The Demon Sloth

The last few weeks I kept seeing these Sloths on my Facebook page. I don’t know why I was getting sponsored ads with sloths on them but I thought it was really weird. They were ranging from video games, videos and just weird sloth stuff. I should’ve screenshot them but I didn’t. (UPDATE: After I wrote this they started posting them on my FB again.)

I know by now, that nothing is coincidence and especially with social media and the internet and the way they track us nowadays, everything is almost telegraphed.

So what was up with all these sloths popping up on my Facebook page? Why in the world would I see sloths when I never thought about them, never searched for them or even cared about these kind of animals..ever. I figured there had to be some sort of symbolic meaning to why I was seeing this because that’s usually how my research goes. Nothing is ever happenstance. I know that sloth was one of the “7 deadly sins” but I don’t care much for the Catholic view of things. So I started to look up the meaning of sloth. Sloth by our definition is lazy.

Before I give you some quotes, I’m just going to give you my opinion based on the info below of what this sloth symbolism actually means. First off, by adjacent definition, it just means that you don’t care about anything anymore. You can’t “keep on keeping on” anymore as Joe Dirt would say. You are so busy in your life that you are easily sidetracked and the things that matter will get neglected. This is how Christians have gotten in this day and age. They have lost their spiritual drive, and have grieved the Holy Spirit. Whether it be from life in general or suicidal social media, this is the real meaning of sloth. This is the gateway to every other sin. Notice the church of Laodecia, they were lukewarm…this was their downfall.

The other view is that Acedia or sloth is actually a demon called Belphegor. It is called the “noonday demon or the meridian devil”. This is due to people getting that boredom in the middle of the day and turning to other things. He was known as the lord or master of the opening. What opening may you ask? The abyss, womb and vagina. As a Moabite deity, he was known as Baal-Peor and ruled over fertility and sexual power and was worshipped in the form of a phallus. Peor means a cleft like in a rock or a gap. It comes from pa’ar which means to own wide in the sense of yawning. Hence, this is where you get that boredom and influence of the noonday demon. He’s opening a gateway through spiritual laziness

I also want to mention that this sixth tree of life demon who is the antithesis of beauty is the gateway to every sun. It reminds me of how marijuana is the gateway drug to other drugs. And what is funny, marijuana makes you lazy and lower your inhibitions. Sounds a lot lithe sloth to me.

He is an arch Demon who is part of the Demonic counterparts to the angels who rule the 10 sephirot of the Tree of Life; he rules over the sixth sephirah. The 6th is called the Tiphareth and represents beauty. It is special to Kabbalists because it connects to all the aspects on their demonic tree of life. This is the heart and out of the heart comes what? Every evil thought. That’s why this sloth or laziness is so dangerous and can be considered the gateway to every sin. Even Kabbalah laid it out correctly through the Tepherath.

Belphegor sits on a pierced chair because excrement (poop) is his sacrificial offering and that’s why you see images of him sitting on a toilet or his throne. Now you know where this phrase comes from. Remember what Paul said in Philippians 3:8 “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,”. So he represent the sixth sephirah which is supposed to be beauty but we know who was the most beautiful angel right? Lucifer.

So there you have it. Once I figured out out what sloth represented than it made sense why I was all of the sudden seeing this image everywhere. As Christians, sometimes we are all easily thrown off and away from prayer and reading scripture because of not only life but with social media. And Facebook is a prime example to draw us away from Jesus. I can attest to this. So hopefully this can help not only me but help others with knowing this now. Boredom and being spiritually lazy cannot be an option for us.

“Acedia. The dictionary defines the noun “acedia” (əˈsēdēə) as spiritual or mental sloth (reluctance to work; laziness); apathy. The origin of the word is the Greek akēdia ‘listlessness,’ from a– ‘without’ + kēdos ‘care.’ Thus, “without care” – lacking engagement, concern, commitment, zeal. Modern manifestations of acedia, or spiritual sloth, could include apathy toward God, boredom with the truths of God, indifference toward the will of God, unconcern for the intentions of God. Associated with acedia also is a kind of sadness, a lack of the joy of spirit that accompanies a sharing in the holy love of God.” (https://www.google.com.sg/amp/s/renewthechurch.com/2015/05/06/acedia-spiritual-sloth-and-the-church-of-laodicea-u-s-a/amp/)

