Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...

252 Sheol
Almost immediately, however, they were overcome
by desire for an attractive woman, and begat
horrible giants (later destroyed in the Flood).
Shemhazi repented his sin, and hung himself
upside down in the sky, where he remains to this
day as the constellation Orion. Azazel, on the
other hand, refused to repent, and remains on the
earth to this day, encouraging women to wear
jewelry and cosmetics as part of their efforts to
lead mortal men into sin.
See also Nephilim; Semyazi
For Further Reading:
Davidson, Gustav. A Dictionary of Angels Including
the Fallen Angels. New York: Free Press, 1967.
Ronner, John. Know Your Angels: The Angel Almanac
with Biographies of 100 Prominent Angels in
Legend and Folklore, and Much More.
Murfreesboro, TN: Mamre, 1993.
being located beneath the earth’s surface probably
derives from the custom of burying the dead
underground. Again similar to the Mesopotamian
underworld, Sheol was not much more than a
gloomy pit.
See also Judaism; Underworld
For Further Reading:
Nielsen, Niels C. Jr., et al. Religions of the World.
New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1983.
West, James King. Introduction to the Old Testament.
New York: Macmillan, 1981.
Shock ‘Em Dead
A rock ’n’ roll rewrite of the Faust story. In this
1990 film a young man sells his soul to the Devil
in exchange for being made into a rock star.
Sheol
The Christian tradition regards the Hebrew scriptures,
designated within Christianity as the Old
Testament, as composing the larger part of its own
scriptures. This is an unusual juxtaposition
because, on many points, Old Testament notions
contrast markedly with New Testament teachings.
Nowhere is this more striking than in the area of
the postmortem fate of the individual.
Although Christianity emphasizes the importance
of salvation after this life, the ancient
Hebrews emphasized the present life. Like both
the ancient Greeks and Mesopotamians, the afterlife
realm, when it was mentioned at all, was
conceived of as a pale shadow of earthly life, much
like the Greek Hades. Also like the Greek Hades,
and again in sharp contrast to Christianity, the
Hebrews made no distinction between the treatment
of the just and the unjust after death.
Instead, rewards and punishments were very
much in the present life.
The ancient Hebrews, like many of the other
traditional peoples of the world, imagined the
universe as a three-tiered cosmos of heaven, earth,
and underworld. Heaven was reserved for god and
the angels. Living human beings occupied the
middle world. The spirits of the dead resided
beneath the earth in Sheol. As in other cultures,
the conceptualization of the realm of the dead as
Sorceress
There are a number of films using the name
Sorceress. This 1994 movie is about a lawyer whose
career is being advanced by the black magic of his
wife. Unfortunately, another witch is determined
to hurt his career.
Sorcery
Sorcery refers to the casting of spells and magically
manipulating natural forces for a particular goal.
The word sorcery originates from the French root
sors, meaning spell. When casting their spells, the
Ancient Greek sorcerers enlisted the aid of the
daimones, spirits who roamed between earth and
heaven. The daimones were originally believed to
be capable of assisting good or evil plans. This
view changed after Xenocrates labeled them as evil
and the gods as good. Early in the development of
Christianity, sorcery became associated with
Satan, so that by the time of the Inquisition it was
a serious crime. This negative view of sorcery was
later integrated into the stereotype of the witch,
who was being defined as someone who executed
evil acts of magic for the Devil. Toward the end of
the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, the
term sorcerer was redefined and became associated
with men of advanced learning. It no longer had
negative connotations. Sorcerers were men who