Curse of Ham

Author’s Note: This post talks about some very racist ideas. We here at Spirituality & Religious Studies DO NOT agree with ANY racist rhetoric at all, EVER! If this post triggers you, please move on to 1 of our other posts. Thank you.

In the Book of Genesis, the curse of Ham is described as a curse that was imposed upon Ham’s son, Canaan, by the patriarch Noah. It happens in the context of Noah’s drunkenness & it’s provoked by a “shameful” act that was perpetrated by Noah’s son, Ham, who “saw the nakedness of his father.”

The exact reason for Ham’s transgressions & the reason Noah cursed Canaan when Ham had sinned has been debated for over 2,000 years.

The story’s original purpose may have been to justify the biblical subjection of the Canaanites to the Israelites, or a land claim to a portion of the New Kingdom of Egypt, which ruled Canaan in the late Bronze Age.

In later centuries, the narrative was interpreted by some Jews, Christians, & Muslims as an explanation for black skin. As well as a justification for the enslavement of black people. Many Christians, Muslims, & Jews now disagree with such interpretations. Because in the biblical text, Ham himself isn’t cursed. Race or skin color isn’t even mentioned in the text at all, anywhere.

The idea of this curse has its beginnings in Genesis 9:20-27. The story goes:

Noah began to be a farmer. He planted a vineyard. He drank some of the wine that the vineyard produced & enjoyed the drink a little too much. Noah was naked in his tent. Ham (the dad of Canaan) saw Noah’s nakedness. Ham told his 2 brothers. Shem & Jepheth took a garment & put the garment on both their shoulders & covered Noah’s nakedness, while they walked backwards. They kept their faces turned away from Noah so they didn’t see him naked.

Noah woke up from his drunken stupor. He knew what Ham had done. “Cursed be Canaan. A servant of servants will be to his brothers. Blessed be the Lord God of Shem. Canaan will be his servant. God will enlarge Japheth. He’ll live in the tents of Shem. Canaan will be his servant,” Noah said. (Genesis 9:20-27)

The objection of the story may have been to justify the subject status of the Canaanites (the descendants of Ham) to the Israelites (the descendants of Shem). The narrative of the curse is replete with difficulties. It’s uncertain what the exact nature of Ham’s offense is.

In verse 25 of the Genesis story, Noah refers to Shem & Japheth as the “brethren” of Canaan. However, in verse 18, they’re identified as his uncles.

The Table of Nations introduces Canaan & Mizraim (Egypt) among the sons of Ham. The Table of Nations is a genealogy of the sons of Noah & their dispersion into many lands after the Flood. In the Psalms, Egypt is identified with Ham.

A land claim on Canaan, which fell under the rule of the New Kingdom of Egypt in the late Bronze Age, has been suggested as a motive for the curse on Canaan & the association with Ham via Ancient Egypt’s rule over Canaan.

It’s important to realize that the curse was placed/made by Noah, not by God. The curse of Ham (& his descendants) wasn’t confirmed by God. Because the text would mention that, or at least you’d think it would if God had confirmed it. And if God had actually confirmed the curse, then why was the “promised land” called Canaan?

A pesher (interpretation) of the Book of Genesis found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, explains that since Ham was already blessed by God, it made Noah’s curse null & void (Genesis 9:1).

The Book of Jubilees also tells the tale. Jubilees gives a bit more info that Ham had assigned to Canaan a land west of the Nile. All of Noah’s sons agreed to invoke a curse on anyone who tries to seize land that wasn’t assigned to them. Well, Canaan violates this agreement & instead chooses to squat in the land set forth to Shem & his descendants. So Canaan brought on himself the full force of this second curse.

In the past, some groups have claimed that the curse of Ham was a biblical justification for imposing slavery & racial discrimination.

In the 15th century, Dominican Friar Annius of Viterbo invoked Ham’s curse to explain the differences between Europeans & Africans in his writings. Annius doubled down on the racism. He claimed that due to the curse imposed on black people, they would inevitably remain permanently subjugated by Arabs & other Muslims.

