The Conjuring 2: Valak, The Marquis of Snakes

Sorry for the long hiatus, things have been rather busy in my little part of the world. I've been looking into new lines of work, and me and my wife found out a while back she is pregnant! The pregnancy hasn't been easy so far, and the baby is a little over 10 weeks (if I remember correctly). We have had some scares and some complications, but as of our last doctor appointment (just a few days ago) the baby was live with heart beating like a tiny drum.

Before I move any farther, I just want to throw this out there:

I do not care about spoilers or people's feelings towards them. Throughout The Den there will be a number of spoilers involving a number of different media and social projects. I will not intentionally divulge major plot elements of the media unless it directly pertains to my topic, but I do include the media's title in the title of the blog post and I strongly recommend not reading the post unless you have personally experienced it or dont give a rat's ass about spoilers.

Today I know it is going to feel like we are breaking theme here in The Den and will be talking more religion and myth than media, but stick with me, because this is the kinda thing The Den is all about.

Tonight I finally had the opportunity to watch the latest installment in what I'm calling the "Warren Franchise", "The Conjuring 2". The movie played on and introduced a number of theological and theoretical concepts involving and regarding the realm of the supernatural. The one I want to focus is the demon that appears as a nun in a black habit and wearing white and black makeup.

First, the plot summary of the movie according to the back of the DVD jacket:

"Reprising their roles from The Conjuring, Oscar nominee Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson star as Lorraine and Ed Warren, who help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by malicious spirits. Known as England's Amityville, the Enfield Haunting was the most documented case in paranormal history. Discover the truth behind the even that shocked the world."

Anyone who has seen "Amityville Horror" or even the first Conjuring movie knows the basic story; family living in a house where either something bad or satanic took place starts experiencing weird and maybe supernatural events that escalate over a short period of time. Then the family finally turns to the church (or in the case of the Warren Franchise, the Warren couple) and they are usually able to defeat the demonic entity.

The aforementioned entity in The Conjuring 2 is the demon known in the movie as "Valak". Valak likes to pervert religious symbology and  prey on the minds and souls of little children, making use of other spirits to terrorize its victims. Valak's particular mission in the movie is to kill Ed Warren, effectively ending the work and personal mission of the Warren couple. Luckily for them, Lorraine's visions provide them with the foresight to stop the demon, and save the lives of Ed Warren and the family residing at Enfield.

After seeing Valak in action, I couldn't help but wonder about the demon and the origins (if any) behind the entity. What I found inst necessarily shocking, especially in the film world, but apparently the only truly accurate things about Valak besides the name was the use of the term "The Marquis of Snakes".

According to the 17th century work known as the Lesser Key of Solomon, Valac is essentially President of Hell. He appears to any who convoke his name and if they be worthy he is said to reveal hidden treasures and  "reveals where serpents can be seen, and delivers them harmless to the magician."  Valak typically appears in the form of a small child riding a two-headed dragon, and if you summon him and are not worthy he will make life hell for you (sometimes literally).

From what I can find, and honestly, there isnt much, the exact specifics of Valak's powers and abilities are unknown except to perhaps those who are able to actually read the original scripts or have access to the translations. From what I can find, however, Valak is one of the last demons you want to mess with.

Like I said, there was not a whole lot of specifics on Valak, but I have provided what I could find. I may follow up later on or provide edits to this post if I uncover new information, but I'm afraid until then you will simply have to survive on what I have given you.

I hope you all have followed us on Twitter, I posted the account information just recently. While I apologize for the slow start the new Twitter and Facebook page are having, I hope to be getting some help soon with some guest authors and maybe even a designated account manager for the Twitter profile. But more on that later.

Until then, it is late and I need to sleep. I hope you enjoyed this blog, more to come soon. Please come back and join me in my Den! I love having you.

~Josh Shipman