Shedim- Hebrew/Jewish RaceRace"False Gods"
Also known as: Sheidim and שדים
Description
Demons or false gods to whom Israel illicitly sacrificed. The Talmud describes them as invisible spirits with wings who know the future and dwell in unclean places, capable of causing illness and misfortune.
Mythology & Lore
Between Angels and Humans
Deuteronomy 32:17 condemns Israel for sacrificing "to demons, not God, to gods they had never known." Psalm 106:37 laments: "They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons." These two verses are the Shedim's only appearances in the Hebrew Bible, where they are the false gods of Canaan.
In the Talmud they became something more specific. "Six things are said about demons: in three they are like ministering angels, and in three they are like human beings. Like ministering angels: they have wings, they fly from one end of the world to the other, and they know the future. Like humans: they eat and drink, they procreate, and they die" (Hagigah 16a). One tradition holds that God created them at twilight on the sixth day, completing their souls but not their bodies before the Sabbath began.
The Demons Among Us
Though usually invisible, the Shedim can be seen under certain conditions. The Talmud says that if one takes the ashes of a black cat, the offspring of a black cat that is itself the offspring of a black cat, burns them, grinds them, and puts them in one's eyes, one will see the Shedim swarming. But the sage warns: this is dangerous.
They are active at night and in unclean places: latrines, garbage heaps, ruins, cemeteries. They strangle those who sleep alone, contaminate uncovered water with venom, and attack those who walk in dangerous places at dangerous times. Prayers before sleep invoke angelic protection. Mezuzot on doorposts guard against demonic entry. Water was kept covered. No one walked alone at night.
Asmodeus and Solomon
The most famous individual shed is Asmodeus, the king of demons. Solomon captured him to learn the location of the shamir, a worm that could cut stone without iron, needed for Temple construction where no iron tool could be used. The demon served the king. Then he tricked him, seized his ring of power, and ruled Israel in Solomon's form while the true king wandered as a beggar. Solomon regained his throne only after the demon's disguise was discovered. The story is told in Gittin 68a-b.