CREATION STORIES FROM THE ABRAHAMIC TRADITIONS

GENESIS 1:1-2:3

Probably - and justly - one of the most famous texts in all of human history, the beginning of the Biblical Book of Genesis outlines the creative work of the Creator - referred to in the text as Elohim - over six days: -

TOHU vBOHU

A number of the Hebrew terms used in this brief text are of particular significance within (and, to some extent, without) Judaism. Foremost among these are תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ ("Tohu vBohu"), translated above as: "without form, and void." While tohu appears most frequently in the Hebrew Bible, where it commonly signifies a wasteland, bohu features only thrice, associated with tohu on each occasion. In addition to Gen. 1:2, the formula appears in the books of the prophets Isaiah [34:11] and Jeremiah [4:23].

Jeremiah is describing a return to primordial conditions brought about by the LORD's anger at his people's nefarious ways, having had a frightening vision of this scenario [4:23-27]: -

Isaiah likewise describes a vision, in which YHWH intends to bring punishment to the nations, which results in the formation of a great desert populated by natural (and supernatural) faunal life [34:6-15]: -

Thus, the primordial universe is envisaged as being something of a chaotic, swirling mass of waters, much the same as other cosmogonies. This section is the primary creation account which features YHWH's Word ("logos" in Greek) as being instrumental in His bringing about the creation of the cosmos.

THE SPIRIT OF GOD

The work of the Spirit of God on the first day of creation is described by the Jewish Encyclopedia in terms of a preparatory action: "God's spirit hovered over the form of lifeless matter, thereby making the Creation possible" (cf Isaiah 32:15: "Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest"). This particular image would prove highly influential across the ages, with heterodox Jewish and Christian - and even Muslim - sects positing that the reflected image of a primordial figure held particular significance. The orthodox Christian depiction of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove [Mat 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32] is also reflected in Jewish tradition: the tanna Shimon ben Zoma is quoted in the Babylonian version of Ḥagigah [15a] as stating that the Spirit hovered over the waters "like a dove which hovers over her young without touching [them]."

THE SIX DAYS OF CREATION

The text of Genesis 1 describes the creation over six days, which can be grouped thematically into three (Days 1 and 4 cover the creation of light, day, night and the lights to govern the latter two; Days 2 and 5 cover sea and sky; Days 3 and 6 the land): -

 

YHWH rests on the seventh day, instituting the concept of the Sabbath day [2:1-4]. This should not, however, be understood as a necessity, but rather represents the appearance of the Deity within His primordial sanctuary: reading this account together with that presented by the Yahwist in Gen. 2-4, one would naturally understand this sanctuary to be identical with the Garden of Eden, in which YHWH places the first couple, Adam and Eve. A more restrictive reading, however, would place this first seat of the God within the Heavens.

GENESIS 2:4-3:24

Genesis 2:4-9 depicts a barren primeval earth: -

• There was no rain: instead, water emerges from beneath the surface of the earth as an aquiferous mist or vapour;
• There were no plants: no seeds had sprouted and there was no creature to engage in agriculture.

In order to rectify the situation, YHWH creates the Garden of Eden and forms Adam from the earth, breathing life into him. Adam is placed in Eden.

THE GARDEN OF EDEN

The Garden of Eden is watered by a river which divided into four [2:11-14]: -

• The Pishon, which runs through the gold-bearing land of Havilah;
• The Gihon, which drains through Cush;
• The Hiddekel (Tigris), which goes east of Assur;
• The Perath (Euphrates).

Eden contained the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil [Gen. 2:9; 17 - cf 3:3 ff., where only one tree is noted]. The creation of Eve from Adam's rib [Gen. 2:21-25] and Eve's temptation by the wily serpent [Gen. 3:1-5] follows, and leads to the fall of humanity into the time of sin and mortality, denoted by the ejection of Adam and Eve from the Garden and the prevention of their ingress by Cherubim and a "flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life" [Gen. 3:24].

ADAM NAMES THE ANIMALS

Another major difference between these two accounts comes in the form of the creation of the animals: the creation of Eve follows a scene in which YHWH, determining that Adam would require a helpmeet [2:18], forms "every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air" from "out of the ground" [2:19], bringing them to Adam for the first man to furnish them with names [2:19-20]. Adam obliges, but finds none of them adequate to serve as his helpmeet, so YHWH, bringing sleep upon the man, fashions Eve from a rib extracted from Adam's side [2:21-22].

It should be noted that the process of naming things in the ancient world differed from ours: a name denoted a function, and was given as a means of explaining the use of the object named.

AND THEY WERE BOTH NAKED...

One phrase which generated a good deal of speculation among later Jews and Christians is the description of Adam and Eve being "naked [but] not ashamed" at Gen. 2:25. This becomes increasingly important during the scene of Eve's temptation, when, having eaten the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil - expressly forbidden by YHWH [2:17; 3:3] - at the behest of the serpent, the couple realise that they are naked, and weave rude clothing from fig leaves [3:7]. While the fruit of the Tree gave them awareness of their state, it also condemned humanity to a mortal lot [2:17; 3:19], with pangs of childbirth [3:16] and the promise of toil in the fields in order to eke out a living [3:17-19].

Interpretations of the nudity of Adam and Eve range from a primeval golden age of innocence to their existence as spiritual beings, whose fall led to human corporeality. Of these, the former seems the most parsimonious reading. It is supported somewhat by the lack of references to the consumption of meat, which would be seen as a corollary of the advent of death and bloodletting, with the population of the "golden age" of mythology throughout the world being able to sustain themselves on the bounteous produce brought forth from the earth with little effort on their part.

