Devils General

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Demons (Chorts) are mythical and fairy-tale inhabitants of hell specific to Slavic cultural context. While in the rest of Europe people refer to demonic creatures as devils and attribute purely negative intentions to them, in Czech folklore we lean towards the image of demons as mischievous, malicious, and often foolish beings depicted with goat horns, a tail, and hooves on their feet, subservient to the will of the ruler of hell, Lucifer.
Medieval magical thinking attributed various qualities to demons. Many a castle had a notorious gate to hell in its basement, many a mill or abandoned building served as their abode. Demons smelled bad, caused disturbances, and were blamed for hens not laying eggs, milk souring, and food spoiling.
While the church refuted other originally pagan beliefs, it assimilated demons for its purposes, portraying them as tempters and punishment for believers who weren’t devout.

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