Similarly, the Catholic mystic Anne Catherine Emmerich said in her visions that she discovered that black people are, in fact, descendants of Ham.

In 1835, Joseph Smith (founder of the Mormon faith) published a work called the Book of Abraham. Get ready, it’s going to be a very bumpy & cringy ride. This is your trigger warning.

This “work” states that the Pharaoh was a descendant of Ham & the Canaanites. Pharaoh ruled justly & was blessed with wisdom, but was barred from getting into the priesthood because of the curse on Ham. According to the Book of Abraham, ALL Egyptians descended from the Canaanite lineage.

The Book of Abraham was eventually made into Scripture by the Mormon Church. And it is still in active use today. This passage is the only 1 found in any Mormon scripture that bars a particular “lineage” of people from holding the priesthood.

While there’s nothing in the Book of Abraham that explicitly states that Noah’s curse was the same curse that is mentioned in the Bible, or that the Egyptians were related to other black Africans. Some leaders later used the verses of this text as justification for the church policy with regard to the priesthood ban.

The 2002 edition of the Doctrine & Covenants Student Manual pointed to Abraham 1:21-27 as the reason why highly melaninated friends of the male gender weren’t given the priesthood until 1978. That’s 148 years, y’all. Really? That’s almost 150 years, guys. We can’t. We just can’t. And here’s the kicker: they also said that those who tried to abolish slavery were going against the decrees of God.

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Archangel Uriel

Uriel means “God is my flame.” His name could be spelled Auriel or Oriel. He’s one of the archangels who’s mentioned in Rabbinic tradition & in certain Christian traditions.

He’s well known in the Russian Orthodox tradition & in folk Catholicism (in both he’s considered to be 1 of the 7 major archangels). In Anglicanism, he’s also well known in European esoteric medieval literature.

Uriel is also known as a master of knowledge & archangel of wisdom. He’s associated with the truth.

In apocryphal, kabbalistic, & occult works, Uriel has been equated (or confused) with Urial, Nuriel, Uryan, Jeremiel, Vretil, Sariel, Puruel, Phanuel, Azrael, & Raphael.

In the Secret Book of John (an early Gnostic work), Uriel is placed in control of the demons who help Yaldabaoth create Adam.

Of the 7 Archangels in the angelology of Judaism, only 2 of them (Gabriel & Michael) are mentioned by name in the canonized Jewish scripture. Where a 4th archangel is added to the named 3 (to represent the 4 cardinal points), Uriel is generally the 4th. Uriel is listed as the 4th angel by Christian Gnostics, under the name of Phanuel.

Uriel appears in the 2nd Book of Esdras, which is found in the Biblical apocrypha (called Esdras IV in the Vulgate). In this, the prophet Ezra asks God a series of questions, & God sends Uriel to instruct him. According to the Revelation of Esdras, the angels who will rule at the end of the world are Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Gabuthelon, Beburos, Zebuleion, Aker, & Arphugitonos. The final 5 listed appear only in the book & nowhere else in apocryphal or apocalyptics works.

In Christian apocryphal Gospels, Uriel plays a role (differing between the sources) in the rescue of Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, from the Massacre of the Innocents ordered by King Herod. He carries John & his mom, St. Elizabeth, to join the Holy Family after their flight into Egypt. Their reunion is pictured in da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks (a.k.a. Madonna of the Rocks).

Uriel is often identified as a cherub & the angel of repentance. He stood at the Garden of Eden with a fiery sword, or as the angel who’s over the world & over Tartarus. In the Apocalypse of Peter, he appears as the angel of repentance, who is graphically represented as being as pitiless as any demon.

In the Life of Adam & Eve, Uriel is regarded as the spirit (1 of the cherubs) of the 3rd chapter of Genesis. He’s also identified as 1 of the angels who helped bury Adam & Abel in Eden. He checked the doors of Egypt for lamb’s blood during the plague. He held the key to the pit during the end times, & led Abraham to the west.

