DAEMONOLATRIA

M

Malephar

See Valafar.

Malphas

Grand President of Hell, commander of forty legions. He builds impregnable citadels and towers, overthrows the Temples and Towers of his enemies, finds good workmen, gives familiar spirits, receives sacrifices and deceives the sacrificers. He is depicted as a crow with a hoarse voice, though will assume human form if commanded.

Mandragoras

Familiar demons who appear in the figures of little men without beards. The name is also applied to the plant popularly known as mandrake, whose roots resemble human form and were believed to be inhabited by demons.

Mara

A Buddhist demon who attempts to trick people into damning their souls.

Marbas

A great president, who appears as a mighty lion, but will take human form if the conjuror wishes. He answers fully concerning all things hidden or secret.He causes and cures diseases, promotes wisdom, and the knowledge of mechanical arts or handicrafts.He changes men into various shapes. One of the three demons in service to Lucifuge. He commands thirty-six legions.
Also called Barbas.

Marchosias

A mighty marquis, appears in the form of a wolf with the wings of a griffin, a serpent's tail, and fire issuing from his mouth. At the command of the operator he assumes a human form. He is strong in battle, gives true answers to all questions, and is extremely faithful to the exorcist. He belongs to the Order of Dominations.

Marthim

See Bathym.

Martinet

The demonic ambassador to Switzerland.

Maskim

Among the major classes of Sumerian demons, the seven Maskim were the most powerful ones. Their name is usually interpreted as meaning 'ensnarers' or 'layers of ambushes.' Their dwelling place was said to have been the bowels of the earth, or the heights of the mountains. Ancient Sumerian tablets say that

     'they are neither male nor female, those who stretch themselves out like chaind; they do

     not take wives, they do not make children; they are strangers to benevolence and listen

     neither to prayers nor to wishes'

These formidable demons had a cosmic character, that is, their actions affected the general order of the universe:

     'They, the seven, proceeding from the Western Mountains,

     They, the seven, increasing the Eastern Mountain.'

This inscription attributes to the Maskim the power to go against the normal course of nature. By causing the earth to tremble, they were nicknamed the 'terror of the earth's mass.' They could even interrupt the movements of the stars in the sky.

But besides these elemental concerns, the Maskim were also known to attack men; harming them with spells, conjuring

     'the evil command which issues from the midst of heaven; the evil fate which springs

     from the depth of the abyss.'

Another tablet sums up their fearful actions as follows:

     "From the four corners the thrust of their advance burns like fire,

     They violently invade the dwellings of man,

     They lay bare the town as well as the country,

     They stomp the free man and the slave.'

Mastema

Mastema is mentioned only in The Book of Jubilees and in the Fragments of a Zadokite Work.

In the Book of Jubilees, Mastema seems to be identified with Satan. He asked the Lord that some of the spirits might be allowed to remain with him to do his will. God granted his request and allowed one tenth of the spirits to remain with Mastema, while the other nine parts would be condemned. He seems to be of a different nature than those evil spirits he is pleading for. He has no concern that he will be bound with the others.

     "When Mastema, the leader of the spirits, came, he said: 'Lord creator, leave some of

     them before me; let them listen to me and do everything that I tell them, because if none

     of them is left for me I shall not be able to exercise the authority of my will among

     mankind. For they are meant for (the purposes of) destroying and misleading before my

     punishment because the evil of mankind is great.' Then he said that a tenth of them

     should be left before him, while he would make nine parts descend to the place of

     judgment." - Jubilees 10:8-9

The name Mastema is probable derived from the Hebrew, Mastim, the Hiphil participle of Satam, and it means 'one who is adverse' or 'inimical.' The word is equivalent to Satan (adversary). The term is sometimes used in the plural, which indicates that there was a class of 'the Mastema' as well as one prince, Mastema. This is similar to the chief Satan and his class of Satans (see 1 Enoch 40:7).

Jubilees implies that Mastema is subservient to God. His task is simply to tempt men to sin and if they do, he accuses them before the Throne of God. He does not initiate the process of sin, but Mastema and his spirits then lead them on to greater wrongdoing. This is related to the Biblical function of Satan, where men can achieve righteousness if they are tempted and resist.

