Scorpions and demons

[returntosender]

The word speaks on scorpions an demons.
I'd like to hear your views on this.
I have scorpions and have been stung many times.
Do i have demons because i have scorpions?

 

[HTacianas]

The word speaks on scorpions an demons.
I'd like to hear your views on this.
I have scorpions and have been stung many times.
Do i have demons because i have scorpions?

No. You don't have demons because you have scorpions. The bible mentions scorpions in one context in the Revelation:

Rev 9:5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

Nowadays when we think of a scorpion stinging a person we think of the instantaneous pain caused by the sting itself. But the ancients looked at it a different way. They viewed the worst part of a scorpion still to be the lingering pain and weakness it caused. Some scorpion stings can leave people weak for days. The scorpion in this context appears also in ancient carvings of Mithra, a god the Romans brought back with them from Persia. Carvings of Mithra portray him straddling a bull and killing it with a knife. A couple of Mithra's traveling companions were a dog and a scorpion. In those same carvings a scorpion is seen stinging the bull's testicles. Again, we would imagine the initial pain of the sting, but the idea was that the scorpion is stinging the bull to weaken it by sapping it of its strength, making it easier for Mithra to kill it. You can see it below:

 

[Ophiolite]

The word speaks on scorpions an demons.
I'd like to hear your views on this.
I have scorpions and have been stung many times.
Do i have demons because i have scorpions?

Since you appear to be talking about scorpions from a scriptural perspective and about demons from a theological perspective, this subforum would be the wrong place for such a discussion: this is for talking about physical science. Perhaps you should ask the moderators to move it to a more appropriate place.

 

[FreeinChrist]

ADVISOR HAT

This thread was moved from Physical & Life Sciences to General Theology which is a better location for the thread.​

 

[The Liturgist]

No. You don't have demons because you have scorpions. The bible mentions scorpions in one context in the Revelation:

Rev 9:5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.

Nowadays when we think of a scorpion stinging a person we think of the instantaneous pain caused by the sting itself. But the ancients looked at it a different way. They viewed the worst part of a scorpion still to be the lingering pain and weakness it caused. Some scorpion stings can leave people weak for days. The scorpion in this context appears also in ancient carvings of Mithra, a god the Romans brought back with them from Persia. Carvings of Mithra portray him straddling a bull and killing it with a knife. A couple of Mithra's traveling companions were a dog and a scorpion. In those same carvings a scorpion is seen stinging the bull's testicles. Again, we would imagine the initial pain of the sting, but the idea was that the scorpion is stinging the bull to weaken it by sapping it of its strength, making it easier for Mithra to kill it. You can see it below:

View attachment 344560

Just out of curiosity did the stinging tail of the scorpion get broken off that scripture? Because it looks like the bull is being pinched by the non-venomous pincers of a crab or a mudbug or crawdad, but I would guess there was the stinging tail at one point.

Either way, as a man, the mere thought of a scorpion getting me down there carries the same intrinsic horror as the Lorena Bobbit story.

 

[The Liturgist]

The word speaks on scorpions an demons.
I'd like to hear your views on this.
I have scorpions and have been stung many times.
Do i have demons because i have scorpions?

Not to worry, scorpions are loathesome critters but as much as it might be tempting to think so, they are not actually demons. Also some people like them. When I was a kid one of my two best friends at the Lutheran parochial school (we were nicknamed the Three Musketeers starting in third grade, and were also members of the most elite Cub Scouts Den, Den Five (even the name sounds cool), under the command of Captain Campbell, US Army, promoted to Major Campbell around the time I joined). And I think we knew we were the best, although we liked the boys from Den One, which my friend Russell belonged to who was one year older than me and one grade ahead, and who recently had his first son, so I am very nappy about that, but they were slightly older than us and completed WEBELOS and their den was retired at the same time we were promoted. Anyway, I digress. In fifth grade Michael strained our relationship by getting a pet scorpion and a pet tarantula and these were for some reason adopted as class pets, which I was not happy about; I had a knowledge of electronics and fantasized about building a two pronged circuit connected to AC line power to terminate the scorpion with, but never considered building it since I disliked the scorpion but like Michael to this day. Michael and Paul and my membership in Cub Scouts were a lifeline in fourth grade, which I spent in a gifted program in the public school which was run by a pair of sadistic teachers, which was so horrifying I never returned to public school but stuck to parochial school right through graduation from HS.

 

[Lost4words]

A dog is a much better companion than a scorpion!! Plus, we hate demons!!

 

[The Liturgist]

A dog is a much better companion than a scorpion!! Plus, we hate demons!!

I agree with that. I used to have a massive and beautiful traditional Siamese cat, but he would not hunt mice. My cat viewed them as objects of curiosity.

