About Daimons
Socrates and his Daimon
“In ancient Greek mythology and philosophy, a "daimon" (or "daimonion") refers to a spirit or divine power, often acting as a guide or intermediary between humans and gods, not necessarily with malevolent intentions like Christian demons.” (AI definition)
“The daimon δαίμων, spelled daimon or daemon (meaning "god", "godlike", "power", "fate"), denotes an "unknown superfactor", which can be either good or hostile.” (wikipedia on Daimon)
Without getting into much detail, since I myself don’t fully understand what a daimon might be, and Proclus writings about daimons are obscure as usual .
But it seems, at least from my experience, that a daimon can be put under two categories: Passive and Active.
Active being the case of disembodied human spirits or souls, because in them there is identity, conscious activity and active intent, in their interactions with humans.
Passive being like what are called Elementals and non-personal or impersonal forces, whether in material or invisible nature.
The latter seems to be the source of much confusion, because they magnify the person’s own aspirations and desires. Not that they are conscious, but rather become conscious through us, because it is we who possess consciousness. Thus they are nothing but passive vehicles and uncounscious robbers of energy.
Like what people experience, myself included, when they visit certain places of power - the inside of the person is magnified - for good or evil. This is the elementary daimon. But the problem is that when people die they can be stuck in such places, or better, in such states. Thus the violent and bloody worship of the gyalpo spirits of mountains in Tibet, to me are nothing but ancestors associated with some form of natural magnifying force, adding intent to power, which can be malefic when the ancestor has died in ignorance and suffering, or beneficial when the ancestor has died in peace or knowledge. As such there are also beneficient ancestors who even command such forces, since they “conquered” them, or better, conquered their own imperfections, rising above these magnifying unconscious forces.
Perhaps this latter might be the case with Socrates, although with spiritually advanced people, their higher self or soul is sufficiently strong and illuminated to act as a self-guide and guardian, so there is no need for any other assistance.
In the case of daimons being termed “guardians of the land” specifically, these can refer to:
- the unconscious forces as a threshold or barrier, which, when not acknowledged or overcome, prevent people from going beyond their internal states. Greed, ambition, hatred, attachment, delusions of grandeur, inferiority complexes etc… all that is projected is returned twicefold, thus becoming a “guardian”, which prevents the evil and ignorance in humans from going any further or acquiring more power, which only comes from being aligned with the Good. Thus, being stuck to evil is equivalent of being “guarded” or prevented from reaching the true source of power. That is the esoteric meaning of Guardian.
- former human spirits associated with natural forces, becoming times more harmful or beneficial, depending on the intent, influencing the general mindset of the populations. In the case of being harmfull, the influence is - Materialism, violence, selfishness, fighting for land and properties, fighting against one another in general, control of the population through unjust employments, slavery and exploitation. In the beneficial case, prosperity and harmony.
The latter, harmfull states, were the case when Padmasambhava “conquered” the Gyalpo spirits of Tibet. Since he was enlightened, they were subdued by him and put to the service of Buddhism, serving as intermidiares or propitiators. Even to this day, the Oracle of Nechung, consulted by the current Dalai Lama, is an example of Gyalpo as a Protector, namely the Gyalpo spirit Pehar, subdued by Padmasambhava a long time ago.
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