There
are possibly numerous myths about fallen angels; in fact the fallen angel
mythos has given new life to fiction writers bag of tricks in the last decade.
Fallen
angels have been the source in some cases for the vampire myth as well as the
source of all demon kind. There are three greater abiding and, in my opinion,
the most prominent stories behind the birth or creation of demons.
1.
The
Fall of Satan
2.
Gregori
3.
Lilith
the Mother of all Demons
It
seems highly appropriate that we begin with the Fall of Satan as I have spent the last few months discussing
satanic pacts and so forth.
SATAN? THE
HORNED DEMON?
So
who was Satan exactly? He is known by many names; Devil, Satan; Lucifer; Iblis;
Shayṭān and
many refer to him fondly as the “father of lies” from the pulpit. Those of most
monotheist belief systems around the world have been taught that Satan, also
known as Lucifer was an angel, one of God’s most beloved in fact, who was cast
out of heaven by God because of his vanity. We are also taught that at every
turn he tries to get man to sin so that he will turn away from God thereby
increasing his own followers.
For me as a reasonable
person there are many holes in this teaching, as why would a very powerful being
who was cast out of heaven with a host of other angels seek out silly human
souls? When an immortal angel would be far more powerful after all.
Well there are two stories
about the fall of God’s once great angel, one I have heard people scoff at with
out really studying it, because the other seems more highly likely to them than
the former.
But we still have not
answered the original question… Who is Satan?
The supposedly great demon himself is usually known
by two names to all of Christendom, (not taking the generic term Devil into
account) Satan and Lucifer.
Well
Lucifer means “Son of the morning” or “morning star” and
Satan means
“adversary”. But adversary to whom? To man or to God himself?
The Bible doesn’t exactly make this clear until the New Testament. Before the New Testament, there is scant reference to
him, and he seems to barely play a role, until the Book of Job. The Satan
in Job appears different to the Christian Satan we have all been taught
to...hate.
It’s better to start at the beginning, the beginning
in this case being Genesis, particularly regarding the creation and Adam and Eve’s fall from grace
so to speak, most of us have made certain assumptions to these events.
So let us highlight several events
that occurred around the Garden of Eden in Genesis.
The creation of the world as we all
know it is that God created the world in 6 days and rested on the seventh. He
created man on the 6th day and placed them in the Garden of Eden. He created
other animals, which He asked Adam to name. He also created Eve from Adam’s rib.
He prohibited Adam and Eve from eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. The
serpent tricked Eve into eating from the tree, and then Eve convinced Adam, also,
into eating the fruit. Adam and Eve could distinguish right and wrong after
eating the fruit, and they became ashamed at their nakedness. God punished man,
woman and snake for their disobedience. Adam and Eve were then, for want of a
better term, thrown from the Garden of Eden on their collective asses. And
a guard was placed at the gates so that they could never enter again.
Yet there is no places in Genesis
were Satan is ever mentioned, either by his other names or titles, such as
Lucifer and the Devil. And yet everyone assumes that the snake in the Garden of
Eden was him in disguise. So I have wondered where the equation of Satan with
the snake began. In fact there are no mentions of the
name Satan being used in the Old Testament at all, until the Book of Job, 2nd
Chronicles and the book of Zechariah. And not once was he mentioned as a fallen
angel in the Old Testament. Satan was also known as the Devil and Beelzebul,
but these references can only be found in the New Testament.
As for references in the New Testament, "Satan" occurs more than 30 times in
passages alongside
Diabolos (Greek for "the devil"), referring
to the same person or thing as Satan and Beelzebub, meaning "Lord of
Flies", is the contemptuous name given in the Hebrew Bible and New
Testament to a Philistine god whose original name has been reconstructed as
most probably "Ba'al Zabul," meaning "Baal the Prince." In
later Christian and Biblical sources, he is referred to as another name for Devil,
and in Catholic demonology, is one of the seven princes of Hell according to Catholic
views on Hell. In the
Testament of Solomon, Beelzebul (not
Beelzebub) appears as prince of the demons and says (6.2) that he was formerly
a leading heavenly angel who was (6.7) associated with the star Hesperus (which
is the normal Greek name for the planet Venus (Αφροδíτη) as evening star).
Ba'al,
meaning "Lord" in
Ugaritic, was used in conjunction with a descriptive name of
a specific god. The
Septuagint renders the name as
Baalzebub
(βααλζεβούβ) and as
Baal muian (βααλ μυιαν, "Baal of flies"),
but
Symmachus the Ebionite may have reflected a
tradition of its offensive ancient name when he rendered it as
Beelzeboul.
