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Demons And Spirits.


Velzan

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Yeah, there's really no way to answer this question. There aren't objects with which we can interact that could interact with spirits or demons or whatever (unless you have a really strange construction of what a spirit or demon would be, were one to exist).

 

The natural bridge is that you have to assume that magic (of some form; doesn't matter if it's FMA's alchemy, So You Want To Be a Wizard style, Robert Jordan style, D&D style, Spiderweb Software style, whatever) exists. That magic could be directed against the demon or spirit or it could be used to enchant a weapon.

 

But since magic doesn't exist, this isn't real life; since neither demons nor spirits exist, I'm not too worried.

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Depends on what kind of spirit or demon you are trying to banish. There are so many different mythological beings, without knowing exact name and nature of the critter it's hard to give any help.

 

Most common methods involve bribing them with fruit or smoke from sacrifices, painting or hanging crosses on the doors and windows, hitting them with a silver weapon or driving them away with bells or big bonfires.

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It's perfectly reasonable to imagine spirits existing. Banishing them would be more difficult, because they would exist on a level we don't fully understand, hence the difficulty in proving/disproving them. In the same manner that animals are unable to understand the problems humanity faces and knowingly help us with them, so we are unable to knowingly aid spirits with whatever extra-dimensional problems they might be facing.

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Originally Posted By: Niemand
Well, in Real Life there are no demons or spirits, so depending on how you look at it, trapping/killing/banishing them is either undefined or impossible.


But but but... I just watched a History Channel Special on how Hitler's ghost is going to cause the 2012 apocalypse because of a secret Illuminati plot based on a evil society founded on all that lost Nazi gold!

And it had to be real, I saw it on TV!
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The Kantian Demon obligates me as a utilitarian to do all in my power to obliterate utilitarianism and promulgate Kantianism. If anyone knows anything about exorcism, I'd appreciate it.

 

—Alorael, who tried being more excellent than the demon. His hubris was met with the usual inconceivable punishment for deviation from strict deontology.

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You make no sense.

 

Gee If only You could Paint real Chineese paper bombs. That would show a demon whos Boss!

 

As i See it there are Three ways to exorcise a Demon.

 

One.

 

Beat it until it Finally Say ENOUGH OF THIS! im Out Dawg.

 

Two.

 

Kill The Host.

 

 

THREE.

 

Try to Use some way off the internet . if that doesnt work use way one.

 

If way one fails use way two.

 

And if way two fails Your just Screwed .

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This topic contains awful levels of stick-in-the-mudness. tongue

 

One perfectly valid way to trap a kitsune, a japanese demon fox, would be to offer it a bowl of sake with a piece of fried tofu. When the fox is blitzed, you can try to snare it - if tries something funny, you can try banging pots to disrupt it's illusions. wink

 

You should be careful, though. Kitsunes are well-known tricksters, and can take the form of alluring young female to throw you off. tongue

 

Many different spirits and demons can be fooled by offering them foodstuffs. Kappas, for example, like cucumber, if I recall right - reminds them of squishy human heads or something. Oh, and you can also bow to a Kappa, so when it replies, the water drop on its head falls off and it becomes powerless.

 

Of course, many spirits and demons are creatures you don't kill or trap - you just stay the heck out of their way, or scare them away. Here in Finland, evil ghosts were driven away by bonfires or running around a house in circles, waving a whisk as you went. Some like Nahkuri (Flayer) were just evaded by not going to sauna at night.

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Right, but that's because 'raven' is an English word. As Wikipedia says:

Quote:
Kitsune (狐, きつね, ki·tsu·ne?, IPA: [kitsɯne]) is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore; kitsune usually refers to them in this context, and are akin to European faeries. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume human form. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others—as foxes in folklore often do—other stories portray them as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives.

Edit: To be fair, this mostly fits "demon" just fine, except for the connotations of evil and infernal that tend to go along with "demon".

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Originally Posted By: Monroe
It's perfectly reasonable to imagine spirits existing. Banishing them would be more difficult, because they would exist on a level we don't fully understand, hence the difficulty in proving/disproving them. In the same manner that animals are unable to understand the problems humanity faces and knowingly help us with them, so we are unable to knowingly aid spirits with whatever extra-dimensional problems they might be facing.


How can we be sure they do exist? We have regular contact with lesser animals. A Dog knows that its master exists, even if he or she doesn't understand what it is. Presumably, we have no contact with Spirits on any level, and if we did, we would be aware of their presence without a doubt.

It seems that a slew of cultures and religions (dare I say all) focus on some sort of abstract being that is constantly present in our lives. Some of these even go back to prehistoric times, when Man was at its most primitive. You would think now, being so much more intelligent then we were, we would communicate with "Spirits." Perhaps we just aren't there yet, but imo, Spirits are just an explanation for what we don't understand, not the definition for a creature.
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Originally Posted By: Master Ackrovan
Presumably, we have no contact with Spirits on any level, and if we did, we would be aware of their presence without a doubt.


Not true. Not true at all. There are hoards of bacteria all around you, and you have no conscious awareness of any of them. There are myriad organisms and forces acting on and in us constantly, yet we are unaware of most of them.
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Originally Posted By: Master Ackrovan

It seems that a slew of cultures and religions (dare I say all) focus on some sort of abstract being that is constantly present in our lives. Some of these even go back to prehistoric times, when Man was at its most primitive. You would think now, being so much more intelligent then we were, we would communicate with "Spirits." Perhaps we just aren't there yet, but imo, Spirits are just an explanation for what we don't understand, not the definition for a creature.


Perhaps with our advancement in technology and "culture" we are actually losing our connection to spirits.
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Originally Posted By: Master1
Not true. Not true at all. There are hoards of bacteria all around you, and you have no conscious awareness of any of them. There are myriad organisms and forces acting on and in us constantly, yet we are unaware of most of them.


Um...if we know that, then we aren't unaware of them, by definition.

Anyho, "spirits" et al can't be something we are unaware of, because if we were unaware of them this discussion would not be happening.

If pre-historic man was aware of spirits, which did in fact exist, why then are we not aware of them now, to any extent at all?
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Originally Posted By: Master1
Not true. Not true at all. There are hoards of bacteria all around you, and you have no conscious awareness of any of them. There are myriad organisms and forces acting on and in us constantly, yet we are unaware of most of them.

The more interesting problem is that the bacteria are entirely unaware of us. Now that's not particularly interesting, as they're not sentient. But if we're like bacteria to spirits, or god, or whatever higher being you prefer, we're not only unaware, we're essentially incapable of becoming aware.

—Alorael, who is perfectly capable of being aware of dragons, unicorns, Kantian demons, Egyptian mythology, and Realmz 2. None of these things exist. Spirits are perfectly intelligible and have been invoked, but so have many other things that have been subsequently rejected. Why should spirits get any more traction?
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Originally Posted By: Thaluikhain
stuff

Let me rephrase. We know things are there, but we have no conscious perception of them. For example, do you feel the earth flying through space at crazy speeds right now?

As for us knowing whether or not spirits exist: Well we may have no hard proof, we can surmise their existence. Just look at dark matter, dark energy, and dark flow. (That was not a free pass for our resident physicists to go crazy.)
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Unicorns, the other white meat, are a perfect choice for those that can afford them.

 

As to the question of why we no longer perceive spirits, it because science tells us they don't exist. If they can't be measured or detected then they fall to the wayside with all the other mythological beings.

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