The Dark Truth Behind Salem Saberhagen

As we all know, Salem Saberhagen is a fictional character from the American Archie Comics comic series Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Salem is an American Shorthair cat who lives with Sabrina Spellman, Hilda Spellman and Zelda Spellman in the fictional town of Greendale, located near Riverdale. A former witch, Salem was sentenced by the Witch's Council to spend 100 years as a cat, as punishment for trying to take over the world; the sitcom establishes this time frame to be a century. Salem first appeared alongside Sabrina in Archie's Mad House #22 in 1962, and was created by George Gladir and Dan DeCarlo.

Earlier comics portray Salem as an ordinary orange-colored feline who does not speak. With the debut and success of the 1990s live-action Sabrina the Teenage Witch sitcom, Salem's backstory and character underwent several retcons to bring it more in line with the sitcom's version. A late 1990s story initially revealed Salem was turned into a cat for standing up Enchantra, the Head Witch, at the altar. A similar version of events was presented in a 1990s live-action TV movie, where he was imprisoned in the form of a cat for attempting to use his magic to make a mortal love him. However, the comics eventually gave Salem a similar backstory to that shown in the sitcom and its spinoff, Sabrina: The Animated Series. Further details about Salem's past before his transformation into a cat were revealed in the 2000s manga-inspired version of the comic, written and drawn by Tania del Rio.

In the graphic novel Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Salem is given a more serious role to fit with the series' darker tone. In this version, Salem often acts as a conscience and voice of reason to Sabrina, criticizing her riskier or more impulsive plans.

But here's where the bus stops, the truth is, Salem is actually a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Why this claim? Well, let's talk about demonic possession shall we?:

Many cultures and religions contain some concept of demonic possession, but the details vary considerably. The oldest references to demonic possession are from the Sumerians, who believed that all diseases of the body and mind were caused by "sickness demons" called gidim or gid-dim. The priests who practised exorcisms in these nations were called ashipu (sorcerer) as opposed to an asu (physician) who applied bandages and salves. Many cuneiform clay tablets contain prayers to certain gods asking for protection from demons, while others ask the gods to expel the demons that have invaded their bodies.

Shamanic cultures also believe in demon possession and shamans performing exorcisms. In these cultures, diseases are often attributed to the presence of a vengeful spirit (or loosely termed demon) in the body of the patient. These spirits are more often the spectres of animals or people wronged by the bearer, the exorcism rites usually consisting of respectful offerings or sacrificial offerings.

Christianity holds that possession derives from Satan, or one of his lesser demons. In Christianity, Satan and his demons are actually fallen angels. In modern medicine, it is now suspected that an underlying cause of what sometimes appears to be demonic possession is actually anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.

Obsessions and possessions of the devil are placed in the rank of apparitions of the evil spirit among humans. It is obsession when the demon acts externally against the person whom it besets, and possession when it acts internally, agitates them, excites their ill humor, makes them utter blasphemy, speak tongues they allegedly have never learned, reveals allegedly unknown secrets to them, and apparently inspires them with obscure knowledge of philosophy or theology.

Other claims include access to hidden knowledge and foreign languages (xenoglossy), drastic changes in vocal intonation and facial structure, the sudden appearance of injuries (scratches, bite marks) or lesions, and superhuman strength. Also odd odors and lack of pain density and self-mutilation. Unlike in channeling, the subject has no control over the possessing entity and so it will persist until forced to leave the victim, usually through a form of exorcism.

Additionally, there is a form of monomania called demonomania or demonopathy in which the person believes that he or she is possessed by one or more demons.

If you look at Salem and how he and Sabrina get along in the animated series, or other episodes of the live action TV series, it explains the concept of others that have experiences being possessed by the Devil himself.

Satan (identified with Iblis) is according to Islam, allowed to incite humans and Jinn to do evil. Therefore, he and his subordinate demons whispers to the hearts of beings with free will, trying to lead them astray from Allah and their spiritual development or hunts them against each other. He does not possess humans physically. If a person feels depressed or feels being trapped in a doubtful situation, the person should tell others about what happened, because otherwise Satan could abuse this situation and will whisper to the lonely heart.

