in of sunset,' _i.e._, in the west, 'and were reared in the
mountain of sunrise,' _i.e._, the east; 'that they dwell in the hollow
of the earth, and that they are proclaimed on the mountain tops.'
Evidently a description of this kind is intended to emphasize the
universal presence of the spirits. There is no place where they are not
found; and when we are furthermore told (apparently in contradiction to
what has just been said) 'that neither in heaven nor earth is their name
pronounced (_i.e._, are they known to be), that among the gods of the
earth (_i.e._, the pantheon) they are not recognized, that neither in
heaven nor earth do they exist,' this is but the reverse of the picture
intended to illustrate the capability of the spirits to disappear
without leaving any trace of their presence. They are everywhere and yet
invisible. They come and they go, and no one knows their place. Nothing
is proof against their approach. Of all the demons it is true, as of
this group, that they slip through bolts and doorposts and sockets,
gliding, as we are told, 'like snakes.' Such are the demons against whom
man must seek to protect himself.

The relationship of the demons or spirits to the gods of the pantheon
has been touched upon in a previous chapter.[356] It is sufficient here
to emphasize the fact that the dividing line between the two becomes at
times exceedingly faint. A deity, we have seen, is a spirit writ large;
but often the demon assumes dimensions and is clothed with power that
makes him 'little short of divine.' Strength is the attribute of the
demons as it is the chief feature of the gods. Both classes of powers
influence man's career. The names of the demons are preceded by the same
determinative that is used for the gods. As a matter of fact, many of
the spirits were originally worshipped as local deities in some
restricted territory, which, losing its importance, bequeaths the name
of its protective genius to posterity. In the realm of religious belief,
as in the domain of nature, absolute loss of something that once had
existence does not take place. Something remains. Hundreds of old local
gods of Babylonia thus survived in the literature as spirits or demons.
The tendency towards making a selection out of the great mass of gods
goes hand in hand with the multiplication of spirits that might, as
occasion presented itself, be invoked. In general, the larger affairs of
life were consigned into the hands of the gods