One of the more unusual and endearing characteristics of Saint Paisios the Athonite was the way he spoke about the devil and demons. He frequently ridiculed them, making light of their attempts to frighten, deceive, and disturb people. Rather than treating them as terrifying beings deserving of our attention and fear, he exposed their foolishness, pettiness, and inability to accomplish anything without God's permission. He even had a characteristic name for them: tangalakia (ταγκαλάκια).
The word tangalaki is a colloquial Greek expression with a mocking and somewhat insulting tone. It can suggest a foolish troublemaker, a nuisance, or a petty rascal. It has also been associated linguistically with the Turkish word dangalak, meaning a fool, blockhead, or stupid and tactless person, although the precise etymology is not entirely settled. Saint Paisios used the expression in his characteristic manner, refusing to grant the demons the dignity or importance they sought to claim.
On one occasion, someone told him that he was afraid of the tangalakia. The Elder replied:
"What is there to be afraid of? The tangalakia have no power whatsoever. Christ is almighty. The tempter is rotten. Do you not wear a cross? The devil's weapons are weak. Our Christ has armed us with His Cross."
He then explained that the devil's kingdom and authority had been crushed when Christ endured the spitting, slaps, and blows during His Passion. The Elder compared the devil after Christ's Crucifixion to a serpent whose poison had been removed, or a dog whose teeth had been pulled out. The demons might still make a commotion, but they had been disarmed, while Christians were armed with the Cross.
The Elder himself recounted an amusing experience from the time he was staying at the Cell of the Honorable Cross. During the night, demons had gathered above the ceiling, first striking it loudly with hammers and then making noises as though enormous tree trunks were rolling about. He began chanting hymns to the Cross, but whenever he finished, the noise resumed. Eventually, he decided to turn the disturbance into a contest between two choirs: the demons above, with their rolling logs, and himself below, chanting hymns. Whenever he began singing, they stopped; whenever he stopped, they resumed their performance. He later described it as one of the most pleasant and entertaining all-night vigils he had experienced!
Such stories were not simply amusing anecdotes. Saint Paisios wanted people to understand that the devil often accomplishes his work through seemingly insignificant disturbances. He once related how a small tangalaki, when asked what harm it could possibly do, answered that it went about tangling the threads of seamstresses and shoemakers, making them lose their tempers. The Elder explained that the devil, when unable to cause greater harm, tries to render a person spiritually useless through trivial annoyances. What begins as a small irritation can end in anger, resentment, and the loss of one's peace.
He also warned that the demons seek to exploit careless words and seemingly harmless jokes. He remembered a family that had been very loving toward one another. The husband would jokingly tell his wife, "I will divorce you," and she would answer in the same way. The tempter eventually took advantage of these words, creating difficulties between them until they were actually preparing to separate, forgetting even their children. Fortunately, a spiritual father intervened and helped them regain their composure. The Elder used the incident to show how easily the devil can exploit human carelessness and turn something seemingly insignificant into a serious division.
Saint Paisios also spoke about the tangalaki's particular dislike of seeing people happy. He explained that the demon tries to make people sorrowful, even when they have no particular reason to be troubled. In one conversation, he told a person who was becoming unnecessarily distressed that the tangalaki was trying to confuse her with fine threads, which she was treating as though they were thick ropes. "Do not torment yourself without reason," he advised, "because you give joy to the tangalaki and cause Christ sorrow. Do you want Christ to be sorrowful?" He then encouraged her to rejoice rather than surrender to unnecessary sadness.
Perhaps one of his most revealing stories concerned a tangalaki that was made to recite the Trisagion hymn. It could say, "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal," but refused to say, "Have mercy on us." When pressed to say those words, it remained silent. Saint Paisios explained that the words "Have mercy on us" required humility, something the demon could not bring itself to express. He added that if it had said them, it would have become an angel!
This led him to make a striking observation about the fall of Lucifer:
"In a single minute, a person can become an Angel or a tangalaki. How? Through humility or pride. Did Lucifer need hours to become a devil from an Angel? It happened in seconds."
For Saint Paisios, the contrast between the angels and the demons was fundamentally a contrast between humility and pride. The devil's rebellion began with pride, while the Christian's struggle against evil begins with humility and love. The Elder repeatedly emphasized that these two virtues belong together. He even described them as the easiest path to salvation, explaining that where love and humility are absent, the tangalaki finds a place to dwell.
The Elder also warned people against engaging in conversations with the devil through their thoughts. He advised them not to give unnecessary attention to the temptations and accusations that disturb the mind. The more a person argues with such thoughts, the more entangled he becomes. He compared the devil's work to the weaving of delicate lace: little by little, the person becomes occupied with endless details and loses the ability to concentrate on spiritual things. His advice was simple: do not open a conversation with the tangalaki.
The humor with which the Elder spoke about demons should not be mistaken for a denial of spiritual warfare. He took the subject seriously, but he refused to be intimidated by it. He did not encourage people to become fascinated with demonic manifestations or to seek encounters with evil spirits. Rather, he directed their attention away from the demons and toward Christ. Patience, prayer, humility, and the Cross were the weapons he continually recommended.
Perhaps his most characteristic exhortation on the subject was:
"Pray that we may continually bring joy to Christ and sorrow to the tangalaki, since it loves hell and does not wish to repent."
There is something particularly characteristic of Saint Paisios in this expression. He could speak about the devil with such familiarity and humor that the listener might almost forget the seriousness of the subject. Yet behind the laughter was a consistent spiritual lesson: the devil wants people to fear him, become preoccupied with him, and fall into the very passions he seeks to provoke. The Christian, on the other hand, should remain steadfast in Christ, refusing to surrender to fear, pride, or anger.
The tangalakia might make noise above the ceiling, tangle the threads of seamstresses and shoemakers, provoke quarrels between husbands and wives, and disturb even the most ordinary activities of daily life. But Saint Paisios would not allow them to have the last word. He would rather turn their disturbances into an occasion for prayer, their provocations into an exercise in patience, and their attempts at intimidation into an opportunity for a little laughter.
In the end, his message was simple: the devil is not almighty, Christ is. And the surest way to bring sorrow to the tangalaki is to live with humility, love, and faith in Christ.