This is similar to how Salem can easily make things worse for Sabrina, like for instance: When Sabrina has a problem and wants to fix it with magic, Salem often encourages her, or even supplies her with a magical object to help her fix her problem, which usually makes things worse. For example, in "Anywhere But Here," Salem gave Sabrina the watch that she uses to fast-forward herself to adulthood. In "No Time To Be A Hero," he gives her an hourglass that allows her to go back in time.

But even the animated series has it's fair share of talking animals. Like a stray dog named Alvin or, Scheherezade: a witch who was turned into a cat by the Witches' Council like Salem.

But the truth of the matter is that it is believed a Jinn can haunt or possess a human being, causing illness, hallucinations or aggression. Such a possession is believed to be caused by harming a Jinn (even unintentionally), summoning them or when a Jinn falls in love with a human, wanting to become his/her husband/wife. Thereupon it requires an exorcism to get rid of the jinn.

So, this begs the question, if Salem Saberhagen was actually the Devil himself, then how can he actually befriend Sabrina and help her out when she is in dire need? This isn't the case, the Devil can trick anyone into believing his lies. Like when he tried to tempt Jesus in the desert, even though that strategy backfired, it's a true example of how Satan adopted the name, "The Father of Lies", by local churches.

Let's talk about personality and traits:

Salem is characterized as selfish and power hungry. He schemes a lot throughout the series in order to get his way, take over the world, or just to simply cause trouble. However, Salem also has a big heart and a soft side that he only shows ever so often, especially for Sabrina who he secretly calls "Sabreeny" and loves her very dearly. Additionally, he is very sensitive and cries semi-frequently throughout the show. Salem is fun and very loyal. Salem always rooted for Harvey and Sabrina to be together.

Salem has a habit of using a high pitched, whiny voice or a low-toned voice when talking about something humorous and often purposely places emphasis on the wrong syllable when saying certain words or names. He also sometimes switches the "a" and the "y" in words that end in "ay," such as wanting to rename Friday to "Fridya!" He also frequently uses the phrase "geh?!" when surprised or scared.

According to the Book of Moses, the Devil offered to be the redeemer of mankind for the sake of his own glory. Conversely, Jesus offered to be the redeemer of mankind so that his father's will would be done. After his offer was rejected, Satan became rebellious and was subsequently cast out of heaven. In the Book of Moses, Cain is said to have "loved Satan more than God" and conspired with Satan to kill Abel. It was through this pact that Cain became a Master Mahan. The Book of Moses also says that Moses was tempted by Satan before calling upon the name of the "Only Begotten", which caused Satan to depart. Douglas Davies asserts that this text "reflects" the temptation of Jesus in the Bible.

Belief in Satan and demonic possession remains strong among Christians in the United States and Latin America. According to a 2013 poll conducted by YouGov, fifty-seven percent of people in the United States believe in a literal Devil, compared to eighteen percent of people in Britain. Fifty-one percent of Americans believe that Satan has the power to possess people. W. Scott Poole, author of Satan in America: The Devil We Know, has opined that "In the United States over the last forty to fifty years, a composite image of Satan has emerged that borrows from both popular culture and theological sources" and that most American Christians do not "separate what they know (about Satan) from the movies from what they know from various ecclesiastical and theological traditions." The Catholic Church generally played down Satan and exorcism during late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, but Pope Francis brought renewed focus on the Devil in the early 2010s, stating, among many other pronouncements, that "The devil is intelligent, he knows more theology than all the theologians together." According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, liberal Christianity tends to view Satan "as a (figurative) mythological attempt to express the reality and extent of evil in the universe, existing outside and apart from humanity but profoundly influencing the human sphere."

Now, I'm not saying that all animals (cats especially) are evil, I'm saying that the character of Salem is not who they say he is. And that my friends, is a scary thing to think about.