WHEN IS A SERPENT NOT A SERPENT?

The account of Adam and Eve in Eden has other interesting features, not least the serpent. While the similarities with snakes is obvious, not least from YHWH's condemnation of the creature at Gen. 3:14, where it is condemned to go limbless, the Hebrew term nachash has a number of other meanings, suggesting some clever subtextual punning. Michael Heiser notes that the term can be a noun, verb or adjective. As an adjective, nachash means "bronze" or "brazen," meaning that this entity can be understood as a "shining one," which would easily denote a rebellious member of YHWH's Divine Council (compare, for instance, the description of the dragon in the Book of Revelation as "that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan" [20:2]).

FORBIDDEN FRUIT

One could also read the episode of the eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil - and its companion the Tree of Life - as anti-pagan polemic: one famous scene in the Akkadian Epic of Gilgameš has the hero Gilgameš, mourning for his great friend Enkidu, on a quest for a certain herb which has the power to confer eternal life. This "Plant of Heartbeat" is eventually retrieved by the hero, but, before he can make use of it in order to restore his youth, it is stolen, appropriately enough by a serpent, which sloughs its skin as it escapes.

THE HEBREWS AND THE CHAOSKAMPF - DIVINE BATTLE

The Bible contains traces of an alternative to the standard account of creation in Genesis. These short passages appear to be vestiges of mythological tales in which, at the beginning of time, YHWH was opposed by watery forces of chaos, viz. a personified Tehom or "deep," as well as various monstrous forms such as Leviathan, Behemoth, Rahab and the tannin. These passages - which also have cosmogonical and mythological significance beyond the fight against the waters - appear in a number of locations in the Bible. Prominent examples include the passages listed below: -

• Job 9:5-14
  "He crushed his enemies who helped Rahab, the sea monster, oppose him."
• Job 38:4-24
  "It was I who covered the sea with clouds and wrapped it in darkness. I marked a boundary for the sea and kept it behind bolted gates. I told it, 'So far and no farther! Here your powerful waves must stop.'"
• Psalms 74:12-17
  "With your mighty strength you divided the sea and smashed the heads of the sea monsters; You crushed the heads of the monster Leviathan and fed his body to desert animals."
• Psalms 89:6-12
  "You crushed the monster Rahab and killed it; with your mighty strength you defeated your enemies."
• Psalms 104:1-10
  "When you rebuked the waters, they fled; they rushed away when they heard your shout of command. They flowed over the mountains and into the valleys, to the place you had made for them. You set a boundary they can never pass, to keep them from covering the earth again."
• Proverbs 8:22-31
  "I [Wisdom] was there when he set the sky in place, when he stretched the horizon across the ocean, when he placed the clouds in the sky, when he opened the springs of the ocean and ordered the waters of the sea to rise no further than he said. I was there when he laid the earth's foundations."

LEVIATHAN: THE SLANT AND TWISTING SERPENT

Aside from this extensive passage in Job, Leviathan also appears in the Psalms (Ps. 74:14; 104:26), as well as at Isaiah 27:1. There, Leviathan appears as a great enemy of YHWH: Ps. 74:14 describes how YHWH smashes the heads of Leviathan and uses his body to feed creatures of the wilderness; while the interesting passage in Isaiah describes the day when YHWH brings His sword to bear on Leviathan - described as a writhing, twisting serpentine form - and slays the tannin within the sea. This latter is an eschatological projection of what would originally have been a primordial Chaoskampf.

John Day, in his survey of the agon material, notes the well-known equasion of Leviathan with the Ugaritic ltn, described as an ally and amenuensis of the sea god Yam during his battle with Ba'al. Another ally of Yam, the ox-like Arš, is compared by Day with Behemoth.

BEHEMOTH: "THE FIRST OF GOD'S WORKS"

In contrast to the marine monster Leviathan, Behemoth is depicted as a land animal. Nevertheless, Day sees aquatic tendencies and equates Behemoth with Arš (as noted above) and El's calf Atik from the Ugaritic corpus.

It is also interesting to note that Behemoth's watery associations (esp. Job 40:21-23) appear to be of a fresh, rather than a salt, water variety. Coupled with the hills in Job 40:20, I would suspect that Behemoth may represent a freshwater counterpart to Leviathan, perhaps in a similar fashion as the Apsû of the Akkadian Enûma Eliš represents the primeval freshwater mate of the saltwater Tiâmat.

RAHAB AND THE TANNIN

The sea-borne primordial demon also appears under the names tannin and Rahab.

Whilst the Book of Genesis describes the creation of the tannin during the fifth day [Gen. 1:21], they appear as enemies defeated by YHWH in several places [Ps. 74:13; Isa. 27:1; 51:9]. Rahab, meanwhile, is associated with Egypt in particular [Isa. 30:7], and appears alongside the tannin in Isa. 51:9, where she[?] is cut by YHWH.

The Egyptian connection is highly suggestive with an association with the events of the Exodus from that country, which famously culminated in the drowning of the Egyptian hordes in the Yam Suph, an event celebrated in a very early poem which suggests Chaoskampf connotations [Ex. 15:1-12]: -

THE CREATION IN JEWISH MYTHOLOGY - AN ELABORATION OF THE TANAKH

The vast body of Jewish legends - collectively termed the Haggadah - covers all of the historical narrative contained within the Tanakh and beyond, detailing the lives and careers of the great Rabbis who led the Jewish community from their return from exile in Babylon down through antiquity into medieval and modern times.

Of course, this vast sea of material also includes troves of Rabbinic speculation and myth-making on the various accounts of the creation of the universe contained within the Tanakh, adding further detail and providing a synthesis of the various traditions from the Jewish holy text. This page provides a very simple overview of some of these stories.