“Acedia (/əˈsiːdiə/; also accidie or accedie/ˈæksɪdi/, from Latin acedĭa, and this from Greek ἀκηδία, “negligence”, ἀ- “lack of” -κηδία “care”) is a state of listlessness or torpor, of not caring or not being concerned with one’s position or condition in the world. It can lead to a state of being unable to perform one’s duties in life. Its spiritual overtones make it related to but arguably distinct from depression…the 13th-century theologian Thomas Aquinas identifies acedia with “the sorrow of the world” (compare Weltschmerz) that “worketh death” and contrasts it with that sorrow “according to God” described by St. Paul in 2 Cor. 7:10. For Aquinas, acedia is “sorrow about spiritual good in as much as it is a Divine good.” It becomes a mortal sin when reason consents to man’s “flight” (fuga) from the Divine good, “on account of the flesh utterly prevailing over the spirit.”[3] Acedia is essentially a flight from the divine that leads to not even caring that one does not care. The ultimate expression of this is a despair that ends in suicide.” (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acedia)

“Before Sloth Meant Laziness, It Was the Spiritual Sin of Acedia. Acedia comes from Greek, and means “a lack of care.” It sounds a little like today’s sloth, and acedia is indeed considered a precursor to today’s sin of laziness. To Christian monks in the fourth century, however, acedia was more than just laziness or apathy. It was more likedejection that made it difficult to be spiritual, avoiding ascetic practices, boredom that led to falling asleep while reading, and frustration with life in a monastery—but the meaning is nuanced and has changed over time.” (https://www.google.com.sg/amp/s/www.atlasobscura.com/articles/desert-fathers-sins-acedia-sloth.amp)

“The original Greek is acedia, which is much closer to despair and dejection than it is to just laziness. It is more like ennui. Basically, the cardinal sin of acedia is when you just can’t maintain motivation to keep on keeping on. It is when you give in to the feeling that whatever it is you are facing is so big that you just kind of can’t care any more. It is when life feels pointless and meaningless and you stop caring about your duty and the condition of the world and you stop trying to make it better. There are signs of acedia that are very similar to signs of depression, but are not exactly the same. There is a general restlessness and boredom where you try to fill up your life with distractions because you’ve lost a sense of meaning. All of this is a sin because it keeps you from being able to operate and fulfill your purpose…whatever that happens to be.” (http://occultlibrarian.blogspot.com/2015/04/acedia-sin-of-sloth-is-not-really.html?m=1)

Scripturally it also made me think of the man who buried his talent and was turned away by Jesus and the Laodecian church who is nether hot nor cold.

Mat 25:24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow;
Mat 25:25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’
Mat 25:26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed?
Mat 25:27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming. I should have received what was my own with interest.
Mat 25:28 So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents.
Mat 25:29 For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Mat 25:30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.’”

Rev 3:14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
Rev 3:15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot!
Rev 3:16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.

But there is something demonic about this sloth that’s called acedia. It’s called the Noon day devil for a reason and he has a name, Belphegor. “The term Noonday Demon (also Noonday Devil, Demon of Noontide, Midday Demon or Meridian Demon) is used as an personification and synonym for acedia. It indicates a demonic figure thought to be active at the noon hour which inclines its victims (usually monastics) to restlessness, excitability and inattention to one’s duties.
It comes from biblical sources: the Hebrew Bible reads “mi-ketev yashud tsohorayim”: from destruction that despoils at midday.” (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noonday_Demon)

“Belphegor is a Moabite god absorbed into Hebrew lore and then Christianity as a major Demon. The name Belphegor means “lord of opening” or “lord Baal of Mt. Phegor.” As a Moabite deity, he was known as Baal-Peor and ruled over fertility and sexual power. He was worshipped in the form of a phallus.

In the Kabbalah, Belphegor was an angel in the order of principalities prior to his fall. He is one of the Togarini, “the wranglers.” He is an archDemon who is part of the Demonic counterparts to the angels who rule the 10 sephirot of the Tree of Life; he rules over the sixth sephirah. He sits on a pierced chair, for excrement is his sacrificial offering. In Christian Demonology, Belphegor is the incarnation of one of the Seven Deadly Sins, sloth, characterized by negligence and apathy. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, all sins that arise from ignorance are caused by sloth.

Belphegor is the Master of the Opening. Once upon a time, Belphegor was Ba’al Peor, also known as Ba’al Phegor, patron of Moab, an ancient kingdom located along the Dead Sea’s eastern shore, now in modern Jordan. According to Demonologists, Belphegor is the Demon of discoveries. He tempts people and leads them to ruin by inspiring them to create ingenious products and innovations that are destined to fail. Belphegor is also the Demon of sloth, who encourages people to fantasize and procrastinate rather than produce.

Belphegor is a shape-shifter who takes pleasure in manifesting in surprising ways. He may appear as a beautiful naked womanor a fierce horned spirit with jagged claws. He is sometimes described as having a perpetually open mouth, but this derives from a misunderstanding of his name. The openings of which he is master include caves, crevices, wombs, and vaginas. Once upon a time Ba’al Phegor presided over mystic, erotic rites on Mount Phegor, condemned by Hebrew prophets as “abominations.”” (http://occult-world.com/demons/belphegor)