Demons, Passions, and Dreams

Having entered there suddenly, they seize the struggling soul. The evil demons bring their even more evil demons to their aid; and while opposing one another according to their dispositions, they agree only upon the destruction of the soul.

But let us not be troubled by the demon who snatches away the mind toward blasphemy against God and toward those unmentionable fantasies which I have not dared to hand over even by writing, nor let him cut off our readiness; for the Lord is a searcher of hearts and knows that, even while being in the world, we never learned such a madness. The aim of this demon is to make us cease from prayer, so that we may not stand against the Lord our God, nor dare to stretch out our hands after which such things have been thought.

For the passions in the soul are signaled either by some word brought forward beforehand, or by a movement of the body occurring, through which the enemies perceive whether we have their thoughts within us and are in pain, or whether, having rejected them, we are anxious for our salvation. For the God who made us alone knows the mind, and He does not need signals to know the things hidden in the heart.

For those in the world, the demons struggle more through external things, but for the monks, more so through thoughts; for through external things they are lacking because of the desert. And as it is easier to sin by thought than by action, so much more difficult is the war by thought than that composed of external things; for the mind is a movable thing and is difficult to settle against lawless fantasies.

We have not been commanded to work through all things and to keep watch and to fast, but to pray to us unceasingly has been legislated; because while that which heals the passive part of the soul also binds our body to the work, which through its own weakness is not sufficient for the labors, prayer strengthens the mind and prepares it pure for the struggle, being in its nature to pray, and through this, both the body and all the powers of the soul fight against the demons. If any monk would wish to be tested by demons and to learn their craft, let him guard his thoughts, and let him take note of these signs, and the...

Seek the words concerning these things from Christ: the movements, the transmigrations, the times, which of the demons are doing these things, and which demon a person follows, and who follows whom. For those who practice the practical life more knowingly are greatly troubled, desiring to shoot at those who are straight of heart in the darkness.

You will find two very sharp demons almost running ahead of the movement of our mind: the demon of fornication and the one seizing us toward blasphemy against God; but the latter is short-lived, while the former, unless it moves the thoughts through suffering, will not hinder us from the knowledge of God.

The Fathers name the separation of soul from body, or soul from body and from that which clings to virtue, as the practice of death and flight from the body.

Those who nourish the flesh badly and turn the care of it into lusts should not let themselves be filled by this; for those who have acquired the soul's impassibility through this body and are applying it to the contemplation of beings know the grace of the Creator.

Regarding what happens in dreams: When the demons fight in the dream-phantasies in the desiring part, they themselves show us things—such as the gatherings of acquaintances, banquets of relatives, women's dances, and such other things that produce pleasure—and in this part we are sick and the passion is strong. When they again disturb the spirited part, forcing us to walk on precipitous paths, bringing armed men and biting and flesh-eating beasts, while we are terrified by the paths and flee being pursued by the beasts and men, let us make care for the spirited part, and calling upon Christ in vigils, let us use the aforementioned remedies.

The dreamless natural movements of the body indicate how the soul is healthy; but the grasping of idols is a sign of sickness; and the indefinite faces are considered a sign of the old passion, while the defined ones are a symbol of the fresh wound.

The proofs of impassibility are, by day, through the thoughts, and by night...