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Alastor
According to Christian
demonology,
a cruel
demon
who was the chief executor of the
decrees
handed down by the monarch of
Hades
and his court. He is also described as a cacoademon.
Evil genies
and spirits were also called Alastors by the ancients. In early Roman
demonology this was the name given to the evil
genius of a house.
In the ancient
Greek
period the word meant 'avenging god' or 'avenging deity', literally 'he who does
not forget'. It was used to designate an evil spirit of vengeance, usually associated with Nemesis, the
goddess of divine retribution who signified the gods' disapproval of human
presumption. These entities were also connected with inflicting and spreading
pestilence, and were said that, on their pursuit to exact revenge upon
wrongdoers, would bring further punishment upon their descendants, if thought
that offenders died too soon, before suffering all that was due.
Alastor was the personification of blood feuds between families, and
would direct men to commit unspeakable crimes and sins. Formerly a
plain mortal, son of Neleus, King of Pylos, after being slain by
Heracles, Alastor became a minor demon.
In his 'Dictionnaire Infernal',
Colin de Plancy writes about Alastor:
"Alastor is known by
Zoroaster as the "executioner," and as Azazel
to Origin. In the infernal hierarchy, he is the Nemesis. The ancients
called evil spirits "alastores." Plutarch says that Cicero hated
Augustus so much that he conceived of a plan to kill himself outside
Augustus' foyer, in order to become his alastor."
See
Heptameron,
Demonology,
Demonomancy,
Grimoires,
Casting Black Magic Spells,
Commanding Spirits,
The Tarot Store and
Divination & Scrying Tools and
Supplies.
Sources: (1) Masello, Robert,
Fallen Angels. . . and Spirits of the Dark,
The Berkley Publishing Group; (2) Spence, Lewis,
An Encyclopedia of
Occultism, Carol Publishing Group; (3) de Plancy,
Collin, Dictionnaire Infernal,
Editions; (4)
Dictionary of the
Occult, Caxton
Publishing; (5)
The Encyclopaedia
Britannica Eleventh Edition Handy Volume Edition, Oxford
University Press; (6) Rose, Carol,
Spirits, Fairies,
Leprechauns, and Goblins: An Encyclopedia, W. W. Norton & Company.
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