Noonday Demon

The term Noonday Demon (also known to be referred to as Noonday Devil, Demon of Noontide, Midday Demon or Meridian Demon) is used as a synonym and a personification of acedia, which stems from the Greek word "akēdeia" which means to lack care.[1] It indicates a demonic figure thought to be active at the noon hour which inclines its victims (most often monastics) to restlessness, excitability, and inattention to one's duties.

For the book, see The Noonday Demon.
Noonday Demon by JenXer

Mentioned in the Hebrew Bible: Psalm 91:6 reads "mi-ketev yashud tsohorayim": from destruction that despoils at midday. This phrase was translated into Alexandrian Greek in the Septuagint into. "apo pragmatos diaporeuomenou en skotei apo symptwmatos kai daimoniou mesembrinou" ([you need not fear] the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.).[2] In the Vulgate, Jerome's translation of the Septuagint into Latin, we can find a personification in the daemonium meridianum ("Non timebis . . . ab incursu et daemonio meridiano").[2] This demonic personification is kept in the Catholic Douay-Rheims translation of the Old Testament of 1609 (Psalms 90:6). An exception is King James Version of 1611, where the translation follows the Hebrew: "the destruction that wasteth at noonday" (Psalm 91:6) [3]. The Orthodox Study Bible confirms the understanding of Saint Jerome and translates Psalm 91:6 as "Nor by a thing moving in darkness, Nor by mishap and a demon of noonday." Holman reported that an Aramaic paraphrasing text in the Dead Sea Scrolls of this Psalm from the first century speaks of demons and spiritual warfare as the Latin and Greek translations did.[2]

In the writings of Evagrius Ponticus, a Christian monk and ascetic, the Noonday Demon is specifically responsible for acedia, which he describes as "daemon qui etiam meridianus vocatur", attacking the cenobites most frequently between the hours of ten and two.[2] It caused a sentiment characterized by exhaustion, listlessness, sadness, or dejection, restlessness, aversion to the cell and ascetic life, and yearning for family and former life.

Main Manifestation of The Noonday Demon

The inability to stay in one place

Presents as an urge to change scenery, restfulness. Monks affected were described by Evagrius Ponticus as a "runaway", someone who "fled from the spiritual battlefield'".[4]

Heighted concern in one's health and security

This particular manifestation presents as the temptation of Gluttony. Prevalent in monks that fasted until late in the afternoon as they were easier to sway away from duties by thoughts of their health and stomach.[4]

Loss of motivation for physical labor

Manifests mostly in the afternoon when it is hottest and monks has to fight the heat of the day.[4]

Neglecting the rules and duties

While under the power of the Noonday Demon, monks would be tempted to neglect prayer and the feeling of being overwelled by duties being "too much" start to sink in.[4]

General discouragement

The Noonday Demon would often cause monks to have feelings of overall discouragement that went as far as to call their vocation into question before eventually manifesting as a nerves depression.[4]

Ways of Countering the Demon

Tears

There are several documented ways of combating this demon. One of which being tears. Tears were seen in Eastern tradition as a "acknowledgment of ones need of Savior."[1] This tactic is seen as an exact opposite of "lack of care" and would counteract the demon.

Ora et labora

Ora et labora is the balance of prayer and work in life and is said to be strictly practiced if meant to be used as a counter to the Noonday Demon.[1]

"Talking back" to the Devil

This method is also known as the "antirrhetic method"[1] and is the use of scripture or prayers to combat negative or evil thoughts that arise in oneself. It is seen as one of the most prominent ways to combat the demon, as Jesus himself used this method in the Judaean desert.[1]

Memento mori

This method is seen as a way to ground oneself to their mortality, by meditating on death rather than life, it is used to recognize one's mortality in order to use life to decide where one's place in the afterlife would be, thus making the choice to act.[1]

Perseverance

The last and most simple method to countering the demon is to simply staying on the path of duty, not allowing oneself to stay off the path. Maintaining focus and activity in order to keep the demon away, also known as the "Essential Remedy".[1]

See also

References
  1. Nelson, Matthew (2020-04-21). "Acedia: Beating Back the "Noonday Devil"". Word on Fire. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
  2. Grayston, Donald (May 19, 2015). Thomas Merton and the noonday demon the Camaldoli correspondence. Lutterworth Press. pp. 12–15. ISBN 978-0-7188-4442-4. OCLC 1105500463.
  3. "Bible Gateway passage: Psalm 91 - King James Version". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2023-04-26.
  4. Nault, Jean-Charles (2015). The noonday devil : acedia, the unnamed evil of our times. Michael J. Miller, Marc Ouellet. San Francisco. ISBN 978-1-58617-939-7. OCLC 898925678.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  • Grayston, Donald Thomas Merton and the Noonday Demon: The Camaldoli Correspondence.
  • Kuhn, Reinhard Clifford The Demon of Noontide: Ennui in Western Literature.
  • Nault, Jean-Charles The noonday devil: acedia, the unnamed evil of our times. Michael J. Miller, Marc Ouellet. San Francisco.
  • Nelson, Matthew "Acedia: Beating Back the "Noonday Devil" Word on Fire.
  • Psalm 91 KJV - - Bible Gateway. (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2023, from https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2B91&version=KJV
  • Scott-Macnab, David The Many Faces of the Noonday Demon // Journal of Early Christian History. — 2018. — Vol. 8, no. 1. — P. 22–42.
  • Solomon, Andrew The Noonday Demon.
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