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Significance of Latin in demonology

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posted on Aug, 15 2006 @ 06:14 PM
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I had a question that was asked in a different thread but after it was not answered i figured it probably desearved its own thread since it was a little off topic.

Given the current discussion of where language itself originated in the thread mentioned, of what was the first spoken language, Why is it that we have this common conception that where demonology is concerned, Latin is always the primary language which seems to be used and even spoken in cases of demonic possession and or demonic language. I assume evil was around before Latin?

any thoughts on why this might be?



[edit on 15-8-2006 by captinofcats]



posted on Aug, 15 2006 @ 06:19 PM
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yea I have always wondered why latin has so many ties to demonolgy and the occult.



posted on Aug, 15 2006 @ 06:25 PM
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Latin is just an old language, goes back to 500 bc or so. So that means it was being used during the time when much of the worlds religens were getting started. So hence Lantin has beacome a language related to religen, good or evil sides there in.

community.middlebury.edu...



CHRISTIAN, starting from Roman-sounding Minucius Felix down through the clearly Christian writers Lactantius and St. Augustine. There is a vast amount of writing in this area, Migne's collection of the Church Fathers' writings has not only huge size, but a great deal of cultural and sociological interest, beside the obvious value to theologians.




posted on Aug, 15 2006 @ 06:46 PM
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Most likely because the Roman Catholic Church capitalized on the concept of demons and in western culture the demons talked about by the church for the last 1500-2000 years are the best imprinted into our minds.

If you look outside of the US and EU though, you'll see different terminology and names for things that are quite comparable to the ones we know here.

Japan, China, Indian times America, India and Russia are good examples.

In Asian cultures, Demons are very different then what we know them to be here and usualy come into existence from the fear of people that collects into an entity or because of disgruntled spirits.

Over here, Demons are generaly seen as extra dimensional creatures that came out of dimensions like Hell, that try to take over and plague our world.



posted on Aug, 17 2006 @ 04:01 AM
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in the ancient world there were no evil demons
the word demon itself is derived from the greek word Daemon which means demi god
for the catholics with their one true god all other gods were relegated to evil to keep the faithful scared and easy to control. Satan is an invention for that purpose.
the Hebrew concept of satan isn't even Evil, he's gods right hand man who comes to test people who are regarded as the only true vessels of evil
Latin in association with demonology is about as relevant as angelic script in association with angels as both angels and demons are a common era creation.
before the rise of christianity neither of them existed at all



posted on Aug, 17 2006 @ 04:26 AM
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Originally posted by captinofcats
I had a question that was asked in a different thread but after it was not answered i figured it probably desearved its own thread since it was a little off topic.

Given the current discussion of where language itself originated in the thread mentioned, of what was the first spoken language, Why is it that we have this common conception that where demonology is concerned, Latin is always the primary language which seems to be used and even spoken in cases of demonic possession and or demonic language. I assume evil was around before Latin?

any thoughts on why this might be?



[edit on 15-8-2006 by captinofcats]


It's an arcane language, and the basis for several modern languagues. Twists of the tongue and all. You know, Satan being the Liar of Liar's.

que est mante beteh monqui.



posted on Aug, 17 2006 @ 06:39 AM
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Due to the history of the epicentre/omphalos of the civilised world latin was the biggest linguistics putsch due to the new refaming of the old pagan aeon too get relpaced by the aeon's of a hidden occultique newer christianity.

Latin is just a language, I expect you have got brung up on a diet of "The Exorcist" and lapsdaisacal enforced christian zealotism, now our westernised world is tainted by the faint toxic trace's of a Catholicised and Paist world.

One man's or woman's daemon is perhap's another's angel.



posted on Aug, 17 2006 @ 08:15 AM
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from the classical period, Latin was the language of learning, and of historians. It could be understood by scholars from Portugal to Vienna for more than 1700 years. The reason that Latin was used for medicine and science up until WWII was that it was an international language.

In 500 years, all the terms for demonology will probably be English ones, and folk will wonder why. . . .

.



posted on Aug, 17 2006 @ 09:58 AM
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It's an arcane language, Satan being the Liar of Liar's.