BEFORE CREATION

This world was not the first to be created: YHWH had previously brought up to a thousand worlds into being, only to find them displeasing, leading Him to destroy them. These prior creations provided the raw materials needed in the formation of the present cosmos.

Some two thousand years before the beginning of creation, YHWH brought a number of prerequisites into being, seven in all. These were: -

• The Torah;
• repentance;
• Paradise;
• Gehenna;
• the Throne of Glory;
• the Heavenly Temple; and
• the name of the Messiah, which is engraved upon a stone which sits upon the altar in the Heavenly Temple.

Despite this precise dating, however, time is properly understood as having begun at the point of the creation of the present universe.

THE SIX PRIMORDIAL ELEMENTS

The current world was produced from six primordial elements which were brought into being on the First Day of Creation: -

 

• the primordial light differed from that given by the sun and moon (which were created on the fourth day). This light "would have enabled man to see the world at a glance from one end to the other." Initially, the light was fashioned as a garment enveloping YHWH, and was later used to create the angels, which surround Him in a similar fashion: the Christian doctrine of the Heavenly Father can be understood in a similar manner: God the Father is always in heaven, but this is mainly due to heaven defined as the area around the point where He is located;
• the darkness was the domain under the control of the Prince of Darkness, a figure described as "black as a bull": he was gripped by fear upon YHWH's declaration that He would create by means of light, and suggested instead that He use darkness. As a result of this impertinent act, the Prince of Darkness will eventually claim parity with YHWH by virtue of having an equal share in creation as lord of darkness and Sheol;
• the chaos (tohu) is described in Jewish lore as "a green band which encompasses the whole world, and dispenses darkness";
• the void (bohu) is envisioned as "consist[ing] of stones in the abyss, the producers of the waters";
• the wind is more commonly rendered as the Spirit, and has a crucial position within the context of creation: the Spirit above the waters is seen as enabling this unitary primordial mass to become receptive to the ensuing differentiation and ordering; and
• the waters are conceived in legend as being twofold, male and female, being the upper and lower waters respectively. They remained comminmgled until the second day, when YHWH ordered their separation. This caused them much grief, which meant that an Angel of the Firmament was installed with orders to keep the pair apart.

GENESIS 1:27, GENESIS 2:7 AND THE QUESTION OF THE "PREADAMITES"

The creation of the earliest humans - who are depicted as living an idyllic life of "Golden Age" vegetarianism in a world whose fecundity ensures their provision - is described twice in the Biblical Book of Genesis, as noted above. This duplication has led to speculation, both ancient and modern, some of which posits the existence of an earlier race of humans created in the Image of Elohim, whose creation is described in Gen. 1:27, who predated the creation of Adam from the earth at Gen. 2:7. These populations are generally given the name of "Preadamites."

There are various ancient and more modern interpretations of these passages: -

• The Alexandrian Jewish philosopher Philo maintained that: "[t]here are two types of men; the one a heavenly man, the other an earthly. The heavenly man, being made in the image of God, is altogether without part or lot in corruptible and terrestrial substance; but the earthly one was compacted out of the matter scattered here and there, which Moses calls 'clay.'"
  Philo's "heavenly man" - who is pictured in contradiction to Gen. 1:29 as having no part in the world - is an early exemplar of what would become the Jewish concept of the Adam Kadmon;
• The 17th century French scholar Isaac La Peyrère, a Calvinist reputed to be of Marrano (Jews forced to convert to Christianity in Spain) stock who later became a Catholic, developed a theory in which Adam and Eve were the ancestors of the Jews, with the Gentile races springing from Preadamic stock.
  Adam himself was - rather than being formed from clay as the Bible states - descended from one Preadamite group, whilst Cain's wife and the population of the first city he created in the land of Nod [Gen. 4:16-17] represented another Preadamite lineage;
• Another, preserved in Jewish legend, describes a strange creature called the "'man of the mountain,' Adne Sadeh, or, briefly, Adam. His form is exactly that of a human being, but he is fastened to the ground by means of a navel-string, upon which his life depends."
  The Adne Sadeh, otherwise known as the Jeduah or Faduah, enjoyed a long lifespan, as long as the umbilical connection with the earth remained in place. The navel cord could be up to a mile in length.
  According to Howard Schwartz: "this species continued to exist until the last members were drowned in the Flood."
• In Islamic tradition, the Nasnas were a type of Djinn who existed prior to the creation of Adam. Today, according to the popular teachings of Islām, the Djinn live lives very like those of humans, albeit in a different dimension.

In contrast to Philo's exegesis, the Pharisees and their Rabbinical successors aimed to reconcile the two passages, with striking results: -

• Adam was originally created as a hermaphrodite, with the subsequent division of the sexes taking place as a result of YHWH's surgery to create Eve;
• The Talmud reports that the great Rabbi Akiva held that the statement that man was created "in the image of God" is something of a misnomer: instead, he was created according to the pattern of a pre-existing image, something of a template of a human, again calling to mind the Adam Kadmon.