Scholars are divided, in regard to the god of Ekron, between the belief that
zebub may be the original affix to Baal and that it is a substitute for
an original
zbl which, after the discoveries of Ras Shamra, has been
connected with the title of "prince", frequently attributed to
Baal in mythological
texts. In addition to the intrinsic weakness of this last position, which is
not supported by the versions, is the fact that it was long ago suggested that
there was a relationship between the Philistine god and cults of fly or
apotropaic divinities (deities that warded off evil) appearing in the Hellenic
world, such as Zeus Apomyios or Myiagros. It is exactly this last connection
which is confirmed by the Ugaritic text when we examine how Baal affects the
expulsion of the flies which are the patient's sickness. According to Francesco
Saracino (1982) this series of elements may be inconclusive as evidence, but
the fact that in relationship to Baal Zebub, the two constituent terms are here
linked, joined by a function (
ndy) that is typical of some divinities
attested in the Mediterranean world, is a strong argument in favour of the
authenticity of the name of the god of Ekron, and of his possible therapeutic
activities, which are implicit in
2
Kings 1:2-3, etc.
So Satan and Baalzebub are to different creatures altogether, were as seemingly,
Beelzebul here is simply seen to refer to Lucifer. Beelzebul claims to cause
destruction through tyrants, to cause demons to be worshiped among men, to
excite priests to lust, to cause jealousies in cities and murders, and to bring
on war. The
Testament of Solomon is a Hellenistic
Old
Testament pseudepigraphical work, purportedly written by King Solomon,
in which Solomon mostly describes particular demons whom he enslaved to help
build the temple, with substantial Christian interpolations.
A simple explanation for
the lack of mention of Satan could be that prior to the Babylonian Exile,
Judaism had no heaven or hell - souls of the dead simply went to a place of
rest, sheol, regardless of the life that had been led. The notion of
Satan entered Judaism during the Babylonian Exile, so no biblical Book written
before that time contains any reference to Satan. Chronicles was actually
written during the Exile, as a revision to the Deuteronomic History, and thus
is the first book in the Bible to contain the name Satan.
1
Chronicles 21:1:
"And
Satan stood up against Israel and provoked David to number Israel."
Because Kings (part of
the Deuteronomic history) was written before the Exile, the corresponding
passage contains no mention of Satan either.
What it comes down to
is that Satan is not exactly who we think he is, but still the question stands
who is he and why did he fall?
Maybe the possession
of the serpent by Satan was the cause of his fall and from that we can
determine why he fell?
But if the snake was
Satan in disguise, why did God punish the serpent? Genesis clearly states that
God’s curse was on the serpent, he did not say you Lucifer or Satan or any of
the other names that are associated with Satan. The argument also stands, if, it
is argued that the snake was possessed by Satan. It is the equivalent of saying
that a person possessed by Satan should be punished because of being possessed.
Genesis
3:14
“So the
Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you
above all livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and
you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you
and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel."
(so the serpent could,
what, walk before?!!)
So why do we
think that the serpent is Satan? Except for the fact that many BELIEVE that it
is…this is not conclusive evidence of the linkage, Satan-Serpent.
So no, can’t be that
as the reason…
Now we come to the
Book of Job, which I mentioned earlier, here Satan is introduced, but not yet
as the adversary of God portrayed in later Christian belief, but as a 'son of God' or angel, whose role was
to prove the righteousness of people by tempting them to do wrong. God twice
gave Satan a challenge to have Job curse God, first by destroying his family
and his property (1:8,11), then by afflicting him with a terrible disease. If
Job cursed God, he would be judged as evil.
Also here we
do not find the fall of Satan being mentioned. Maybe if we look elsewhere?
Maybe the
next passages will tell has who and why.
Since we
know that Satan has been identified with the name Lucifer, a Greek name for the
Son of Dawn or the Son of the Morning Star, perhaps the earliest reference to
Satan, via Lucifer, can be found in Isaiah.
Isaiah 14:12 (JPS)
"How are you
fallen from heaven O Shining One, son of Dawn! How are you felled to earth, O
vanquisher of nations! "
Or from the King James' version:
Isaiah 14:12 (KJV)
"How art thou
fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the
ground, which didst weaken the nations! "
Could this be it? Finally!
It may look right, if you were just to take verse 12 on its
own. However, this verse is very unsatisfactory, if you read the surrounding
passages, you will realise that "Lucifer" or the "son of
Dawn" is actually a metaphor, yes, BUT not for Satan. The early verse
(14:4), clearly indicate the following verses are about the King of Babylon.
