About dragons and ghosts (from “Small Treatises”)

The essay “On Dragons and Ghosts” is a short work that reveals the rational and theologically verified approach of St. John of Damascus to phenomena that in his time were surrounded by popular superstitions, myths and pagan ideas. This treatise, as the translator notes, is valuable not so much for the natural scientific views of the era, but for the demonstrated methodology of thinking - strict sobriety in assessing the world around us, opposed to the “boundless mysticism” of false religiosity. The treatise consists of two parts: 1. "About dragons." St. John does not deny the very existence of dragons, but he resolutely rejects mythological ideas about them as intelligent creatures capable of taking on human form, communicating with people, or even cohabiting with them. He argues his position by pointing out that God created only two rational natures - angels and people. If dragons were intelligent and shape-shifting, they would represent a third, unbiblical and even superior intelligent nature, which is absurd. The author explains dragons as real, but ordinary animals - large snakes, while citing historical evidence and describing their physiological characteristics (size, lack of poison). He also refutes the belief that dragons are driven out by thunder, offering an accurate, by the standards of his time, natural explanation for the phenomenon of thunder and lightning, thereby dispelling superstition through rational knowledge and a biblical understanding of creation. 2. “About ghosts.” In this part, Rev. John addresses widespread beliefs about "ghost women" (geludas) who supposedly penetrate locked doors and strangle or eat the entrails of infants. The author refutes these beliefs, arguing that only the Lord Jesus Christ had the power to enter through locked doors after His Resurrection. If ordinary women or spirits could do the same, it would detract from the greatness of Christ's work. He also rejects the idea of ​​a soul leaving the body, citing the exclusive right of Christ to give and receive His soul. St. John of Damascus seeks to cleanse the Christian consciousness of pagan remnants and superstitions, affirming the Divine order of creation, exposing demonic deception and calling for sober thought and faith in one God, and not in the forces of chaos or evil. From the translator. Publishing for the first time in Russian two small treatises by St. John of Damascus, we would like to draw the attention of readers not so much to the natural scientific views of the Holy Father, which, of course, bear the stamp of his era and are interesting primarily to historians of science, but to the very methodology of his thinking, to his consistent sobriety in assessing the phenomena of the surrounding world, strikingly contrasting with boundless mysticism, with the search for the mysterious, characteristic of false religiosity. Translation was carried out according to the publication: Patrologiae cursus completus. Series graeca. T. 96, 1600–1604. Since some imagine that dragons take on human form and become snakes, sometimes small, sometimes huge, distinguished by the length and size of their bodies, and sometimes, as has already been said, having become people, they enter into communication with them, appear, abduct women and cohabit with them, then we ask [those who tell all this]: how many rational natures did God create? And if they don’t know, then let’s say it ourselves: two, I mean angels and people. After all, the devil was one of the angelic forces and walks in darkness after he voluntarily fell away from the light. So, these two rational natures [He] created: but if the dragon changes form, communicates with people and cohabits with women, becoming either a snake or a man, as if one of many, then it clearly follows that he is a rational [creature] and significantly superior to man; but this is precisely what never happened and never will happen. Let them say again: who actually tells about it? For we trust the teaching of Moses, or rather the Holy Spirit, who spoke through [the prophet]. [The teaching] this says: “And God brought all the living creatures to Adam to see what he would call them; and as [the man] called them, so was their name” (cf. Gen. 2:19). Therefore, the dragon was one of the animals. After all, I do not tell you that there are no dragons: dragons exist, but they are snakes, born from other dragons. Being just born and young, they are small, but when they are nourished and reach the limit of age, they become large and thick, so that they surpass other snakes in length and size. They say that they grow over thirty cubits [1], and become as thick as a large log. Dio the Roman [2], who wrote the History of the Roman Empire and the Republic, in which he spoke about the glorious Carthaginian War, reports the following: once, when the Roman consul Regulus was fighting