EVE'S PRECURSORS

Jewish lore also preserves traditions of the "first Eve," a primordial wife of Adam who existed before Eve. Whilst the Midrash understands the statement that Elohim "created [humans] male and female" [Gen. 1:27] to mean that Adam possessed the characteristics of both sexes or perhaps two bodies, subsequently separated in the manner of conjoined twins, other scholars posit the existence of an earlier wife of Adam: -

• The best-known tradition of an earlier wife of Adam is that of Lilith, who becomes the infamous demoness who is also occasionally named as a wife of both YHWH and the nefarious angel Samael. Objecting to Adam's favouring the missionary position during intercourse, Lilith - whose refusal to submit to Adam has made her something of a feminist icon - invoked the Ineffable Name and sought refuge in the Red Sea district, emerging as an implacable enemy of humanity and the cause of infant mortality;
• Another story, recounted by Schwartz, states that: "God wanted to create a helpmate for Adam. So God created the first Eve right in front of him. As Adam watched, the first Eve was created from the inside out - first her bones, then her flesh, and finally she was covered with skin. But when God offered her to Adam, he fled in disgust and hid in the Garden.
  "So the first Eve was taken away, never to be heard from again. Nothing is known of her fate."
• Another account related by Schwartz - which preserves some of the protofeminism of the Lilith tale - states that: "Adam's first wife was a clever woman who was stronger than he was. Therefore Adam said to God, 'Please God. I don't want this woman. Take her and give me another one instead.'
  YHWH prepares to take her and throw her into the sea, but she makes a request:
  "'When a baby boy is born, let me come to him on the fifth day after his birth and reveal the future that is awaiting him.'
  "God agreed to this request, and every time that a son is born, the first Eve comes to him on the fifth day after he is born, and whispers the future in his ear."
  A century elapses between the creation of this Eve and her canonical successor.

WISDOM AS AGENT OF CREATION

The Hebrew term chokhmah, signifying "wisdom," appears some 149 times in the Tanakh (the Old Testament), with a particular bias towards the so-called (appropriately enough) "wisdom literature," especially the books of Proverbs (in which it appears 39 times) and Ecclesiastes (with 28 occurrences).

Whilst Ecclesiastes often focuses on the downside of wisdom, in terms of the world-weariness of the author, who calls himself qôheleth (translated as "Philosopher" in the GNB, philosopher being derived from the Greek for "lover of wisdom"), the Book of Proverbs [esp. 8:11-31] is among the earliest texts in which Wisdom comes to be personified, in the manner of a "proto-hypostasis" of YHWH.

POST-BIBLICAL TEXTS

Wisdom's role, outlined in the preceding quote, is perhaps best emphasised in Sirach 24, a wonderful passage expounding on Wisdom and her work. In it, she is identified as the Shekhinah, the sign of YHWH's presence on earth, which first appeared in the pillar of cloud during the Exodus.

Her exalted position is made clear in Wis. 8:3, in which "She glorifies her noble birth by living with God, and the Lord of all loves her," which is paralleled somewhat by the explicit statement by Philo Judaeus that God is "the husband of wisdom" [On the Cherubim 14:49].

By Philo's day, the understanding of Wisdom's role in the cosmos was developing, particularly under the influence of Greek philosophy. By the early Christian period, Wisdom, as [Pistis] Sophia, gained an important role within Gnostic thought, in which she represented the errant Aeon whose misdemeanours resulted in the creation of the Demiurge (the creator of the physical cosmos, often identified with YHWH of the Tanakh) in what would be a spectacular failure to live up to her name. Another figure, Ennoia, the first female principle, represents higher wisdom, whilst the impetuous Sophia was lower wisdom incarnate.

CREATION ACCORDING TO PHILO

According to Philo, the Alexandrian Jewish philosopher and older contemporary of Jesus Christ, the act of creation was one in which God was eternally engaged. The universe came into being through His Will, while He made use of His Logos ("Word") as a type of Demiurge tasked with bringing order to the cosmos. The Logos divided the primordial universe to make use of the space created to shape the earth, which will continue to exist throughout time. The notion of creation within the space of six days is interpreted allegorically by Philo as representing order and productivity, the two paramount notions governing the creation.

In Philo's interpretation, the Logos is a primordial entity occupying a middle position between the uncreated (i.e. YHWH) and the created (the universe). This Logos is the "second deity" [Questions on Genesis 2.62], and the "eldest son [...] firstborn" [On the Confusion of Tongues 63], as well as the "shadow" of God. The Logos first existed in the incorporeal universe which is seen as the Logos in the act of creating the material universe. Within this pre-matter cosmos, two things are given an exalted status: -

• the Breath of Life, given the designation of the רוח אלהים, the "Spirit of God"; and
• the Light, which is seen by God and pronounced to be "good."

The First Day ends with the separation of the light from the darkness by twilight, which marks the beginning of time. The Second Day represents the creation of the visible heavens, whilst the Third sees the drawing off of the salt water from the earth, leaving the fresh water within, while the origin of plants coming before the creation of the luminaries on the Fourth Day being purposefully done in order that people would not attribute the fruitfulness of the earth to the powers of sun and moon. The creation of man "in Our image, after Our likeness" is not seen as the creation of physical humans, but is instead the creation of the human mind. Man is seen as a microcosmic analogue of heaven, and, as such, the incorporeal aspects of the species ought to precede the creation of the human body. In some wise, the image of the Logos, as the οὐράνιος ἄνθρωπος or "heavenly man," is understood as this initial, non-corporeal human form, and would influence Jewish notions of the Adam Kadmon which developed during the course of the following centuries.

A CHRISTIAN CREATION TEXT - THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

The opening lines of the Gospel according to St. John are some of the most beautiful, poetic text in the New Testament, and represent something of a study on the Genesis 1 creation account.

Particularly exhalted in St. John's text is the Logos ("Word"), which is identified with Jesus Christ: -

• The Logos is preexistent: it is both with God and is God;
• The Logos is the agent of creation;
• The Logos contains life, which is identified with light;
• The light shone in the darkness of the nascent cosmos;
• The Light (Phos) appeared in the world - was "made flesh" - amongst his own people, the Jews;
• St. John the Baptist was sent prior to the Light to bear witness;
• Those who follow the light are given the power to become sons of God, and are described as having been born from God.

