shining farce
the lunacy of reprobate intervention

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Samael

Also spelled Smil, Samil, or Samiel.

He’s an archangel in Talmudic & post-Talmudic tradition. He’s a figure who is the accuser or adversary (Satan in the Book of Job), seducer, & destroying angel (in the Book of Exodus).

Although many of his functions resemble the Christian idea of Satan, to the point of being sometimes classified as a fallen angel. He’s not necessarily evil, since his functions also result in good, like destroying sinners.

In Midrashic texts, he’s considered to be a member of the heavenly host, often with grim & destructive duties. 1 of Samael’s most significant roles in Jewish lore is that of the main angel of Death & the head of satans. He appears frequently in the story of the Garden of Eden & engineered the Fall of Adam (& Eve) with a snake in writings, during the Second Temple period. However, the serpent isn’t a form of Samael. But a beast he rode, like a camel.

In a single account, he’s also believed to be the father of Cain. As well as the partner of Lilith.

In early Talmudic & Midrashic literature, he hasn’t yet been associated with Satan. Only in later Midrashim is he given the title “head of satans.”

As a guardian angel & prince of Rome, he’s Israel’s archenemy. By the beginning of Jewish culture in Europe, Samael had been established as a representative of Christianity due to his identification with Rome.

In some Gnostic cosmologies, Samael’s role as a source of evil became identified with the Demiurge, the creator of the material world.

Samael was 1st mentioned during the Second Temple period & immediately after its destruction. He’s 1st mentioned in the Book of Enoch, which is a part of the Jewish apocrypha, along with other rebellious angels. In 1 Enoch, he’s 1 of the Watchers who descended to Earth to have adult spicy time with human women. Although he’s not their leader. Samayaza is their leader. (A post about Samyaza is coming soon. Research on him is ongoing, right now.)

In the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch, he’s the dominant evil figure. Samael plants the actual Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil. He’s then banished & cursed by God. To take revenge, he tempts Adam & Eve into sin by taking the form of the serpent.

He further appears as the embodiment of evil in the Ascension of Isaiah & is called by various names:

• Melkira, “King of evil/wicked.”
• Malkira/Malchira, “Messenger of evil.”
• Belkira, “Lord of the Wall.”
• Bechira, “Elect/Chosen of evil.”

The names Belial & Satan are also applied to him. He gains control of King Manasseh to accuse Isaiah of treason.

In Talmudic & Midrash, Samael’s role as an agent of evil is relatively marginal. From the 5th or 6th century onward, he becomes 1 of the most prominent among the demonic entities. Samael hasn’t been identified with the angel of Death in the Talmud.

In the Exodus Rabbah (the Exodus Midrash), Samael is pictured as the accuser in the heavenly court & tempter to sin, while Michael defends Israel’s actions. Here, Samael is identified with Satan. While “Satan” describes his function as an “accuser,” Samael is considered his real/proper name.

He also fulfills the role of the Angel of Death when he comes to take the body of Moses & is called the leader of Satan.

The title of “satan” is also applied to him in the Midrash Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer, where he was the chief of the fallen angels, & a 12-winged seraph. According to the text, Samael opposed the creation of Adam & descended to Earth to tempt him into evil.

Riding the serpent, he convinces Eve to eat the Forbidden Fruit. His role here might be inspired by the Islamic idea of Iblis, who refused to prostrate himself before Adam because he consists of fire & Adam merely of dust. This Midrash also reveals that Samael sired Cain with Eve.

In the smaller Midrash, he’s the ruler of Hell. Several sources (like Yalkut Shimoni) describe him as the guardian angel of Esau, relating him to Rome, the 1 who wrestled with Jacob, the angel who ordered Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, & a patron of Edom. Which makes sense because Esau was the “father” of Edom.

In Kabbalah, Samael is described as the “severity of God.” He is listed as 5 of the archangels of the world of Beri’ah. Among his portions are Esau, the people who inherit the sword & bring war; the goats & se’irim (demons); & the destroyer angel.

Both Samael & Lilith are major demons in earlier Jewish literature traditions. They don’t appear paired together until the 2nd half of the 13th century, when they’re introduced together. Lilith is a demon created alongside Adam. She wasn’t originally created as a demon. She morphed into a demoness down the road. She was originally created as Adam’s (1st) wife. Lilith then becomes Samael’s bride. With her, Samael created a host of demon kids, including a son, the “Sword of Samael” (or of Asmodai).

