The Encyclopedia Of Demons And Demonology

110 Hecataea
into the body while repeating, “I adjure you by Marmaraoth”
• Rhyx Physikoreth, who causes long-term illness and
is thwarted when the afflicted massages the body
with salted olive oil while saying, “Cherubim, seraphim,
help (me)”
• Rhyx Aleureth, who causes the swallowing of fish
bones and is thwarted when a fish bone is put in the
breasts of the afflicted
• Rhyx Ichthuon, who causes detached tendons and
is thwarted by the words “Adonai, malthe”
• Rhyx Achoneoth, who causes sore throats and tonsillitis
and is thwarted by a written charm of “Leikourgos”
on ivy leaves made into a pile
• Rhyx Autoth, who causes jealousy and quarrels
between people who love each other and is thwarted
by a written charm of the letters alpha and beta
• Rhyx Phtheneoth, who casts the EVIL EYE and is
thwarted by an inscribed eye
• Rhyx Mianeth, who holds “a grudge against the
body” and causes flesh to rot and houses to be
demolished and is thwarted by a written charm,
“Melto Ardad Anaath,” placed at the entrance to a
home
Solomon forces all of these heavenly bodies to bear
water for the Temple of Jerusalem.
FURTHER READING:
The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vols. 1 & 2. Edited by
James H. Charlesworth. New York: Doubleday, 1985.
Hecataea In Greek lore, frightening DEMONs and apparitions
who are considered to be the “children” of Hecate,
goddess of the underworld, dark Moon, ghosts, and
magic. The Hecataea appear at the goddess’ bidding.
See CHTHONIC DEITIES.
Hel In Norse mythology, the goddess and ruler of Helheim,
the realm of the dead. Hel is the youngest child of
the evil god Loki and the giantess Angrboda. She is usually
described as a horrible hag, half-alive and half-dead
(half-blue-black and half-flesh-colored), with a gloomy
and grim expression. Her face and body are those of a
living woman, but her thighs and legs are those of a
corpse, mottled and moldering. Hel was cast into the
underworld after being abducted by the gods. Her hall in
Helheim is called Eljudnir (Sleet-Cold), the home of the
dead, and has high walls. Her manservant is Ganglati
and her maidservant is Ganglot (tardy).
hell The underworld abode of souls of the dead. In
Christianity, hell is the opposite of heaven and is the
place ruled by the DEVIL, where DEMONs torment sinners
for eternity. Hell is the complete absence of God, light,
and love; a place of unbearable fire and horrible tortures.
Hell takes its name from HEL, the Norse goddess of the
netherworld. Most concepts of the afterlife segregate the
good from the evil, sending them to separate abodes.
Egyptian
Amenti (also Amentet) is the underworld in the Osiris
cult of Egyptian myth and religion. Amenti, which means
“hidden land,” is located where the Sun sets in the west.
After arriving at Amenti, the soul is taken by the jackalheaded
god of death, Anubis, to a judgment hall. Anubis
weighs the soul’s heart against the feather of truth and
light, and the soul is judged by 42 judges. Worthy souls
go to the fields of Aalu (also Aaru), which are reached
by passing through either 15 or 21 gates guarded by evil
demons armed with long knives. The Elysium-like fields
were cultivated for food for the dead. Souls who fail judgment
and weighing are eaten by a monster named Ammit
(Ammut) and sent to a place of torment.
Greek
The Greek underworld of Hades is a realm of shadows.
The souls of the dead are colorless shades who wander
about in a depressing, gloomy world. According to
Homer, they have no blood or bones, twitter like bats, and
seek the vitalizing life forces from sacrificed animals and
necromantic rituals. In later Greek thought, the good are
rewarded and the wicked are punished.
The dead reach the afterlife by crossing the river Acheron,
the river of sorrow, in a boat driven by the ferryman
Charon. He must be paid for passage, usually in the form
of a coin placed under the tongue of the deceased. After
passing by the guardian, the three-headed dog CERBERUS,
the dead proceed to the place of judgment.
Hades is divided into the Elysian Fields, a paradise for
the good, and Tartarus, a hell for the wicked. There are
many rivers. Besides the Acheron, major ones are the Cocytus
(lamentation), Phlegethon (fire), Lethe (forgetfulness),
and Styx (hate), the last of which divides the upper
and lower worlds.
Three judges of the underworld, Minos, Rhadamanthus,
and Aeacus, weigh souls at a place where three
roads meet. The blessed are sent to the Elysian Fields, the
wicked are sent to Tartarus, and those who are neither are
sent to the Fields of Asphodel.
The wicked are unhappy and suffer, but not at the
hand of demons.
Early Christians used the term Hades to translate the
Hebrew term Sheol, the land of the dead.
Zoroastrianism
In Zoroastrianism, hell is created in the middle earth by
AHRIMAN, the personification of ultimate evil. In his battle
against Ohrmazd, the good god, Ahriman attacks the
earth, ripping apart the sky, thereby creating night. He
hurtles toward the earth and bores straight through it,
making a tunnel. This hole becomes hell, infested with
demons. Damned souls are sent here to suffer extremes
of heat and cold, loathsome stenches, rotting food, and
the torments of demons, who gnaw, swallow, and pierce