WEBVTT - The Demon-Haunted Mind 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:05.920 Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:14.320 Works dot com. Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:16.960 your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Christian Seger, 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:20.040 and today we are revisiting one of our favorite, maybe 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:24.840 not favorite topics, demons. Yeah, this is what's what's funny 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:26.639 about this is, I remember when when you and I 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:30.240 first started recording together, we at some point said, oh, 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:32.360 we should do an episode on demons. And I even 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:35.639 have some like preliminary notes that I ran across yesterday 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:39.360 for a demon's episode. Yeah, and I think early on 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:42.520 we kind of decided, oh, there's not we can't really 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:45.440 do just a demon episode, and it for a while 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:48.680 we kind of didn't discuss demons. But then recently we've 0:00:48.680 --> 0:00:51.320 had a couple of episodes. We did the Exorcism episode 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:54.560 Exorcism Addorcism and uh, and here we are talking about 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:57.120 demons again, proving that yes, there is plenty to talk 0:00:57.160 --> 0:01:01.960 about um in terms of science and the human psychology 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:05.040 and demons. So we kind of proved ourselves wrong in 0:01:05.080 --> 0:01:07.880 that one. Yeah, exactly. Well, today's episode is primarily based 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:10.000 on a new study that we got our hands on, 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:11.720 and we want to go through it because it's a 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:16.679 really interesting look at how the belief in demons, despite 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:20.960 whatever religion you participate in, the belief in demons may 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:25.440 possibly contribute to negative mental health effects. Uh. And that 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:28.440 is especially interesting give it in light of like things 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:32.800 that we've talked about related demonology before Exorcism. Obviously we 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:35.520 talked about mental health in that episode, but we've also 0:01:35.560 --> 0:01:37.840 talked about satanic panic on the show. I think one 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:39.840 of the first episodes I did before I was even 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:42.560 a host on this show, we did Grimoires. Is that right, 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:47.280 talk a little bit about this satanic panic before you that. Yeah, 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:49.440 Grimoires was one of the first ones I did. Yeah. 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:52.040 So we've covered a lot of territory with this. If 0:01:52.040 --> 0:01:54.160 you haven't listened to those episodes, I recommend going back. 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:57.440 But oh yeah, John d Yeah, yeah, I guess he 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:01.040 was technically trying to talk to Holy angels. But that's true. 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:04.120 But a lot of the same texts do get referenced 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:07.160 in between a lot of these things. Uh. And this 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:10.360 is very much grounded in present day, although we will 0:02:10.520 --> 0:02:16.280 occasionally refer to some you know, demonic concepts from the past, right. Uh. 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:19.240 And one of the things that I think is especially 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:22.160 drawing me to this topic over and over again. And 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.120 I've mentioned this on the show before, is that I 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:28.120 am working on a comic book series is actually about 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:30.600 like the occult and exorcism and demonology. So I'm kind 0:02:30.639 --> 0:02:33.200 of constantly have out of the corner of my eye, 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:37.079 I'm looking out for new information surrounding these topics. Oh yeah, 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:39.359 I mean same here. I'm I've always been fascinated by 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:43.320 demons and um, I have a few different writing projects 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:47.359 that have involved them over the years. And uh and 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:49.600 and just I think our personal history cost of this too. 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:51.960 We talked about on the on the show before about 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:55.960 your experience with snow blindness and a supernatural interpretation of 0:02:56.000 --> 0:03:00.280 that sort of ye, and then my own experience. It's 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:04.480 growing up in the first Baptist Church and especially during 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:07.600 high school, they're being some friends who were carrying out 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:12.400 quote unquote exorcisms, and there were tales about demons, uh 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:15.040 and at work in the world around us. We go 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:18.480 in depth into those stories, into the exorcism addercism episode, 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:20.640 and that's not that old, so I kind of feel 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.280 like we we shouldn't repeat them here. So if you're 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:26.680 you know, they're not necessary to understand this episode, but 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:29.320 we might refer back to them occasionally just as our 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:32.160 subjective experience, because I think that that is definitely going 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:35.600 to be how we uh what lens we look at 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:39.880 this study through, because this study is pretty fascinating. Now, 