In modern angelology, Uriel is identified variously as a seraph, cherub, regent of the sun, flame of God, angel of the divine presence, presider over Tartarus/Hell, archangel of salvation, & in later scriptures, identified with Phanuel (“God has turned”). He’s often pictured carrying a book or a papyrus scroll representing wisdom. Uriel is a patron of the arts.

In the Eastern Orthodox churches, Uriel is commemorated together with the other archangels & angels with a feast day of the “Synaxis of the Archangel Michael & the Other Bodiless Powers” on November 8 of the liturgical calendar. For those churches which follow the Julian calendar, November 8 & falls on November 21 on the modern Gregorian calendar.

He’s regarded as the patron saint of the arts & sciences. In addition, every Monday throughout the year is dedicated to the angels.

The Anglicans & Coptic Christians of Ethiopia & Eritrea venerate archangel Uriel. According to the latter, July 11 is his feast day. In the Ethiopian Homily on the Archangel Uriel, he’s pictured as 1 of the great archangels & as the angelus interpres who has interpreted prophecies to Enoch & Ezra, & the helper of both of them.

According to the Homily, at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus, Uriel dipped his wing in the blood & water flowing from Christ’s flank & Filled a cup with it. Carrying the cup, he & the archangel Michael rushed into the world & sprinkled it all over Ethiopia.

In every place where a drop of blood fell, a church was built. Thus, Uriel is often pictured carrying a chalice filled with the blood of Christ in Ethiopian Orthodox iconography. Uriel is honored in the Lutheran Churches as well, with churches including statuary of the archangels Gabriel, Uriel, Michael, & Raphael.

At the Council of Rome of 745, Pope Zachary (intending to clarify the church’s teaching on angels & curbs a tendency toward angel worship) condemned obsession with angelic intervention & angelology. But reaffirmed the approval of the practice of the reverence of angels.

This Synod struck many angels’ names from the list of those eligible for veneration in the church of Rome, including Uriel. Only the reverence of the archangels is mentioned in the recognized Catholic canon of scriptures, namely, Michael, Gabriel, & Raphael, remained acceptable.

In the 16th century, Archangel Uriel appeared before the Sicilian friar Antonio Lo Duca & told him to build a church in the Termini area. Lo Duca told Pope Pius IV about the apparition, and the pope then asked Michelangelo to design the church, which became the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels & of the Martyrs located at the Esedra Plaza.

In the 1st half of the 11th century, Bulgarian followers of the duelist heresy called Bogomilism, who lived in the dukedom of Ahtum in present-day Banat, invoked Uriel in rituals. This was witnessed by Gerard of Csanad, the Catholic bishop of the area after 1028. Uriel was also named in a small exorcism in the 15th century.

The Book of Enoch (which presents itself as written by Enoch) mentions Uriel in many of its component books. In chapter IX, part of “The Book of the Watchers” (2nd century BC), only 4 angels are named. Those angels are Michael, Uriel, Raphael, & Gabriel. Though some versions have a 5th angel: Suryal or Suriel.

However, chapter XX later lists 7 angels’ names & functions. Those angels are “Uriel, 1 of the holy angels, who’s over the world & over Tartarus,” Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel, & Remiel.

The Book of the Watchers tells us that Uriel, Raphael, & Gabriel were present before God to testify on behalf of humankind. They ask for divine intervention during the reign of the fallen Grigori (fallen watchers). These fallen ones took human wives & had half-“angel,” half-human offspring called the Nephilim.

Uriel was responsible for warning our boy Noah about the upcoming deluge. After judgment has been brought up on the Nephilim & the Fallen Ones, including the 2 main leaders, Samyaza & Azazel. Uriel then acts as a guide for Enoch for the rest of the Book of Watchers.

In the traditions & hagiography of the Episcopal & other Anglican churches, Uriel is mentioned as an archangel. He’s recognized as the patron saint of the sacrament of confirmation. In some Episcopal churches, Uriel is also regarded as the keeper of beauty & light, & regent of the sun & constellations.

