Research in Becoming the Daimon (Demon's Are A Girl's Best Friend)

To look to the near-ancient groups of Pre-Christian religions is to find cultures, deities, practices, all of which have been "demonized" due to either misunderstandings or monotheistic-monarchy behavior. Judaism may be the only major religion which does not oppose its esoterica, where the vast majority of religions or "exoterica" have essentially "white-washed" the esoteric practices in terms of synchronization. Nonetheless, by removal of the feminine (Asherah), maybe not necessarily in philosophy as found through the dual male/female meaning of the concept of "Elohim", but through practice where the religion is guided by a "patriarch", creates a dual nature, or archetypal male/female role. Through patriarch religions, men are typically seen as the doer and females mainly as receiver, often taking a back seat as opposed to being the main purifier (kundalini) for the male vessel.  Such religions proceed in keeping the feminine passive or veiled, a stark contrast compared to other traditions, particularly tribal, who not only have the loving nurturing Goddess, but the Goddess is not something you piss-off. Taking a gander at global Goddesses outside of the Abrahamic traditions, you have the female Orishas of the Yoruba culture who are a powerful counterpart to the male Orishas, and Orishas can take on the dual male-female role. You also have Lakshmi (Sri) who though may be passive supporting the height of Self-realization in the world of forms through Visnu, but you also have Shiva as Shava (corpse) under his initiator/guide as Goddess Kali.  

In other words, religions and ancient practices either incorporated the different aspects of the feminine, or placed the feminine under the patriarch (most likely to counter matriarch; Goddess Babalon). With patriarchal religions arising under most orthodox religious systems, the Goddess' power seems to have been placed in the esoteric traditions. Tracing this back to Judaism, you have Goddess Lilith, a Kali archetype who chants the name of God to return home (though Lilith never fell). In summation, when you look towards ancient cultures, as opposed to having all "good" Angels and all "bad" Demons, the deities, spirits, guides, etc., all held dualist shadings. It's important to note that most traditions view their deities as guides to the unexplainable God. In comparing stories of the Orisha Elegua with numerous Hindu deities including Ganesha, they put the obstacles before the adept to either guide or forge the adept. As an example, an accident created by Elegua for short-term suffering may bring the adept to a required circumstance, environment, or people to help the adept on their path. In other words, harmony by experiencing life, as opposed to blaming a devil for the obstacle and praising a god for the blessed outcome. 

Because of the Qabalah, when you listen to most Jewish Rabbi's, they will disclose exactly who the "devils" were in their traditions, and it is often due to politics, where it seems the Jewish tradition still holds the concept of ego-death for a higher consciousness. However, those political opponents became the "evils" of the later derivative religions, further pushing the concept of "good" versus "evil", which plays out in duality as "us" versus "them". As an example is a Demon of special interest for me, provided that without an invocation and knowing much about this figure, the Demon Azazel made a special guest appearance for me during an opening invocation of Daath in my qliphoth practices. Imagine an intensity push in the head with bulging eyes, with a forced-fury of chanting in demonic-aggressive tongue, the Demons name. That's not fun, especially when you don't know who he is, and was not actually addressed prior to the ritual. Azazel would be considered a "fallen angel" under Christianity and Islam, but in Judaism, he is rather a "scapegoat" for the sins of the Jewish people meaning rugged (Azaz) and God (El) representing a particular rugged mountain of God. The demons of such invocation would rather raise my own deeply buried issues as opposed to the external torture hells of Christianity and Islam, emotional-psychological baggage which can be flushed using the "I Am", or as tantriks and black magickians have stated, "fight fire with fire". Nonetheless, this invocation and continuing work with Demons, properly balanced with Angels, has shown that the adept is simply digging deeper within one's own self. 

Outside of Judaism, you have the Temple of Solomon, whose many mysteries are yet to be discovered or revealed including many practices involving sorcery. This particular temple appears to be a key-stone foundation for Western esoterica, and may be a key to discovering the root of Angel and Demon separation. I'm still assessing if there is a link between the 72 demons of Solomon's goetia with the 72 names of God, as Demons appear to be harsher aspects of God (El) as in Azazel (Rugged Mountain of God), it is according to King Solomon that it was none other than Archangel Michael who provided him with his ring to work with the 72 Demons. I would think the fiercest Demons would be the reversal (antonym) of the 72 names of God, but nonetheless, still an aspect of God (El). Nonetheless, as comparable to Enochian Magick where Angels seem to get frustrated when the adept can't handle Demons, showing that there is not really an opposition between the two (2) forces, such is shown prior with the Temple of Solomon workings where an Angel provides an adept with Demons to assist him. 

In comparing to the East, mainstream Hinduism follows the (G)enerator, (O)perator, and (D)estroyer dynamic. However, an important note that appears to elude most Hindus, is that "creator" God (Brahma) is not worshiped. Hindus worship the height of Self-realization in creation as Vishnu and Shiva as the consciousness beyond the worlds of forms. Creation is samsara or maya meaning to be illusory and transient (a hologram), where Hindus look to Vishnu for moral/ethical guidance and Shiva for Self-realization. However, the West under the Abrahamic traditions took a different approach, where Creator is worshiped not just for creation, but for assistance while in creation. The destroyer is given the role as "Adversary" or "Satan" to the creator, and therefore, demonized particularly in later traditions of Christianity and Islam. Actually, he is not known as the destroyer in Judaism, but "Satan" refers to the individuals who opposed Abraham and his way of life (practiced different modalities deemed counter to Judaism), and hence, would be the guy who attempts to help all-of-humanity reach ascension by and through the Tower of Babel, or Babalon (Binah; Kundalini Practices), for Self-Realization.  Nonetheless, in the early days of the Semitic people, as they adopted the Caanite language, religion, and culture, the religion of Judaism was molded to be patriarchal with the removal of Goddess Ashera (Queen of the Universe). This appears to be quite similar to the Shiva-Sati story where Shiva is the "Satan" to Brahma's lineage with strange practices away from your typical city, where due to Brahmanic arrogance, Sati either ignites Her Inner Black (aggressive) Kundalini Flame and removes Herself from samsara (which his her own energy causing Chaos) or She would be the subject of a "witch hunt". The smoke of Sati's ashes provides us with Goddess Dhumavati (in one version), where as the Goddess of misery, Dhumavati feels to assist the adept in communicating with the levels regarding the deceased and possibly other goblins of Hindu lore, or rise up on the sitra ahra, ​like Goddess Lilith.  

