Working as a demonologist would never be boring, but you may wonder how much you could earn from working as one. Especially if you already feel interested in demonology, it would make sense to look into it. First, you want to learn how much money demonologists can earn to see if it would be a good career path. What does a demonologist earn?
Most demonologists earn next to nothing because they think of it as a higher calling, rather than a career. People who work in demonology do it to help people. You might choose to study demonology on the side, but you would need another job in most cases because it pays little.
Maybe you still feel interested in demonology even if you don’t normally earn money directly from it. Let’s take a look at the life of a demonologist and how you could earn money in this study.
Why Most Demonologists Don’t Charge
You could earn money, but most demonologists consider it unethical. Now, you do have the occasional person in this field, such as psychics and mediums, who charge exorbitant amounts of money for their work, but they often do it based on their brand name.
With so many willing to do the work for free, they likely have a larger base propping them up from somewhere else, and people don’t realize that this doesn’t have to cost money.
A common example of demonologists would be priests of the Catholic church who choose to study exorcisms and demonology. In April 2018, the BBC reports that the Vatican opened its doors to 250 priests who wished to learn how to identify demonic possession. The path remains open and well-studied, but most demonologists don’t do it for money.
You should note that the Catholic church and many other religious institutions don’t charge for exorcisms. With that in mind, it makes it harder for a demonologist who would like to pursue it as more of a career path. If you’d like to turn your studies into a career, you do have options.
5 Common Ways to Make Money as a Demonologist
Now, what if you would still like to pursue it as a career? You could try to charge and see where it goes, but you may find it difficult to find a customer base and many would look down on it. However, you do have more ethical ways to earn money as a demonologist.
#1: Become a College Professor
For example, many who study demonology as a profession enter academia. They might either work as a college professor, or they might work as a curator for a museum.
To give an example, the British Museum hired a curator who knows how to perform the ancient Sumerian incantations. That gives you an example of the type of work that a modern-day demonologist might perform. As a professor, you would likely work in the field of cultural anthropology, but just keep in mind that most of this work isn’t about demonology.
Even the professors that they present on TV as demonologists are often cultural anthropologist professors, and they may do more than study demons alone. However, college professors often earn upwards of $100,000 per year, so it can be a worthwhile career, but you need to hold a doctorate, which takes four to six years, and it will require a dissertation.
#2: Start a Youtube Channel
Another potential career path as a demonologist would be if you were to swing toward a career on Youtube. Many demonologists looking to earn money choose to make Youtube videos, and you will find a large enough community to prop up your channel. How much you earn will depend on the size of your channel.
For 1,000 views, you earn anywhere from $3 to $5, but this will range heavily depending on the advertisers you attract. Still, it’s attractive to turn even a hobby into an income earner, and the interaction with your audience proves addictive to many.
#3: Earn Royalties from Books
Many demonologists who earn income from their work will do it from books. Again, like with Youtube, it’s difficult to say exactly how much you earn because it depends on you.
You might do it as a hobby where you head out to locations to serve as the demonologist and write about those experiences. You have a large community who would love to read about it, and they would likely pay you for it.
Let’s take an example of two well-known demonologists and what they’ve potentially earned from one of their books. Ed and Lorraine Warren, demonologists, authors, and lecturers, wrote a book titled The Demonologist: The Extraordinary Career of Ed and Lorraine Warren.
(affiliate link – Amazon)
Going just based on the total reviews on Goodreads, which was 7,583 ratings, we can assume at least that many books sold. When you take 7,583 books sold multiplied by the estimated book price of $10, that book alone earned $75,830. Considering how they wrote 16 books in total, you should earn a decent income.
If you would like to earn more as a demonologist author, publish more books to get your name out there. You might start a Youtube channel as well as a way to promote your books.
#4: Give Lectures
Hopefully, at this point, you understand why it can be so hard to say exactly how much a demonologist earns. Most demonologists won’t charge directly for their work because they see it as more of a higher calling. The easiest route to becoming a demonologist with a definite income would be if you were to become a college professor.
Still, they often earn money in many indirect ways. Oftentimes, they will combine everything that they do into a package. One example of a way that you can earn money is by giving lectures on demonology.
Many times, demonologists will charge churches and religious schools to give lectures. Very few will earn a sustainable living doing this alone. You would want to combine it with one or more of the other income-earning routes. For example, Ed and Lorraine Warren would do this in combination with writing books.
Now, lecturers can earn around $45,000 per year on the lower end, according to Talent, but we need to assume that because this is thought of as a fringe study, you will likely earn less than that. I say that because it’s better to assume the worst than to find out how you didn’t earn what you hoped for. Don’t think of big money in it.
