Divs

An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920)

The div of ancient Persia, pronounced deo, deu, or dive, is supposed to be the same as the European devil of the middle ages . In the romances of Persia they are represented as male and female, but the male divs are considered the more dangerous, and it is from their character, personified in a supposed chief, that the devil is painted with his well-known attributes. The male divs, according to the legends of Persia, were entrusted with the government of the world for seven thousand years anterior to the creation of Adam, and they were succeeded by the female divs or peris, who under their chief, Gian ben Gian, ruled other two thousand years. The dominion of the peris was terminated by Eblis (the devil of the Koran) who had been created from the elements of fire, and whose abode was previously with the angels. Eblis or Haris, as he is also called, became the leader of the rebellious angels when they were commanded to do homage to the first created man, and being joined by the whole race of genii, the male and female divs, whom he had formerly subjugated, he was like them deprived of grace. Eblis and his immediate followers were condemned to suffer for a long peried in the infernal regions, but the remainder were allowed to wander over the earth, a constant source of misery to themselves and to the human race, whose obedience is put to the test by their devices, and secured by the example of their degradation and sufferings. They are supposed to assume various forms, especially that of the serpent, and in the drawings annexed to the Persian romances they are represented much as our own devils, ogres, and giants, in the tales of the middle ages. The writers of the later ages, both Arabian and Persian, have localised the abode of these evil genii in the mountain Kaf; their capital is Aherman-abad, the abode of Aherman their chief, who is identified with the Ahremanes of the Manicheans, that remarkable sect being said to have borrowed their doctrines from Zoroaster. The distinction of sex is a remarkable characteristic of the divs, and its evil results in a system of diabolic superstition may be read in the stories of the Ephialtae and Hyphialtae, or nightmare. 66 Evidently the same in origin as the Persian divs, are the daivers of the Hindoos, who inhabit a world which is called, after them, Daiver-Logum . We may borrow a brief account of them from Kindersley's Specimens of Hindoo Literature. "The daivers," he says, perpetually recur in their romances, and other literary works, and are represented as possessing not only material bodies, but as being subject to human frailties. Those saints and heroes who may not as yet be considered worthy of the paradises of Shivven or of Veeshnoo, are represented as inhabiting the Daiver-Logum (or Sorgum). These daivers are in number no less than three hundred and thirty millions. The principal are-I. ' Daivuntren' or 'Indiren' their king; to whom report is made of all that happens among them. His court of audience is so capacious as to 6 D'Ourches 2. contain not only the numerous daivers, but also the prophets, attendants, etc. They are represented in the mythological romances of the Hindoos, as having been engaged in bloody wars, and with various success against the giants (Assoores). The family of Daivuntren consists of his wife' Inderaunee,' and his son Seedera-budderen' (born from a cow), who records the actions of men, by which they are finally to be judged. II. The attendants or companions of these daivers are-1. The 'Kinnarer,' who sing and play on musical instruments. 2. Dumbarim Nardir,' who also perform on a species of drum. 3. 'Kimprusher,' who wait on the daivers and are represented with the wings and fair countenances of angels. 4. 'Kunda-gaindoorer,' similar winged beings who execute the mandates of Veeshnoo. 5. 'Paunner' a species of jugglers, who amuse the daivers with snake dancing, etc. 6. 'Viddiaser,' their bards, who are acquainted with all arts and sciences, and entertain them with their histories and discourses. 7. 'Tsettee,' who attend them in their aerial journeys. 8. 'Kanuanader,' or 'Dovdanks,' messengers, who conduct the votaries of Veeshnoo and Shivven to their respective paradises, and the wicked to hell (Narekah), of which 'Eemen' is sovereign. III. The third class of daivergoel, daivers, or genii, are the eight keepers of the eight sides of the world, literally signified by their general name of 'Aushtatikcu-Pauligaur; they are-1. ' Indiren,' who is no other than Daivuntren, named above. 2. ' Augne-Baugauven,' the god of fire. 3. 'Eemen' king of death and the infernal regions. 4. 'Nerudee,' the element of earth represented under the figure of a giant. 5. 'Vaivoo,' god of air and winds. 6. 'Varoonen,' god of clouds and rain. 7. 'Gooberen,' god of riches. 8. Essaunien,' or Shivven himself, in one of his 1,008 appearances on earth." To these principal daivers, Kindersley adds without sufficient reason the 'Reeshees' of the Hindoos, and their tutelary god of virtue, "Derma-Daive." For the true oriental doctrine of these evil genii the Zend-Avesta may be consulted, which associates the idea of evil more especially with the peris or female divs, contrary to the later romances of Islamism. This anomaly reappears in our own fairy tales , the same characters, which at times, are invested with the most malignant attributes, being often described under forms of sylph-like grace and beauty. 6 6