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:44.000 as far as specific demons go, we've we've again, we've 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:47.600 talked about demons here on the show. We often dip 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:51.080 our toes into the waters of mythology and folklore and 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:54.840 discuss a few, uh on the podcast. On the blogs, 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:57.600 we discussed just some of the following demons, the wind 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:00.920 to Go, the Wutong Shin, fox fear, It's Google's gin 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:07.880 Incubi Succubi, uh, you are Raju, Lucifer bahamat Uh. We figured, hey, 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:10.720 we're gonna look at this study, let's just roll out 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:14.680 a couple of additional demons, sort of podcast versions of 0:04:14.720 --> 0:04:18.560 demon trading cards almost that you can you can you 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:21.119 can appreciate with this before we dive into the study. 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:23.200 And Robert's too humble to mention this, but I will 0:04:23.240 --> 0:04:25.560 mention that most of those that you just mentioned have 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:28.039 Monster of the Week entries over on our site Stuff 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:29.680 to Blow your Mind dot com. So if you want 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:31.520 to learn a little bit more about those things are 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:35.160 just dive down the monster rabbit hole that Robert's created 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:37.920 on the site. Go ahead over there. So all right, 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:40.480 So the one that I picked is actually the one 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:43.520 that I've been researching the most for that project that 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:47.680 I'm working on. Uh. And this comes from the Lesser 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:50.480 Key of Solomon, And there's a so we've we talked 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:52.880 about this in the Grimoire episode. Lesser Key of Solomon 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:57.640 is a book supposedly containing a sort of occult knowledge 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:01.200 passed on by King Solomon. But first section is the 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:03.600 rs Gisha. I think that's how it's pronounced, but I'm 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.320 not a hundred percent sure. It's it's old timey, old 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:12.840 timey Grimoire talk. But anyways, so basically that first section is, uh, 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:16.000 this it just contains descriptions of seventy two demons that 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:19.719 Solomon was said to have evoked. He used like a 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:23.240 religious magic to summon them, and then he confined them 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:25.880 into a bronze vessel, and then he sealed that with 0:05:25.960 --> 0:05:29.320 magical symbols. Uh, and then he basically made these demons 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:32.159 work for him. So this is a you know, I guess, 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:35.800 a bit of mysticism that takes the Bible stories from 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:42.039 the Bible and transmutes them. So my favorite and the 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:44.320 one that I'm really focused on for this project I'm 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:48.040 working on, is a demon known as Zagan and he 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:52.000 has the rank of king and president. Uh So, there's 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:54.680 a lot of various ranks in terms of like what 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:57.040 how they fit into a hierarchy with one another, all 0:05:57.080 --> 0:06:00.320 these seventy two demons of Solomon's uh in king and 0:06:00.400 --> 0:06:03.719 President is pretty much like the highest one. Uh So, 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:07.320 zagain is uh he and we we were talking about 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:10.920 this beforehand, like they all have various legions, but they're 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:13.760 more powerful than one another based on what the number 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:15.880 of legions that they command are. And their legions are 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:18.480 like lesser demons. Yeah, and this makes me think, surely 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:20.920 somebody may have already done this, but this would make 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:25.360 the Demons of the Gramore's perfect for trading cars, especially 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:29.760 since you have all those fabulous woodcut illustrations of them. Yeah. Well, 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:33.720 the there's the wood cut illustrations from I think somebody 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.919 did them after the Lesser Key of Solomon was originally created. 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:39.600 But then there's also all of the seals that are 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.440 in the Lesser Key of Solomon that like show the 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:45.400 various like inscriptions that you're supposed to use in order 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:48.840 to seal these particular demons up in this brass canister. Wow, 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:50.839 I can I can picture it right now? Yeah, And 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:53.240 then and then down there bottom. How many legions do 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:56.800 they have? Look on the car, Well, Zagan has thirty 0:06:56.800 --> 0:07:00.279 three legions. These are also his superpowers. Are you ready? 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:04.000 He can make men witty. He can turn wine into 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:08.680 water and water into wine, so he's a little Jesus 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:11.480 ey there. But he can also turn blood into wine. 