Looking for people who sold their soul to the Devil
January 15, 2016 1:05 PM   Subscribe

So I'm starting research on a new project that involves people who supposedly sold their soul to the Devil for something Robert Johnson style. Unfortunately all the searching I'm doing is pointing to him. Help me find the early deals, the famous ones besides RJ and the most recent soul sales attributed to old Scratch.
posted by rileyray3000 to Religion & Philosophy (28 answers total) 14 users marked this as a favorite
 
Wikipedia has this list of "alleged diabolical pacts in history".
posted by jedicus at 1:11 PM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]


The Devil Went Down to Georgia
posted by bendy at 1:16 PM on January 15, 2016


Faust, for sure, right?
posted by lownote at 1:18 PM on January 15, 2016 [7 favorites]


Main character in Damn Yankees.
posted by chaiminda at 1:21 PM on January 15, 2016 [2 favorites]


Wikipedia has this list of "alleged diabolical pacts in history".

If we're including fiction, the corresponding Deals with the Devil in popular culture and Category:Fictional characters who have made pacts with devils.
posted by zamboni at 1:28 PM on January 15, 2016


Bedazzled
posted by mkultra at 1:28 PM on January 15, 2016 [4 favorites]


Do bets with the Devil count? I've long been a fan of Edgar Allan Poe's "Never Bet the Devil Your Head," with its aptly named antihero Toby Dammit. (Link is to a Wikipedia article which contains a link to full text.)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 1:29 PM on January 15, 2016


The Devil and Daniel Webster.
posted by latkes at 1:31 PM on January 15, 2016


Theopilius of Adana is supposedly the origin of the story, but I'd go back even farther to the generalized idea of "be careful what you wish for," and "the price you pay for the thing you want is too high."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:31 PM on January 15, 2016


And of course, there's TVTropes.
posted by zamboni at 1:33 PM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]


And Margarita from The Master and Margarita
posted by mochapickle at 1:41 PM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]


Angel Heart
posted by todayandtomorrow at 1:44 PM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]


There is a church in Ecuador and the story is that the builder had agreed to finish by a certain date but then was not going to meet the deadline. He made a pact with the devil to get the church finished on time, but then did not lay the final stone (which still has not been laid), thus getting the church finished-ish on time, but not losing his soul. I don't know the name of the church or the man, sorry.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 1:56 PM on January 15, 2016 [7 favorites]


Fry in Futurama sold his hands (not sure if that counts for the list) and basically every episode of Supernatural (pick your Winchester).
posted by Suffocating Kitty at 1:57 PM on January 15, 2016






"The Devil and Simon Flagg" by Arthur Porges

(Time has left this story behind, because Fermat's Last Theorem has now been proven to be true.)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 2:32 PM on January 15, 2016


It's an oldie, but it's always stuck in my head:

The Mephisto Waltz
posted by michswiss at 2:48 PM on January 15, 2016


Plus, that fine film, "Oh God, You Devil."
posted by JMOZ at 3:21 PM on January 15, 2016


Response by poster: While a lot of these are great, what I'm looking for are allegedly REAL deals with the devil. More like the church in Ecuador story and the Miners. There's gossip that other famous - and now dead - guitar players, inspired by the RJ myth, cut their own deals for fame and talent.
posted by rileyray3000 at 3:23 PM on January 15, 2016


Ah!

Some legends say Elizabeth Bathory, aka The Blood Countess, made a deal with the devil. There's a picture here of a mural in Čachtice depicting the Countess in assembly with the Devil.
posted by mochapickle at 3:38 PM on January 15, 2016


I seem to remember this was said of the violinist Paganini.
posted by Prof Iterole at 3:54 PM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]


My best friend sold her soul to the Devil for a pony when she was 6 or so. She ended up getting an old horse named Oscar, so not sure if that counts?
posted by duvatney at 4:37 PM on January 15, 2016 [1 favorite]


Paganini was very real, though the actual sale of soul may not have been.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 4:40 PM on January 15, 2016


At The Satanic Temple's Baphomet Statue unveiling last year, participants and spectators had to sign away their soul to Satan before entry. This was to keep Christian protesters out.

News article: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/07/26/to-weed-out-protesters-at-last-nights-event-the-satanic-temple-had-attendees-transfer-their-souls-to-satan/

The actual contract: Release of Liability, Film Notice andTransfer of Soul Agreement
posted by spinifex23 at 5:12 PM on January 15, 2016 [6 favorites]


Spiniflex23, that contract made my day, thank you.
posted by nanook at 6:07 PM on January 15, 2016 [3 favorites]


There was this FPP about the Norwegian fiddlers that made deals with the water sprites.

Norweigan Fiddlers
posted by littlewater at 6:20 PM on January 15, 2016


Long ago I read a bizarre story in a compilation of Irish folk tales about a tinker trickster who played a series of outlandish pranks on Death and the Devil. After living an unnaturally long life by cheating Death many times, he was refused entry to both heaven and hell, and turned into a fish. I don't see anything on Google about this.
posted by ovvl at 5:31 PM on January 16, 2016


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