The term appears in the context of an oracle
against a dead king of Babylon, who is addressed as הילל בן שחר (hêlêl ben
šāḥar), rendered by the King
James Version as "O Lucifer, son of the morning!" and by others as
"morning star, son of the dawn". In a modern translation from the original
Hebrew, the passage in which the phrase "Lucifer" or "morning
star" occurs begins with the statement:
"On the day the Lord gives you relief from
your suffering and turmoil and from the harsh labour forced on you, you will
take up this taunt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has come to
an end! How his fury has ended!"
After describing the death of the king, the
taunt continues:
"How you have
fallen from heaven, morning star,
son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low
the nations! You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to the heavens; I will
raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of
assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above
the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' But you are
brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit. Those who see
you stare at you, they ponder your fate: 'Is this the man who shook the earth
and made kingdoms tremble, the man who made the world a wilderness, who
overthrew its cities and would not let his captives go home?'"
Some would argue that the words 'I will
ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will
sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most
High.' Echo
Satan. Right?
J. Carl Laney has pointed out
that in the final verses here quoted; the king of Babylon is described not as a
god or an angel but as a man.
For the unnamed "king of Babylon" a
wide range of identifications have been proposed. They include a Babylonian
ruler of the prophet Isaiah's own time the later Nebuchadnezzar II, under whom the Babylonian captivity of the Jews began, or Nabonidus,
and the Assyrian kings Tiglath-Pileser, Sargon II
and Sennacherib. Herbert Wolf held that the "king of
Babylon" was not a specific ruler but a generic representation of the
whole line of rulers.
Also if we
read as confirmation
Isaiah 14:4 (KJV)
…you
shall recite this song of scorn over the king of Babylon:
So by reading chapter 14, verses 4 to 23, God is actually
talking about the King of Babylon. So if you were to interpret verse 12
properly in conjunction to all the surrounding verses ( as it should be), it is
that Lucifer is the king of Babylon and the predictions is that his empire
would eventually fall. The son of Morning is nothing more than a metaphor but NOT
for Satan.
Early Christians were influenced by the
association of Isaiah 14:12-18 with the Devil, which had developed in the
period between the writing of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, also
called the Intertestamental
Period when the deuterocanonical
books were written. Even in the New
Testament itself, Sigve K Tonstad argues, the War in Heaven theme of Revelation
12:7-9, in which the dragon "who is called the devil and Satan … was
thrown down to the earth", derives from the passage in Isaiah 14. Origen (184/185 – 253/254)
interpreted such Old Testament passages as being about manifestations of the
Devil; but of course, writing in Greek, not Latin, he did not identify the
Devil with the name "Lucifer". Tertullian
(c. 160 – c. 225), also understood Isaiah 14:14
("I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the
Most High") as spoken by the Devil, but "Lucifer" is not among
the numerous names and phrases he used to describe the Devil. Even at the time
of the Latin writer Augustine of Hippo (354 – 430), "Lucifer" had not yet become a
common name for the Devil.
Sometime later, the metaphor of the morning
star that Isaiah 14:12 applied to a king of Babylon gave rise to the general
use of the Latin word for "morning star", capitalized, as the
original name of the Devil before his fall from grace, linking Isaiah 14:12
with Luke 10:18
("I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven") and interpreting the
passage in Isaiah as an allegory of Satan's fall from heaven.
Theodoret of Cyrus (c. 393 – c. 457) wrote that Isaiah calls the king
"morning star", not as being the star, but as having had the illusion
of being it. John Calvin said: "The
exposition of this passage, which some have given, as if it referred to Satan,
has arisen from ignorance: for the context plainly shows these statements must
be understood in reference to the king of the Babylonians." Martin Luther also
considered it a gross error to refer this verse to the devil.
It is very clear then that Lucifer with a
capital “L” was never meant as a name such as Peter or Mark, but simply as a
term. There are many “Christian” sites and writings that I have come across in my research that makes
the same mistake by simply taking verse 12 and running with it and expounding
on it in that it is Satan’s way as referring to himself as “morning star” to
blaspheme Jesus as Jesus is also referred to as morning star but not as by
using the word “Lucifer” lower case “l”.
So we can't really rely on Isaiah to confirm the fall of
Satan. We can't rely on the Book of Job, because it puts Satan in the light
that he is working for God not against, by testing the faith and devotion of
man.
