After throwing off the temptations of the flesh, Anthony was revisited by the devil many times – but the devil always shape-shifted to appear as some creature. “For he affirmed that the torture had been so excessive that no blows inflicted by man could ever have caused him such torment.” But his faith revitalized him and he rallied back. Questing after spiritual purification, Anthony left the pleasures of domestic life and moved to live in a tomb outside his village, where he was attacked by a “multitude of demons” who sliced him into a bloody mess. But his famous fight with demons in the Egyptian desert also laid the groundwork for all subsequent thinking about demons and possession. He is sometimes referred to as the Father of Monks, having created a desert monasticism that drew Christian ascetics far away from the urban centers. The story of Saint Anthony (c.251-356) had a huge impact on the development of demonology.
These saints have been taking out the trash for millennia, and it’s time you had some of their mojo. Up your game this year with real advice from history’s best demon hunters. Halloween is coming up, reminding us to confront the lurking evils around us, and to dispatch them to the sulfuric pits from whence they came.