In the Kabbalistic work Treatise on the Left Emanation, Samael is part of the qlippoth (Qlippoth is the representation of evil/impure spiritual forces in Jewish mysticism), prince of all demons, & husband of Lilith. The 2 are said to parallel Adam & Eve being emanated together from the Throne of Glory as a counterpart. Asmodeus is also mentioned to be subservient to Samael & married to a young (or alternate), lesser Lilith.

In the Zohar (1 of Kabbalah’s principal works), Samael is described as a leader of the divine forces of destruction, part of the qlippoth. He’s mentioned again as the serpent’s rider. He’s also described as having mated with Eisheth Zenunim (a princess of the qilppoth); Na’amah (She originated from & is often mixed with another Naamah, sister to Tubal-Cain); & Agrat bat Mahlat (a demoness), all being “angels” of sacred prostitution.

It’s also said that the founder of Hasidic Judaism, Baal Shem Tov, summoned Samael to make him do his bidding.

Samael is also pictured as the angel of Death & 1 of the 7 archangels, the ruler over the 5th Heaven (This refers to 1 of the 7 firmaments, or physical layers, located above the open sky.) & commander of 2 million angels, such as the chief of all destroying angels. Think about the angel(s) who destroyed the Egyptians who didn’t have the lamb’s blood on their doorframes (Exodus 11).

In 3 separate Gnostic texts (found in the Nag Hammadi library), Samael is 1 of the 3 names of the Demiurge. He had 2 other names in these texts: Yaldabaoth & Saklas. After Yaldabaoth claims sole divinity for himself, the voice of Sophia (“wisdom,” the personification of wisdom) comes forth calling him Samael, due to his ignorance.

In Hypostasis of the Archons, Samael is the 1st sinner. The First Epistle of John calls the devil a sinner from the beginning. His appearance is that of a lion-faced serpent.

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Serpent Seed

Author’s Note: We here at Spirituality & Religious Studies DO NOT in any way, shape, or form agree with ANY of the racist views/opinions of the people who interpret this doctrine in that way. We have zero tolerance. We will delete & ban any users who leave racist or hate speech in the comments. Thank you for your time! Now, on the post.

This is also known as dual–seed or the 2-seedline doctrine.

This is a controversial (& sometimes racist) doctrine in some fringe Christian or other Abrahamic religious movements that have an interesting interpretation of the biblical “Fall of Man“: the Serpent (the Garden of Eden serpent) mated with Eve in the Garden of Eden. The result of their “union” was Cain.

Followers of this doctrine believe this event resulted in the creation of 2 races of people: the “wicked” descendants of the Serpent, who were destined for damnation, & the righteous descendants of Adam, who were destined to have eternal life.

This doctrine frames human history as a conflict between these 2 races in which the descendants of Adam will eventually triumph over the descendants of the Serpent.

Irenaeus (circa 180. Check out the post about Irenaeus.), an early Church Father, condemned the notion of some people being naturally possessed of seeds of divinity in Against Heresies as a “Gnostic” heresy supported by Valentinus (100-160).

Valentinus didn’t propose that there were kids by Eve through the serpent or that there was a seed of the damned in contrast to the spiritual seed of the elect.

*Trigger Warning* This is where the racism is mentioned.

During the 19th century, the full Serpent Seed doctrine was invented by Daniel Parker (1781-1844), who promoted the doctrine among Primitive Baptists & wrote about it in his book Views on the Two Seeds (1826).

This doctrine was embraced by American religious leaders, who wanted to promote racist beliefs. It was brought into the teachings of British Israelism by C. A. L. Totten (1851-1908) & Russel Kelso Carter (1849-1928).

Teachers of the Christian Identity theology, which branched off from British Israelism, preached the doctrine during the 20th century & promoted it within racist groups. Some believers of the doctrine use this to justify antisemitism or racism by claiming that Jews or members of non-white races were the descendants of Cain & the Serpent, who were interpreted to be Satan or an intelligent non-human creature that lived before Adam & Eve.

Around the world, there are millions of followers of the Serpent seed doctrine within Branhamism & the Unification Church. In 2000, there were an estimated 50,000 followers of it within Christian Identity.

The Anti-Defamation League & various Christian apologetics organizations have denounced racist versions of the serpent seed teaching by claiming that they are incompatible with the teachings of traditional Christianity. They’ve accused promoters of exacerbating racial tensions by spreading hate.

