Demonology
An outmoded branch of theology relating to the Devil and demons, elaborated from the later Middle Ages particularly in association with belief in witches and their power to do harm. The best-known and most influential work of demonology is the Malleus maleficarum (Hammer of the Witches) by the Dominicans Kramer and Sprenger, published at Cologne in 1484. This was the main source of the idea that witches were agents of the Devil.

Devil
A supernatural evil agent thought to influence human behaviour, in many religious beliefs; when referring to a specific character in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, the chief of the evil spirits or fallen angels; also known as Satan. Devil is a rare term in the Hebrew Scriptures (where Satan is more common), but more frequent in the New Testament, where the Devil is sometimes represented as a serpent (Rev 12.9) or as a tempter (Matt 4.1). In religious literature the Devil appears in many different guises, human or animal, and with many different names (e.g. Beelzebub, Belial, ahuras, jinn). Exorcism of individuals possessed by demons is long attested in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, but cults of devil-worship (or Satanism) involving witchcraft, black magic, and the occult have persisted despite opposition throughout most of Christian history.

God
A supernatural being or power, the object of worship. In some world religions (eg Christianity, Judaism, Islam) there is one God only (monotheism), who is transcendent, all-powerful, and related to the cosmos as creator. In other religions (eg Hinduism, Classical Greek and Roman religions, and primitive religions) many gods may be recognized (polytheism), with individual gods having particular properties and powers. In the Judaeo-Christian tradition, God, though transcendent and invisible, is believed to have revealed himself in history through the life and response of the people of Israel, and, in the Christian tradition, supremely and finally in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, all as testified to in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. The conviction that Jesus stood in a unique relation to God led to the development in Christian thought of the Trinitarian understanding, whereby the one God is confessed as three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) of one substance.
In the mainstream Western tradition, influenced by Classical Greek philosophy as well as Christianity, God is conceived as 'being itself' or 'pure actuality' (St Thomas Aquinas), in whom there is no unactualized potentiality or becoming; as absolute, infinite, eternal, immutable, incomprehensible (ie unable to be comprehended by human thought), all-powerful (omnipotent), all-wise (omniscient), all-good (omnibenevolent), and everywhere present (omnipresent). He is also said to be impassible, or incapable of suffering. The fact that the New Testament sums up its understanding of God as 'Love' (1 John 4.8), coupled with the apparent fact of evil in the world, has led to various modifications of this traditional Western conception. Thus God is sometimes understood as all-good but finite (and therefore unable to prevent evil); or as di-polar, ie in one aspect absolute and infinite but in another aspect, in so far as he relates to the cosmos, relative and finite (panentheism or process theology); or as comprising the whole of nature (pantheism). Corresponding to particular concepts of God are particular understandings of God's power in relation to human beings and the world of nature. These vary from absolute transcendence, such that God is reponsible for initiating the world process and laying down its laws, thereafter letting it run its course (deism) to total immanence, whereby God is understood as a non-transcendent power or spirit within the world motivating human beings. Orthodox Christianity seeks to preserve both the transcendence and immanence of God.
From the time of the ancient Greeks, philosophers have tried to prove the existence of God by reason alone (ie not by divine revelation), and of these attempts the 'ontological' arguments of St Anselm and Descartes, the 'Five Ways' of St Thomas Aquinas, and Kant's moral argument are among the more famous and abiding. While the philosophical consensus seems now to be that none of these arguments is coercive, discussion in the 20th-century of various aspects of individual arguments has continued unabated. Attempts to disprove the existence of God or to show concepts of God to be incoherent have been likewise generally unpersuasive.

Lycanthropy [liykanthropee]
In popular belief, the assumption by humans of the shapes of other animals, typically the most dangerous beast of the area. In Europe and N Asia it is usually a wolf or bear, in India and other parts of Asia a tiger, and in Africa a leopard. The belief is probably linked to initiation ceremonies in which youths donned animal skins and lived 'wild' for a time.