You may even want to seek out a demonologist lecturer to learn how much they earn from the topic.
#5: Create a Course on Demonology
Before you undertake this, you will need to spend time getting experience in demonology. As a side note, you don’t want to get this experience on your own. You need to have an expert on hand who understands what to do in emergencies because of the nature of the work.
Still, you could earn a decent income by creating courses on demonology. You may even choose to avoid directly dealing with demons in the beginning and simply write about the various demons known to humans. The course would take on a similar tone to Greek or Norse mythology. This is one of the ways to start earning money right from the start.
Some of the places where you earn money to offer courses include:
- Udemy
- Skillshare
(affiliate) - LearnDash
- Thinkific
- Ruzuku
- Teachable
You can earn anywhere from $1,000 to $100,000 per year online from selling courses depending on how hard you’re willing to work at it. The same goes for earning money in demonology. How much you earn from it will largely depend on how hard you’re willing to work at it. You should prepare for setbacks since it will take time.
Some people earn as much as $50,000 per month selling courses, but this depends on the niche and how much traffic you can generate.
I have used Skillshare as a user and a creator myself, and I love their platform. You can easily get started and you don’t need to be techy at all.
#6: Work as a paranormal investigator
Many paranormal investigators learn demonology to get an understanding of hauntings. In some cases, it is necessary to identify and banish negative energies. Most paranormal investigators work for free to gain access to haunted sites.
If you get recognition as a reputable paranormal investigator, you can earn anything from 100 USD to 1000 EUR per investigation. This is nothing that will happen overnight, though. Often you need to get involved with a known team before earning anything as a solo investigator.
I know many paranormal investigators that earn money from a YouTube channel, though. I also know a few that host podcasts and sell ads to the listeners.
Is Demonology a Dying Profession?
Today, fewer people believe in demons than the number that may have believed in them 100 years ago. Despite that, exorcisms have increasingly risen, and if you have ever interviewed exorcists, many of them say that it has become increasingly common. That means that demonology as a study won’t be dying out any time soon.
In addition, as long as the mystery around demons and ghosts exists, you will always have a market where you could earn money from it. How much you earn will depend on how creative you become with the market. However, you will likely need to build up a business of it rather than earning money from it right from the get-go as a salary.
This profession also isn’t for the faint of heart, and the demand is there, but it’s usually fulfilled by those who do it for free or for little money.
Losing Money as a Demonologist
Again, I would emphasize that those who pursue this as a profession do it as more of a higher calling, and they rarely see it for monetary gain. Many people who have served as demonologists lost money because they would pay for gas to visit haunted sites out of state, and it wound up costing them more money than they earned if they even charged for it.
That doesn’t make you a bad person if you would like to do this as a way to earn legitimate money, however. There are more than a couple of viable paths that you can pursue to earn money in demonology, and it’s usually done in an indirect way that makes it hard to say how much you can earn.
Most of the demonologists who enter the field don’t do it for the money. As an example, many Catholic priests will take courses on this as a way to help free people from demons. They’re not doing it as a source of income.
How to Know if Demonology is the Right Career Path for You
Let’s say that you would still like to try to earn an income as a demonologist. What are some of the skills that you will need in this for a career? If you’d like to go out and help people, you will need a lot of bravery to deal with demonic entities that only seek to destroy.
While demonic possession isn’t like how they show it in Hollywood, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t dangerous or scary at times.
You will likely need to study under an experienced demonologist for a while before you can do it on your own because of the dangers associated with it.
With everything said, you don’t need anything in particular to become a demonologist. You don’t need to enter a university and study it for a few years. You can take courses and earn certifications. Stay tuned because we’ll cover that next.
Related Article: How to Become a Demonologist
Where Can You Learn More About Demonology?
Some paranormal investigators will take a class in modern demonology. You can take one from Paralearning. This course takes a more modern approach to demonology, but it’s a great course for beginners and amateur ghost hunters. You receive a digital certificate at the end that you can print off, and anyone who receives a grade of 80 percent or higher will receive the certificate.
Because of the mysteries and unknown nature of this field, there are no recognized academic qualifications.
Final Thoughts
Unfortunately, it’s hard to say exactly what a demonologist will earn because of how many will do this work for free. They don’t take money for it. Provided you enter demonology for the right reasons, it can be a fulfilling life purpose. You probably wouldn’t go into it for the money, however. The best way to earn a decent income in it would be to pursue becoming a college professor, but even that doesn’t guarantee that demonology will be your main focus.
