No Spirit Is Safe from Demonization
In less than a week, I will be on my way to a two-week vacation in Indonesia's island of Bali! While I have wanted to visit Bali for a number of years, it is appearing to be entirely appropriate that I am getting my opportunity now. Currently, the majority of Indonesia's inhabited islands (which is less 7,000 out of the country's total of 17,000) are predominantly Islamic and Bali is somewhat of an exception with Hinduism. In some last minute research I have found that Bali contains a rich history of syncretization or at least some important interactions between Hinduism, particularly Shaivism, and Indonesian esoteric Buddhism.
Specifically, knowing that Shiva is Mahakala in Himalayan esoteric Buddhism, I was trying to trace if Durga—the most popular avatar of the goddess Shakti—saw a similar conversion to Buddhism from Shaivism. Durga's most popular myth in Shaivism is when she, known as a warrior goddess, slays a water buffalo demon. She is generally seen as one of the most powerful devas within the Shaivist pantheon and an empowering figure who aids her followers in victory against adversity. So what I found out about her Balinese Buddhist depictions is not just a cliche line from TikTok intros and YouTube video titles: it legitimately shocked me.
A paper titled "Durgā Mahiṣāsuramardinī in Likely Tantric Buddhist Context from the Northern Indian Subcontinent to 11th-Century Bali" by Ambra Calo outlined the few cases of Durga's image found in Buddhist architecture in Bali. For later traditions of esoteric Buddhism involving Durga, Calo had this to say:
Mahendradattā’s [a historical Bali queen] association with Durgā rites and the perception of her as a sorceress and practitioner of black magic, is based on a 14th-century ritual drama, the Calon Arang, written during the Majapahit period (late 13th–16th centuries). The demonised description of Durgā and, by association, of Mahendradattā also, has been discussed by Hariani Santiko, who highlights a shift in the perception of Durgā. Identifying Durgā as the main goddess of Śaktism and Śaivism, rather than having a Tantric Buddhist context, she concludes that she “started out as a goddess who aided humankind and was worshipped in Tantric rituals [but] became a demonic female rākṣasī” in the Calon Arang.
What I took from this paragraph is, imagine if a traditional, goodhearted protagonist of a story who is specifically known for her defeating of villains somehow herself became a villain. If a goddess who has been known for centuries by millions of devotees can also be perceived in some part of human history and the world as being a demon, then surely any spirit can become a demon.
This supports some thoughts of demons I have had since I started developing relationships with some of the Goetia about a year ago. People have a variety of experiences with all types of spirits, but this variety expands when it comes to well known demons. We know that the likely authors of "goetic grimoires" of the 15th century and earlier in Europe were Christians. Their writing is usually framed by the imperative to be a good and pious Christian while doing this work. This is also how they justified reaching out to the demons in order to get results—usually wealth and repute if not also love—that were considered socially unacceptable within the confines of Christian Europe. Essentially, the process of demonization of these spirits allowed these individuals to get what they wanted from them while continuing to shit on them, which not coincidentally is the same type of behavior Christians exhibited toward nearby Jews in these same time periods.
I have read and heard an endless amount of stories from currently living individuals who have interacted with demons in some capacity. The vast majority of these interactions and relationships are positive. They provide an array of benefits ranging from productivity and increase of material stability to emotional support and intimacy. But there is still the odd story, excepting the cases where the person involved clearly has a mental health or other perception problem, where the meeting of the demon is dangerous or negative. I have talked about my own earlier thoughts about demons, but one still wonders why this occurs.
Frankly... I think if Durga out of all spirits can have a demonized form, like my mother spirit Astaroth is traceably a demonized form of the Ugaritic goddess Astarte, basically if you expect demon, you get demon. You expect evil, malice, fear, you get all of those. But if you approach the spirit with genuine openness, curiosity, and a request for their aid for them to behave in manners that are helpful, you are most likely going to get something that is willing to help you. Being a good, helpful person and assuming that others also want to be good and helpful is not just a mystical spiritual aim that leads you to higher places, it is a practical application that pays off in near immediacy in spiritual endeavors.