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:14.640 So imagine this like he can turn your blood and 0:07:14.680 --> 0:07:17.960 your body into wine. That would hurt and probably kill 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:21.960 you too. That would definitely, I mean, if it's a 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:24.480 demon doing I don't know. There's so many additional magical 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:26.680 questions come into play there, like does that mean that 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:32.720 my body is like a wine based circultory system now exactly? Yeah. Yeah. 0:07:32.720 --> 0:07:36.040 His other powers are that he can turn metals, any 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.600 metal into a coin that are made of that metal. Right, So, 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:42.440 if there's like gold or he can turn it into 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:46.240 gold coins. He's just like, uh, this like magical coin 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:50.480 making process. Uh. And then the last thing about is 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:53.280 again that I think is pretty interesting, is he takes 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:56.520 the form of a griffin winged bull, but then he 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.560 like eventually turns into a man. So there's like various 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:01.360 interpretations of him where he sort of looks like a 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:04.320 minotaur with wings. Oh yes, yes, I think I've seen 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:07.840 these before. Yeah, so that's again. I've got some text 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:11.680 here from the the actual book itself. It's pretty difficult 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:13.200 to read because it's, like I said, it's in that 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.840 old timy kind of writing where it says like the 0:08:16.000 --> 0:08:19.119 sixty first spirit is called zagain he is a great 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:22.520 king and president and appearith in first ye form of 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:26.520 bull with griffin wings, you know, stuff like that. Um, 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:29.080 but yeah, it's basically all the things that I mentioned earlier. 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:31.520 It's just a list of his superpowers. This is really 0:08:31.640 --> 0:08:33.440 like like if you look at the Lesser Key of 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:36.720 Solomon with a bit of skepticism, it's it's like the 0:08:36.760 --> 0:08:40.840 official handbook to the Marvel universe. Now what. The one 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:43.520 thing that's interesting about this particular demon, especially in terms 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:45.760 of where we're gonna be talking about today, is that 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:49.240 this seems to be very much a wizard demon right 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:53.320 in that there wasn't anything really negative there, unless you 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:56.520 count turning wine into water, like if that's the worst 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:59.679 case scenario or possibly the blood in your body that 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:01.760 same like the most dangerous one. Yeah, but for the 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:04.480 most part, it's this is a powerful entity that a 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:07.480 wizard would enter into a careful pact with and have, 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:10.720 if not control over, then at least a lot of 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:14.000 guidelines set in place. Yeah, Like I imagine like the 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:16.960 idea was sort of that, because keep in mind, there's 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:19.760 seventy one other demons like this, Like you would summon 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:24.120 one demon first that could create gold or from copper 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:26.760 or or something like that. Right, this is all alchemical. 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:29.520 It's very John d And then you're like, oh, but 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:31.560 I've got this gold or but I can't just spend it. 0:09:31.600 --> 0:09:34.000 I can't just go to town and drop this, you know, 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:36.880 on the table at the local bar. I know, I'll 0:09:36.880 --> 0:09:40.440 summons again and I'll keep him bound in the seal, 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:42.800 and then he'll turn these all into coins for me. 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:46.400 So being a wizard, a demonic wizard was was was 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:50.880 really kind of like being a project manager. Yeah, it's funny. 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.200 That is kind of how the lesser key of Solomon 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:56.440 portrays Solomon in a lot of cases. Yeah, Like at 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:59.840 least how he the way in which he used demons 0:09:59.840 --> 0:10:02.840 and angels. You know, it's like a recipe book. I 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:06.120 like to imagine him doing like a big like a 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:10.120 Google meeting with all of these everybody's teleworking in from 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:13.439 whatever layers of the abyss they're occupying, and he's like, 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:15.280 all right, where are we on the progress a progress 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:17.600 for this project? Do we have the ore? When are 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:19.840 we When are we actually pressing these into coins and 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:23.720 moving on to step three? Step three is turning his 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:27.720 blood into a wine. So if this is an example 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:30.600 of a demon this very much under control, we certainly 0:10:30.640 --> 0:10:33.120 have plenty of other demons that are out of control. 