The only account that indicates that Satan had fallen or
might still fall, is given in the New Testament's Book of Revelation 12
( as mentioned above), in regards to the revelation of Woman and the Dragon.
Revelation
12:1-9 (KJV)
“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed
with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve
stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be
delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red
dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And
his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the
earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered,
for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man
child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught
up unto God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where
she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two
hundred and threescore days. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And
prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great
dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which
deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were
cast out with him.”
I
wonder if everyone is breathing a sigh of relief.
So Satan fell…or has he?
Lets
continue with the crux of the matter.
Who
is Satan and why did he fall?
Most believe
that Satan was cast out of heaven because he was filled with pride and wanted
to place himself above God. Well yes and no.
Essentially
Heaven is divided into seven, yes seven levels, ever much like hell is also
divided into seven in old stories, and in the highest Heaven we would find God
and his closest Guard.
There are
angels who are said to surround the throne of God and their sole purpose is to
praise God. Now we all are aware that there are different ranks of angels. One
of them being cherubim.
These creatures have 6 wings and all the surfaces of their bodies, including
the wings, are supposed to be covered with eyes. Each cherub has four
faces, one of a cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a
lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. In essence angels are not as we see
them or imagine them. They have no actual physical human form. Satan (lets call
him that as it will be easier as we have already established that lucifer,
lower case “L” was the term used to refer the a king not the disobedient angel)
was created in absolute perfection and beauty. He was dedicated to producing
music for God. Therefore his body was covered in all manner of musical
instruments as well as many precious stones and gold and silver (it is now
because of the description of his body that many people believe that music is
evil and that Satan influences people through it, yet they maintain that gospel
music is still good, figures there would be a double standard). He was one of
Gods most favoured, as it is said, because of the fact that he was created
solely for the glorification of God through his music, so in other words he was
not only beautiful and powerful but he was “lord of music” so to speak.
Most
of us have been taught the watered down version, that Satan opposed God,
thought he was better and wiser and most see this when they read the text that
states in the bible that Satan said to God that he would elevate himself above
the stars and therefore above God himself, Isaiah 14:14, but….
Strangely. although, in the Genesis of the Christian bible it does not say exactly how the
disobedience came about, yet it hints at it in other sections of the bible,
from reading of other sacred texts such as the Haggada, which when read
congruently with Genesis fills in many of the blanks left in Genesis. Many of
us remember very clearly especially if you went to Sunday School that God
brought the animals before Adam and asked him to name them, even as a child I
wanted to know why God had wanted to have Adam name them instead of doing it
himself. Especially if he only received wisdom after eating from the tree of
knowledge and I never could get an answer from anyone.
According
to this –
God
created Adam to be absolutely perfect in every way, physically and spiritually
pure. The story fully reads :
The extraordinary qualities with which Adam was blessed,
physical and spiritual as well, aroused the envy of the angels. They attempted
to consume him with fire, and he would have perished, had not the protecting
hand of God rested upon him, and established peace between him and the heavenly
host. In particular, Satan was jealous of the first man, and his evil thoughts
finally led to his fall. After Adam had been endowed with a soul, God invited
all the angels to come and pay him reverence and homage. Satan, the greatest of
the angels in heaven, with twelve wings, instead of six like all the others,
refused to pay heed to the behest of God, saying, "Thou didst create us
angels from the splendor of the Shekinah, and now Thou dost command us to cast
ourselves down before the creature which Thou didst fashion out of the dust of
the ground!" God answered, "Yet this dust of the ground has more
wisdom and understanding than thou." Satan demanded a trial of wit with
Adam, and God assented thereto, saying: "I have created beasts, birds, and
reptiles, I shall have them all come before thee and before Adam. If thou art
able to give them names, I shall command Adam to show honor unto thee, and thou
shalt rest next to the Shekinah of My glory. But if not, and Adam calls them by
the names I have assigned to them, then thou wilt be subject to Adam, and he
shall have a place in My garden, and cultivate it." Thus spake God, and He
betook Himself to Paradise, Satan following Him. When Adam beheld God, he said
to his wife, "O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the
Lord our Maker." Now Satan attempted to assign names to the animals. He
failed with the first two that presented themselves, the ox and the cow. God
led two others before him, the camel and the donkey, with the same result. Then
God turned to Adam, and questioned him regarding the names of the same animals,
framing His questions in such wise that the first letter of the first word was
the same as the first letter of the name of the animal standing before him.