Moreover, most Hindus are ignorant of the tribal roots of most Hindu Goddesses, where despite the typical duality in Hinduism as Devi (Gods/Goddesses) and Asuras (Demons), with vice-versa in Zoroastrianism, the Devis are more like sky gods and Asuras are akin to Earth deities (titans). Nonetheless, it is through one of the fiercest aspects of the Goddess, Goddess Chamunda, do we find Demons as they are her vehicle-vahana. Further Goddess Chamunda takes her priority as one of the main 64 Yoginis, or 64 aspects of the fiercest primal shakti to help the adept Ascend (Stillness) or Descend (Egoic Assistance). Both aspects actually support each other, as an example, catering to sexual interests has the ability to still the mind by pulling the adept into the stillness of "presence" (of the moment or void through transcendence, where both actually support each other). In fact, when viewing most Indian Goddesses, such as Kali, Kamakhya, etc., the concept of demons and Black magic is found, showing more of a connection between Demons and the Goddess. Taking this back to Mesopotamia, the same analogy is presented when looking at the original Mother Goddess, Umma Tiamat, where she is also protected by Demon-Gods, due to the next generation of children killing Her husband to create on their own. Therefore, in assessing the two, Demons and Angels, it appears that Demons support the Mother Goddess where Angels support Creator God. So yes, Demons can be perceived as a girl's best friend. The Beauty and the Beast analogy may adequately apply, though with gender neutrality, as all adepts should be in harmony with their own True Self, as my opinion. My own inner beast, particularly if you have done extensive shadow-work, has helped me in recognizing my own power. Through the use of masculine (Divine Will-"I Am"), the adept can use the fierce feminine (Energy-Shakti/Thoughts-Emotional Body) such as Kali Ma to purge, Bagalamukhi to gain inner strength/power and to cut cords, Chinnamasta for the inner nadis and inner completion, Sodashi for creating heaven energy, and Kamala to understand the wisdom of abundance, etc. All adepts, regardless of gender, culture, creed, etc., should own their own truth (Divine Will), not by negating the Shadow Self, but mastering it and harnessing it, to be able to stand in their True Power, another opinion. However, I've realized why Goddess temples kept a Shiva/Bhairava/Ganesha to guard them, which is to remind the Goddess of Her Own Power (or be a reflection thereof) as we explore harsher aspects of Her energies, our own subconscious. Nonetheless, the true tantrik creed, I believe, is an attempt to make every moment of one's life as heavenly-orgasmic as possible (Sodashi on SadaShiva), based on the adepts own True interests. 

In taking a holistic approach to viewing the Mother Goddess-Demons and Father God-Angel, we can view the hexagram with the upwards masculine triangle (spirit) and downwards feminine triangle (matter) to balance the two. The masculine creative aspect (divine will) would use the Angelic realms to create, but from the perspective of the above-mentioned mythologies, the feminine destructive energies would assist the adept in not being "attached" to samsara (descending Merkaba) in the hexagram with her constructive energies assisting the adept in creating the adepts own Mt. Meru (Energetic Heaven; The Tip of the Sri Yantra)(ascending Merkaba).  Hence, Divine Will to command the Merkaba and stay unstained (virgin) and Divine Energy to control the Merkaba and explore our multidimensional abilities. 

In taking the holistic approach further, it is quite understood in the East and stated in the West, that the body is a temple of God. In India, most temples are designed around the human figure, where the worshiper is inside the human collective, purusha. The temple of God is to house the "holy spirit", or rather, 
"higher consciousness". Within the human consciousness lies the Generator, Operator, and Destroyer construct as shown through the momentum of human existence. (See also Creator, Protector, Destroyer by J.R. Picken, Ph.D, M.D.). In other words, within our own psyche lies the Generator, Operator, and Destroyer complexities, which entails also the Angel and the Demon. Nonetheless, to separate the Generator from the Destroyer appears to be the same of separating the Angel from the Demon, which was originally together known as the Daimon. It seems such would entail psychological issues, as the adept is not whole, where the Dark Shadow Self appears to be an aspect of the adepts psyche that the adept in certain religions would continually banish to hell, or rather, place "in the back of the mind", the subconscious. In other words, people are simply burying their issues, as opposed to "emptying" of psychological conditioning of holding on to the monkey-mind though-patterns construct (Karma, the habits that determine the adepts conduct). "As within, so without", to fight a demon is to essentially fight an aspect of one's own Self, which may ensue though external projections in samsara, as part of one's own soul evolution. To integrate one's shadow to be a complete whole, is a stepping stone to moksha (liberation from being attached/bound to thought-forms and emotional-energies known as Karma), the original goal of our religions as described by our ancient Rishis. 

In conclusion, I've discovered as a lone wolf looking for some power that, well, "Demon's Are A Girls' Best Friend".