Hi Agnes,
I actually do know about the Hellenic use of the term "daemon/daimon", though I can't say I've deeply researched it. I did remember it after I wrote my last entry here, and just didn't update -- though I am not certain whether the "daemon" concept as used by Greek philosophers preceded the Greek concept of "lesser spirits" of other cultures (particularly Near-East). I do know that the concept was still in use in Art up to the Renaissance, when the term "genius" was relocated from an external spiritual source (the "genii") to the artist themselves. The Greek definition of lesser spirits is ...somewhat in use, currently, though only among a tiny minority. Personally, my philosophical system isn't Classical (though democracy is nice -- in theory); so while I do (for example) have a book on ancient Greek beliefs (as backed up by translated source texts), to be honest it isn't that engaging. <!-- s

--><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s

--> It's alien to my world.
I have thought of looking back into this, though. It might be good fuel for stories, even if I decide not to "believe in" it. In any case, it probably makes more sense than the pop-culture thing we've got going on now where senseless evil = "demonic". Evil which makes no sense, though, that's not necessarily "demonic;" it could just be "crazy." I would expect a method and reason behind demonic evil, you know, some actual intelligence.
Back to things I have a clearer grasp of...
There is also the Daoist sorcery angle...which -- in one of my textual examples, seems to have been a cultivation of Yin (throw a bunch of poisonous animals into a jar; keep them there until they kill and eat each other and there's only one left; use the survivor's poison as the most potent poison)...not to mention anti-Buddhism. <!-- s

--><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s

--> Uh...right, well.
This has actually given me an angle to write on what happens to those who (theoretically...) were supposed to gain supernatural powers in their pursuit of Buddhahood (no? but it's normal! waaah!), and then instead of renouncing them (as one is expected to do), one decided to use them, instead. Like what happens if you get an ex-Buddhist warlock? (Darth Vader?)
Yeaaah...well. For some reason, I mesh better with East Asian mythos, might be due to my cultural upbringing; might be due to past life heritage (that is, I may be used to/familiar with it; this being why I'm drawn to materials on Ancient China and India). But I don't have access to source texts in either Japanese or Chinese because they're hard languages to learn to read (and I have been reluctant to try for literacy in Japanese [which I'm closer to], for fear I'll start to talk with weird accents like Siri, due to lack of an in-person teacher). There is a place I can go for Chinese fiction in English, now that I'm thinking about it, but the store is pretty small.
Anyhow...I do kind of have issues with being drawn to the Yin of many things (in addition, now that I think of it, ...I wonder if creativity is considered Yin?). In Western thought, this basically encompasses demons...but my primary exposures to ideas of "demons" aren't Western, and they've probably just been called "demons" for translation purposes. What it is that I'm actually after is less clear, because of the translation issue and the fact that I only have a solid grasp on one language (with partial to minimal functionality in two others).
I, uh...I should get to bed...