In iconography, he’s shown holding in his right hand a Greek Ionic column, which symbolizes perfection in aesthetics & man-made beauty, and in his left hand is a staff topped with the sun. He is celebrated in the Anglican liturgical calendars of the Feast of the Archangels. The Church of St. Uriel the Archangel at Sea Girt, New Jersey, is a testimony to Anglicans’ devotion to Uriel.

In Hermetic Kabbalah, Uriel’s name is commonly spelled Auriel. He’s regarded as the archangel of the North, & of the element of Earth. According to the teaching of the modern Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Uriel is the archangel of North & East, & is associated with the vegetation of the Earth. In iconography, he’s depicted holding stems of ripened wheat & wearing robes of citrine (a medium deep shade of golden yellow), russet (dark brown with a reddish-orange tinge), olive (like green olives), & black.

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Hesychasm

This comes from the Greek hesychia, meaning “stillness” or “quiet.” This is the theological backbone of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It focuses on the pursuit of theosis – divine union with God. At its core, Hesychasm is a tradition of prayer that seeks to find God through inner silence & the cessation of all thoughts.

The “engine” of Hesychasm is the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” (We think that even if you aren’t religious/spiritual, we’ve all prayed this prayer before!) Unlike Western meditation, which often involves visualizing scenes from the Bible, Hesychasm is apophatic (negative).

The goal is to strip away images, concepts, & intellectual chatter to reach a state of “pure prayer.” Practitioners (known as Hesychasts) aim to move the prayer from the lips to the mind, & finally, into the heart.

In the 14th century, certain techniques were popularized to help the mind. These include:

• Breath Control:
  • Syncing the prayer with the rhythm of breathing.
• Posture:
  • Sitting for long periods with the chin resting on the chest, eyes fixed on the “place of the heart.”
• The Goal:
  • To achieve a state where the prayer becomes “unceasing,” continuing even while the monk sleeps or works.

The history of Hesychasm is defined by a massive 14th century intellectual “cage match.” On one side, Gregory Palamas, a monk from Mount Athos. On the other side, Barlaam of Calabria, a Western-influenced scholar who thought the monks were essentially deluding themselves with “belly-button gazing.”

Barlaam argued that God is absolutely transcendent & unknowable. Therefore, any claim to “see” God was impossible or heretical. Palamas countered with a distinction that saved Eastern mysticism: The Essence vs The Energies.

The Divine Essence:

God’s inner nature, which remains forever hidden & inaccessible to any created being.

The Divine Energies:

God’s “activities” or “operations” (like Love, Grace, & Light) that permeate the world & can be directly experienced by humans.

Palamas argued that when the Apostles saw Jesus glowing on Mount Tabor (the Transfiguration), they weren’t seeing a metaphor. They were seeing the Uncreated Light of God’s Energies. Hesychasts claim through intense prayer, they too can see this Taboric Light.

Palamas wasn’t just a “cloud-dweller.” He was a brilliant aristocrat who gave a promising career at the Byzantine imperial county to become a monk. When Barlaam attacked the monks’ practices as “superstitious,” Palamas wrote the Triads in Defense of the Holy Hesychasts. He bridged the gap between the experiential “feeling” of the monks & the rigorous theology of the Church.

Palamas was even imprisoned for a time during a civil war. But he was eventually vindicated.

In 1351, his theology was officially adopted by the Orthodox Church. To this day, the Second Sunday of Great Lent is dedicated to him. He’s the reason Eastern Orthodoxy views God not as a distant object of study. But as a personal presence to be participated in.

For centuries, Hesychasm was mainly confined to monasteries like Mount Athos. In 1782, a massive anthology called the Philokalia (“Love of the Beautiful”) was published. It collected the writings of the desert fathers & Hesychast masters from the 4th to the 15th centuries.

This book sparked a massive revival. In Russia, it was translated into Slavic (The Dobrotolyubie), fueling the “Elder” (Starets) tradition seen in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. In the 19th century, a tiny book called The Way of a Pilgrim (about a wandering Russian peasant practicing the “Jesus Prayer”) became an international sensation introducing the “Jesus Prayer” to millions of non-Orthodox Christians.