against Carthage, a dragon suddenly crawled behind the ramparts of the Roman army; The Romans, by order of Regulus, killed him and, having torn off his skin, sent it to the Roman Senate. When the skin, as Dion says, was measured by order of the Senate, then, a great miracle, it was found to be one hundred and twenty feet [3] in length; The thickness was corresponding to the length. There is another kind of dragons that have a wide head, golden eyes and horny protrusions on the back of their heads; Still others have a beard [growing] from the throat - this kind of dragons is called “agathodemons” [4] and they say that they have no eggs. And this dragon is a kind of animal, like other animals. After all, he has a beard like a goat, as well as a horn above the back of his head. His eyes are large and golden. They come in both big and small. All kinds of snakes are poisonous except the dragon, which alone does not release poison. They also tell a fable that a dragon is driven out by thunder: it rises and is killed. Hearing this made me laugh. How can one imagine [the dragon] as either humanoid and intelligent, or as a snake, or as resisting God, or as being persecuted by Him? Truly, ignorance is an unreliable thing. And therefore, most of all, we harm ourselves when we neglect reading the Holy Books and studying them according to the word of the Lord [5]. But the warrior says: “I am a warrior and I don’t need to read,” - the farmer excuses himself by farming; Others act similarly, just as we all find ourselves not fulfilling [the commandment of the Lord]. Thunder does not chase the dragon; thunder comes from a cloud when a cloud, pouring rain due to humidity and being driven by a breeze or wind, thickens. And when a breath penetrates and destroys it, then a rumble occurs; this noise above is called thunder, and what falls to the ground under the influence of the force of the wind is called lightning. If it hits a house or tree, it destroys or splits them, but if it hits a person or any other living creature, it causes death to them; Therefore, we see that people and other animals, and not dragons, are often killed by such a blow. As for lightning, some of them are similar in shape to lines, others are sinuous, and others are fire-like. It is also said that lightning and thunder happen together; Immediately after the cloud breaks, lightning and thunder follow, while the lightning, previously invisible, appears immediately, and the thunder lags until it descends from a height. Therefore, a thunderclap is heard later than lightning. I'll give you another example. Look carefully, when someone standing in the distance on an elevated place gives a signal, you first see his hand knocking on the wood, and only after a while the sound of a blow reaches your ears. Consider that the same thing happens in the cloud. When, being full of wind inside, it is destroyed by the force of moisture, it produces sound. If it happens that it collides with another cloud, then the sound will be [especially] strong. I want you not to be ignorant about the following. Some of the more ignorant claim that there are ghost women, who are also called geludas. They say that they appear in the air at night and, if they visit a house, it is impossible to prevent them either by doors or locks, but they enter through doors that are locked with all care and strangle babies. Others say that they eat the liver and the entire [internal] composition of [children], putting the limits of their life. At the same time, some claim that they saw, others that they heard, how [ghosts] enter houses with locked doors, whether with a body or only a soul. I will tell them that our Lord and God Jesus Christ alone did this when He entered after His resurrection from the dead to His holy apostles with the doors locked. And if women witches did and do this, then the Lord did absolutely nothing worthy of surprise when he entered when the doors were locked. If they say that the soul enters naked [of the flesh], while the body lies on the bed, then, behold, hear from me what our Lord Jesus Christ said: “I have power to lay down My life, and I have power to take it up again” (cf. John 10:18). Which He did once during His Holy Passion. And therefore, if a sorcerous and vile woman does the same thing whenever she wants, then it turns out that the Lord did not create anything at all. And one more thing: if a witch eats a baby’s liver, how can he continue to live? [Hence it is certain] that all this nonsense is invented by certain heretics who are hostile to the Holy Catholic Church in order to turn the simple minds away from right understanding. A cubit is a measure of length equal to approximately 46 cm. – Hereinafter, translator’s notes. Roman historian Dio Cassius (Cassius Dio Cocceianus - c. 150 - c. 235). Foot – a measure of length – 308.3 mm. Agathodemon (Greek ўgaqoda…mwn) is a good genius.