Fallen angels—demons—are in a perpetual state of sorrow or misery, it is not the emotion of sadness as we experience emotions. Emotions as we know them are associated with our bodies. Rather, their sorrow is an act of their intellect and will: “nothing else than the resistance of the will to what is, or to what is not (see Thomas Aquinas, ST I:64:3).” Demons hate God’s will, yet they know that in one way or another it is always done (19:6). This knowledge makes them unhappy. Moreover, the demonic will is not done, and so they are in misery.
Just as the good angels are in some sense always in heaven, but they can also be in our physical world, the same—or rather, the opposite—is true of the demons. In some sense they are always in hell, but we know that they are also in our world.
Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world (1 Pet. 5:8-9).
This appears to be the inspiration of a line from the St. Michael prayer attributed to Pope Leo XIII: “Cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits, who roam throughout the world, seeking the ruin of souls.”
Incidentally, in the story of Adam and Eve, it sounds as if Satan took the form of a snake, or took possession of one and used the animal to tempt Eve, and that, as a consequence, God’s curse changed the nature of snakes, having them crawl for the rest of time.
The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life” (Gen. 3:14).
We are not obliged to believe this to be a literal description: describing the devil as a serpent condemned to crawl upon his belly could simply be a figurative way of referring to the devil’s sin and stealth (ST I:63:6, obj. 2). However, it is certainly possible that Genesis does give an actual physical description. Maybe God created snakes as a species of four-legged flying lizard, and due to that one moment of possession by Satan, they have been legless crawlers since the time of our first parents. It is inexplicable how many disparate cultures throughout the world have had stories and artwork of dragons, and believed them to be actual creatures with intellect and will. Reading the Genesis story as a dragon conversing with Eve, successfully tempting her to sin, then being doomed to crawl in the dust until the end of the world would both make a great story and explain the historical worldwide folklore.
Whatever be the case, the prince of demons is to be guarded against as a serpent and will ultimately receive a serpent’s punishment (Isa. 27:1; 2 Cor. 11:3; Rev. 12:9, 20:2).
In the Dark Atmosphere
And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him (Rev. 12:9).
Notice that this verse does not say the demons were cast into hell, but rather that they were cast to the earth. In the book of Job, when God asks Satan where he has come from, the latter replies, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it” (1:7, 2:2).
We may wonder why God allows the demons such latitude in our world. Wouldn’t it make more sense to confine them in some place where they can do no harm, whether hell or the constellation Horologium or the bottom of Lake Huron?
God wills that angels contribute to our good in two ways, directly and indirectly (ST I:114:1, II-II:165:1). In the direct sense, he helps us to do good and to avoid evil, and the good angels take part in this. Indirectly, God wills our good by allowing demons to tempt us; by resisting them, we become spiritually stronger and grow in holiness. The result is that even though they are fallen, the demons continue to be of service to humanity.
In any event, the demons are here, and we must deal with them. St. Augustine used a fascinating Latin phrase to describe where the demons are in this world: the aer caliginosus (see ST I:64:4). This has been translated variously as dark atmosphere, misty air, or murky vapor. Keeping in mind that angels—and demons—are said to be in the place where they exert their power, it appears that Augustine is describing the temptations of the demons as they try to darken our intellects to what is good and true.
Recall the “Legion” of demons that possessed the Gerasene man. The Gospel includes an interesting detail: when Jesus was about to cast them out, they “begged him eagerly not to send them out of the country,” asking leave to enter a nearby herd of swine instead (Mark 5:10-12).
This sounds odd. Was there something in particular they liked about the geographical location? They may have simply wanted to stay in order to further torment human beings (see ST I:64:4, ad. 3). But it still leaves us wondering what they liked about the place. It may be a form of the devil mocking God: since God has places that are sacred to him, the devil mocks him by doing evil in particular places. Those who believe in haunted places often attribute the haunting to evil or tragedy that took place there. It could be that these are the very places that demons are more active.
A Devil by Any Other Name
The rebel angels were led by one in particular: the devil. Who is this leader of the demons? The book of Revelation calls him “the great dragon, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan” (Rev. 12:9).
Devil comes from diabolos, meaning slanderer or accuser; Satan means adversary. And yet Isaiah called him Lucifer or Morning Star, indicating that he was created good. On one occasion, the Pharisees opposed to Jesus refer to Beelzebul, the prince of demons; in Jesus’ response, he identifies Beelzebul as Satan (Matt. 12: 24-27).
Beelzebub is the name of a Canaanite false god; it translates as Lord of the Flies. On another occasion Jesus refers to him as the ruler of this world or the prince of this world, depending on the translation of the Latin word princeps (John 12:31).
Who is this angelic person with so many names and titles? It is a popular belief that Satan was the highest of angels. Eminent theologians and saints such as Gregory the Great and Thomas Aquinas have thought this likely. However, it is not an article of faith. Another possibility is that Satan is simply the highest of one of the lower choirs of angels, or the highest among those who have fallen. The higher the angel, the greater (by definition) its excellence, and therefore the greater motivation it has for pride. This supports the idea of Satan being the highest of all angels. On the other hand, the same excellence of higher angels might make them less prone to sin, and therefore Satan may have come from a lower choir (see ST I:63:7). For instance, St. John of Damascus described Satan as the highest of the angel choir whose role is to govern the corporeal world (as distinct from those choirs exclusively in heaven) and that the other angels who fell were subject to him in this choir (De Fide Orthodoxa 2:4).
In addition to Satan, several other fallen angels are identified by name in the Bible. Asmodeus, who appears in the book of Tobit killing the husbands of Sarah, means Demon of Wrath (3:8). St. Paul refers to the demon Belial, translated Lawlessness or Pestilence (2 Cor. 6:15). In the book of Revelation, there is a terrifying description of an army of demons wreaking havoc on the earth before Judgment Day: “They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon” (9:11). These are translated Destroyer or Exterminator. Finally, Psalm 91:6 refers to the “destruction that wastes at noonday,” which is sometimes translated Noonday Demon; rather than being a personal name, this is usually considered to be a personification of the mortal sin of acedia.
Though Jesus drove demons out of many people, only one of these exorcisms is described in detail, which is that of the Gerasene (Mark 5:1-13, Luke 8:26-33; cf. Matt. 8:28-32). This is also the only time Jesus asked the name of a possessing demon. According to Mark and Luke, it appears that the demons were disobeying Jesus to the extent that they were capable, at least momentarily; Jesus’ question was formulated in the second-person singular, but instead of giving an individual name, the demon gives the name as a group: “My name is Legion, for we are many” (Mark 5:9, Luke 8:30). In cases of possession, it is typical to have multiple possessing demons, with the strongest one being the leader.
But Jesus does not need the names of demons to expel them; he says one word, and they immediately leave.
And he said to them, Go. So they came out and went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the waters (Matt. 8:32).
Learn more fascinating details about angels and demons, backed up by the Church’s tradition, in Fr. Mike Driscoll’s new book Angelic Answers, available for sale in the Catholic Answers shop.