Demons of the Middle

Demons, like devils, are usually at the side of evil, but their operation is more subtle. They are evil spirits that take hold of the human attention. They do nothing by themselves, but frighten, confuse man and seduce him to evil. In Harry Potter they play a key role.

In the world of software, there are also daemons. These are programming routines that run in parallel with other software and that fulfill a certain role, such as keeping a software license active. The word daemon is well chosen. Demons always remain active in one way or another, especially if you don't ask for it.

Fortunately, we don’t believe in demons anymore. Yet the demon as an imagery makes sense, because in this way we can describe an aspect of reality with a catching metaphor. We could say that the result of demon action is palpable, especially in the middle of major challenges. When you are fulfilling a huge task, you can meet the demon with the hammer. You look at the enormous effort you have already made and suddenly you realize that you are only in the middle. Life itself is also a big task. The French use the elegant expression "le démon de midi", the demon of the middle to name the temptations of the middle of life. Man can then succumb under the demons of the middle.

As life expectancy increases, so does the period in which one feels in the middle. Therefore, these are golden times for the demons of the middle. Where people used to succumb to phthisis or tuberculosis at the age of forty-five, they now succumb to burnouts, depression, divorces and other works of demons. With all the misery in life, there is also a matthew effect, so that you have a better chance of getting an additional demon if you have already met many before. Demons can only be defeated through prayer and patience. Their effect is limited in time but the damage caused can be significant and permanent.

I refer to my blogs: “the Course of Love” and “A lifelong understanding of W.B. Yeats”.

Image: Pieter Breugel the Elder, the Fall of the Rebel Angels