Thus Adam divined the proper name, and Satan was forced to acknowledge the
superiority of the first man. Nevertheless he broke out in wild outcries that
reached the heavens, and he refused to do homage unto Adam as he had been
bidden. The host of angels led by him did likewise, in spite of the urgent
representations of Michael, who was the first to prostrate himself before Adam
in order to show a good example to the other angels. Michael addressed Satan:
"Give adoration to the image of God! But if thou doest it not, then the
Lord God will break out in wrath against thee." Satan replied: "If He
breaks out in wrath against me, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God,
I will be like the Most High!" At once God flung Satan and his host out of
heaven, down to the earth, and from that moment dates the enmity between Satan
and man.'
– Haggada
(volume 1, chapter 2)
As found in
the Haggada, and not in Genesis, Satan's Fall came about his refusal to bow to
Adam, after Adam's creation. The Haggada not only states that God had not only
already assigned each species of animal with a name, which he had spoken to the
animals but not to Adam, but also gives the reason why Adam had to call each by
name.
The only other source of this event between Adam and
Satan comes from the Islamic Qur'an.
Here, the
Quran called Satan by the name (or title) Iblis
Qur'an version: ( note that the “we” used is akin to
the royal “we” used for “I”)
And We have given you (mankind) power in the earth,
and appointed for you therein livelihoods. Little give ye thanks!
And We created you, then fashioned you, then told the angels: Fall ye prostrate
before Adam! And they fell prostrate, all save Iblis, who was not of those who
make prostration.
He said: What hindered thee that thou didst not fall prostrate when I bade thee
? (Iblis) said: I am better than him. Thou createdst me of fire while him Thou
didst create of mud.
He said: Then go down hence! It is not for thee to show pride here, so go
forth! Lo! thou art of those degraded.
– Qur'an
7:10-13
And
in fact as per the Hebrew Bible it does not say that Satan is an angel, nor
that he is fallen: it uses the corresponding Hebrew word, which means
"adversary", of human opponents or some evil influence, but in three
places it personifies Satan as a character, always inferior to God's power: it
portrays him as an accuser (Zechariah 3:1-2), a seducer (1 Chronicles 21:1) or a heavenly
persecutor (Job 2:1).
I
have noted to others before that if we say that Satan fell from grace as per
what we have been taught the reason for his fall was that God asked that he bow
before man and it was this refusal that caused his fall, it might have been out
of pride or maybe there was just a little more to it than that. It might be
that in his eyes he was a being created out of “light” were as man was created
out of something lower and less pure. We also need to keep in mind that Satan
was created to worship and glorify God, then to have to prostrate himself to a
being that was, is in essence much less than not only himself but especially
his creator and this might have been horrifying
in this being’s eyes. Is it not possible that Satan, as an angle saw what man
would become and could not understand how God could still value humanity has He
did? Yet people are horrified to think that Satan could be anything else than
evil.
But
through him maybe we are provided with ways to test the types of people we
truly are.
So
Satan’s fall coincides perfectly with the creation of mankind, and not before
that as many of us has been taught or thought.
This
brings us back to the Temptation of Eve
by the Snake.
Now
most Christians are aware of one book of Genesis and that is the end of it all,
but people who are more interested in learning about their religion as well as
scholars around the world are aware that there are at least 5 books of Genesis.
There
are two creations stories in these books; one is both Adam and Eve were created
together by God. The other is were Adam was created from dust, placed in the
garden and given dominion over all the animals and given instruction not to eat
from the tree of knowledge placed in the garden (as well as not from the tree
of life, which was supposed to give immortality, yet Adam and Eve were already
immortal) Eve was then created after this from Adam’s “rib” (hope everyone’s
questioning the quotation marks right now). The serpent then tricks Eve and she
in turn gets Adam to eat from the fruit as well, thereby dooming the rest of
humanity to suffer old age and women especially to suffer menstruation and to
suffer through child birth, the latter curse was given in the Bible but the
former curse was placed on woman by the church. Given as a reason why women
suffered through this particular monthly event.
(Wonder
how many knew that this was the curse particularly attributed to Eve for her
crime of disobedience).
In
the first account as stated “man and
female, God created” implying that they were created at the same time
(possibly in the same way) and in the second account it is stated that Eve was
created subsequent to the creation of Adam. The Midrash Rabbah – Genesis VIII:1
reconciled the two by stating that in Genesis one, "male and female He created them", indicates that God
originally created Adam as a hermaphrodite bodily and spiritually
both male and female, before creating the separate beings of Adam and Eve.
