research/md/demonology/INDEX.md

Demonology — Topic Index

Read this file first. It tells an AI agent what exists for this topic and which artifact to use, so you don't re-read the full source corpus (~3.4 MB) unless you actually need a direct quote.

Decision order for an agent

1. Need a fact, attribute, rank, or to filter/sort entities? → Query demons.json. Do not read the sources. It is the fact-cache.
2. Need the narrative, the argument, or how the sources disagree? → Read demon-hierarchy-synthesis.md (prose).
3. Need a verbatim quote or a detail not in the data? → Open the one source .md named in the entity's citations, at the cited page/line. Read that file whole (repo convention), not a snippet.

Artifacts

File	Type	Use it for
demons.json	structured data (33 entities)	Querying attributes: rank, legions, domain, signs, sin, source_count, cross_refs. The machine source of truth for facts.
demons.schema.json	JSON Schema	Field definitions, allowed values, validation. Read to learn the data shape.
demon-hierarchy-synthesis.md	prose synthesis	The ranked hierarchy as narrative + the recurrence map + where sources disagree.
(6 source .md files)	converted sources	Direct quotes / details beyond the dataset. Listed under sources in demons.json.

What's in demons.json

• Scope: only entities attested in 2+ of the 6 sources (33 entities). Single-source names (most of the Goetia 72, the world-folklore long tail) are intentionally excluded — see the synthesis for why.
• Tiers: supreme-prince (11), directional-king (4), goetia-officer (2), watcher (7), other-recurring (9).
• Source codes: FG Field Guide · DM Dark Mirrors · PU Personal/Impersonal (Barth/Unger) · SP Spiritism · DJ Daemonologie · EN Encyclopedia. Full descriptions in demons.json → sources.
• Aliases are merged to a primary name; cross_refs link conflated/related entities (e.g. satan ↔ lucifer ↔ satanael; asmodeus ↔ aeshma/ahriman).

Example queries (jq)

cd md/demonology
# All Kings attested in 2+ sources
jq -r '.demons[] | select(.rank != null and (.rank|test("King"))) | .name' demons.json
# The seven Princes of Hell by deadly sin
jq '.demons[] | select(.deadly_sin) | {name, deadly_sin}' demons.json
# Everything naming the Watcher myth (Dark Mirrors)
jq '.demons[] | select(.sources|index("DM")) | .name' demons.json
# Most-corroborated entities first
jq '[.demons[] | {name, source_count}] | sort_by(-.source_count)' demons.json

Keeping it in sync

demons.json is the source of truth for facts; the synthesis is the source of truth for narrative. If you add/correct an entity, update demons.json first, re-validate against the schema, then reflect it in the synthesis prose — not the other way around.

# validate after editing (schema + house rules: source_count, cross_refs, unique ids)
./.venv/bin/python validate.py demonology   # this topic
./.venv/bin/python validate.py              # every topic in the repo

The validator is generic: any topic that drops a <name>.schema.json next to its <name>.json is picked up automatically. Exit code is non-zero on failure, so it doubles as a git pre-commit hook or CI step.

To extend scope (e.g. add the full Goetia 72 or the folklore long tail), re-run the per-source extraction, set each record's sources/source_count accordingly, and relax the schema's minItems: 2 on sources if you drop the 2+ rule.