Of especial interest from a Trinitarian perspective are the lines 1:1-5, wherein the WORD was "the light of men," which "shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not" [John 1:4-5], which can easlily be compared to Gen. 1:3: "God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Thus, Christ, one of the three hypostases of YHWH, represents the divine utterance in Genesis, which dispelled the initial "darkness [which] was upon the face of the deep," whilst the Holy Spirit is identifiable with "the Spirit of God [which] moved upon the face of the waters" [Gen. 1:2]. It is through the combined agency, therefore, of the three Persons of the Trinity that the first semblance of divine order is brought to bear on the chaos of Tohu vBohu.

CRAZY LITTLE THING CALLED GNOSTICISM: JEWISH "GNOSTIC" ACCOUNTS OF CREATION

Within the pages of Raphael Patai's fascinating study The Hebrew Goddess, there is a Jewish Gnostic myth which depicts Chokhmah ("Wisdom") as an important figure or aspect of YHWH during creation: -

There are a few points of interest to be gleaned from this text: -

• The concept of the archons differs from that common in Christian Gnosticism: here, they appear as amenuenses of YHWH, who is understood as the True God. Christian Gnosticism, by contrast, generally regards YHWH as the Demiurge, the creator of the universe of matter, who is ignorant of the unknowable Monad existent within the pleroma and his aeons, of whom Wisdom (generally named "Sophia" or, more in garbled Semitic form, "Achamoth") is but one;
• The concept of Wisdom casting a shadow-image upon the face of the Abyss is paralleled in various Christian "gnostic" texts, for example: the Hypostasis of the Archons ("[a]s incorruptibility looked down into the region of the waters, her image appeared in the waters"); and On the Origin of the World ("Pistis revealed her likeness of her greatness in the waters"); as well as a text associated with the early Islamic sect, the Mughīriyya ("[Allāh] [...] gazed into the sea and saw His shadow. And he went forth to seize it, but it flew away.").
• These texts also resemble Gen. 1:2: "the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." The equasion between the Holy Spirit and the Shekhinah, the brilliant Presence of YHWH, as well as Wisdom, seems apparent from Patai's treatment.

THE MAGHARIAN CREATION STORY

In the beginning, God, the First Creator, made a single angel - the Angel of the LORD - whom He appointed as His assistant. This angel took the role of the Demiurge and created the entire cosmos, perfect, complete within the immediate dawn of creation. It was through this angel that the LORD appeared to Moses, revealing the Law, and by whom He spoke to the prophets.

Another version suggests that this angel was chosen from all those in the Divine Presence to serve as YHWH's apostle, who represented Him within the cosmos.

This legend, similar to the Logos in Philo and, to some extent, the Christian conception of the Messiah, is supposed to have arisen from objections to the anthropomorphising philosophy of the Sadducees.

THE SIMONIANS

THE "BOUNDLESS POWER" AND THE SIX ROOTS

As noted above, the first principle is identified as fire: this was considered as possessing intelligence, and was termed a "Boundless Power," which dwelt in humans. Fire was regarded as having a dual nature, with hidden qualities causing the manifest nature of fire within the universe. From this Boundless Power emerged the six roots of the universe, which correspond to the six days of creation from Gen 1: -

• Mind;
• Voice;
• Reason;
• Reflection;
• Name; and
• Thought

In addition to these, there was a seventh power, identified with the Spiritupon the face of the waters [Gen. 1:2]. This was termed "He who has stood, stands, and will stand" or "Standing One," which is one and the same as the Boundless Power which exists within everyone and can potentially be developed (akin to the mustard seed in Matthew 13:31).

ENNOIA, MOTHER OF THE AEONS

The Boundless Power also had a female aspect, named Ennoia ("Thought" or "Idea"). This aspect came to be identified with Simon's lover Helen - who, it appears, was said to be a reincarnation of her famous Spartan namesake. Ennoia was manifested below Dynamis ("Power"), the male principle, with the pair meeting in the Middle Distance (archetypal air).

THE GARDEN OF EDEN

Another interesting facet of Simonian doctrine is the radical interpretation of the Garden of Eden. According to the group, Eden was seen as a uterus, with the river going forth from out of the garden representing the umbilical cord. The four rivers produced from this outflow represent two air ducts and two blood vessels (the umbilical arteries and veins respectively).

THE BASILIDEANS

Two distinct accounts of the cosmological system of Basilides and his followers are extant. That of Hippolytus posits a creation ex nihilo with three emanations or "sonships": -

• The first sonship is the subtle part of substance, in which the seed-mass burst through to the negatively-existent Godhead;
• The second sonship is the coarse part of substance, which could not ascend as did the first of its own accord, but became a wing of the Holy Spirit;
• The third sonship is the part which needs purification. Its coming into being brought about the advent of the Great Archon, who ascended to the firmament and, in his ignorance, imagined himself the most exalted of all beings. His son, better than himself and wiser, was created and placed at the Great Archon's right hand.

The cosmology features some interesting names: -

• The Ogdoad is the place where the Great Archon sits;
• The heavens extend therefrom down to the circuit of the moon and was made by the Great Archon, at the inspiration of his son;
• Below this, another Archon arose, inferior to the first. He also made a son wiser than he was and became the creator and ruler of the aerial world, known as the Hebdomad.