Magic
Beliefs and practices which promise a power to intervene in natural processes, but which have no scientific basis. Two common principles of magical belief are said to be 'like affects like' (e.g. that a cloud of smoke rising to the sky will bring rain) and 'part affects whole' (e.g. burning a person's hair-cuttings will cause that person to be damaged). In modern industrial societies, belief in magic remains strong, since it offers some hope that malign chance can be combated. Everywhere, magical beliefs are strongest in situations of uncertainty - as Hume remarked, when he commented on the notorious superstitiousness of sailors.

Occultism
Activities purporting to achieve communication with the supernatural. The term includes magic, divination, certain types of spiritualism, and witchcraft. Occult knowledge is often held to be secret, for initiates only.

Satanism
The worship of Satan or other figures of demonology. It may include the perversion of religious rituals (e.g. the black Mass), the practice of witchcraft, and other practices associated with the occult. There was a revival of Satanism in the 19th-century, and instances of it are still to be found.

Spiritualism
An organized religion which believes that spirits of the deceased survive bodily death and communicate with the living, usually via a medium by means of messages, or apparently paranormal physical effects. While many different cultures, past and present, believe in spiritism (the ability of spirits of the deceased to communicate with the living), spiritualism is primarily a Western religion, most commonly found in North America and in Europe, arising in the mid-1800s. It attempts to distinguish itself from other spiritist beliefs by taking a 'scientific' approach; spiritualists query whether communicating spirits are who they claim to be by posing questions which could only be answered by the spirit of the deceased and by the person asking the question. Spiritualists believe in God, and feel that through communications with the deceased they may come to better understand the laws of God. They welcome members from different religious faiths. Spiritualism is frequently criticized for having at least some members who use trickery to produce its phenomena.

Tarot [taroh]
A pack of playing cards used chiefly in fortune telling. It consists of 22 picture cards of the major arcana (arcana 'secret') and the 56 cards in suits of the minor arcana. There are four suits: staves (or wands), cups, swords, and coins. The oldest cards date from 15th-century Italy. There are many theories about their origin and symbolism: their design was influenced by occult features, introduced in the late 19th-century. Some designs relate to ancient religions, such as the Hindu deities, the sacred Book of Days used by Aztec priests, and the Book of Thoth, the Egyptian God of Wisdom and the Occult.

Vampire
In Slavic and Greek folklore a dead person of either sex whose body does not decompose after burial as expected. This is an indication of incomplete funeral rites, lack of baptism, or dying in a state of sin. Vampires, like other ghosts or returning spirits, seek to take living people with them into the after-life. Typically, they rise at night to prey on and suck the blood of the living. Like other ghosts too, vampires are repelled by crucifixes, garlic, and daylight; they can be destroyed by being beheaded or pierced through the heart with a wooden stake. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897) popularized and distorted the myth. Dracula was made into a very popular film in 1931 by Tod Browning, with Bela Lugosi in the title role, and several re-tellings and variations of the o riginal story have since been made for both cinema and television.

Voodoo
The popular religion of Haiti, also found in the West Indies and parts of South America. A blending of Roman Catholicism with W African religion, its followers attend both the church and the voodoo temple, where a voodoo priest or priestess leads a ritual invoking of the spirits of the voodoo world through magical diagrams, songs, and prayer. The spirits possess the members in trance.

Werewolf
In traditional belief, a person assuming the form of a wolf, usually involuntarily and temporarily. There are traces of the belief in Ancient Greek religion, and it existed in much of Europe, but especially in the Balkans. It seems to be related to some kind of initiation rite, in which youths wore animal skins.

Witchcraft
The alleged possession and exercise of magical or psychic powers, especially involving the manipulation of natural objects or events; often called black magic if harmful to people, white magic if helpful. In Africa, the power of witches is said to be innate, and people may not even know that they are witches. In Europe the Christian Church began persecuting witches in the 14th-century, alleging that witches consciously made a pact with Satan. The persecution later spread to America, and by the end of the 17th-century c.200 000 people had been executed. Contemporary witchcraft in the West sees itself as an alternative religion, celebrating gods drawn from various European pre-Christian religions, and exercising its magical powers in beneficial ways.