# Incorporating Demonology and various cultural mythologies into one story.



## Nemesis (Jun 13, 2012)

The story I'm working on (Path of Shdows listed under fiction) will include various types of demons and mythic beings listed in actual legands. I want to expand this idea to more than just european and american culture. And good reference sites, ideas to seamlessly merge them, or comments?


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## Altan (Jun 14, 2012)

Encyclopedia Mythica: mythology, folklore, and religion.

It may not be exactly what you're looking for, but this site _Encyclopedia Mythica _helped me somewhat.
It's kind of difficult to navigate though, so you may just be better off searching for a given term and going from there.


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## Stephanie Andromeda (Jun 14, 2012)

I'm not sure if it counts as a demon, but the concept of the ijiraq  is pretty terrifying, as are the taqriaqsuit. Inuit myths are fairly vague about connecting their monsters to the rest of their cosmology, so you could easily connect them to yours.
 The jinn, of Arabian mythology, are also interesting as demons. According to Islamic demonology, there are three types of jinn: those who fly through the air, creeping animals, and those who are bound to one place. Jinn are also sorted between malicious jinn (shaytan) and Muslim jinn. Ghouls are one subclass of shaytan, who hang around in graveyards, shapeshift, and are just generally no good. Also, fairly similar to ijirait, so you could make a case for the sake of the story that these are two types of ghouls, or two different cultures' different names for ghouls.
The aswang of Philippine mythology is typically also classed as a "ghoul", despite being unrelated to Arabian mythology, so you could just run with that classification. A manananggal is a type of aswang.
In Hindu mythology, you have the Asuras, sort of Demigod-type beings who, like the jinn, could choose to either be pious or evil. You could link them with the jinn, either as a subclass, a superclass, a separate subclass belonging to the same superclass, or even two different names for the same class. But notice what I'm doing? I'm looking for typological similarities between the demons and mosters of the world's various mythologies, and interpreting them as taxonomic classifications. It may help you to draw a tree, starting out with the vague idea of "demons", and then branching out to include the various types of demons from different myhtologies.


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## Nemesis (Jun 14, 2012)

Beats going on wikipedia and randomyl clicking every semi interesting link lol I dont want to get too technical with mythical beings though, I want many of them to remain unknown or strange, if they get too familiar you stop being scared of them. I was taking note of the similarities between cultural mythos, makes you wonder huh? almost every culture out there has some kind of myth about a dragon like creature, shape shifters, demons. 

One of the ideas I was toying with was something called the void, when people believe something strong enough, that thing they are imagining is born and begins to affect their world, this even includes gods and demi gods. But as the belief lessens so does their power. the void is where all this comes from, along with the void gaurdian the Leviathan (bibicle references say he resides in the abyss but I'm taking liberties with it) since the Chirstian God also plays  big role in this I want my character sto question if he really created everything, or if he was just another being created by the minds of men. Demons will play a larger role than other beings but I want creatures other than demons to be in existence too.


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## HKayG (Jun 14, 2012)

One of the most interesting ideas for demons I find is the Japanese. They have various names for ghosts, demons mythical beings etc etc.  They have such a rich culture when it comes to these things, especially if you go into searching shrine demons/guardians/gods etc. Hope you find some useful information there!


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## Nemesis (Jun 14, 2012)

Like the racoon dog who uses its massive testicles to crush people? Or the Kappa that sometimes probes peoples butts for their soul?


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## Stephanie Andromeda (Jun 14, 2012)

Noxicity said:


> Like the racoon dog who uses its massive testicles to crush people? Or the Kappa that sometimes probes peoples butts for their soul?


Or the Tsukumogami, who were perfectly content to live as inanimate objects _until_ their one hundredth birthday, at which point they get all sentient and just cause trouble for everybody.


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## Nemesis (Jun 14, 2012)

Got to love their exceedingly strange mythos lol what a creative bunch!


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## LMThomas (Jun 15, 2012)

Noxicity said:


> One of the ideas I was toying with was something called the void, when people believe something strong enough, that thing they are imagining is born and begins to affect their world, this even includes gods and demi gods. But as the belief lessens so does their power. .