 

[returntosender]

Not to worry, scorpions are loathesome critters but as much as it might be tempting to think so, they are not actually demons. Also some people like them. When I was a kid one of my two best friends at the Lutheran parochial school (we were nicknamed the Three Musketeers starting in third grade, and were also members of the most elite Cub Scouts Den, Den Five (even the name sounds cool), under the command of Captain Campbell, US Army, promoted to Major Campbell around the time I joined). And I think we knew we were the best, although we liked the boys from Den One, which my friend Russell belonged to who was one year older than me and one grade ahead, and who recently had his first son, so I am very nappy about that, but they were slightly older than us and completed WEBELOS and their den was retired at the same time we were promoted. Anyway, I digress. In fifth grade Michael strained our relationship by getting a pet scorpion and a pet tarantula and these were for some reason adopted as class pets, which I was not happy about; I had a knowledge of electronics and fantasized about building a two pronged circuit connected to AC line power to terminate the scorpion with, but never considered building it since I disliked the scorpion but like Michael to this day. Michael and Paul and my membership in Cub Scouts were a lifeline in fourth grade, which I spent in a gifted program in the public school which was run by a pair of sadistic teachers, which was so horrifying I never returned to public school but stuck to parochial school right through graduation from HS.

Good grief, you said all of that to say.....? I got lost

 

[returntosender]

I agree with that. I used to have a massive and beautiful traditional Siamese cat, but he would not hunt mice. My cat viewed them as objects of curiosity.

It must be me, there's some strange posts here,???

 

[returntosender]

I agree with that. I used to have a massive and beautiful traditional Siamese cat, but he would not hunt mice. My cat viewed them as objects of curiosity.

Where'd the mice come from?

 

[returntosender]

Just out of curiosity did the stinging tail of the scorpion get broken off that scripture? Because it looks like the bull is being pinched by the non-venomous pincers of a crab or a mudbug or crawdad, but I would guess there was the stinging tail at one point.

Either way, as a man, the mere thought of a scorpion getting me down there carries the same intrinsic horror as the Lorena Bobbit story.

Lol

 

[The Liturgist]

Where'd the mice come from?

We went on many trips to Sequoia National Park and one time we stayed in a “Rustic” cabin. Sadly they closed Giant Village and all the cabins in Sequoia in 1999, but they are still open in KIng’s Canyon and Yosemite. Anyway, the Rustic cabin lived up to its name: at night, mice were running all over the place including across the beds. My mother and I (I was 8 or 9, and my father couldn’t join us on that trip due to being at a conference) shared a bed due to the cold, and my cat got in the other bed, but rather than taking out the mice, he stretched out a paw, played with one, and then went back to sleep.

He mainly just hunted me. But we were very close and he was an extremely loving cat, and he would come to me first when he needed something, and then to my mother. He could vocalize “Mommy” when he meowed. He was very intelligent and would play fetch, but he had a tendency to not do traditional cat things.

We bought him as a kitten after he had been returned (my mother intended to buy him but someone beat her to it, buying him for their daughter, but it turned out she was allergic to cats), however, his temporary owners in an act of obscene cruely cut off his whiskers. Fortunately they grew back and were quite magnificent, as was his tail, which was just under a foot and a half in length. There was something about his gait and his hindquarters which was unusual which makes me think he might have had a back problem; his rear paws would clatter when he ran. He also had no interest in usual cat things, for example, we bought him a cat castle kind of tower to climb and hide in but he completely shunned it. On the plus side he did not do that annoying kneading thing that many cats do with their paws, and he showed no interest in messing with computer keyboards. I miss him a lot

I have never owned a cat since, since he died when I was 19, and I have always been on the move since, and there has been a concern about how I would take care of a cat, and a sense I could never find one like him, but recently i have decided I want to get a cat.

He was a traditional siamese of the “Applehead” variety rather than what I find to be the strange looking “modern Siamese” cats with their oddly elongated features. These are now called Thai Cats at competitions to distinguish them from the Siamese breed. He was a seal point or chocolate point rather than silver point, with dark brown ears, nose, tail and paws, and a coat that was light when he was a young kitten but then developed darker areas after he was chilled, as happens with cats of that breed.

 

[The Liturgist]

Good grief, you said all of that to say.....? I got lost

I was reminscing about how scorpions are nasty and about my experiences with them in youth. Fortunately I was never stung by one. I did get stung by a wasp at 13, which left a scar for years on my left index finger (that same year I also managed to slice the tip of that index finger open on a sharp aluminum fragment requiring stitches, I still have the scar from that; not a good year for that finger! I think something else unpleasant happened to it as well but the details escape me.

 

[Lost4words]

I agree with that. I used to have a massive and beautiful traditional Siamese cat, but he would not hunt mice. My cat viewed them as objects of curiosity.

Cats are demons...