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:36.000 Like this is kind of the rich man's demon versus 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:39.400 the the everyman's demon. Well, I think yeah, it's worth 0:10:39.400 --> 0:10:42.040 remembering too that like the Lesser Key of Solomon, wasn't 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:44.360 like a mass produced book, right, Like there were only 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:46.000 a few copies of this. We talked about this in 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:48.800 our grim Wire episode, and they were mainly owned by 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:53.240 a rich, learned gentleman. So for for my pick, I 0:10:53.240 --> 0:10:56.480 figured I might entertain an Eastern demon for the second 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:59.079 selection here, and I'm gonna buck my recent trend of 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:02.440 focusing on Chinese or Indian myth and instead turned to 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.760 the island nation of Japan. Oh yeah, they've got some 0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:09.280 really quoted in mythology. So the the Only is probably 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:12.240 the best known or one of the best known Japanese demons. 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:14.800 And you can you can split up split hairs over 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:18.319 the definition of demon or spirit or evil spirit, etcetera. 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:21.360 But I think for the most part the Only lines 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:24.560 up with the demonic definition, and I think it suits 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:27.520 our purposes here. Since is Carol Rose describes in her 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:31.120 book Spirits, furious lepricuns and goblins. You have two varieties 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:34.840 of owning. First there's the ghaki, which comes from Hell 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:37.760 and drags souls of the dying down to Hell. And 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:40.320 then there's also a terrestrial version of the owning that 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:45.679 shifts its shape, assumes human forms to torments specific individuals 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:49.640 and they made themselves. Be quote, the distorted souls of 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:52.120 women who have died of excessive grief is the ones 0:11:52.200 --> 0:11:55.320 I know mostly from dungeons and dragons. Yeah, they're in 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:57.880 the Monster Manu. I have to say some of my 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:02.520 earliest encounters with the japan These monsters were in the 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:06.160 the Monster Manual supplement for what I can't remember the 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:12.040 name of their eastern uh so it orient it was 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:14.520 it was the orient for adventure it is now it 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:18.360 would now be offensive. I forget. I have the book though, 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.079 Yeah it was. It wasn't Kootoa, but it sounded something 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:25.600 like you had a caved in character. Ah, there we go. Yeah. 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:28.040 I remember just being fascinated by the monsters in there, 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:31.000 and then later learning more about, you know, their actual 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:34.760 models in in myth and folklore and and the monster 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:37.200 Man did a pretty knock up job. I thought of 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:39.760 bringing these to life in the game system, but the 0:12:39.760 --> 0:12:43.079 only was definitely in it. Now, these particular only the 0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:48.440 terrestrial ones. They bring misfortune, They spread disease, especially plague, 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:54.880 and there's a ceremony the Shinto only yarrachi, and this 0:12:55.200 --> 0:13:00.439 as well as conversion to Buddhism can drive the only out. Now, 0:13:00.720 --> 0:13:04.040 this is in terms of possession, right, not in terms 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:07.080 of like if an ony, like if an one is 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:09.480 haunting your home or something like that, or is that 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:11.640 also my understanding? It is it's like haunting a home, 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:14.559 haunting a region, more or less plaguing an individual and 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:18.720 individual's household. Got it. Now? In the in the former example, 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:20.920 the Gacy, we see a vision of a demon that 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:25.160 partially embodies the fear of death but also seemingly increases it, 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:29.560 so you're gonna die, yes, but also like terrifying monster 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:31.360 is going to drag you to hell as it happens. 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:35.440 Surely there's got to be some some Japanese horror films 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:37.880 that have incorporated the one. I guess maybe we're just 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:39.640 not like super aware of them. Well, there are a 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:43.160 number of Japanese films that deal with the the with 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:47.640 the the The yo Kai you know, broadly categorizes these 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:51.200 different monstrous spirits, some more comical than others. Uh, there's 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:53.320 and I want I want to say there have been 0:13:53.360 --> 0:13:56.520 a couple of black and white Japanese heart films, earlier 0:13:56.600 --> 0:14:00.360 horror films that definitely explored this idea of an only 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:04.720 we gotta we gotta do a trailer Talk episode based 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:07.160 around stuff like that. Yeah, for those of you who 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:10.760 don't know, we do every Friday, well almost every Friday, 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.560 at eleven am Eastern Standard time, we do a trailer 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:17.520 Talk Facebook live episode where Robert, Joe and I talk 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:22.160 about the preceding weeks podcasts in relation to movie trailers, 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:26.360 basically monster movie trailers related to this. So I'm assuming 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:29.880 we will do something based on demonology in the coming 