This idea sounds somewhat similar to Neil Gaiman's book, "America Gods" (American Gods - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).  You might want to check them out and see if they are similar to what you're thinking of.  

As for researching demons, there are many demons that pre-date Christianity, and even Judaism.  Like Pazuzu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for example.  

The book I'm currently working on is somewhat tied to demonology as well, so I've been researching it quite a bit over the last 2 years.


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## Nemesis (Jun 16, 2012)

I find it fascinating ^^ but I'm a bit morbid that way....


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## Amber Leaf (Jun 16, 2012)

There's a comic called 'Fables' by Bill Willingham where the fairy tale characters are living in sanctuary in New York after being driven out of far, far away. In the comic, the characters die if they aren't thought about anymore which is the opposite to what your idea is but still, it's worth a read as it explores a lot of different mythical characters, their origins and how they would relate to modern society.


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## Nemesis (Jun 21, 2012)

LMThomas said:


> This idea sounds somewhat similar to Neil Gaiman's book, "America Gods" (American Gods - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). You might want to check them out and see if they are similar to what you're thinking of.
> QUOTE]
> 
> Close yes, but not as much that former Gods have taken human form and are walking among us. I want them to be more distant than that


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## Guy Faukes (Jun 22, 2012)

Yeah, wikipedia can be hit or miss with it's lists. It's hard to see if a link will be fruitful, and sometimes there isn't enough info or some Joe wrote it.

 Interestingly, I'm also writing fiction for a book involving supernatural creatures, but I focus around the Abrahamic deities. Angels and demons... something about them that's very appealling.


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## Nemesis (Jun 22, 2012)

I always thought it fascinating. It's like a whole set of mythologies a lot of Christians and even a few Catholics never think about. I also took ideas from the Book of Enoch (which most believers don't assign any worth to) I'm having other worldly abilities stem from the Nephilim that once roamed the earth. They are only mentioned briefly in Genesis, but reviewed more extensively in Enoch, which says that God sent all the Angels who laid with mortal women to hell but the Nephilim themselves (or at least their spirits since they all died in the flood) which cursed to roam the earth for all eternity to cause trouble and strife among men. I've always entertained the ideas that so called ghosts are just the wandering spirits of the half breeds mimicking the human tragedies they witnessed. I believe in evil spirits, I've felt it firsthand, but I don't believe one bit that when we die we're allowed to roam the earth.


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## Guy Faukes (Jun 22, 2012)

Yeah, most people don't know that the Bible and the Torah are selections from a whole set of books, and there's a _lot _that goes on in those other  books.

The Nephilim are an interesting fictional opportunity because they can be used in so many ways to introduce the supernatural. I think there was a hot seller a few months back about a boy who learned he was one, etc. The Cambion, which are later introduced through in the Middle Ages Hammer of Witches, are interesting counterparts because they are the off spring of demons (succubus' or incubus' which carry semen from men when they were succubi) and women. Imagine having a child who didn't breath or have a heartbeat until 6 years of age. 

I don't believe any of this stuff has ever happened. But, I thought I once had an encounter with an evil spirit when I used to wake up and had sleep paralysis. I would usually hear someone but couldn't move. Modern science, though, burst that bubble.


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## Nemesis (Jun 23, 2012)

I'm keeping it in my story though, one of the key players is a two faced lying incubi/succubi but no one else knows. Like i mentioned earlier, the nephilim are why (in the story) there is magic in some humans, because they are descendants (though few and far in between) Also there are also some weird creatures lurking around still because in my version the angels didn't just sleep with the human women  (think mermaids and humanoid trees)


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## Guy Faukes (Jun 23, 2012)

Noxicity said:


> I'm keeping it in my story though, one of the key players is a two faced lying incubi/succubi but no one else knows. Like i mentioned earlier, the nephilim are why (in the story) there is magic in some humans, because they are descendants (though few and far in between) Also there are also some weird creatures lurking around still because in my version the angels didn't just sleep with the human women  (think mermaids and humanoid trees)



Hehe, that player could fulfill _any _of your needs. 

Angels must be strange deities in your book then. It brings tree lover to a whole new level :/


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