     "And they made for themselves molten images, and they worshipped each the idol, the

     molten image which they had made for themselves, and they began to make graven

     images and unclean simulacra, and malignant spirits assisted and seduced (them) into

     committing transgression and uncleanness. And the prince Mastema exerted himself to

     do all this, and he sent forth other spirits, those which were put under his hand, to do all

     manner of wrong and sin, and all manner of transgression, to corrupt and destroy and

     to shed blood upon the earth. For this reason he called the name of Seroh, Serug, for

     every one turned to do all manner of sin and transgression. - Jubilees 11:4-6

This portrayal of Mastema is not always consistent because sometimes he also is also presented as the incarnate of evil. He is seen as a destroyer and as one who hates Israel.

According to Jubilees, it was Mastema (not Sammael) who urged God to test the piety of Abraham (as Satan did with Job) by demanding Isaac as a sacrifice.

     "Then Prince Mastema came and said before God: 'Abraham does indeed love his son

     Isaac and finds him more pleasing than anyone else. Tell him to offer him as a sacrifice

     on an altar. Than you will see whether he performs this order and will know whether he

     is faithful in everything through which you test him.'" - Jubilees 17:16

Mastema is also attributed with certain actions that are ascribed to God, Himself. In Jubilees, it is Mastema who made an attack on Moses' life, not God (Exodus 4:24). This is similar 1 Chronicles 21:1 and 2 Samuel 24:1 where Satan is attributed to asking David to take a census, as opposed to God.

     "You know who spoke to you at Mt. Sinai and what the prince of Mastema wanted to

     do to you while you were returning to Egypt - on the way at the shady fir tree. Did he

     not wish with all his strength to kill you and to save the Egyptians from your power

     because he saw that you were sent to carry out punishment and revenge on the

     Egyptians?" - Jubilees 48:2-3

Mastema is also attributed to opposing Moses in Egypt. He is said to have helped the Egyptian sorcerers achieve their wonders and urged the Egyptians to pursue after the children of Israel. Mastema was even bound and imprisoned so that he might not accuse them, re-released so that he might help the Egyptians, and finally bound again. (48:15-19)

     "And the prince Mastema stood up against thee, and sought to cast thee into the hands

     of Pharaoh, and he helped the Egyptian sorcerers, and they stood up and wrought

     before thee the evils indeed we permitted them to work, but the remedies we did not

     allow to be wrought by their hands." - Jubilees 48:9-10

     "And notwithstanding all (these) signs and wonders the prince Mastema was not put to

     shame because he took courage and cried to the Egyptians to pursue after thee with all

     the powers of the Egyptians, with their chariots, and with their horses, and with all the

     hosts of the peoples of Egypt." - Jubilees 48:12

Also, Mastema is attributed with slaying the first-born in the land of Egypt, which is attributed to the Lord in Exodus 12:29.

     "For on this night -the beginning of the festival and the beginning of the joy- ye were

     eating the passover in Egypt, when all the powers of Mastema had been let loose to

     slay all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh to the

     first-born of the captive maid-servant in the mill, and to the cattle." - Jubilees 49:2

The Fragments briefly mention that if a penitent sinner vows to improve and then lives accordingly, the angel of Mastema departs from him.

Because of these similarities with the traditional role of Satan as portrayed in the Old Testament, it is probable that Mastema is just an apocalyptic name for Satan.

Mastiphal

The name given to the prince of demons in an apocryphal book entitled Little Genesis, which was quoted by the Greek monk and historian Cedrenus (11th century).

Mbwiri

A Central African demon considered to regard good living with aversion.

Mejenkwaad

A type of demon in the Marshall Islands. These demons are almost exclusively female. When a woman was pregnant, often her husband would sail off to go and collect gifts or special food, etc. for his wife. However, if he was gone for too long a period of time, the pregnant woman would turn into a mejenkwaad. Very often this would mean she'd eat her newborn child. When the husband arrived, she'd go after him as well. The story of Lokokelok tells of a man who evades being eaten by a mejenkwaad through a series of tricks he plays on her.

Melchom

A demon worshipped by the Ammonites and described as the treasurer of the house of infernal princes.

Mephistopheles

One of the seven chief devils.

Merihim

A demon prince whose chief power lies in pestilence.

Midday Demons

Ancient peoples frequently made mention of certain demons who became visible especially towards midday to those with whom they had a pact. They appeared in the form of men or of beasts, and let themselves be enclosed in a symbolic character, a figure, a vial, or in the interior of a hollow ring.

Moloch

In the Old Testament, Moloch was an evil deity called the 'abomination of the Ammonites.'

