Conference Theme 

The history of demonic possession in various cultures and religions since antiquity seems to suggest a deep physiological connection that humans and demons share with blood. The relationship between blood and demons is a complex topic for scholars to approach for a number of reasons. One such reason is because the study of demons in any field often requires an interdisciplinary approach. Demonic figures appear in myth, religion, literature, medical texts, manuscripts, art, archaeology, and iconography. The other challenge for scholars is how to best sift through the various theoretical approaches to demons.  

This conference focuses on demonic realism, which takes the view that nonhuman malevolent demons were perceived by humans as real physical (both material and immaterial) entities, and not just as metaphors for evil. Such a perspective is particularly useful for studying these ideas as they exist in various cultural systems of knowledge. The idea that demons may have existed in the human mind as tangible, real, and understood as being capable of intermingling with humans on a physiological and biological level, suggests the need for a revision of our assumptions as to the importance of demons and blood.  

• Anthropological analyses or approaches to the relationship between demons and blood in human culture

• Historical studies of the changing conceptions of demons and blood in religious, mythological, or folkloric systems of knowledge

• Sociological analyses or approaches that explore the changing cultural understandings of demons and blood 

• Philosophical or theological taxonomies or ontologies of demons and blood across time 

• Material or archaeological analyses of the connection between demons and blood in human societies across culture, time, and space. 

• Literary analyses or approaches of the history of demons and blood in textual evidence