Satan as The Earth Diver
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2014 10:33 am
Yuri Stoyanov in his book ”The Other God”, an excellent study of dualism from antiquity to medieval Balkan Heresy, deals with particularly fascinating aspect of Satan, that is, The Earth Diver. This is a popular cosmogonic theme in Eastern Europe, northern America and northern & central Asia. These feature a primordial sea from whence the world is created. They also often feature two demiurgic beings, who on many occasions are brothers or similarly close associates, but end up having interrelations that are conflicting or ambiguous.
So there are several cosmic beings hovering above cosmic waters. One, usually a greater demiurgic being, charges the other, the lesser or antagonistic demiurgic being, to fetch earth from the bottom of the primordial sea. And from this earth the world is created.
In some myths there is only one demiurgic being, and the other is born from his spit or from his reflection on the primordial waters. This Earth Diver is usually more or less ornitomorphic. The oldest versions of The Earth Diver are monistic, for example the Aryan Indian myth of Prajapati, and the dualistic versions are a later development. In antique and medieval Gnosticism, we often find echoes of this theme.
One interesting question is, considering the seven aspects of Satan spoken of by Johannes Nefastos, can The Earth Diver be spoken of as an independent aspect?
It also relates to my private studies. In Genesis 8:6-12, where Noah sends a Raven and a Dove to searc for dry land, the Dove is mentioned five times. When we multiply the gematric value of the Dove, ha’yonah, we get 5x76=380. This is the number of the defining dimensions of Noah’s ark – length 300 cubits, breath 50 cubits, height 30 cubits – so it does seem to pertain to the story. The number 380 is also the value of “Like the Appearance of a Lightning", a phrase Jesus used when describing the fall of Satan as he saw it, and a sentence used both in Sepher yetzirah (1:6) and the “merkabahic” first chapter of Ezekiel (1:14). The wording in original Hebrew is exactly the same in both cases.
So it does seem like there is a sympathetic undertone to the Earth Diver theme in Genesis 8, which is no less interesting be it there by choice or by chance. Also, if we consider the mater with Cordoveros Rule of Colel in mind (which I usually don’t like to do, because I want my kabbalah to have a bit stricter rules), the number of ha’yonah is one more than the value of Lucifer, Hilel.
So there are several cosmic beings hovering above cosmic waters. One, usually a greater demiurgic being, charges the other, the lesser or antagonistic demiurgic being, to fetch earth from the bottom of the primordial sea. And from this earth the world is created.
In some myths there is only one demiurgic being, and the other is born from his spit or from his reflection on the primordial waters. This Earth Diver is usually more or less ornitomorphic. The oldest versions of The Earth Diver are monistic, for example the Aryan Indian myth of Prajapati, and the dualistic versions are a later development. In antique and medieval Gnosticism, we often find echoes of this theme.
One interesting question is, considering the seven aspects of Satan spoken of by Johannes Nefastos, can The Earth Diver be spoken of as an independent aspect?
It also relates to my private studies. In Genesis 8:6-12, where Noah sends a Raven and a Dove to searc for dry land, the Dove is mentioned five times. When we multiply the gematric value of the Dove, ha’yonah, we get 5x76=380. This is the number of the defining dimensions of Noah’s ark – length 300 cubits, breath 50 cubits, height 30 cubits – so it does seem to pertain to the story. The number 380 is also the value of “Like the Appearance of a Lightning", a phrase Jesus used when describing the fall of Satan as he saw it, and a sentence used both in Sepher yetzirah (1:6) and the “merkabahic” first chapter of Ezekiel (1:14). The wording in original Hebrew is exactly the same in both cases.
So it does seem like there is a sympathetic undertone to the Earth Diver theme in Genesis 8, which is no less interesting be it there by choice or by chance. Also, if we consider the mater with Cordoveros Rule of Colel in mind (which I usually don’t like to do, because I want my kabbalah to have a bit stricter rules), the number of ha’yonah is one more than the value of Lucifer, Hilel.