Arcane means hidden, latin isn't, if i didn't know better i would say that comment makes you a bit like Satan eh

lucky for you he doesnt exist or i'd be fetching the villagers with the pitchforks and torches about now



posted on Aug, 17 2006 @ 10:11 AM
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I would think that Hebrew would be a better language for communicating with demons.
I also heard that Hebrew is a numerical language and even more strange that English is a relatively new language that is numerical identical to Hebrew but backwards.
I'll try to find a link:www.alistapart.com...
www.british-israel.com...
www.ensignmessage.com...
www.wordgumbo.com...
www.cbeinternational.org...


Kind of scary when you think about it! King James was an elitist, hebrew backwards to English could mean all Westerners of English speaking who worship God could actually be worshipping dog. You never know with elitist satanic illuminati son of cain scum.



posted on Aug, 17 2006 @ 10:49 AM
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I wrote a long response last night that the board ate. Sooo... let's try again.

Basically, Strangecraft has the correct answer.

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
from the classical period, Latin was the language of learning, and of historians. It could be understood by scholars from Portugal to Vienna for more than 1700 years. The reason that Latin was used for medicine and science up until WWII was that it was an international language.


Rome's culture was as pervasive in the ancient world as American culture is in the modern world. It became common to use Latin (essentially a dead language -- one whose meaning wasn't changing through time) to write science and religious material. You could hold a discussion with someone in Germany even if you were Greek since both of you could read and write Latin.

When demonology became popular, it was as a result of the scholars. Searching for ways to achieve more power, they began playing around with alchemy and with religious expression to see if they could "bind the demons" to do their bidding. They began experimenting with prayers (Christians prayed in Latin... even the illiterate ones), and conducted their researches in that language.

In the formal scholarship of "demonology", there was almost no work done in the local languages.

In folklore, Latin (the language of the literate) was mystical and magical. Written words had power to the illiterate (who were often shown pieces of paper and told that the marks on them meant this or that.) Latin, the language that the Church spoke to God in, was powerful magic.

And that's sort of the loose "nutshell" version of why Latin was used. As Strangecraft said, all scientific papers were written in Latin until the middle of the 1700s or so (and some were still in Latin up until the late 1800's.)



posted on Aug, 26 2006 @ 02:32 PM
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Rome's culture was as pervasive in the ancient world as American culture is in the modern world


surely you mean English culture Byrd
last time i checked the only person claiming an american language existed was Bill Gates




posted on Aug, 26 2006 @ 06:29 PM
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Language and culture are two different things. We americans speak English in a bastardized form, but the culture we spead is definitely our own creation:

-fast food
-cars and motorcycles
-tabacco and distilled alcohol
-fractional reserve banking
-disposable pens, cigarette lighters, and rocket launchers
-a cultural elite focused on physical beauty and frank sexuality
-overindulgence

There's a lot more to "the American way," than just our accents.



posted on Aug, 26 2006 @ 06:33 PM
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Originally posted by dr_strangecraft

Language and culture are two different things. We americans speak English in a bastardized form, but the culture we spead is definitely our own creation:


Dr,
All those points you made are very good things of note. But in our bastardized vershen of englis words do offen have a very different meaning. Like what the English call steak and kindy pie, Americans call botcholisem.

hahaha yes I just could not resist



[edit on 26-8-2006 by RedGolem]



posted on Aug, 26 2006 @ 08:36 PM
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-fast food - belgian
-cars and motorcycles - german
-tabacco and distilled alcohol - dutch
-fractional reserve banking - french
-disposable pens, cigarette lighters, and rocket launchers - taiwan
-a cultural elite focused on physical beauty and frank sexuality - greek
-overindulgence - yes there you truly do rule the world





posted on Aug, 27 2006 @ 08:40 AM
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Originally posted by Marduk


Rome's culture was as pervasive in the ancient world as American culture is in the modern world

surely you mean English culture Byrd
last time i checked the only person claiming an american language existed was Bill Gates



Nope. I meant the American culture (ah's an anthroplogist (yes, really)... don't try this at home.) The American culture is very different than the English culture... and likewise though there were a lot of places that had Latin as an official language, the culture of Rome extended to places where Latin was not the official language of the people (but Latin was the preferred communication among the elite.)



posted on Aug, 27 2006 @ 08:49 AM
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Originally posted by BattleofBatoche
I would think that Hebrew would be a better language for communicating with demons.