In its most prominent modern form, it explains the biblical account of the Fall of Man by stating that the Serpent mated with Eve in the Garden of Eden. The offspring of their spicy time was Cain. It claims that Eve had adult spicy time with Adam a 2nd time. Abel & his younger bro, Seth, were the 2 kids that Adam & Eve had together. So by this theory, Cain was Abel (& Seth)’s half-brother, since they share different dads.

Variations of the doctrine claim that the Serpent‘s descendants have no souls because they’re partially descended from animals & are therefore predestined for damnation. Some groups are markedly militant on the subject because of their millennial teachings. As a result, they believe that at the end of days, a final battle will be fought in which the “pure” race will triumph over the “impure” one.

The identity of the Serpent varies from group to group. Some groups claim that the Serpent is Satan himself. While other groups claim that the Serpent is an animal that is either ape or human-like. Other groups incorporated pre-Adamite ideas that held the Serpent was a non-human creature whose creation predated that of Adam. A test run, if you will.

The doctrine also varies between groups. Some groups claim that the descendants of the Serpent are all people who aren’t of Northern European descent. Other Christian Identity groups claim that the descendants of the Serpent are either Jews or Africans. (We can’t with these people!)

William Branham connected the Serpent’s descendants with Ham (the biblical originator/progenitor of the African peoples), several Jewish figures, the highly educated, & society’s criminals. Arnold Murray connected the descendants of the Serpent with the Kenites, a group of people who he believed had infiltrated some part of Jewish society.

In the Unification Church, the bloodline of all humanity is believed to be contained as a result of Eve’s relations with the Serpent. However, married couples can change their heritages by performing the Holy Marriage Blessing Ceremony. This allows them to become the adopted kids of their new “Adam“: Sun Myung Moon. You may have heard of the Unification Church; they’re also known by another moniker: The Moonies.

Mainstream Christianity rejects the Serpent Seed doctrine. Because the biblical record explicitly names Adam as the biological father of Cain, this teaching is considered incompatible with the Protestant teaching of biblical infallibility. Some critics argue that this doctrine encourages division & fuels racism, which leads to sin.

Other critics point out the theological repercussions of blurring traditional Christianity’s interpretation of the doctrine of original sin. The Serpent Seed doctrine characterizes original sin as a feature of genetic inheritance rather than a spiritual condition.

Mainstream Christianity teaches the belief that all individuals are the spiritual children of Satan because they were born in a state of original sin. Through the act of Christian conversion, individuals can become kids of God through adoption.

This doctrine undermines the basic teaching of Christian conversion by teaching the belief that only individuals who are descended from Adam are the inherent kids of God, a belief which classifies them as the only people who don’t need to convert to Christianity. While the Serpent’s seedling was irredeemable.

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Nephilim

The Nephilim are mysterious beings or humans mentioned in the Bible. Traditionally understood as beings of great size & strength, or alternatively as beings of great power & authority.

The 1st biblical reference to them happens in Genesis 6:4. According to Numbers 13:33, 10 of the 12 spies reported the existence of Nephilim in Canaan before its conquest by the Israelites.

Interpretations vary vastly across traditions. Second Temple texts like 1st Enoch & Jubilees picture the Nephilim as offspring of fallen angels (Watchers) & of human women, portraying them as evil giants whose corruption led to the flood that’s told in the book of Genesis.

Some viewed the Nephilim as the descendants of Seth intermarrying with Cain’s lineage. Just to put this into perspective, Seth & Cain are biological brothers (half or whole, depending on the story). Their descendants married each other. It would be like marrying your cousins. Not 1st or 2nd cousins. But cousins nonetheless.

While others support the fallen angel theory. This was later supported by the Dead Sea Scrolls. Islamic tradition links them to the giant tribe of ‘Ad. While other theories link them with the Sumerian Apkallu myths or elite Canaanite warriors.

Over time, the Nephilim have been reimagined in popular culture: they appear in novels, films, video games, & conspiracy theories unrelated to religion. They are often pictured as powerful hybrids, ancient gods, or remnants of a lost superhuman race. Or the race of giants that Goliath descended from.

In the Bible, 3 interconnected passages refer to the Nephilim. 2 of them are in the Torah (Old Testament). The 1st appearance in Genesis 6:1-4. This is immediately before the Noah’s Ark story. Genesis 6:4 says: The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, & also after that when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men & they bore children to them; the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.

