Self-knowledge and Dispersion in the Alexandrian Tradition

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The aim of this paper is to analyse a particular aspect of Alexandrian and Syriac demonology based on the so-called δαίμων πλάνος (daimon planos) or wandering demons, which Evagrius Ponticus presents in his treatise On Thoughts. This demon’s particular mission is to distract the monk from his own purpose and to dispose him to the attack of more dangerous and harmful demons. This figure was inaugurated by Evagrius and taken up again some centuries later by Syrian authors who developed and applied it in various ways in their spiritual works. In addition to the Evagrian text, I will focus on the work of one of his most renowned commentator: Joseph Hazzaya in the Letter on the Three Stages of Monastic Life. In this text it can be observed that the treatment of the very fact of wandering, whether physical or mental, causes in Hazzaya a series of reflections that impact on the structuring of their ascetic or spiritual systems, and on the reservations with which they warn the monks about the importance of stability - which ultimately ends up in the hesykhia -, and the dangers of abandoning the cell. Therefore, in addition to the conclusions directly related to spiritual theology, this analysis also allows us to enter into considerations of a psychological nature, specifically, the importance and necessity of living the present with full awareness, avoiding the dispersion that is the product of disordered thinking.