Father Fortea, why does Sacred Scripture say that demons are in the “regions of the air”?
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the [regions of the air] (As Saint Paul says in Ephesians 6:11-12).
Sacred Scripture, when speaking of demons, always locates them in one of two places: in hell (that is to say, in “that which is below”) or in the air. To say that they are in the air is a way of saying that they are everywhere, that they move about with complete freedom. St. Paul repeats this again when he calls the devil “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2).
Editor’s Note: To learn more about spiritual warfare and demonology, Catholic Spiritual Direction recommends Fr. José Antonio Fortea’s excellent book Interview With An Exorcist – An Insider’s Look at the Devil, Demonic Possession, and the Path to Deliverance.
Father José Antonio Fortea Cucurull is a priest, exorcist, and writer from Spain. He has published many books, some of which have been translated from Spanish into English, and has spoken at various venues in the United States. His most famous title is the Summa Daemoniaca, currently available only in Spanish. His book Exorcistica is a supplemental publication of Summa Daemoniaca.
To see many other posts on spiritual warfare and demonology, please click on the following link to see all our posts in this series: Spiritual Warfare and Demonology Posts (and Their Links) on SpiritualDirection.com
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Art for this post “Sacred Scripture Says Demons are in the ‘Regions of the Air'”: Caacrinolaas, , an illustration from the “Dictionnaire Infernal” [The Infernal Dictionary] by Jacques Collin de Plancy, December 31, 1862, PD-US author’s life plus 100 years or less; detail of Padre José Antonio Fortea 2017, photographed by Elgatoconbotaselgatoconbotas, 5 May 2017 own work, CCA-SA 4.0 International; both Wikimedia Commons. Cover of “Interview with an Exorcist” used with permission, all rights reserved.