Sts. Irenaeus and Epiphanus render a slightly different account of Basilidean thinking, adding further details of their theology and polemic: -

• The great ruler of the cosmos is the Unbegotten, the Only Father, who projected forth Nous, which in turn bore Logos;
• Logos produced Phronesis, who gave issue to Sophia and Dynamis, who in turn brought about the principalities, powers and angels, who made the first heaven;
• These gave birth to a second set of angels who made a second heaven, which in turn bore a third, and so on, for 365 generations, creators of 365 heavens;
• Each heaven came under the sway of a idd Archon, with the name having a magical significance;
• The earth and humankind were the creation of the angels of the lowest, visible heaven: they produced prophecies, whilst the Archon of that heaven, the YHWH of Judaism, inspired the Law;
• After some time, the Only Father, distressed at the state of creation, dispatched Nous, a.k.a. Christ, into the world;
• Christ took on the appearance of a human, though was not human: He was never crucified; instead Simon of Cyrene was crucified in His place.

An important figure in Basilideanism is Abrasax or Abraxas, which is most likely the name of the first and highest Archon, produced by the interaction of Sophia and Dynamis.

THE VALENTINIANS

In comparison with the Sethian system of Aeons as set out in the Apocryphon of John in particular, the scheme attributed to Valentinus, as reported by the Orthodox heresiologist St. Irenaeus is nebulous and difficult. It must be borne in mind, however, that, by St. Irenaeus' day, generations of Valentinian thinkers would likely have added to Valentinus' original scheme.

• In the beginning, there was Pleroma ("fullness"), at the centre of which was Bythos, the Monad and primeval father;
• Long ages passed before Bythos projected fifteen syzygies (male-female pairs) or Aeons;
• Among the Aeons was Sophia Achamoth, whose curious nature led to her fall from the Pleroma and the creation of the material universe (Sophia Achamoth represents the "lower wisdom": the "upper wisdom," also known as Sophia, represents the preeminent female principle);
• Both of these Aeons rebel, though only Sophia Achamoth - the premature offspring of Sophia - is removed into the matter substrate: Sophia repents and is allowed to remain within the Pleroma;
• Outside of the Pleroma, Sophia gives birth to the Demiurge, who proceeds to create the realm of matter. The Demiurge is identified with YHWH of the Tanakh;
• Adam is created by the order of the primordial Anthropos (who emerged as a hypostasis of Bythos and is made of pure mind);
• Christ is the son of Sophia Achamoth: after her fall, she develops a longing for Bythos and, from that desire, bears an Aeon greater than herself. Subsequently, this Aeon rises into the Pleroma, where Christ, something of a cipher for the primeval Anthropos, gives it form and essence;
• Otherwise, Christ and Sophia are brother and sister, higher and lower elements. Christ, along with the Holy Spirit, are created by the Aeons Nous ("mind") and Aletheia ("truth"), working on the orders of Bythos, who proceed to restore order to the Pleroma, which enables all of the Aeons to join their efforts to create from their finest qualities another new Aeon, variously known as Jesus, Christ, Logos ("the Word") or Soter ("Saviour");
• The Aeon Christ unites with Sophia and descends into the body of Jesus of Nazereth at His Baptism, anointing Him as the Saviour of men;
• The Valentinians are depicted as children of Sophia, within whom she has placed a divine spark which is, as it exists outside of the Pleroma and within Heimarmene, subject to the wiles of evil forces;
• The fallen Aeons are separated from the Pleroma via the agency of a figure called Horos, who assists in the creation of the material realm in order to bring order from Sophia Achamoth's chaotic emotions. He is also known as Stauros ("cross");
• Valentinus the heresiarch is recorded as having written a treatise on the triune nature of man, in which humans are regarded as being simultaneously spiritual, psychical and material: -
• the pneumatici are the highest, being purely spiritual: they will be freed from the malign influence of the Demiurge and will enter the Pleroma without body and soul, along with Soter and Sophia Achamoth;
• the psychici, whose master remains the Demiurge, will enter a species of limbo which is neither pleroma nor hell (i.e. matter);
• the hylici are the material, and will return to matter, before being consumed by fire at the end of time.

THE SETHIANS AND THE APOCRYPHON OF JOHN

The Apocryphon of John is a text ascribed to the Sethian group, one of a number usually designated as "gnostics." The creation and early evolution of the cosmos is described in a number of steps.

The first principle is the Monad, described as existing in a form which is truly beyond the comprehension of the human mind. From his thought, the Monad produces the oldest of the Aeons, a female principle named Barbelo: despite Barbelo representing femininity, she is also described in male terms as a Sethian Adam Kadmon. Barbelo requests boons from the Monad, which are duly afforded: these are the other Aeons, namely Foreknowledge, Indestructability, Eternal Life and Truth. Along with Barbelo - identified as Forethought - these make up the "androgynous pentad of the aeons, which is the decad of the aeons, which is the Father." Subsequent Aeons are created, Light and Mind, from the Monad's reflecting on Barbelo. The Mind brings forth the Word, which is glorified by the Light, which is "Christ the divine Autogenes," who "created everything." Light/Christ/Autogenes and Indestructibility bring forth four other lights to attend him: three are Will, Thought and Life, whilst the four lights are named as Understanding, Grace, Perception and Prudence: -

• Grace "belongs to the light-aeon Armozel, which is the first angel," who is accompanied by Truth and Form also;
• The second light is Oriel, accompanied by Conception, Perception and Memory;
• The third light is Daveithai, along with Understanding, Love and Idea;
• Eleleth is the fourth, accompanied by Perfection, Peace and Wisdom (Sophia);

The Monad and Autogenes bring forth the perfect Man, Pigera-Adamas, who is placed alongside Armozel. His son Seth is brought into the presence of Oriel, whilst his seed are placed over Daveithai, along with the saints. The souls of "those who do not know the Pleroma ("fullness," being the highest realm in these mystery cults) and who did not repent at once, but who persisted for a while and repented afterwards" are by Eleleth.

