Sunday, 25 June 2023

God, Gods And Demons

Two narratives in which a group of human beings have some control over the supernatural realm but also must urgently find out what is happening there because something is obviously changing:

Roma Mater by Poul and Karen Anderson
The King of Ys has done much to displease the (active) Gods of that city but his Queens want to keep him so they must do what they can to set things right. Meanwhile, there are those, maybe including the King, who believe that those Gods are demons...

Black Easter and The Day After Judgement by James Blish
A group of magicians has released a host of demons that will not be put back. A major demon claims that they have won Armageddon but demons are liars and the evidence is ambiguous...

In both cases, what is happening behind the scenes?

Without the supernatural element, we are going through something like that now. Nature is more than enough to cope with...

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I believe the supernatural is real, and does affect human affairs. You reminded me of that story about Pope Leo XIII (r. 1878-1903) in which he was given a vision of Satan arguing with Christ. The Enemy claimed that if he was given a free hand Satan would destroy the Church--and Christ agreed to giving the Adversary that free hand. Afterwards Leo XIII composed a well known prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, beseeching angelic and divine aid against Satan.

Ad astra! Sean