Fear of evil spirits (demons)

Fear of evil spirits (demons)
An abnormal and persistent fear of evil supernatural beings in persons who believe such beings exist and roam freely to cause harm. Those who suffer from this phobia realize their fear is excessive or irrational. Nevertheless, they become unduly anxious when discussing demons, when venturing alone into woods or a dark house, or when watching films about demonic possession and exorcism. Fear of evil spirits is termed "demonophobia," a word derived from the Greek "daimon" (deity, evil spirit) and "phobos" (fear). "Daimon" also gives us the English word "demonize," a verb widely used today to brand a person, such as a political opponent, as unfit or untrustworthy.

Medical dictionary. 2011.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Demons (novel) — Demons (also known as The Devils or The Possessed) …   Wikipedia

  • DEMONS, DEMONOLOGY — A demon is an evil spirit, or devil, in the ordinary English usage of the term. This definition is, however, only approximate. In polytheistic religions the line between gods and demons is a shifting one: there are both good demons and gods who… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Fear (novel) — Infobox Book name = Fear title orig = translator = image caption = author = L. Ron Hubbard illustrator = cover artist = country = United States language = English series = subject = genre = Horror novella publisher = Unknown Fantasy Fiction… …   Wikipedia

  • Ethereal being — Water nymph by John Collier, 1923. Ethereal beings, according to some belief systems and occult theories, are mystic entities that usually are not made of ordinary matter. Despite the fact that they are believed to be essentially incorporeal,… …   Wikipedia

  • witchcraft — /wich kraft , krahft /, n. 1. the art or practices of a witch; sorcery; magic. 2. magical influence; witchery. [bef. 950; ME wicchecraft, OE wiccecraeft. See WITCH, CRAFT] Syn. 1. See magic. * * * Introduction  the exercise or invocation of… …   Universalium

  • biblical literature — Introduction       four bodies of written works: the Old Testament writings according to the Hebrew canon; intertestamental works, including the Old Testament Apocrypha; the New Testament writings; and the New Testament Apocrypha.       The Old… …   Universalium

  • List of Samurai Shodown characters — This is a list of characters appearing in the Samurai Shodown series. Characters included into the list are characters exclusive to the fighting games and not the spin offs or mobile games. Contents 1 3D series characters 2 Characters 2.1 Shiro… …   Wikipedia

  • \@Vampire Mythology: Bibliography —   [↑] @Vampire Mythology   Abbott, George Frederick. Macedonian Folklore. Cambridge, MA: University Press, 1903. Abrahams, Roger D. The ManofWords in the West Indies: Performance and the Emergence of Creole Culture. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins… …   Encyclopedia of vampire mythology

  • Vampire — For other uses, see Vampire (disambiguation). The Vampire, by Philip Burne Jones, 1897 Vampires …   Wikipedia

  • Demon — For other uses, see Demon (disambiguation). St. Anthony plagued by demons, as imagined by Martin Schongauer, in the 1480s. A demon (or daemon, from Ancient Greek, δαίμων), is a supernatural being from various religions, occultisms, literatures,… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”