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How to See a Demon According to The Talmud

How to See a Demon According to The Talmud

Last updated on: October 29, 2026 at 11:11 pm by Rebecca Wallace Keene

How to See a Demon According to The Talmud 2026-10-29T23:11:54-04:00 Rebecca Wallace Keene

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How to See a Demon According to The Talmud created by Rebecca Keene with Chat GPT

How to See a Demon According to The Talmud

The Talmud teaches us many things, including how to see a demon. Welcome back to Spooky Judaism. Don’t try this one at home, boys and girls. Rabbi Rav Beivai bar Abaye found out the hard way just how dangerous it is to go looking for demons. Come sit by the fire and let me tell you a spooky tale, “How to See a Demon According to The Talmud.”

Do Demons Exist?

Once upon a time there was a rabbi known as Rav Beivai bar Abaye. He wished to see demons and know that they existed. So, ignoring the warning of Abba Binyamin, who taught “If the eye was given permission to see, no creature would be able to withstand the abundance and ubiquity of the demons and continue to live unaffected by them,” he laid down ashes around his bed before sleep. For it is written in Berakhot 6a:6 that one who seeks to know if demons exist should perform a ritual. “One who seeks to know that the demons exist should place fine ashes around his bed, and in the morning the demons’ footprints appear like chickens’ footprints, in the ash.” In the morning he saw the footprints, but it only made him more curious.

He Wished to See a Demon

Knowing that they existed only made him want to see one. Therefore, he followed The Talmud’s instructions for seeing a demon. He gathered the afterbirth from his firstborn female black cat, who was herself from a firstborn female black cat. Then he cast it into the fire where it burned. When finally, it was burned to blackness he removed it from the flames. He ground it into a fine powder and rubbed it into his eyes. For The Talmud says, “One who seeks to see them should take the afterbirth of a firstborn female black cat, born to a firstborn female black cat, burn it in the fire, grind it, and place it in his eyes, and he will see them.”

Open Eyes See a Demon

His eyes were opened and all around him he saw demons. The Talmud warns us: “Similarly, Abaye said: They are more numerous than we are and they stand over us like mounds of earth surrounding a pit. Rav Huna said: Each and every one of us has a thousand demons to his left and ten thousand to his right.”

Protection Matters

However, he missed the most important part. For The Talmud warns, “He must then place the ashes in an iron tube sealed with an iron seal [gushpanka] lest the demons steal it from him and then seal the opening so he will not be harmed.” He was harmed. So, the sages came together and prayed for mercy for Rav Beivai, and he was healed.

Let his story be a warning to the curious at heart. Do not go looking for demons, boys and girls. Sign up for our newsletter and stay tuned instead. Next week on Spooky Judaism we will learn what happens when Death makes a mistake. Also, our Ark Series continues next week and explores why Ethiopia eventually claims to hold both Arks. You don’t want to miss a thing.

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About Rebecca Keene

Rebecca Keene holds a B.S. in Psychology and Religion and is currently pursuing an M.A. in Women, Gender, Spirituality, and Social Justice. An ordained minister, Kabbalah student, and fierce advocate for the marginalized, she is the author of Faith Under the Rainbow: Reclaiming the Truth About Homosexuality and the Bible. Rebecca founded the social media community Reclaiming the Truth and lives in Kentucky, where she practices Non-Denominational Judaism. Read Rebecca's articles at Reclaiming the Truth. You can read more about the author here.

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