74L4SZA4J1gB-IZB5G6RMYV6YNxVAO-Sn4SHGCxiltJiwqU1jTy9xs0596lQ1uTQVpdr9U3_NSC3ffSXUQMFQXK-2glbGCcKo46INl0Be5y_xo7ddm0-ajhaNLwcUcoPjCjbUHT5voVV75Cz5w/w379-h400/bridegroom.jpg" width="379"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Metropolitan Athanasios giving confession next to the icon of the Bridegroom<br></td></tr></tbody></table><br></div><div style="text-align: center;"> By Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol<br></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I remember something that took place in Cyprus. When I first came to Cyprus from Mount Athos, in the first years, a teacher of transcendental meditation and yoga came to me. As a yoga teacher he was initiated into all these delusions of Satan along with Sophiology and Islam. He was in England, traveled around, and was a student of great gurus and various other delusional teachers of that time.<br><br>After a meeting with Elder Sophrony in Essex, his whole being was shaken. He was a Cypriot. He came to Cyprus with his wife and they confessed and laid the foundations of a spiritual life. But he had many demonic energies within him. Satan fought against him hard, with many thoughts and with a hardness of heart. This is because meditation - or "devilization" as Elder Paisios jokingly called it - is based on human egoism, arrogance, selfish ambition. So he cultivated arrogance inside him for years. He was a teacher, he had his own school with hundreds of students where he taught them meditation, esoteric philosophy and more. So there was a battle in his reasoning, in his thoughts and he could not allow his heart to be crushed to repent. He came to the monastery, he confessed, but he was fighting. As I was confessing, I had next to me an icon of the Bridegroom Christ, this modern icon which is the Bridegroom Christ with the red cloak and the rod in his hand. I found the icon in the monastery, would light a candle before it, and people would confess.<br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2022/04/christ-bridegroom-and-demonic-monster.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-78145439535029041432022-03-31T14:14:00.002-04:002022-03-31T14:14:31.021-04:00Saint Hypatios of Gangra and the Dragon<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXw8BUFjPDWIoDIjjYTpxpAgu7YT9-7HIAzcShQs2wXKEHo4-7097j2QTtXgwLAFxeo27YhbOqMgEQBn7J4LK4KbId7X3AhHOYXAadQ3ldTRoCQArLBrSt6TmprFM6mbu1bzHop4vT6p9kfoW53mItgcpDmJ6DajPCur-jBJZABYavWEomRoJqu9BrTA/s450/hypatios%20dragon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="277" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXw8BUFjPDWIoDIjjYTpxpAgu7YT9-7HIAzcShQs2wXKEHo4-7097j2QTtXgwLAFxeo27YhbOqMgEQBn7J4LK4KbId7X3AhHOYXAadQ3ldTRoCQArLBrSt6TmprFM6mbu1bzHop4vT6p9kfoW53mItgcpDmJ6DajPCur-jBJZABYavWEomRoJqu9BrTA/w394-h640/hypatios%20dragon.jpg" width="394"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During the reign of Emperor Constantius II, son of Saint Constantine the Great, when he ruled over the entire Roman Empire after 353 AD, a dragon took up its habitation in the imperial treasury. Because of this, no one dared enter the chamber, and therefore the treasury became inaccessible, for the great serpent lay its head right next to the door. Those who dared enter were immediately slain by the fierce serpent.<br><br>Not knowing what to do, Emperor Constantius called for Bishop Hypatios of Gangra, who was known widely for his miraculous powers. Despite the danger, Saint Hypatios went to Constantinople to show the emperor the power of God. <br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2022/03/saint-hypatios-of-gangra-and-dragon.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-64151098293647341262022-02-15T15:10:00.001-05:002022-02-17T14:59:10.616-05:00Saint Anthimos of Chios and the Demon Possessed Man<div style="text-align: center;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhTBe_mj5-bJFqH1HOYKPWcBnp3i8WOZ5ciC258BdKqi1OXSNfuna4dFxHOVRLxk6W2qxw5z69p4BFJLJbSbQmqbA0tYiMe-C5G8P_rPtQ7NzVzOXX8FGEhKkbYsm-Sz3RQaK1eTNeMOY3cfOlymAAShafZR3LWMbuxWFwgFv69Pt7va1JwWLxwwEDrVg=s567" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="393" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhTBe_mj5-bJFqH1HOYKPWcBnp3i8WOZ5ciC258BdKqi1OXSNfuna4dFxHOVRLxk6W2qxw5z69p4BFJLJbSbQmqbA0tYiMe-C5G8P_rPtQ7NzVzOXX8FGEhKkbYsm-Sz3RQaK1eTNeMOY3cfOlymAAShafZR3LWMbuxWFwgFv69Pt7va1JwWLxwwEDrVg=w278-h400" width="278"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Saint Anthimos of Chios was a simple man who at the age of forty became a Great Schema Monk in Chios. A few years later, in 1910, he was chosen to become a Priest, but since he was illiterate he was sent to the area of Adramyttion (modern Turkish town of Edremit) in Smyrna, where his first cousin and her husband taught him to read and write. After learning to read and write over the course of some months, he was ordained a Priest in Smyrna and assigned to the Chapel of Saint Panteleimon. <br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2022/02/saint-anthimos-of-chios-and-demon.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8084080559632598002.post-81761921698568326382022-01-31T17:23:00.006-05:002022-02-01T05:13:12.374-05:00Saint Arsenios of Paros and the Cave of the Demons<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcnq7hQpf30cytyX_Gy7iKRd9fiNUbNd8q81BOz-fQISAhEZNNIRQfPR9jsYWHHha5PxjMb95gwpWx74wv4BP_k5z_b1ZyepjoaNM2inPjkobvVE_9sHRFR2sM4mc5TLzcjJKqMQS-App2CTzmLP67st35-t4PeYkAgdldfhRAA76dRR9CyxZ0hWPqqQ=s1600" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="741" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhcnq7hQpf30cytyX_Gy7iKRd9fiNUbNd8q81BOz-fQISAhEZNNIRQfPR9jsYWHHha5PxjMb95gwpWx74wv4BP_k5z_b1ZyepjoaNM2inPjkobvVE_9sHRFR2sM4mc5TLzcjJKqMQS-App2CTzmLP67st35-t4PeYkAgdldfhRAA76dRR9CyxZ0hWPqqQ=w296-h640" width="296"></a></div><br></div><div style="text-align: center;"> By Archimandrite Philotheos Zervakos<br><br><b>Miracle 3</b><br></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the settlement of Langada [on the island of Paros], at the estates of the Monastery of Saint George and other neighboring farmhouses and estates to the Monastery, it was observed by the resident farmers, that at night wild shouts were coming from the estates and causing damage. When this was perceived by the resident farmers, they hastened to drive them away and the phenomenon of those wild shouts. Instead of coming from the entrance of the estate, they came from the areas where there were steep cliffs. When the men hastened to reach them in order to remove them from the entrance, they were in danger of falling down the cliffs and being killed.<br><br><span></span></div><a href="http://www.daimonologia.org/2022/01/saint-arsenios-of-paros-and-cave-of.html#more">Read the complete article »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com