The Jews had their own traditions about demons, which is rich and fascinating -- and "demon" is probably better translated as "daemon"; a spirit rather than as "a malicous devil." Jewish ideas here are quite complex -- here's a nice little overview: members.aol.com...

All cultures, by the way, had formulas and incantations for demons and evil spirits. The artifacts from ancient Egypt are full of these charms and incantations... likewise Sumeria/Babylon/India/China, etc. The Americas seem free of this... none of the native cultures (including Aztec/Inca/Maya) had a demonology tradition.


I also heard that Hebrew is a numerical language and even more strange that English is a relatively new language that is numerical identical to Hebrew but backwards.

Not true. They frame sentences differently in Hebrew than we do in English. Hebrew isn't "numerical"... all ancient languages used alphabet letters to designate numbers (remember, III in Roman is "3" and "M" is "1,000", etc. In this sense, all ancient languages are "numerical" because they all used letter values for numbers.)

Our Western/Christian tradition comes from the scholars of Western Europe, where Latin was the preferred language. If we had a culture where our traditions of demons came from China, we'd find all the formulas and incantations for demons needed to be given in Proper Chinese (just like Confucious spoke.)



posted on Aug, 27 2006 @ 11:47 PM
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Originally posted by Byrd


All cultures, by the way, had formulas and incantations for demons and evil spirits. The artifacts from ancient Egypt are full of these charms and incantations... likewise Sumeria/Babylon/India/China, etc. The Americas seem free of this... none of the native cultures (including Aztec/Inca/Maya) had a demonology tradition.



In my opinion, the "lack of demonology" in the Americas is due to the fact that their cultures, coming from a heritage of shamanism, are more focused on witchcraft as a source of human suffering than they are on demonic influence.

In both European and Native American cultures, malevolent witches used familiar spirits to inflict harm on their neighbors.

The Navajo believed that witches sent evil spirits with "corpse powder" to poison healthy families. A healer didn't counteract the evil spirits with his own spirit-helpers (as is the case in shamanism), but banished the evil forces in a fashion analogous to the work of a Christian, Jewish or Chinese worker would. By tying into the powers of creation, the sandpainter would dispel the evil "monsters" and force them to flee.

Likewise a Christian priest or rabbi would not defeat a witch by "counter-conjuring" spirits of his own, the way a shaman would; but would merely command the demons to be gone, through the authority of his office.

In a sense, shamans in most cultures are "independent operators." Whereas organized religions have specific offices, and clergy are expected to dispel evil by the power of their office, rather than a demonic "counter-strike" against the witch.

In that sense, Navajo beliefs show elements of BOTH systems, shaman as well as exorcist.

But then, both elements are seen in practically ALL belief systems, from the catholic clergy to tibetan monks. The variation is probably due to how the source of evil is imagined, and the type of ceremony required to mitigate it.

.



posted on Aug, 28 2006 @ 12:44 AM
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As others said, I think the Catholic Church and their longstanding use of Latin is one of the main reasons. Also, there was a book called the Malleus Maleficarum (sp?) that was written in latin. It translates to 'hammer of the witches'. It mentions a bunch of stuff about demons and familiar spirits and that sort of thing. Basically, it was supposed to help the inquisitors (or whatever they were called) know how to identify witches



posted on Aug, 28 2006 @ 04:34 AM
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Originally posted by DragonsDemesne
Also, there was a book called the Malleus Maleficarum (sp?) that was written in latin. It translates to 'hammer of the witches'. It mentions a bunch of stuff about demons and familiar spirits and that sort of thing. Basically, it was supposed to help the inquisitors (or whatever they were called) know how to identify witches


Dragons,
Might that book you menchened have anything to do with Hammer of Sorceress? Just want to make sure it is not the same thing.




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