Editing Demon (section)

=== Age of Enlightenment===
[[File:Japanese demon mask.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|The classic [[oni|''oni'']], a Japanese ogre-like creature which often has horns and often translated into English as "demon".]]
In the 16th to early 17th centuries, the idea – inherited from Renaissance magic and occultism – that demonic forces could be conjured and controlled may have paved the way for the development of modern sciences.<ref>Mebane, John S. Renaissance magic and the return of the Golden Age: the occult tradition and Marlowe, Jonson, and Shakespeare. U of Nebraska Press, 1992. p. 2</ref> In Hermetic- and Kabbalist philosophy, demons could be subjugated and shaped the idea that humans can control their social environment and their surrounding natural forces.<ref>Mebane, John S. Renaissance magic and the return of the Golden Age: the occult tradition and Marlowe, Jonson, and Shakespeare. U of Nebraska Press, 1992. p. 3</ref>

The [[Age of Enlightenment]] conceptualizes humans as [[Free will|autonomous individuals]], mostly independent from external invisible forces, such as demons or gods ruling over human fate.<ref name="Rehmann">{{cite book |first=Luzia Sutter |last=Rehmann |title=Dämonen und unreine Geister: Die Evangelien, gelesen auf dem Hintergrund von Krieg, Vertreibung und Trauma |publisher=Gütersloher Verlagshaus |year=2023 |isbn=978-3641292973 |language=de}}</ref> While in the pre-modern period, spirits and demons were assigned to various natural phenomena, the [[Rationalism|rationalistic school of thought]], increasingly rejected the attribution of demons to unknown causes.<ref name="Mircea Eliade 1986 p. 287">Mircea Eliade ''Encyclopedia of Religion'' Macmillan Publishing (1986) p. 287</ref><ref name="Rehmann"/>

The rejection of demons as a form of superstition was also welcomed by religious perspective, considered to be a "removal" of remaining pagan beliefs. According to [[Wouter Hanegraaff]], demons are ''pagan'' beliefs, removed by the Age of Enlightenment.<ref>Josephson-Storm, Jason Ānanda. "The superstition, secularism, and religion trinary: Or re-theorizing secularism." Method & Theory in the Study of Religion 30.1 (2018): 13.</ref>

Many considered demons to be non-existent and alleged visions of demons and ghosts were explained as results of superstition. By that local religious customs were also oppressed in favor of nationwide (religious) ideas or deities.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Josephson-Storm |first=Jason Ānanda |title=The superstition, secularism, and religion trinary: Or re-theorizing secularism |journal=Method & Theory in the Study of Religion |volume=30 |number=1 |year=2018 |pages=1–20|doi=10.1163/15700682-12341409}}</ref> Wilkinson Duran states that people who believe in demons are often marginalized in the United States.<ref name="Rehmann"/>

The rejection of demons as the cause of natural events also contributed to the association of demons with delusions and merely mental phenomena. For example, the notion that demons could possess an individual, stripped the individual away from their [[personhood]] and was at odds with modern Western philosophy. The most prominent ones, such as the [[American Dream]] and [[capitalism]], imply the belief that everyone is responsible for their own fate and not at the mercy of external forces, thus has no room left for demons or demonic possessions.<ref name="Rehmann"/> The concept of demons has nevertheless not disappeared from the public, permeating media, arts, and psychology.<ref name="Mircea Eliade 1986 p. 287"/>