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📚 Hayo just finished reading The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History 1300-1850 by Brian Fagan

One of those books that was exactly what I was looking for. The author presents a very balanced scientific overview of the interplay between climatic and socio-economic flows. It paints a disturbing picture of our very recent history and gives a glimpse of what could happen in the next few hundred years.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🔗 https://hayobethlehem.nl/library/book/the-little-ice-age-b466ab

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John Wycliffe

His last name is also spelled: Wyclif, Wickliffe, & Wicklyf.

He’s an English scholastic philosopher, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, & a theology professor at the University of Oxford. He’s often called the “Morning Star of the Reformation.”

He made radical challenges to the Roman Catholic Church like advocating for or made a vernacular translation of the Vulgate Bible into Middle English. He paved the way for the Protestant Reformation nearly 200 years before Martin Luther.

Before he was a reformer, Wycliffe was a titan of Scholasticism at Oxford. At the time, the intellectual world was divided between Realist & Norminalists. The Norminalists, like William of Ockham, argued that “universals” (like the concept of “justice” or “humanity”) were just names (nomina) we give to groups of individual things.

John was a fierce Realist. He believed that universals were real entities that existed in the mind of God. For Wycliffe, everything in the physical world was a direct reflection of a divine archetype.

Wycliffe’s most radical political theory was the Dominion of Grace. He argued that all authority (dominium) is a gift from God. Which meant that the church wasn’t allowed to own property or have ecclesiastic courts, & men in mortal sin weren’t entitled to exercise authority in the church or state, nor to own property. He added a dangerous caveat: only those in a state of grace have a right to exercise authority.

Wycliffe’s later followers (derogatorily called Lollards by their orthodox contemporaries in the 15th & 16th centuries. Lollards meaning “mumblers” or “idlers.”) adopted a number of the beliefs attributed to Wycliff such as theological virtues, predestination, iconoclasm, & the notion of caesaropapism, with some questioning the veneration of saints, the sacraments, requiem masses, transubstantiation, monasticism, & the legitimacy/role of the Papacy.

Wycliffe was born in the village of Hipswell, near Richmond in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England. In 1356, Wycliffe completed his bachelor of arts degree at Merton College as a junior fellow. That same year, he produced a small treatise, The Last Age of the Church.

In 1361, he was Master of Balliol College in Oxford. That year, he was presented by the college to the parish of Fillingham in Lincolnshire. For this, he had to give up the headship of Balliol College, though he could continue to live at Oxford.

Wycliffe’s greatest legacy is his role in the 1st complete translation of the Bible into Middle English (circa 1382). At the time, the Bible was only available in the Latin Vulgate. This was accessible solely to the educated clergy.

Wycliffe believed that the Bible was the ultimate authority. Then every person (from the King to the “plowman”), needed to be able to read it.

Wycliffe didn’t just translate words. He helped create the English language. He’s credited with introducing, or popularizing, over 1,000 words into English, including: female, justice, communication, treasure, & glory.

His “potent” ideas were blamed for the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. Wycliffe didn’t endorse the violence, however the rebels used his discourse of “equality before God” & Wycliffe’s critiques of Church wealth to justify their demands.

In the U.S. culture, Wycliffe’s legacy is preserved in 2 distinct ways:

• The Democratic Spirit of the Bible: The American religious tradition of individual Bible interpretation & the rejection of centralized ecclesiastical authority can be traced directly back to Wycliffe’s “priesthood of all believers.”
• Wycliffe Bible Translators: Founded in 1942 in California by William Cameron Townsend. This organization (now 1 of the largest of its kind in the world) was named in honor of John Wycliffe. It carries on his mission by translating the Bible into thousands of indigenous languages worldwide.

Wycliffe passed away from a stroke, during a Mass, in 1834. In 1415, the Council of Constance declared him a heretic. In 1428, by order of Pope Martin V, his remains were exhumed from his grave in Lutterworth, burned to ashes, & cast into the River Swift.

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