THE DEMIURGE AND THE MATERIAL WORLD

Sophia of the Epinoia ("afterthought," i.e. the lower wisdom) attempts to create something via her own thoughts, without the agency of the Monad: this is "imperfect and different from her appearance." She hides this lion-faced serpent whose eyes "were like lightning fires which flash" outside of the Pleroma, inside a "luminous cloud" on a throne: she names this creation Yaltabaoth, who is the first Archon (and who is inevitably identified with YHWH of the Tanakh). Yaltabaoth - who is also known by the names Saklas and Samael - creates other Archons through "a flame of luminous fire which (still) exists now": these are Athoth (also known as the reaper); Harmas; Kalila-Oumbri; Yabel; Adonauou or Sabaoth; Cain (the sun); Abel; Abrisene; Yobel; Armoupieel; Melceir-Adonein; and Belias, who is "over the depth of Hades."

There are seven firmaments, each ruled by an Archon, and five other Archons in the abyss. The Archons create seven powers (i.e. the days of the week in Gen. 1?), which create six angels until 365 angels are created in total: -

• Athoth has a sheep's face;
• Eloaiou has a donkey's face;
• Astaphaios has a hyena's face;
• Yao has a serpent's face with seven heads;
• Sabaoth has a dragon's face;
• Adonin has a monkey's face;
• Sabbede has a face of shining fire.

THE MANICHAEANS

Manichaeism is a dualistic religion founded by Mani, an Arsacid Persian, who claimed the mantle of the Paraclete ("Comforter") promised by Christ. His gnostic religion was heavily influenced by his native tradition of Zoroastrianism.

The Manichaeans boasted a highly elaborate cosmogony, featuring several different "calls" or "creations."

Originally, the cosmos featured a World of Light ruled by the Father of Greatness and his five Shekhinas, and a World of Darkness, under the aegis of the King of Darkness. At some point, the latter notices the former and stages an attack, prompting the Father of Greatness to call upon the three Creations: -

1. The First Creation is a call to the Mother of Life, who dispatches her son, the Original Man, to combat the forces of Darkness, who include the Demon of Greed. The Original Man has the worst of it, losing his five shields of light and finding himself trapped among the enemy hordes.
2. The Second Creation ensues, in which the Father of Greatness calls upon the Living Spirit, who calls his five sons to call the Original Man, who answers: Call and Answer are then deified. The Mother of Life and the Living Spirit and his sons create the universe from the bodies of the fallen denizens of Darkness, forming ten heavens and eight earths made up of darkness with the occasional glimmer of light: the sun, moon and stars are formed from light recovered from the World of Darkness.
3. During the Third Creation, demons or archons are hung over the heavens, whereupon the Father of Greatness recommences his creative work. More light is recovered by causing the evil beings to lust after beings of light (the Virgins of Light and Third Messenger in particular), though this light immediately falls to earth, which creates the fallen angels. Having swallowed vast amounts of light the evil beings engage in coitus, producing Adam and Eve, which prompts the Father of Greatness to dispatch the Radiant Jesus to awaken and enlighten Adam as to the true source of the light. However, Adam and Eve in turn engage in coitus, producing ever more humans, in whose bodies is trapped the light from above.

Eventually, Mani appears in another attempt by the forces of the World of Light to remind humanity of the true source of the light trapped within their material forms.

THE MANDAEANS

Unlike many of the early Syro-Egyptian "gnostic" sects, such as the Sethians, Basilideans and Valentinians, the ancient Iraq-based Mandaeans do not possess - or, perhaps more aptly, have not chosen to reveal - a systematic and elaborate cosmogony.

In terms of their beliefs, the Mandaeans are Johannites, who revere St. John the Baptist and regard Jesus Christ as a false messiah. Early Mandaean texts reveal a dualistic outlook, influenced (as was Manichaeism) by Iranian religions of the macro-Zoroastrian group. Light is divided from darkness, the latter being ruled by Ptahil, a figure with some similarities with the Demiurge of the ancient gnostic sects. The ruler of the light is ineffable, described as "the great first Life from the worlds of light, the sublime one that stands above all works."

There are three demiurgic beings, of whom Ptahil is the lowest ranking: the others are Abatur (who judges the souls of mortals); and Yushamin, the highest of the trio, who wished to create a world but was punished for his rebellion against the King of Light. His name is likely derived from Iao (or YHWH) "of the heavens" (i.e. shamayim).

Abatur is also known as the Ancient of Days and Yawar: the name Abatur derives from his status as father of the celestial entities. He has two hypostases: Abatur Rama (the celestial Abatur); and Abatur of the Scales, who weighs the souls of the dead. These human souls are known as Adam Kasia or Adam Qadmaia, in honour of "the hidden Adam," the soul of the primordial man.

KABBALAH

The Kabbalistic interpretation of God is something of a negative theology: God can only be understood in terms of what He is not. This is primarily due to the inability of the human mind to truly comprehend the scale and majesty of the Godhead. God is infinite and, as such, emanates from a realm beyond the visible, experiential universe. His origins are sought in the realm of Ayin (effectively symbolising "Nothingness"). Within the Ayin. The Ein Sof ("Endlessness" or "Infinite;" also known as she-en lo tiklah or the "Endless One") produces the emanations which will become the ten Sefirot. The Ein Sof is also known as the Atik Yomim ("the Ancient of Days").

