If you’re wondering what any of the above mentioned critters have to do with aliens, it’s that there are those who think that each of them is responsible for posing as aliens from another world forsinister reasons. Bwah-hahahahahahahaha. Sorry, I got carried away. Anyway, I thought it might be useful to take a look at them and see if there might be any merit to these assertions. And since I’ve already declared myself a proponent of the paraphysical hypothesis of UFOs, and all three of these types of beings are purported paraphysical entities, I suppose I have no choice but to consider the possibility.
Part I: Demons
“But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?”—Mark Twain
I’ll start with these guys because we all think that we know what they are. Actually, the term demon (not to be confused with daemon, which is where the word came from but describes a completely different type of being) is so pervasive and ambiguous that it can mean practically any kind of malevolent spiritual being, depending on where you live and what your spiritual beliefs are. To further complicate matters, some scholars of the same religion may disagree on whether a certain being is an actual demon or something else. Many times the god or gods of one religion would be cast as demons in another. That’s where a lot of Christian demons came from, and what better way to discredit a rival religion than by branding all of its followers as demon worshipers? To further complicate matters, some demons were feared but also revered, worshipped and sometimes even considered useful.
Incidentally, one type of Hebrew demon was called se’irim, which means “hairy ones” and makes me wonder if something like a senate of Sasquatches (that’s the official term for a group of them) was running around the Holy Lands back then and being labeled as demons. These creatures are often seen in relation to UFOs. The Pacific Northwest has been a UFO hotspot for decades. It’s where the term “flying saucers” came from. Maybe the Hebrews were already equating the UFO phenomenon and all of its trappings with demons way back then. But I digress.
Anyway, perhaps nowhere is this demonic ambiguity more evident than in the case of Pazuzu in modern Western culture and Middle Eastern mythology. For those of you don’t remember or have never seen the movie The Exorcist (shame on you!), Pazuzu was the Satanic entity who took possession of poor little Regan MacNeil and started throwing people out of windows, vomiting up green goo and just being a gigantic pain in the ass in general until two priests managed to kick him out while getting themselves killed in the process.
In Assyrian mythology, Pazuzu was the demon who brought droughts and plagues of locusts, but he was also seen as a protector, especially by pregnant women because he frightened away other demons like Lamashtu, his rival who caused death during childbirth, which I’m guessing was pretty common at the time. She was also said to steal and eat babies, so pregnant women and new mothers often wore amulets of Pazuzu’s head or kept figurines of him in their homes as protection.
That a demon could be both evil and a protector is a foreign concept to most Westerners. In any case, Pazuzu has absolutely no connection whatsoever with the Judeo-Christian Satan as was portrayed in The Exorcist, and I have no idea why William Peter Blatty would choose this demon to be his evil bad guy when there’s a whole host (literally) of demons in Christian lore to choose from. If I were Astaroth (and who says I’m not?), I’d feel downright snubbed.
Interestingly, for some unknown reason, Pazuzu is usually depicted as having his right hand raised, as if he has a question, while his left hand remains at his side, giving the impression that the ancient Assyrians, who may have invented beer (God love ‘em), might also have believed that he came up with the fiendishly clever drinking game One Up, One Down. You never know.
Most Christian theology is more straightforward: a demon is a fallen angel, period. Reasons as to why they fell vary, but the standard company line is that Lucifer tried to overthrow God and got kicked out of Heaven for it. A less accepted theory is that some of the angels lusted for human women and left Heaven voluntarily to come down to Earth to bump uglies with the locals, which apparently makes this place the celestial equivalent of Tijuana. These are the Nephilim referred to in Genesis 6, and who or what they are/were is a rather lengthy discussion unto itself.
So what does any of this have to do with aliens? Well I’ll tell you. Many of the paranormal aspects of the UFO phenomenon have these entities displaying abilities generally ascribed to demons, such as telepathy, psychokinesis and the ability to change forms. There is also the poltergeist-like activity that sometimes afflicts UFO witnesses and also those believed to be under demonic attack. There’s also the smell of sulfur which is traditionally associated with demons and is frequently reported in connection with UFO encounters.
Those who subscribe to the “aliens from another planet” hypothesis tend to downplay, if not completely ignore, these aspects of the UFO phenomenon. According to the “aliens are really demons” crowd, this plays right into Satan’s hand. Soon his “aliens” will land and appear to solve all of our problems, while in reality he will be leading us away from God and bringing about the Apocalypse. Naturally, most proponents of the paraphysical explanation for UFOs and their occupants do not claim that they believe them to be demons, although the observations and speculations about these beings by some are so close to descriptions of demons that it becomes more a matter of terminology than anything else – a distinction without a difference. It’s more the religious types who come right out and say that the aliens are actually agents of Satan, if not the big boss himself. Then again, why is it always devils with these people? Why is it never angels? These things may not seem very angelic on the surface, but maybe angels aren’t what we think they are.
Is it fair to brand the intelligence behind UFOs as demons simply because they sometimes seem to have a sinister component or simply out of fear or religious preconceptions? I would say that it isn’t if they weren’t so deceptive about who they are and what they’re up to. Just the same, I have a hard time declaring them malevolent, let alone Satanic, just because I don’t understand them. We don’t even know how many different types of beings we may be dealing with or if they are all on the same side. The idea of a Luciferian rebellion pops up again and again in both UFO and spiritual lore. Maybe there’s more to it than just religious myth.
Even before the paranormal aspect of UFOs was known, there were people who thought that they were the work of the Devil. Of course, most of these are the same people who think that everything that they don’t like or can’t understand is the work of the Devil. I’ve met people who think that martial arts and yoga are Satanic, apparently because Jesus didn’t do them, although who’s to say that he wouldn’t have if there had been a dojo or ashram in Galilee at the time. Praise kickboxing Jesus!
Just to wrap this section up, I should point out that, according to Saint Albertus Magnus, demonology is taught by demons, teaches about demons, and leads to demons. That statement got my attention because it is eerily similar to John Keel’s observation/warning that the best way to find the paranormal is to take an interest in it, and also Dr. John Lilly’s caveat that Cosmic Coincidence Control Center pays special attention to those who pay attention to it. Pursue the supernatural at your own risk, people, and keep your rubber chicken (and maybe a dog whistle) within arm’s reach at all times.
The answer to Twain’s question, by the way, is the Process Church. They prayed for Satan.
