On TV they're cool, mysterious, and see the most disturbing things. They're able to tell you what your dealing with and how to do it. They even sometimes claim to be exorcists. The difference is figuring out who is real and who is not.
Demonology or Demonologists. The paranormal sensation on television has created a huge rise in this field. Of course if you are interested in the paranormal beyond ghost hunting, and you are trying to help those afflicted with evil spirits then you should know the basics. The issue we have with people knowing the basics is that they start referring to themselves as Demonologists when they are in fact..not. Real Demonologists and Exorcists are trained by a church of whatever denomination they are. They undergo years of spiritual training and have unwavering faith, and are trained by others who have years in the same field.
All too often what is done is someone will read a book or two, have little to no knowledge and then claim to be the real thing. While I agree that if you are in the field pursuing the spiritual aspect, then yes you absolutely should have knowledge on the subject. That does not make you a Demonologist. I know it sounds and looks fancy next to your name, but a time may come when someone will come to depend on you due to that title. Its something you need to be careful about calling yourself. You may enter a demonic case and not have the proper tools and knowledge necessary to battle said entity. In that case, you may end up getting yourself hurt, or others around you.
To those of you who dont really remember...there is more than a few religions. Sure there are the few major religions of our time Catholic, Christian, Muslim for example. What about those that are older? Pagan. By Pagan I mean those that have more than one God, most of which predate Christianity. Egyptian, Babylonian, Sumerian, just to name a few. Granted, depending on your geographical location, you probably won't encounter some of these older ones, but people need to realize that not every Demon would be responsive to the name of Jesus Christ. In Arizona where I reside, a great number of land belonged to Native Americans thus such knowledge of Native spirits would be beneficial. If you are only familiar with the Demons of Christianity and Catholicism, then you would call yourself as such or inform others of your specialty.
Even though I tend to approach cases on a scientific basis from the start, still spend some time studying this subject, as well as reading about other religions including Wicca, Hinduism, Satanism, Buddhism, etc but I would never claim myself to be a Demonologist nor an Occult expert. It just helps to have some knowledge in these subjects. Also, even if your interest is strictly Christian, Jewish, Islamic, you should know the basic misconceptions of each major religion. By Misconception I mean the rumors and lies people have been told to believe by parents, religions, friends. You can literally spend weeks combing through the misconceptions just in Christianity. Being able to separate fact from fiction is key when peoples lives hang in the balance.
Now if you are interested in reading about this subject, there are some books you can try. The trick with anything in the paranormal field is weeding through the crap and bookshelf fillers they sell in the bookstores.
One of the most famous tomes are is that has been written is The Goetia. Again, I suggest studying for knowledge purposes only, as practicing whatever is contained without following the proper guidelines could be very harmful.
Like any other subject Im not going to write a book here so please make sure to be responsible and do your research. Unlike those who get into Ghost Hunting just for the thrill, seeking Demons is not for the faint of heart. This should be left to those that are extremely faithful in their religions.
Roy-Parapsychologist in training, has been researching for over 5 years and investigating for 2.