Other rabbis suggested a different reason for these to differing account of
creation…
In
total the creation of humanity is mentioned three times in the books of Genesis.
In Islam, Adam (Ādam;
Arabic: آدم), whose role is being the father of humanity, is looked upon by Muslims
with reverence. Eve (Ḥawwāʼ; Arabic: حواء ) is the "mother of
humanity." The creation of Adam and Eve is referred to in the Qur’ān,
although different Qur’anic interpreters give different views on the actual
creation story (Qur’an, Surat al-Nisa’,
verse 1).
In al-Qummi's tafsir on the Garden of Eden,
such a place was not entirely earthly. According to the Qur’ān,
both Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in a Heavenly Eden (See
also Jannah). As
a result, they were both sent down to Earth as God's representatives. Each
person was sent to a mountain peak: Adam on al-Safa, and Eve on al-Marwah. In this Islamic tradition, Adam wept 40 days until
he repented, after which God sent down the Black Stone,
teaching him the Hajj.
According to a prophetic hadith, Adam and Eve reunited in the plain of ‘Arafat, near Mecca. They had
two sons together, Qabil and Habil. The concept of original sin does not
exist in Islam, because Adam and Eve were forgiven by God. When God orders the
angels to bow to Adam, Iblīs questioned, "Why should I bow to man? I am
made of pure fire and he is made of soil." The liberal
movements within Islam have viewed
God's commanding the angels to bow before Adam as an exaltation of humanity,
and as a means of supporting human rights; others view it as an act of showing
Adam that the greatest enemy of humans on earth will be their ego. In the Baha'i Faith, Adam is seen as a manifestation
of God, and the Adam and Eve narratives are seen as having divine mysteries and
containing universal meanings, but are also seen as having mythical features.
Abdul-Baha described Adam as a spirit and Eve as a soul. Their story is
explained in the Baha'i text.
Now please take special note of these varying
views, it might come in handy much later as we continue.
Because
Eve tempted Adam to eat of the fatal fruit, some early Fathers of the Church
held her and all subsequent women to be the first sinners, and especially
responsible for the Fall. "You are the devil's gateway" Tertullian told his female
listeners in the early 2nd century, and went on to explain that they were
responsible for the death of Christ: "On account of your desert (i.e.,
punishment for sin), that is, death, even the Son of God had to die." In
1486, the Dominicans Kramer and Sprengler
used similar tracts in Malleus
Maleficarum
("Hammer of Witches") to justify the persecution of
"witches".
Additionally,
the serpent that tempted Eve was interpreted to have been Satan, or that Satan
was using a serpent as a mouthpiece, although there is no mention of this
identification in the Torah and it is not held in Judaism (yes I know I’m
repeating myself but just bare with me).
Now we all know that Adam and Eve
had two sons right? Or was it three? Or more?
Well
originally they did have two sons, Cain and Abel but was it just the two sons
as how would two males populate the earth if there where no other people. It is
only said much later that they had other offspring, who are neither named nor
are their descendants, but when Adam was definitely no longer anywhere near a
young man. They did also have a third son, Seth, to make up for the loss of
Abel after he was killed by his brother. But what about the daughters of Adam
and Eve?
The
Targumim, rabbinic sources,
and later speculations supplemented background details for the daughters of Adam
and Eve. Such exegesis of Genesis 4
introduced Cain's wife as being his sister, a concept that has been accepted
for at least 1800 years. This can be seen with Jubilees 4 which narrates that
Cain settled down and married his sister Awan, who bore his son, the
first Enoch, approximately 196
years after the creation of Adam. Cain then establishes the first city, naming
it after his son, builds a house, and lives there until it collapses on him,
killing him in the same year that Adam dies (as one version of Cain’s death
states).
The
myth also states that Abel was one of triplets two of which were girls and he
married one of those sisters.
Cain was a twin, for
with him was born a girl; and Abel was one of three, for with him came two
girls.
--Gen. Rabba 22.
There
are other sources, sacred texts, which allude to something more sinister with
the death of Abel than simply jealousy that God had given Abel higher praise
than Cain.
The
Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan is a
Christian extracanonical
work found in
Ge'ez, translated from an
Arabic
original and thought to date from the 5th or 6th century AD, is such a text.
It does not form part of the canon of any known church, but is a late part
of the broad family of
Old Testament Pseudepigrapha
literature which includes the
Life of Adam and Eve,
Apocalypse of Adam,
Testament
of Adam and
Books of Adam. It does not make any claims as
to its authorship, and thus is technically not
pseudepigrapha,
a word meaning "falsely ascribed to an author who did not actually write
it." But before we get into other possible reasons for the first murder lets
concentrate on just before they were born...