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:32.000 weeks for this one. Now, I want to also drive 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:35.200 drive home that terrestrial only that we mentioned there. That's 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:38.360 a firm Eastern example of a demon that spreads earthly 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:43.400 misfortune and can be driven away or defeated via religious practice. Okay, 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:46.160 that's important related to the study that we're going to 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:48.440 talk about today. I know some of you are like, guys, 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:50.400 you've been talking about D and D and weird monsters 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:53.600 for ten minutes now where we'll get there. But but yeah, 0:14:53.880 --> 0:14:57.440 as long as it's an evil supernatural power, it doesn't 0:14:57.440 --> 0:15:01.040 necessarily have to be codified as a demon per se. 0:15:01.680 --> 0:15:04.560 It applies to this study right Like another one real 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:07.760 quick from the Japanese traditions and from the Monster Manual 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:11.120 is of course the Kappa the cop about the sort 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:15.040 of monkey like turtle creature with a little intention in 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:17.200 the top of its head filled with this water that 0:15:17.480 --> 0:15:20.440 gives it you power or is its life force, And 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:22.960 it's basically one of those demons and these existing and 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:27.400 just demons or evil spirits that exist in most folk traditions. 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:30.520 Hangs out around water, so it's associated with drownings and 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:35.120 misfortune related to swimming and being working around water, but 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:37.040 you can if you encounter one of these things, the 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:39.520 legend goes, you can defeat it by bowing to it 0:15:40.080 --> 0:15:43.480 like a nice low bow. And then when the kappa 0:15:43.520 --> 0:15:46.600 bowels to you, it will spill the water from its 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:49.080 head and lose its power. So it's kind of like 0:15:49.120 --> 0:15:51.280 a golem, like the way that like if you wipe 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:54.920 the golems, uh, the inscription on the golems head off 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:57.600 of it like becomes inanimate again, like if the water 0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:00.280 falls out, it just kind of dissipates. Yeah, and and 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:03.280 the thing I love about this is that essentially you 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:06.760 defeat the demon by the use of strict Japanese adequate, 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:09.560 which I'm gonna have to research this more a bit, 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:12.960 but I'm instantly drawn to that that idea of it. 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:16.080 You're not necessarily using religion here to defeat this demon, 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:21.720 but this demon may be defeated by proper etiquete. Yeah. 0:16:21.800 --> 0:16:24.000 Well it's a very proper demon, all right. So we've 0:16:24.040 --> 0:16:26.640 rolled out a couple of demonic examples here. Uh, and 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:28.400 now it's uh, I think it's about time to move 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:31.360 on with the discussion of the study. Yeah, so the 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.320 paper in question here, it just came out in seventeen. 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:38.320 It's called Demonic Influence the Negative Mental Health Effects of 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:42.720 Belief in Demons, and it's by Fan Hoo, Ni Knee 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:45.760 and Daniel Vier Olson, and they both come out of 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:50.080 Purdue University's Department of Sociology. Real brief abstract here, but 0:16:50.120 --> 0:16:52.920 we're going to really break down this paper. Uh. Their 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:57.160 research indicates that among young adults, belief in demons is 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:00.840 one of the strongest negative predictors of mental health. They 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:04.359 also found that belief in demons can lead to lowered 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:07.400 mental health. But they also are very clear and they 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:11.600 clarify lowered mental health itself does not necessarily lead to 0:17:11.640 --> 0:17:14.680 a greater belief in demons. So if you're uh, if 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:17.800 you're depressed, that doesn't necessarily mean that you're more likely 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:20.240 to believe that demons exist. Right, and in this and 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:22.440 the time and time again in the study, they tackle 0:17:22.520 --> 0:17:24.720 this idea, you know, because you might ask the question, 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:27.600 where you is it really possible that belief in demons 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:30.600 leads to ill mental health or is it just a 0:17:30.640 --> 0:17:33.160 situation where someone who already is suffering from some sort 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:37.119 of mental health scenario, Uh, they are more likely to 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:39.480 believe in demons. They tackle that and there's a there's 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:42.160 actually a lot to this study, Like there's some interesting 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:45.080 sort of cognitive science to this study as well that 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:47.800 I think is really important. Um, you know, we are 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:51.120 obviously using the demon framework because it's attractive to us, right, 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.320 but I think that this has broader implications as well, 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.280 just for like mental health in general. Oh yeah, So 0:17:57.440 --> 0:18:02.840 all right, you're probably saying, well, who believes in demons? Right? Who? 