Demons, in one form or another, are prominently featured in the history of tattooing, both ancient and modern and in many different tattoo cultures and modern tattoo design genres. Demons are potent tattoo designs, rich with meaning and symbolism.
The ancient Greeks had the word, daimon, which meant "a divinity", or "a manifestation of divine power". These beings -- thousands of them in almost every culture -- appeared wherever humans struggled with the concept of good and evil. Originally, the word had nothing to do with evil or malevolence. But later, in Judaic, Christian, Islamic and Near Eastern cultures, it expanded to include all spirits, and then only evil spirits, as the benign ones vanished from the general usage of the term, "demon".
Chief amongst the demons in Christian religions was Satan, the commander of legions of lesser evil spirits. Satan was believed to have been expelled from the heavenly realms because of his pride and vanity. According to some, he was the brightest of the angels, and came to be known as Lucifer, the fallen angel. Another theory describes certain angels being expelled from above for mating with humans, resulting in half-human offspring. These awesome creatures were the giants who gave rise to countless fairy stories. In most cultures, demons had a reputation for evil, causing pain and suffering to humankind. They were tricky, sly, and had the power of prophecy, which was very useful when leading poor, weak humans astray. They could enter a living person causing sickness or madness, but could also be driven out. And they could also be domesticated enough to serve as a force to scare other evil spirits away. The more popular demons come complete with horns, fangs, claws, and open mouths, scary enough to keep evil spirits at a distance. Demons were represented in all forms of art; painting, weaving, carvings in wood, stone, bone and ivory and clay figurines as well as tattoos.
See also: Japanese Tattoos, Gargoyle Tattoos, Devil Tattoos, Skull Tattoos and Japanese Tattoo Index,