The moment man fell from grace so to
speak.
Now
I have already questioned why it was that the creature, the serpent, was
punished and not Satan if it was in fact Satan either possessing or taking the
form of the creature well according to Jewish Scripture, the “evil one”
requested first of the peacock if he could ride in his tail that looked like
eyes but the peacock refused then he asked the serpent if he could ride on his
back into the garden from which he was forbidden from entering. The serpent
agreed, this was the reason for its punishment, it was not possessed but helped
the evil one to enter. Now who was the “evil one”? was it Satan? We have already
established that he had sufficient motive for this crime and reason, but was it
Satan?
In
the Sayings of Rabbi Eliezer, Samael is charged with being the one (in
the guise of a serpent) who tempted Eve, seduced her, and became by her the
father of Cain and his twin sister.
(and
so the twist continues)
Samael
is an archangel who has been regarded both as evil and good; as one of the
greatest and as one of the foulest spirits operating in Heaven, on earth, and
in Hell. On the one hand he is said to be chief ruler of the 5th Heaven (in
Jewish legendary lore his residence is usually placed in the 7th Heaven), one
of the 7 regents of the world served by 2 million angels; on the other hand, he
is "that great serpent with 12 wings that draws after him, in his fall,
the solar system." (Cf. Revelation 12.) Samael is also the angel of death
(one of a number of such angels) whom God sent to fetch the soul of Moses when
the Lawgiver's days on earth had come to an end. Talmud Yalkut I, 110,
speaks of Samael as Esau's guardian angel.
And
so the plot thickens. This would then mean was it actually a “fruit” of which
Eve at, or was it physical seduction that took place?
Targum
Jonathan to the Prophets
renders Genesis 3:6 as: "And this
woman saw Samael the angel of death." This verse is translated in the Paraphrase
of Job, 28:7, as "the path of
the Tree of Life which Samael, who flies like a bird, did not know, and which
the eye of Eve did not perceive."
Now
isn’t that a brain twister for you!
Extract
: BOOK NINE, MYTHS OF EXILE
Samael
was the great prince in heaven. After God created the world, Samael took his
band
of followers and descended and saw the creatures that God had created. Among
them
he found none so skilled to do evil than the serpent, as it is said, Now the serpent was
the shrewdest of all
the wild beasts (Gen. 3:1). Its
appearance was something like that of a
camel,
and Samael mounted and rode upon it. Riding on the serpent, the angel Samael
came
to Eve in the night and seduced her, and she conceived Cain. Later, while Eve
was
pregnant
by the angel, Adam came to her, and she conceived Abel.
Others say it was the serpent himself who
seduced Eve, for after he saw Adam and Eve
coupling,
the serpent conceived a passion for her. He even imagined killing Adam and
marrying
Eve.
So he came to Eve when she was alone and possessed her and infused her with
lust.
That is how the serpent fathered Cain,…..
This myth is a response to the enigmatic verse in
which Eve says, I have gotten a man
with the aid of Yahweh (Gen. 4:1). Targum Pseudo-Yonathan translates
this verse as “I
have acquired a man, the angel of the Lord.”
One reading of this verse in the Talmud (B. Shab. 146a)
suggests that Eve had intercourse
with the serpent: “When
the serpent consorted with Eve, he cast impurity into
her.” This interpretation is echoed in the Zohar: “From the impurity with which the
serpent
infected Eve emerged Cain.” Pirkei
de-Rabbi Eliezer builds on the talmudic interpretation,
but changes it in an essential way. Here the true
father of Cain is the
angel Samael, who came to Eve riding on the serpent.
Indeed, in this passage the
angel and serpent are closely linked,
When Cain was born, Adam knew at once that he was not
of his seed, for he was not
after his likeness, nor after his image. Instead,
Cain’s appearance was that of a heavenly
being. And when Eve saw that his appearance was not of
this world, she said, I have
gained a male child with the help of Yahweh (Gen. 4:1).
The fact that Samael is regarded as the angel of death
in Jewish lore would also thus account for why he was not allowed into the
garden as in the garden Adam and Eve where given eternal life.
So Abel was born in the image of Adam as was his twin
sister/s, which would then mean that Cain was the first half-human, half-angel
as was his twin sister.
So is it then possible that the fruit from the Tree of
knowledge was actually the knowledge of carnal desires? Of course this cannot
be so, but I will explain why when we talk about Lilith who is supposed to be
the mother of all Demons.
