From cat@luckymojo.com Wed Feb 21 18:47:54 2001 Return-Path: cat@luckymojo.com Received: from 208.201.225.163 (d136.nas23.sonic.net [209.204.137.136]) by sub.sonic.net (8.11.2/8.8.5) with SMTP id f1M2lqd01601 for ; Wed, 21 Feb 2001 18:47:53 -0800 X-envelope-info: Message-ID: <3A947F56.7D4F@luckymojo.com> Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 18:54:13 -0800 From: catherine yronwode Organization: Lucky Mojo Curio Co. X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01-C-MACOS8 (Macintosh; I; 68K) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: nagasiva@luckymojo.com Subject: jewish Fallen Angels Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Status: RO I think this could be archived under Jewish religion or demonology -- take your pick. It was posted to the Freemasonry list as part of a discussion of Solomon's interactions with the fallen angel Asmodeus (who helped him buyild the Temple). It also has a very interesting connection to archaeoastronomy -- look at what happens to the human maiden Istehar (Ishtar/Esther) after she cock-teases the fallen angel Shemhazai: she ends up in the Pleides! ------------------------------------- THE PUNISHMENT OF THE FALLEN ANGELS excerpts from "The Legends of the Jews Volume 1" by Louis Ginzberg (Translated by Henrietta Szold) * * * Grown to manhood, Noah followed in the ways of his grandfather Methuselah, while all other men of the time rose up against this pious king. So far from observing his precepts, they pursued the evil inclination of their hearts, and perpetrated all sorts of abominable deeds. Chiefly the fallen angels and their giant posterity caused the depravity of mankind. The blood spilled by the giants cried unto heaven from the ground, and the four archangels accused the fallen angels and their sons before God, whereupon He gave the following orders to them: Uriel was sent to Noah to announce to him that the earth would be destroyed by a flood, and to teach him how to save his own life. * * * The fall of Azazel and Shemhazai came about in this way. When the generation of the deluge began to practice idolatry, God was deeply grieved. The two angels Shemhazai and Azazel arose, and said: "O Lord of the world! It has happened, that which we foretold at the creation of the world and of man, saying, 'What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?'" And God said, "And what will become of the world now without man?" Whereupon the angels: "We will occupy ourselves with it." Then said God: "I am well aware of it, and I know that if you inhabit the earth, the evil inclination will overpower you, and you will be more iniquitous than ever men." The angels pleaded, "Grant us but permission to dwell among men, and Thou shalt see how we will sanctify Thy Name." God yielded to their wish, saying, "Descend and sojourn among men!" When the angels came to earth, and beheld the daughters of men in all their grace and beauty, they could not restrain their passion. Shemhazai saw a maiden named Istehar, and he lost his heart to her. She promised to surrender herself to him, if first he taught her the Ineffable Name, by means of which he raised himself to heaven. He assented to her condition. But once she knew it, she pronounced the Name, and herself ascended to heaven, without fulfilling her promise to the angel. God said, "Because she kept herself aloof from sin, we will place her among the seven stars, that men may never forget her," and she was put in the constellation of the Pleiades. * * * Unlike Istehar, the pious maiden, Naamah, the lovely sister of Tubal-cain, led the angels astray with her beauty, and from her union with Shamdon sprang the devil Asmodeus. She was as shameless as all the other descendants of Cain, and as prone to bestial indulgences. Cainite women and Cainite men alike were in the habit of walking abroad naked, and they gave themselves up to every conceivable manner of lewd practices. Of such were the women whose beauty and sensual charms tempted the angels from the path of virtue." -------------------------------------EOF