Cacodemon | Evil Spirit

A cacodemon (or cacodaemon) is an evil spirit or (in the modern sense of the word) a demon. The opposite of a cacodemon is an agathodaemon or eudaemon, a good spirit or angel. The word cacodemon comes from the Latin Ancient Greek κακοδαίμων kakodaimōn, meaning "evil spirit," while daimon would be a neutral spirit in Greek. It is believed to be capable of shape-shifting.

In psychology, cacodemonia (or cacodemomania) is a form of insanity in which the patient believes they are possessed by an evil spirit. The first known occurrence of the word cacodemon dates from 1593. In scene 3 of the third act of William Shakespeare's Richard III, Queen Margaret calls Richard a "cacodemon" for his devious acts and manipulations.

In John Fletcher's The Knight of Malta, Norandine calls Mountferrat, the villain of the play, a "cacodemon" in the final scene. In the Arbatel de Magi Veterum, written in 1575, the word cacodemon is described as one of seven. In astrology, the 12th house was once called the Cacodemon for its association with evil.