Worshipped as a sun god, Moloch embodied the savage and devastating aspects of the sun's heat. He was also thought to be the bringer of plagues.

The Ammonites erected huge bronze statues in his honour, depicting him as a bull-headed colossus with extremely long arms, sitting on a throne of brass. His rites included human sacrifices, especially the immolation of firstborn infants. This sacrifice was said to be the most powerful way to avert disaster and death from the community at large.

The Greeks, who identified him with a Carthaginian deity of male principle, compared Moloch to Cronos. This titan usurped his father's throne and killed him. To make sure that the same fate should not befall him, Cronos devoured his own children. In time the name Moloch came to be applied to any number of cruel doctrines and evil practices.

Moloch (or Saturn-Moloch) is also identified with Baal Hammon in Carthaginian religion, in which human sacrifice was performed to appease the god. An example of a religious tablet reads as such:

     "To the Goddess to Tanath the countenance of Baal;

     To the Lord to Baal Hammon, a man vowed,

     Even Abshamban, a votary of Ashtarte and a filial

     Devotee of Ashmon: as thou hearest the supplication,

     Do Thou Bless!"

Infants were not the only ones sacrificed in Carthage. Justin writes:

     "they used as a remedy a bloody piece of religion and a horrid abomination. For they

     sacrificed men as victims, and brought to the altars children..., begging the favour of the

     gods by shedding the blood..."

Ancient descriptions of the sacrificial sites were described.

     "Unlike the houses of the other idols, that of Moloch was set outside the city. It was

     gigantic in form and had the head of what appeared to be an ox, the hands stretched

     out as if to receive something, the body was hollow inside. Before the idol, there were

     seven temples, the first six of which were employed for the sacrifice of various fowl and

     animals, the seventh reserved for a human sacrifice."

Diodorus described the ritualistic sacrifice. First, the devotee would kiss the image of Moloch. He would then make a fire under the idol, which would quickly cause the hands of the statue to become red-hot. A victim would then be placed in the hands to suffer an agonizing death. His cries would be muffled by the drums. While this was taking place, the prophets would dance around an altar,

     "with violent gesticulations, and, having excited themselves to a pitch of frenzy by it, as

     well as by their fearful vociferations they began to cut their bodies with knives and

     lancets. In this unnatural state they began to prophesy, or rather rave, as if possessed

     by some invisible power."

It was mentioned in the Old Testament that Jezebel sacrificed to Moloch, and supported 450 of these prophets.

The exact location of these sacrifices is called Topheth, a name which, according to some, was derived from the Hebrew 'toph,' meaning 'drum;' because drums were supposedly used to drown out the cries of the victims. The place was also called Hinnom in the Old Testament, because of the cries of children. Hinnom is derived from naham, which means to roar. Because of this, Moloch is often referred to as the 'prince of the valley of tears.'

According to the medieval hierarchies he was a prince of the infernal regions who receives a mother's tears with joy.

In the Kabbalistic tradition, Moloch, together with Satan, was the first of the ten evil Sephiroth. He represented the negative aspect of the first Sephiroth, Kether, also known as the 'crown of knowledge.'

Several Biblical References include:

 

    - Leviticus 18:21

     And thou shalt not let any of thy seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

   -  Leviticus 20:2

     Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.

   -  Leviticus 20:3

     And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.

   -  Leviticus 20:4

     And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill him not:

   -  Leviticus 20:5

     Then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.

  -   1 Kings 11:7

     Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.

   -  2 Kings 23:10

     And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.

    - Jeremiah 32:35

     And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

   -  Amos 5:26

     But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves.

   -  Acts 7:43

     Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.

 

Morax

A great earl and a president of Hell, who appears like a human-headed bull, and gives skill in astronomy and the liberal sciences, with good familiars. He knows the virtues of all herbs and precious stones. He has command of thirty-six of the infernal legions.
Also called Foraii.

Mountain Man

A Japanese demon who lives in the forests. Woodcutters describe him as very strong and resembling a hairy ape. To pacify him they offer him rice.

Mullin

The chief lieutenant to Leonard.

Murmur

A great duke and earl, appears in the form of a soldier riding on a griffin, and having a duke's crown on his head. He is preceded by two ministers sounding trumpets. He teaches philosophy perfectly, and constrains the souls of the dead to appear and to answer questions. He was partly of the Order of Thrones and partly of Angels.

Go Home