According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, which is variously interpreted as either a literal or a symbolic location. The term is also used in a generic sense to refer to any end-of-the-world scenario. In Islamic theology, Armageddon is also mentioned in Hadith as the Greatest Armageddon or Al-Malhama Al-Kubra.
A grimoire is a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms, and divination, and how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, deities, and demons. In many cases, the books themselves are believed to be imbued with magical powers, although in many cultures, other sacred texts that are not grimoires have been believed to have supernatural properties intrinsically. The only contents found in a grimoire would be information on spells, rituals, the preparation of magical tools, and lists of ingredients and their magical correspondences. In this manner, while all books on magic could be thought of as grimoires, not all magical books should be thought of as grimoires.
James Benjamin Blish was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He is best known for his Cities in Flight novels and his series of Star Trek novelizations written with his wife, J. A. Lawrence. His novel A Case of Conscience won the Hugo Award. He is credited with creating the term "gas giant" to refer to large planetary bodies.
Demonology is the study of demons within religious belief and myth. Depending on context, it can refer to studies within theology, religious doctrine, or occultism. In many faiths, it concerns the study of a hierarchy of demons. Demons may be nonhuman, separable souls, or discarnate spirits which have never inhabited a body. A sharp distinction is often drawn between these two classes, notably by the Melanesians, several African groups, and others. The Islamic jinn, for example, are not reducible to modified human souls. At the same time these classes are frequently conceived as producing identical results, e.g. diseases.
Ceremonial magic encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an extension of ritual magic, and in most cases synonymous with it. Popularized by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, it draws on such schools of philosophical and occult thought as Hermetic Qabalah, Enochian magic, Thelema, and the magic of various grimoires. Ceremonial magic is part of Hermeticism and Western esotericism.
The Grand Grimoire, also known as Le Dragon Rouge or The Red Dragon, is a black magic goetic grimoire. Different editions date the book to 1521, 1522 or 1421. Owen Davies suggests 1702 is when the first edition may have been created and a Bibliothèque bleue version of the text may have been published in 1750. The 19th-century French occultist Éliphas Lévi considered the contemporary edition of Le Dragon Rouge to be a counterfeit of a true, older Grand Grimoire.
In demonology, Marchosias is a great and mighty Marquis of Hell, commanding thirty legions of demons. In the Ars Goetia, the first book of The Lesser Key of Solomon, he is depicted as a wolf with griffin wings and a serpent's tail, spewing fire from his mouth. But at the request of the magician, he may take the form of a man. He is a strong fighter, gives true answers to all questions, and is very faithful to the magician in following his commands. Before his fall, he belonged to the angelic order of Dominations, and when he was bound by Solomon, he told him that after 1,200 years, he hoped to return to Heaven.
In demonology, Malphas is a demon who first appears in Johann Weyer's Pseudomonarchia Daemonum. That work and the Lesser Key of Solomon describe him as a mighty Great President of Hell, with 40 legions of demons under his command and is second in command under Satan. He appears as a raven, but if requested, will instead resemble a man with a hoarse voice. Malphas is said to build houses, high towers and strongholds, throw down the buildings of enemies, destroy enemies' desires or thoughts and all that they have done, give good familiars, and quickly bring artificers together from all places of the world. According to the writers, Malphas accepts willingly and kindly any sacrifice offered to him, but then he will allegedly deceive the conjurer.
There have been various attempts at the classification of demons within the contexts of classical mythology, demonology, occultism, and Renaissance magic. These classifications may be for purposes of traditional medicine, exorcisms, ceremonial magic, witch-hunts, lessons in morality, folklore, religious ritual, or combinations thereof. Classifications might be according to astrological connections, elemental forms, noble titles, or parallels to the angelic hierarchy; or by association with particular sins, diseases, and other calamities; or by what angel or saint opposes them.
A sigil is a type of symbol used in magic. The term usually refers to a pictorial signature of a deity or spirit. In modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, a sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitioner's desired outcome.
The Devil's Advocate is a 1997 American supernatural horror film directed by Taylor Hackford, written by Jonathan Lemkin and Tony Gilroy, and starring Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, and Charlize Theron. Based on Andrew Neiderman's 1990 novel of the same name, it is about a gifted young Florida lawyer invited to work for a major New York City law firm. As his wife becomes haunted by frightening visions, the lawyer slowly realizes the firm's owner, John Milton, is in fact the Devil.
A Case of Conscience is a science fiction novel by American writer James Blish, first published in 1958. It is the story of a Jesuit who investigates an alien race that has no religion yet has a perfect, innate sense of morality, a situation which conflicts with Catholic teaching. The story was originally published as a novella in 1953, and later extended to novel-length, of which the first part is the original novella. The novel is the first part of Blish's thematic After Such Knowledge trilogy and was followed by Doctor Mirabilis and both Black Easter and The Day After Judgment.
The Damnation of Theron Ware is an 1896 novel by American author Harold Frederic. Set in upstate New York, the novel presents a portrait of 19th-century provincial United States, the religious life of its ethnic groups, and its intellectual and artistic culture. It is written in a realistic style. According to Publishers Weekly, it was the fifth-best-selling book in the United States in 1896.
The Devil, appears frequently as a character in literature and various other media. In Abrahamic religions, the figure of the Devil, Satan personifies evil.
In 1966, Bantam Books acquired the license to publish tie-in fiction based on the science fiction television series Star Trek.
The Day After Judgment is a 1970 fantasy novel by American writer James Blish. It is a sequel to the 1968 novel Black Easter: they have been subsequently republished in 1990 as a single book called The Devil's Day.
Christ and Satan is an anonymous Old English religious poem consisting of 729 lines of alliterative verse, contained in the Junius Manuscript.
The demon Belial, or characters named for him, have appeared in many examples of modern culture. This is distinct from medieval culture and Milton where Belial was related to the character in Jewish sources.
Judith Ann Blish is an American sketch artist and short fiction writer, known professionally as Judith L. Blish, Judy Blish, and J. A. Lawrence. From 1967 to 1978, she co-wrote a sequence of short story adaptations based on episodes of Star Trek with her husband, James Blish.
