In The Company Of Demons

Who are the familiar spirits of classical culture and what is their relationship to Christian demons? In its interpretation of Latin and Greek culture, Christianity contends that Satan is behind all classical deities, semi-gods, and spiritual creatures, including the gods of the household, the lares and penates.But with In the Company of Demons, the world’s leading demonologist Armando Maggi argues that the great thinkers of the Italian Renaissance had a more nuanced and perhaps less sinister interpretation of these creatures or spiritual bodies. Maggi leads us straight to the heart of what Italian Renaissance culture thought familiar spirits were. Through close readings of Giovan Francesco Pico della Mirandola, Strozzi Cigogna, Pompeo della Barba, Ludovico Sinistrari, and others, we find that these spirits or demons speak through their sudden and striking appearances—their very bodies seen as metaphors to be interpreted. The form of the body, Maggi explains, relies on the spirits’ knowledge of their human interlocutors’ pasts. But their core trait is compassion, and sometimes their odd, eerie arrivals are seen as harbingers or warnings to protect us. It comes as no surprise then that when spiritual beings distort the natural world to communicate, it is vital that we begin to listen.

The brutal murder of a friend leaves lawyer John Coleman stunned and sends shockwaves through the city of Cleveland. The technique of the killing recalls memories of the Torso Murderer, who dismembered at least twelve people decades ago and then vanished—eluding even legendary crime fighter Eliot Ness. Jennifer, the victim’s beautiful daughter, hires John to handle her father’s estate, and romantic feelings for her soon complicate his already troubled marriage. When John finds himself entangled with a cold-blooded biker gang, an ex-cop with a fuzzy past, and the drug-addicted son of the dead man, he struggles to make sense of it all. ​But he cannot shake a growing sense of dread.

Father Thomas Garrity is a Catholic priest who unexpectedly comes face to face with a horrific demon. Through fate or demonic manipulation, he winds up substituting for a prison chaplain who mysteriously committed suicide and was counseling a serial killer condemned on death row. Garrity meets with the convict, who at first is mute, and then becomes all too talkative, claiming to be a demon. A naïve Father Garrity assumes he is dealing with a schizophrenic. Truly possessed by the demon Furfur, the inmate begins his attack on Father Garrity. As all Catholic priests, Garrity is uneducated and unskilled at confronting the supernatural, much less a demon. This demon is intent on destroying Garity's faith in God through any means possible. The one problem is that this "inmate" will be executed in a week, so time is of the essence. At first Garrity thinks that he must only survive until the execution, but then finds he will become hunted afterward by a demon that will transfer to a whole new body. Furfur, a documented fallen angel taken from demonology, initially attempts to overwhelm Garrity with his knowledge and history. Failing, he escalates his efforts to violence, and eventually murders. Father Garrity, as all common parish priests, is inexperienced, but is desperate to defeat this demon, even though his path is crammed with obstacles. He is surrounded by non-believers and a Catholic organization that has created an impossible bureaucracy which frowns on the very mention of exorcism. The demon Furfur intends to deliver the soul of this convict to hell and then transfer himself to another person and continue to torment the priest. Father Garrity finds that Furfur, in documented demonology, ranks high in the hierarchy of hell and has 150,000 demons at his command. Although in prison, Furfur can torture the priest through hurting those close to him simply by using his legions. Father Garrity reaches out to the Vatican and eventually enlists the help of the official head Exorcist. He is also aided by an unofficial American exorcist. Their realization that the limited time until the execution is nowhere near adequate for an exorcism, makes for an unsolvable dilemma.

Demons of Domesticity offers a social history of the English gas industry from the 1880s to the late 1930s, with an emphasis on the corporations that served London and the Home Counties. It documents the hitherto unexamined role that women played in the development of the industry by considering two major interlocking themes: the expansion of sales occupations for women in the English gas industry, and the parallel growth and diversification of the industry's marketing strategies. During the late-nineteenth century, the home became the focal point for a number of debates concerning female employment and gender roles. As an increasing number of labour saving domestic devices came onto the market women found themselves targeted by manufacturing companies and utility suppliers, both as consumers and advocates. Foremost among these companies were representatives of the gas industry who actively addressed domestic issues. As the promoters, purveyors and consumers of domestic technology, Demons of Domesticity suggests that English female employees and consumers were not the hapless dupes of corporate marketing, but instead had clear ideas about how domestic technology could and should be used to reconfigure the public and private spaces of work and home.

The Sinhalese exorcism rituals are perhaps the most complex and the most magnificent in performance still extant. For this second edition, the author has written a new preface and introduction in which he argues that the techniques of healing in Sri Lanka and the aesthetics of this healing cannot be reduced to Western psychoanalytic or psychotherapeutic terms, and develops new and original approaches to ritual and the aesthetic in general.

For seeker Raine Benares, a demon infestation on the Isle of Mid couldn't come at a worse time. Already fighting the influence of the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone, Raine discovers she is also magically bonded to a dark mage and a white knight, two dangerous and powerful men on opposing sides. Turns out, the demons want the key to unlock the Saghred. As a seeker, Raine should be able to find it first. As the axis of light and dark powers, she's a magical cataclysm waiting to happen.

In his own inimitable style Ramsey Dukes takes us through the advantages and dangers of hobnobbing with Demons. However for him Demons are very much our own creations; lifes problems and challenges personified and given form. We can either be their slaves or strike bargains and get back into the driving seat. With his characteristic wit and wisdom, Uncle Ramsey takes us on a rollercoaster ride through our own subconscious in a sustained effort for us to accept and negotiate with lifes challenges.

GREETINGS potential Shadow Company recruits and heroes! This is an ongoing fictional series that represents a NEW way to view the age-old notion of "good versus evil" by putting a modern and funny twist on it. (Make no mistake, there is still plenty of suspense and drama to be had in this series!) If you like the idea that there are guardians out there protecting you from the everyday scourge of demonic entities that could be waiting to enter your lives, then you will love this series! These characters come from very different, and diverse backgrounds. Despite their constant humorous bantering, and vast difference in origins, they DO still manage to work together to save people just like you from demons that are trying to drag them to HELL! They are also very "real" in the way of their conduct, even though they actually ARE warriors gifted by a higher power. There is even a military "element" to this series, and a "secret" underground network of demon hunters that will be fully revealed in the next volume! You might actually believe these characters could be hanging out with you, while having a bite of pizza and a glass of wine. (Even if you don't like wine, you must like pizza!) This series is also designed to help celebrate heroes...ALL heroes who protect us everyday. Whether they are protecting us from earthly enemies or otherworldly ones, it doesn't matter. A hero IS a hero, just the same! This series isn't designed to lock the reader into any specific religious belief either. If you believe that there is something GREATER than you out there watching over this earth, then you will enjoy the Stormy's Shadow Company gang. There are even angels (one part human), working together with them as part of the team. Also, the great underlying message here is that they ARE all different, but are ALL working together for the betterment of humankind. (God knows we can use a message like THAT in today's world.) Is Stormy's Shadow Company Of Demon Hunters based in reality at all?...maybe so, but I am not telling! Just believe that there really are heroes out there today looking out for ALL of you....no matter where they are, or where they come from!**I also wanted to share the fact that a portion of my proceeds will be used to support wounded veteran's programs!