is the underworld populated with demons?
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No it’s usually populated with the dead. That’s what it’s for in most traditions.
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i’ve read that the underworld is ruled by the demons. isn’t it true?
Ok you have to ask which underwolrd first as there are hundreds, and no, it’s not true for MOST of them.
Hel, Kur and Hades, nope, no demons. Demons were invented much later. Christian don’t have an underworld per se. They send all to either sleep in the ground. Then people either sleep until judgement dayor go to heaven.
Whatever our source was talking about, it’s probably some Christian variation and imo, that’s pure fiction made to scare children into doing as they’re told. Hell is a relatively new invention made from Hel (Norse) and Egyptian lake of fire to make a place they didn’t have before, It was born in Dante’s divine comedy, aka Dante’s Inferno, which was largely political satire as a bunch of the figures were cartoonish takes on political folks of the day.
So believing in “The Infernal” or “Hell” happens when people run with what they are told without questioning where it comes from, which is a political satirical play.
The book “The History of Hell” is a fun read of you have the time that will go into the details.
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Agree with Mulberry. The “underworld” is most often associated with the dead, not the demonic. That’s why in most cultures it is said to be under the earth, hence the name.
I do disagree with this statement though, as it is not historically accurate. Demons have always existed in mythology long before Christianity, but they were not always said to be of the underworld. In Sumerian lore, for example, many of their demons were said to ride the winds (as it was believed that is how illness was spread).
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I’m not sure, as the word demon only dates back to 1200.
The malignant sense is because the Greek word [daimon] was used (with daimonion) in Christian Greek translations and the Vulgate for “god of the heathen, heathen idol” and also for “unclean spirit.”
I think pretty much anything that existed before has been labeled “demon”, or translated into English as “demon” at some point by someone. But that doesn’t make it historically accurate.
This also touches into why I don’t use the word “demon” as it can mean different things to different people, and I wasn’t thinking of all the other traditional uses where “demon” is the usual (and lazy, if you ask me) English translation. At some point the Greek daemon switch to demon and anything that is a spirit is called a demon from then on by JCI particularly.
So I would call Onis, Onis, And Nagas, Nagas, and Asuras, Asuras, and all of these are also called “demons”.
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The way the title is phrased, I thought there might actually be some big new significant event happening in “the underworld” that I was unaware of. Haha.
I’m a Necromancer and my main patron is Dread Queen Persephone, so if something were happening down in the underworld, I feel like I would need to know about it.
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but it makes sense that demons rule the underworld because the underworld is a dark place and demons are dark…
Who says the underworld is dark? 
Depending on which underworld you travel to, some of them are very bright. The Elysium Fields of Greek mythology, for example, were basically their version of heaven, and were where all the good souls went after death, but it was still part of the underworld of Hades.
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This is true for some Christian faiths, but also there are some that believe people do actually go to Hell. Where they are tortured either forever or until judgement day when the dead rise to be judged by god. The ones neither in heaven nor hell would be in purgatory in some of these systems of belief.
As a child, I was told I would go to hell because my parents were divorced (Catholic).
Edit: To answer the question though, you could always go and see (choose your underworld though). Or ask a spirit affiliated with it.
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Yes, but what I’m saying is that’s a relatively recent invention, and is not in the original cannon.
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