Q - Qayin (Kain, Cain) #paganblogproject

All Gods are not one God. The Ancients didn't see it that way, and I am  not trying to put forth that claim, either. And yet, there are Gods -- great, ancient spirits (daemons ... δαίμων) who are so closely related in myth and religion that we can't mistake their relation. Just as a Red Thread connects us to the Witchfather who brought the Cunning Fire to humanity, so too does the Red Thread connect many of the beings from whom mankind has sought wisdom.

This is my and Natalie's experience with Azazel (who is called a demon -- literally, a "spirit"-- and an angel -- "messenger"), Qayin/Cain and Tubal Cain, as we've expressed at our American Folkloric Witchcraft blog. Very directly, in our communications with the Witchfather, he uses these names of himself almost interchangeably, and we have come to use them the same way.

There are other sources of information, though, that inform our understanding of Qayin-Azazel, and we'd like to share them.


Melek Taus

"Melek" means "king" or "angel" and "taus" means "peacock." The peacock angel is the central figure, the benevolent and creative demiurge, of the Yezidis. He is seen as repentant after the fall from God's grace, his tears quenching the fires of hell.

Though the Yezidis would disagree, others in the Arabic world (particularly those practicing Islam), equate melek Taus with Lucifer or Satan. Kabbalistically, Yahweh rules in the heavenly/spiritual kingdom of Kether, and Melek Taus (Lucifer/Azazel) rules in the earthly kingdom of Malkuth.

Within the sacred text of the Yezidis, the Black Book, specific reference is made to Azazel, equating the Peacock Angel with Azazel. There are several versions of this book extent from the Middle Ages, copies transcribed online.

Alchemical Symbol for Antimony

Azazel and Alchemy


We have touched on Azazel before, but there are some specific and noteworthy things to share about Azazel's connection to alchemical lore.

Enoch reveals to us that Azazel shares with humanity "all the metals and the art of working them...and the use of antimony." As it turns out, antimony (or stibium), was critical to the alchemical process of creating the Philosopher's Stone. This same element was called kuhl (or kohl) by the ancient Arabs. (You might also recall references to women decorating their eyes with this substance, and that art also being taught by Azazel. This may, in fact, have been a veiled reference to the alchemical process and not to cosmetics at all.)

Sir Roger Bacon tells us that when antimony is processed with vitriol, it is reduced to a "noble red oil" with all of the lesser sulfur having been purified out of it in the process. Red, then, is Azazel's color.

It is doubly his color when we consider that man is made from red clay, according to Middle Eastern tradition, and that Azazel is master of the material world from which man is made.



Lucifer


Oh my Holy Goat, there is so much that needs to be said about Lucifer in relation to the Witchfather. There is so much dross to sift through, so much misinformation that has been propogated about this one figure over the millenia, to reach the golden kernels of wisdom.

For now, let's keep it very simple, shall we?

Lucifer is the "light-bearer." He is Qayin in the East, the Morning Star. He is the torch-bearer of wisdom, inspiration, the Divine Spark, the Cunning Fire.

He is "Prometheus" (literally, "fore-sight"), who rebelled against God (the Gods) to give Fire (the Cunning Fire) to mankind and fell from Divine Grace.


Utu/Shamash

The Nephilim, the "Fallen Angels" or spirits who descended into the material realm to interact with and guide mankind, were first seen as the "Shining Ones" or Gods of Sumerian lore. We've mentioned them before, and we'll write more about them in future posts, but for now, I'd just like to make the connection between Utu/Shamash and Azazel.

It's not a new connection. We're not the first to have made it, by any stretch. You can read this account, for starters. (There's lots of information there about goetic daemons and their counterparts in other lore.)

Utu is the Sumerian name, while Shamash is the Babylonian name for the Sun God of justice,law and salvation. He is linked in a triad with the Nannar-Sin (the Mood God) and Ishtar (the fertility-Earth Goddess, who incidentally is represented by the planet Venus, the Morning and Evening Star).

Ishtar and Shamash are divine twins.

*** This entry is re-posted from an entry I made to the American Folkloric Witchcraft blog. Interested in Qayin? Read more.

A is for Asteria

I have been both a Priestess of Aphrodite and a Witch for several years. Most of my regular blog readers are familiar with writings on Aphrodite. That's how this blog began, in fact -- as a means to explore that priestesshood and share it with others. What I've struggled with in the last few years is finding a balance between the very traditional witchcraft that I practice and the lessons I've learned under Aphrodite's tutelage.

The secret lays in my favorite of Aphrodite's epithets -- ASTERIA. It means "starry" or (when used alone) "the starry one."

Aphrodite is a much more complicated Goddess than most folks realize. Part of her character -- the golden and starry aspects -- are pretty much direct imports from Middle Eastern religions. You can trace the trade routes along with the etymology of the Goddess names from the fertile crescent to Greece. ISHTAR becomes ASTARTE for the Phoenicians, who in turn bring Her to Cyprus and into Greece. Soooooo many of the myths surrounding Ishtar/Inanna and Astarte have direct correlates in Aphrodite's Greek stories. Nearly all of the symbol sets and epithets found manifestations in Aphrodite as well.

She's not just a clone of the Middle Eastern Star Goddess archetype, though. She's also one of the many manifestations of the early European Water-Bird Goddesses (as researched and discussed so wonderfully by Marija Gimbutes) and also the Proto-Indo-European Dawn Goddesses. (I'm not going into all that here. Whew! That would be a fascinating and looooong post. If you're interested, though, I highly recommend Paul Friedrich's book, The Meaning of Aphrodite.)




Okay, so my witchcraft tradition works very heavily with Tubal Cain (who can also be accessed by the angelic name Azazel). He is the bringer of metalcraft and sorcery (among other things) to mortals. He is the Witchfather, bringer of the cunning fire and originator of the Red Thread (the blood line that connects witches to their Mighty dead and, ultimately, back to Nephilium).

Among the most sacred iron used in smithing is that which comes from the stars -- meteorites. Fallen stars and fallen angels have always been intimately linked, just as alchemy, sorcery and smithing have always been linked. And the mighty, alchemical Forge Gods invariably love, desire, seek and sometimes even marry whom? ...... You guessed it, the starry, golden Goddess of Love.

Aphrodite and Hephaestus
Venus and Vulcan
Freya and the Dwarves

Interesting (at least to me) point:
In cultures where the Forge God isn't connected with with Love Star Goddess, he almost always is connected with one of the other two above-mentioned aspects of Aphrodite:

Wayland and the swan-maiden Hervor (a water-bird lady)
Tvastar and Saranya (dawn goddess)
Seppo Ilmarinen and the Bride of Gold (golden lady, made by Ilmarinen)


It makes good sense, doesn't it? The iron lord of the forge would seek and crave the starry lady of love.

I've posted a couple of poems here before that are part of my exploration of the connection between these two. I'm sure I'll write (and paint) more to explore this concept. But here's what I've done so far:

Alchemy  &   To Hephaestus

I also wrote this in response to my own resonance with Asteria (and her depiction in the Star card of the Tarot):

The Star

A foot on the shore.

A foot in the brine.

Sand and sea sparkle

and twinkle and shine

as they drip from my hands

to the water below,

a dancing and decadent

glittering glow.

Morning star, evening star,

Goddess or girl,

your hope and your daydream,

your wish and new world.

I’ll guide you through oceans

turned black with the night

and see you back safely

to the dawn’s golden light.

Lover’s sweet reassures –

words, music and art –

discovered by starlight

in the depths of one’s heart.

I’ll dance in the darkness,

but I AM the light

that burns without ending

through eternity’s night.