Southern Demonology

What exactly is a demon?

It sounds like a simple question, especially for a podcast called Southern Demonology. But the further back we travel into the ancient world, the harder that question becomes to answer.

In this episode, JJ traces the concept of the demon from the dangerous spirits and numinous powers of ancient Mesopotamia through the Hebrew Bible and into the dramatically changing supernatural landscape of Second Temple Juda...

Azazel is one of the most recognizable names in demonology. Yet the earliest text to mention him never clearly tells us that he is a demon at all.

In this episode of Southern Demonology, we trace Azazel from the strange ritual of Leviticus 16, where one goat is designated “for Azazel” and sent into the wilderness, into the much darker world of 1 Enoch, where Azazel becomes one of the great corrupters of humanity. There h...

In this deeply unsettling episode of Southern Demonology, JJ is joined by Amanda to discuss a lifetime of traumatic and deeply disturbing experiences that appear to move far beyond ordinary paranormal activity. What begins with a terrifying childhood encounter and an entity described as a black mass with no eyes and a grotesque, impossible smile develops into a larger conversation about trauma, attachment, spiritual danger, and the...

In Part 2 of this special conversation, Doug Bradley moves beyond horror cinema and into the deeper waters of the paranormal. The discussion turns toward haunted houses, family ghost stories, religious belief, folk practice, Ouija experiences, and the strange tension between skepticism and personal encounter. Along the way, Doug reflects on whether ghost experiences are truly the dead, whether some phenomena may be psychological ra...

In Part 1 of this special two-part conversation, The Wandering Road Podcast and Southern Demonology Podcast sit down with horror legend Doug Bradley for a wide-ranging discussion that goes far beyond Hellraiser.

Doug reflects on his lifelong fascination with ghosts, horror, mythology, and the paranormal, and explains why he describes himself as a “religious atheist.” From there, the conversation moves into religion, the ...

The Nephilim are often remembered as giants, but 1 Enoch presents them as something far more terrifying. In this episode, JJ explores the Nephilim as the product of a rebellion that begins when the Watchers bind themselves in a curse, descend from their proper estate, and force together spirit and flesh in a way that should never have happened. The result is not merely violence on the earth, but a profound violation of the created ...

Where did the idea of archangels actually come from, and why do so many traditions speak of seven of them? In this episode, JJ traces the development of the archangels from the Hebrew Bible through Second Temple Jewish literature, Tobit, 1 Enoch, and later Christian tradition. Along the way, he explains why only a few names—especially Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael—became widely recognized, while others such as Uriel, Ra...

Lilith is one of the oldest, most controversial, and most misunderstood names in all of demonology. In this first episode of the named demons series, JJ examines Lilith through the lens of language, history, and reception rather than modern mythmaking. Beginning with her Mesopotamian roots and moving through Isaiah 34, Psalm 91’s allusive “arrow that flieth by day,” the Dead Sea Scrolls, and later Jewish tradition...

In this crossover-style conversation with Chris from The Wandering Road, JJ dives into one of theology’s oldest and most stubborn questions: do human beings truly have free will, or are we simply moving through a script already known by God?

What begins with a discussion of UFO disclosure, alien life, and the theological panic such revelations might cause quickly turns toward much deeper ground: divine omniscience, prophecy, d...

In this episode, JJ is joined by Chris and Dean from the Wandering Road for a conversation centered around the world of demonic sigils. Together, they explore where these symbols actually originated, how they became tied to demons and occult practices, and whether there’s any real historical or theological basis behind them at all.

The discussion takes a closer look at the validity of demonic sigils themselves questioning ...

In this episode of Southern Demonology, JJ takes a brief pause from the ongoing demonology series for a conversation with Tommy from the Let’s Get Freaky podcast.

Tommy shares the personal encounters that first drew him into the world of paranormal investigation and podcasting, beginning with a childhood home marked by unexplained footsteps, oppressive atmospheres, and a terrifying full-bodied apparition seated at his bedroom ...

Demonic sigils are everywhere: in grimoires, in horror shows, and plastered across thumbnails any time someone says the word “infernal.” In this episode of southern demonology, we slow everything down and ask harder questions: what are these sigils actually supposed to be, where did they come from, and how do they relate to older ideas like angelic script and heavenly writing?

We trace the path from ancient concerns abou...

In this episode of the Demonology classroom series, JJ is joined again by Chris and Dean from The Wandering Road for a deep dive into one of the most uncomfortable and misunderstood questions in religion and the paranormal: what do we do with ghosts, spirits of the dead, and the unseen afterlife? From ancient Judaism and necromancy laws to the concept of She’ol and the persistence of the dead in antiquity, this conversation e...

Before we begin a full series on named demons, we need to ask a more basic question: what are these names, really? Are they ancient and original, or are they titles, translations, corruptions, polemics, and borrowed labels that changed over time?

In this episode, JJ lays the groundwork for thinking carefully about demon names by exploring the differences between Semitic, Greek, and Latin traditions, how names shift as they move acro...

In this new entry in the Demonology classroom series, JJ is joined by Chris and Dean from The Wandering Road for a wide-ranging discussion on one of the most important and misunderstood questions in all of demonology: what actually makes something demonic?

Together, they unpack the difference between the merely strange, the paranormal, and the genuinely infernal. They also tackle a problem that has followed religion for generations:...

In this special episode of Southern Demonology, JJ reads the full Introduction to The Grammar of the Unseen: A Demonology Rooted in Text and Tradition. If you’ve followed the Demonology series, this is the moment where the research, the guardrails, and the method get gathered into one place—why this project refuses spectacle, why it insists on sources, and why “discernment” matters as much as doctrine.

The In...

What happens when you talk about the paranormal long enough… and it starts responding?

For the Season 6 finale (Lucky Episode 13), JJ from Southern Demonology links up with The Wandering Road for a raw, unsettling roundtable about the unspoken “rule” of the strange: when you look into the paranormal, it looks back. What begins as an idea becomes a pattern—technical glitches, oppressive heaviness, sudden heal...

In this episode of Southern Demonology, JJ sits down with Jeff Lippman, host of the Garden of Thought podcast, for a wide-ranging conversation about podcasting, curiosity, and the strange intellectual corners we stumble into when we stop trying to control the conversation.

What starts as a discussion about booking guests and navigating cancellations quickly turns into something deeper: the unexpected power of fringe ideas, the cultu...

Step into the hidden world of the debtera — the enigmatic, half-sanctioned, half-feared ritual specialists of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. In this episode, JJ dives deep into the sacred highlands of Ethiopia to uncover a figure who is equal parts cantor, healer, scribe, exorcist, and yes… sometimes magician.

We explore what the debtera actually is, how they’re trained, why they live in the spiritual borderlands ...