A note about demons.  Demons tend to be personal.  They are whatever the "possessed" believes them to be.  A demon can be a fallen angel.  A demon can be a lost soul.  A demon can be an addiction.  Whatever the case, a demon occupies the dark side of human nature.  To grow, to become "enlightened" to find a path towards peace, love, harmony, and happiness, we must find a way to deal with each of our demons.  It may not be possible to defeat the demons.  But it is possible to gain power over them and keep them in check.  My personal demon goes by the name JoH.  It doen't matter if you believe he exists.  What matters is the journey towards cleansing my soul of him.  It wasn't easy.  But with help from my family, he is but a shadow of his former self.   As am I.

In 331 BC the Persian King Darius III suffered his shattering defeat by Alexander the Great at the battle of Gaugamela. In the aftermath Darius was murdered by his kinsmen. With his death ended the Achaemenid dynasty which had reigned supreme over the Ancient world for more than two centuries.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              From...http://www.gaugamela.com

The following was offered up as an identification of the origin of JoH that came to be in a very realistic dream.  The dream sticks in my mind even today, some seven years later. (May 30, 2005) 

For betraying my king and my friend, I was rewarded with land, gold, and all a man may want.  I did not do it for greed.  I did it for what I thought best for my people.  I was wrong.  It was a sin so grievous, I could scarce live with it.  The bargain was made, however, with but one escape.  And my end was only a matter of time.        

It began with a visitation.  I was a trusted friend and advisor to King Darius III.  Together, we mastered the world.  But a new conqueror had arrived at our gates.  I knew it was our end. But my King had the duty and the divine right to defend the empire.  I was told of a distant emissary that wished to see me.  I was drawn to him.  I knew nothing of him or who he represented.  And yet I seemed powerless in my need to hear this messenger.

The emissary told me that he was an Enforcer.  An agent of the Underworld.  Though his story was too fantastic, I still felt intrigued.  He offered me great power and riches.  He offered peace. I cannot honestly say I was solely interested in peace.  I was a man of war.  This Enforcer filled me with jealousy and greed.  However, to gain all these things, I had to destroy my King. 

I watched my King over the next few weeks, and became increasingly bitter.  I was by far better than he!  I bowed to him and subjugated myself to him.  Yet, I knew I was the better man.  I sat with a select group of my trusted officers.  I convinced them that the King was about to betray us all.  And the only way to save the empire was to kill the King.  A task they performed very well.  We stuck him down.  He thought he was safe.  He trusted us. 

I looked upon his body and wept.  What had I done?  What had I done???

When word of the death of Darius spread, an agent of Alexander sought me out.  I was given land, riches, and all it cost was my soul.  At the time I should have been at my glory, my happiest, I was inconsolably depressed.  I ignored my subjects.  I ignored any of my “duties”. I drank.  I would take whatever I wanted.  My days and nights were a blur of eating, drinking, sex, and torture.  I could not erase the pain of what I had done. 

According to the Bargain, I was to continue the wars.  Continue the killing.  Create chaos and destruction.  Once I murdered my friend, I had no desire to do so.  I set on a task of inward destruction instead.  And I soon succeeded.

One particular evening, after much drink, I had a rendezvous with a local maiden.  I had met her some time ago, and together we pushed the boundaries of life and death in whatever manner suited us.  This particular evening, we pushed too far.  Out by a local stream, she came upon the idea of making love while flirting with death.  To accomplish this, my head was held under water during the sexual act.  To be sure, it increased the danger and experience greatly. 

This was my last act as a living human being.

But die I did not.  I could not.  I had broken the Bargain.  My punishment was to go on for eternity.  Each life a bitter, ugly life ending only in suicide.  I was to be reborn after each death to torment the host and battle their soul for its possession, and then to end the host’s existence.  Everlasting tragedy was my doom.

For 2,300 years I tormented and destroyed nearly a hundred hosts.  Few have fought me. None have won.  None knew how.  Ignorance was my best defense.  But as mankind grows, so does his knowledge.  Perhaps my defeat is at hand.  Perhaps my freedom and that of my host is near.

Advice from a man-turned-demon:  Deceivers are we.  Our power is what the host gives us.  But the deceit is powerful.  What a man perceives as truth is his truth.  Only once he begins to question this, does he starts towards enlightenment. And defeat of all his personal demons.