There are a number of texts that speak of the Eve
being seduced not only in eating the fruit of knowledge as we have been taught
but hints to something more as indicated from the extracts above. In Jewish
religious texts it has been calculated that although Cain and Abel were born
once Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden it has been calculated that
their birth’s were more or less a year after the expulsion.
The view can be taken that Eve was tempted with the fruit which gave her the
knowledge of what was “pure” and what was “not pure” and then was seduced by
Samael. Who has been accused of many sexual exploits.
The account that Samael was Cain’s father is also
given as the reason why he able to kill his brother without seeming remorseful
as well as being willful in refusing to give God an answer when questioned as
to his brother’s whereabouts.
Also there have been numerous forms of art work which
depict the serpent sinuously winding itself around Eve’s body which further indicated
the idea presented in various text that Eve was sexually seduced and that Cain
was in fact the first of the Gregori.
Other authors have also noted that God not only cursed
the serpent but his “seed” as well and have openly wondered if the “seed” mentioned
here did not necessarily mean animosity between human children and other
serpents. Especially when Cain murders Abel later on. Authors have indicated
that this could be the animosity spoken of. Animosity between the human
children of Adam and Eve and the part-human children conceived between the
Serpent, Samael, and Eve.
So it appears that although many things might be laid
at the door of Satan, the fall of mankind might not be one of them. It brings
to mind that maybe Satan is not exactly a demon in that sense of the word. A
horned being living in hell who was the cause of everything that went wrong
with humanity. It seems, as well, that our idea of Satan being cast into hell
is not exactly the correct perception. Yes, he was cast down, but was it into
hell?
So thus far we have established that Satan and Lucifer
are not the same being, in fact many of the names and distributions attributed
to Satan are in fact descriptions of other beings that have been tacked onto
Satan. We have also established when the fall of Satan took place as well as
the fact that it is quite possible that Satan had absolutely nothing to do with
the fall of mankind.
"Now there was a day when the sons
of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among
them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the
LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and
down in it"
(Job 1.6-7 KJV bible).
Interesting, yes? So Satan was not cast into Hell, he
is simply cast down from being favoured by God, he is free to come and go were ever it
pleases him. The verse of Revelation 12 also makes reference to this, that
although Satan is out of favour with God he has as yet not been expelled from
heaven. And he has not been forced to reside in a place where he sends his
minions to harass humanity. He has free reign in earth and in heaven.
So did he actually turn into a demon? Or is he just a
disgraced angel? Could it be possible that he is not exactly a Demon as how we
interpret it?
As how would something created as an angel turn into
something else? So is it not possible then that Satan is simply “adversary” as
stated but not an actual Demon?
So let us continue.
According
to texts,
THE
spirits of demons were created on the eve of the sixth day, but before their
bodies were formed the Sabbath set in, when rest was proclaimed, and their
formation was not consummated.--Gen. Rabba 7.
Essentially according to this Demons are
completely separate beings from anything else. They are not formed in any other
way but are the byproduct so to speak of the creation of the world.
Now there are two other interesting texts,
After
Cain had killed Abel, Adam separated from his wife for the space of 130 years,
during which time Adam emitted male demons and Eve female demons.--Gen. Rabba 20.
and
Eve,
'as the mother of all living,' was also the mother of demons.--Gen.
Rabba 20.
Also,
Noah
took demons into the ark and thus preserved their species.--Gen.
Rabba 31.
Heart-attack anyone?
Adam did not want to lose any more sons -
According to
Midrash Abkir (ca. 10th century), which was followed
by the Zohar and Kabbalistic writings. Adam is said to be perfect until he
recognizes either his sin or Cain's homicide that is the cause of bringing
death into the world. He then separates from holy Eve, sleeps alone, and fasts
for 130 years. During this time another creature (we will name her later, if no
one has guessed yet), desired his beauty and came to him against his will. She
bore him many demons and spirits called "the plagues of humankind".
The added explanation was that it was through Adam's own sin that she overcame
him against his will.
Then
after being away from Eve for 130 years he finally realises his error and
returns to her and they have a third son Seth who marries Azura, yet again his
sister.
It
is more interesting to note that not only did Seth have offspring but so did
Cain
These
are the descendents of Cain and his brother Seth, any one notice the similarity
in names. These names have been the cause of many scholars fretting.
But that said, why can't life be an erotic adventure? And you don't have to be single or a total slut (male or female: and this is not said in a derogatory manner at all) to be sexually adventurous.