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.320 Who are these people that are affected? Maybe some of 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:08.359 you listening are those or and you're thinking, well, I 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:12.800 believe in demons, and I feel fine, you know, uh, 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:16.720 but here's some statistics for you. According to Baylor University, 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:19.600 they conducted a religion survey in two thousand seven, and 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:24.119 they found fifty four percent of the United States absolutely 0:18:24.160 --> 0:18:28.200 believes that demons exists. That is a surprisingly high number 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:31.840 to me. I'm I'm very surprised by being over half 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:34.760 the population. Yeah, it's it's interesting to think that over 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:40.480 half the country believes that malicious extra dimensional creatures actually exists. 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:43.639 Though I'm sure there's gonna be some variety regarding to 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:46.000 what degree they're active in the world, or if it's 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:49.600 just a situation where oh well, I follow this religion, 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:55.960 be it Christianity or Islam, or or Buddhism any or Hinduism, 0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:57.800 and you just kind of fall back on the idea 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:00.399 that while there are demons in the text, demons in 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:02.480 the belief system, and therefore I believe in them. I 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:08.560 think my assumption was, despite whatever religious beliefs you participate in, 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:13.080 that most people don't actually believe in supernatural evil. But 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:16.040 I guess I was wrong. Um, And I think that 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:19.600 that's really interesting, and especially you know, calling back to 0:19:19.640 --> 0:19:21.240 my experience from when I was a kid and I 0:19:21.280 --> 0:19:23.399 had snow blindness and I thought that a demon was 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:26.560 coming for me. Uh, you know, I guess like I'm 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:29.159 not alone. Apparently like this is a pretty common thing. 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:32.359 It's it's more common than it's not even going so 0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:35.520 far as they said that an additional nineteen point five 0:19:35.560 --> 0:19:38.760 percent of the population. On top of that, I think 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:42.600 that demons probably exist. So there's like a they basically 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:46.960 said not at all, maybe or absolutely, uh, And so 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:50.800 there's more people that think absolutely, and then there's more 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:54.000 people that think maybe. There's far less people that think 0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:57.199 not at all. May be either kind of hedging their 0:19:57.240 --> 0:19:59.680 pets there. I don't know, maybe I think it's also 0:19:59.760 --> 0:20:03.359 really important to remember though, that historically the belief in 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:07.960 supernatural evil has evoked not only fear, but it's it's 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:09.960 been able to evoke death in some people. Right. You 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:13.480 think about people who were so concerned historically about having 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:15.800 curses placed on them that they had like a heart 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:19.760 attack or something like that. Right, Like, this has such 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:25.320 a strong foundation in our cultural contexts that you know, 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:28.720 I can see sort of why it permeates so thoroughly. Yeah, 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:31.040 I mean, because it goes back, it goes beyond the 0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:34.400 sort of modern religions, that goes back into very folkloric beliefs. 0:20:34.640 --> 0:20:38.080 Just the I just as humans are grasping with the 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:41.560 chaos of life and the unpredictability of life and then 0:20:41.560 --> 0:20:45.400 trying to answer why it's happening. Uh, you can, It's 0:20:45.480 --> 0:20:48.560 it's handy to fall back on explanations off, Well, there's 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:52.480 a malicious spirit at the lake, that's why this drowning occurred. Uh, 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:55.440 there is a where there's a demon in my mind, 0:20:55.600 --> 0:20:59.000 and that's why I did this particular atrocity. You mentioned 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:01.800 disease earlier with your with your only example, I mean, 0:21:01.960 --> 0:21:06.600 disease was blamed on demons and curses a lot. Yeah, 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:10.240 you know, so it was. You know, that's why I 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:12.960 think that like the Handbook to the Marble Universe kind 0:21:12.960 --> 0:21:17.199 of works here, right, because like demonology was sort of 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:21.440 the cultural way that we understood the unexplainable in the world. 0:21:21.960 --> 0:21:24.880 Not that there's people now who are like, why why 0:21:24.960 --> 0:21:27.320 it was there a tornado that struck down in my backyard? 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:30.920 It must have been thor right, like there nobody thinks that, 0:21:31.200 --> 0:21:35.960 but there is that meticulous kind of record keeping of 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:39.360 of what's going on with these various mythological characters. Yeah, 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:41.479 and so much of it does boil down to taking 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:45.800 a threat, often a kind of ambiguous threat, personifying it 0:21:45.920 --> 0:21:50.000 as a creature monster, and then also having a system 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:53.400 to drive that monster away. So you're taking you're you're 0:21:53.440 --> 0:21:57.280 taking a threat that is invisible and unpredictable, boiling it 0:21:57.320 --> 0:22:00.679 down into something like a predatory animal essentially that is 0:22:01.200 --> 0:22:04.960