The classroom episodes began in April 2024 as a way to slow down and cover the fundamentals properly. Most Southern Demonology episodes assume some familiarity with the material. The classroom series assumes none. Each class takes one question, works through that question with a guest or two, and tries to leave listeners with something usable rather than something merely unsettling.
Chris and Dean from The Wandering Road Podcast sit in on most of these, and Father Michael Birdsong joins for the 301 sessions. The course numbers signal the level of the material: the 100s cover definitions, the 200s cover how demonic influence works and where the boundaries of "demonic" lie, the 300s bring in pastoral and theological perspective, and 501 covers the far end of the spectrum.
Here is the full catalog in course order, with a player under each class.
Demonology 101
The inaugural class, and the first episode of Season 5. Chris and I cover the basics: what the word demonology means, what to look out for, what to avoid, and who has the most to gain from misleading people about the subject. If you listen to only one class, this class is the one to start with.
Demonology 102: That's No Demon
Released after 201 and 301, this class fills a gap the earlier sessions left open: nobody had yet spent an episode on what is not a demon. Chris and I go through lessons anyone can use and address a fair amount of misinformation, whether that misinformation comes from a pulpit or a comment section. The class ends with a short synopsis of what a demon actually is, so the contrast lands.
Demonology 201
Class is back in session, and Dean joins Chris for the first time. The subject is the four stages of demonic influence: the signs and symptoms of each stage, what may attract that influence, and how spiritual discernment helps identify the presence of the infernal. The conversation also ranges into free will, the role of different religions in understanding demonology, and personal experiences with demonic obsession.
Demonology 203
What actually makes something demonic? Chris, Dean, and I unpack the difference between the merely strange, the paranormal, and the genuinely infernal, and then take a hard look at the habit of labeling anything uncomfortable, creative, or unfamiliar as demonic without any real discernment. Dungeons & Dragons, anime, horror films, and the satanic panic all come up, as examples of how fear and ignorance hand the infernal more credit than the infernal has earned.
Demonology 204
The most uncomfortable question in the series so far: what do we do with ghosts, spirits of the dead, and the unseen afterlife? Starting from ancient Judaism, the necromancy laws, and the concept of She'ol, this class traces the persistence of the dead through ancestor traditions, offerings, and Greco-Roman and Mesopotamian parallels, and asks why so many modern Christians collapse every spirit into the category of "demon." If you have heard the Season 8 arc on the development of evil, 204 is the class that pairs best with that arc.
Demonology 301, Part 1
The third course brings in the Exorcist Extraordinaire, Father Michael Birdsong, and his son Deacon Josh. The topic is free will and the demonic: where the idea that free will serves as a barrier to the demonic comes from, and how far that barrier holds. Father Birdsong supplies the pastoral guidance, and I intersperse quotations and analysis from Father Malachi Martin's Hostage to the Devil throughout.
Demonology 301, Part 2
Part 2 picks up directly where Part 1 leaves off. The group discusses how one can identify a possessed individual, how Father Martin frames the opposition between the preternatural and the mortal, and then works through a set of hypotheticals to bring the topic home. Listen to Part 1 first; the second half assumes the first.
Demonology 501: Perfect Possession
The far end of the spectrum. Father Martin outlines four stages of possession: entry, erroneous judgments, yielding of control, and finally perfect possession, in which the victim is completely controlled, shows no outward sign of possession, and may even acknowledge guilt in crimes. Exorcism at this stage is nearly impossible. This class covers how perfect possession develops, whether from ordinary possession or from the victim's willing partnership with the demonic, and why perfect possession amounts to an erasure of the self. Not a starting point. Take 101 and 201 first.
Where to start
If you are new to the subject, take the classes in this order: 101, 102, 201, 203, 204, then 301 in both parts, and finally 501. The numbers are a guide to the level of the material, so 102 belongs with 101 even though 102 was recorded later. Every class stands on the ones before, and the later classes are considerably heavier.
New classes get added to this page as the series grows. And, as always, if any of these raised a question, the contact page is open.