The first result of this work of creation is the development of the Ohr Ein Sof ("endless light"). It is from this potentiality that the creative work can begin. The various stages of preparatory work in the Ohr Ein Sof are listed as follows: -

• Atzmut ("God's Absolute Essence");
• Yachid ("The Single One");
• Echad ("The One");
• Sha'ashuim Atzmi'im ("The Delights of Self");
• Aliyat Haratzon ("Rose in His Will");
• Ana Emloch ("I will reign");
• Ein Sof;
• Kadmon ("Primordial One");
• Avir Kadmon ("Primordial Atmosphere"); and
• Adam Kadma'ah Stima'ah ("Concealed Primordial Man").

THE TZIMTZUM

Within this fullness of infinite brightness and boundless light, a small vortex of sorts appears. This will become the realm of creation. The "contraction" of His infinite light produces the Tzimtzum, created by a self-withdrawal from that particular region of Ohr Ein Sof to produce a Khalal or "vacuum."

There are three stages in this Sod HaTzimtzum ("secret of contraction"): -

• Tzimtzum;
• Reshimu ("Impression") - this represents the residue of Ohr Ein Sof within the Khalal; and
• Kav ("Ray"), the ingress of a new flash of Divine Light.

ADAM KADMON

Thereafter, the image of the Primordial Man is projected into the vacuum. This is the Adam Kadmon, the blueprint for the creation of mankind. The Adam Kadmon possesses both Divine and created characteristics. He serves as either the concentrated essence of, or as the mediator between Ein Sof and, the ten Sefirot. The Adam Kadmon is of the rank of Keter (the highest Sefirah), and possesses light unbounded into vessels, though maintains the potential to emanate vessels.

The Adam Kadmon stage of creation has three sub-periods: -

• Ratzon Kadum ("Original Desire");
• Adam Kadmon; and
• Orot Ozen-Chotem-Peh (five lights emanating from the eyes, forehead, nose, mouth and ears of Adam Kadmon).

TOHU AND TIKUN

The interactions of the various lights associated with and emanating from the Adam Kadmon result in three further stages, which lead progressively from a stable form of Tohu ("chaos") to Tikun ("rectification"): -

• Akudim ("binding") - stable Tohu - ten lights in one vessel;
• Nekudim ("points") - unstable Tohu - ten isolated lights in ten vessels; and
• Berudim ("connection") - start of Tikun - ten interconnected lights in ten vessels.

One unfortunate result of the Tohu stage in creation is known in Hebrew as Shevirat HaKeilim, meaning the "shattering of the vessels." This results in the exile of the created worlds from the essence of God.

COMPLETING TIKUN

As a result of the connection between the ten lights initiated in the stage of Berudim, bringing about the act of Tikun, the first of the Four Worlds of the created cosmos, Atzilut ("the world of emanation") comes into being. The ten Sefirot appear on the Tree of Life: these are understood as vessels for the Divine Light which has emerged from the Ein Sof via Tzimtzum and Adam Kadmon.

The various worlds - Atzilut, Beriah ("creation"), Yetzirah ("formation") and Asiyah ("action") are envisaged as descending from one another, with the lowest Sefirah, Malkhuth ("kingdom") or the upper becoming the Keter ("crown") of the lower.

In addition, these four worlds are associated with particular Sefirot: these correspondences are outlined in tabulated format below, as well as other associations between Sefirot and Names of God, archangels, angelic choirs, parts of the cosmos, and parts of human anatomy.

It must also be borne in mind that, rather than Asiyah, the realm which we inhabit is a lower world still: Asiyah Gashmit ("the world of physical action").

KETER OF ATZILUT

The Sefirah Keter in the world of Atzilut has special properties connecting it with the higher realm of Adam Kadmon. These are expressed in terms of the following titles: -

• Atik Yomin ("Ancient of Days") - upper Keter;
• Arich Anpin ("Vast Face"; "Infinitely Patient One") - lower Keter;
• Reisha D'lo Ityada (RaDLA) ("Unknowable Head");
• Reisha D'Ayin ("Head of Nothingness"); and
• Reisha D'Arich ("Head of Infinity").

The following are associated with the uppermost Sefirot in Arich Anpin: -

• Keter: Gulgalta ("Skull"); and
• Chokhmah: Mocha Stima'ah ("Concealed Brain").

Below them, Dikna ("Beard") causes the light from Arich Anpin to be contracted through the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy: -

• YHWH - compassion before sin;
• YHWH - compassion after sin;
• El - giving to all creatures according to need;
• Rachum - merciful;
• VeChanun - and gracious;
• Erech appayim - slow to anger;
• VeRav chesed - and plenteous in kindness;
• VeEmet - and truth;
• Notzer chesed laalafim - keeping kindness unto thousands;
• Noseh avon - forgiving iniquity;
• VaFeshah - and transgression;
• VeChata'ah - and sin;
• VeNakeh - and pardoning.

ATZILUT

These names (associated with the Keter of Atzilut) are termed partzufim or "divine countenances." Others are associated with the world of Atzilut itself: -

• Keter - Atik Yomin (upper) and Arich Anpin (lower);
• Chokhmah - Abba (general), Abba Ila'ah (upper secondary) and Yisrael Sabba (lower secondary);
• Binah - Imma (general), Imma Ila'ah (upper secondary) and Tevunah (lower secondary);
• Hesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod, and Yesod - Zeir Anpin or Ben; and
• Malkhuth - Nukvah D'Ze'ir Anpin or Bat (general), Leah (upper secondary), and Rachel (lower secondary).

The meanings of these partzufim will appear in the table below.

THE SEFIROT