A few things hit differently in this passage:

• Heavenly beings can have biological human children? How is this physically possible? If, after all, they’re spiritual beings?
• Why would God give/allow these “angels” the ability to even have kids in the 1st place? In modern times, we don’t think of angels as having the ability to have kids. Even the fallen ones. We do tend to think that Satan himself is the only 1 that can somehow have kids (the Antichrist).
• Who, exactly, were these “men of renown”? Like we, personally, just want 2-3 of the names. Is it some guys we’ve never even heard of? Or would it confirm some names we already know? Like yep, our fav demigod Hercules made the short list. But some decisions happened on the editing room floor. Sorry Herc!

“Those days” were a period when the human population on the earth had started to really take off. This was when people began “to be plentiful on the Earth.”

The 2nd is Numbers 13:32-33, where 10 of the 12 spies describe the Anakites (a Rephaite tribe) as descendants of the Nephilim. Outside the Pentateuch, there are 1 more passage indirectly referencing nephilim & this is Ezekiel 32:17-32.

The earliest translation of the Bible (the Septuagint), which was composed in the 3rd or 2nd century BC, gives the said word as gigantes. In Greek mythology, the gigantes were beings of great strength & aggression. But not necessarily of great size.

The Vulgate (compiled in the 4th or 5th century AD) transcribes the Greek term rather than translating the Hebrew nefilim. From there, the tradition of the giant progeny of the sons of God & the daughters of men spread to later medieval translations of the Bible.

From the 3rd century onwards, references are found in Enochic literature, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Jubilees, the Testament of Reuben, 2 Baruch, Josephus, & the Book of Jude.

The New American Bible commentary draws parallels between the Epistle of Jude & the statements in Genesis. This suggests that Jude refers implicitly to the paternity of the Nephilim as heavenly beings who came to earth & had spicy adult time with human women.

The story of the Nephilim is elaborated in the Book of Enoch. The Greek, Aramaic, & main Ge’ez manuscripts of 1 Enoch & Jubilees acquired in the 19th century (held in the British Museum & the Vatican Library) connect the origin of the Nephilim with the fallen angels, & in particular with the egregoroi (watchers).

In this tradition, the kids of the Nephilim are called the Elioud. They’re considered a separate race from the Nephilim. But they end up sharing the same fate as the Nephilim.

Some believe the fallen angels who sired the Nephilim were cast into Tartarus (II Peter 2:4, Jude 1:6), a place of “total darkness.” An interpretation is that God granted 10% of the disembodied spirits of the Nephilim to remain after Noah’s deluge, as demons, to try to lead the human race astray until the Final Judgment.

The Book of Jubilees also says that ridding the Earth of these pesky Nephilim was 1 of God’s purposes for flooding the Earth in Noah’s day. It describes the Nephilim as being evil giants.

A long-held view in some Christian sects is that the “sons of God” were the formerly righteous descendants of Seth (Adam & Eve’s 3rd kid) who rebelled. While the “daughters of men” were the unrighteous descendants of Cain. The Nephilim were their offspring. This view dates to at least the 1st century AD in Jewish literature. It was found in Christian sources from the 3rd century.

Some individuals & groups (including St. Augustine, John Chrysostom, & John Calvin) take the view of Genesis 6:2 that the “angels” who fathered the Nephilim referred to certain human males from Seth’s lineage. They were called sons of God in reference to their prior covenant with Yahweh (Deut. 14:1, 32:5). In these sources, these men had begun to pursue bodily interests, & so took wives of “the daughters of men.”

This view is also held by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. This is supported by their own Ge’ez manuscripts & Amharic translation of the Haile Selassie Bible (1 Enoch & Jubilees also), which count as canonical by this church. The “Sons of Seth” view is the view presented in a few extra-biblical, yet ancient texts.

In these sources, these kids of Seth were said to have disobeyed God by breeding with the Cainites & producing wicked kids “who were all unlike.” This angered God into bringing about our boy Noah’s flood.

If you subscribe to the ancient alien theory, then you’ll be familiar with Zacharia Sitchin. In his The Earth Chronicles series, Mr. Sitchin makes the claim that the Nephilim were an extraterrestrial race called the Anunnaki. The Anunnaki came down from the 12th Planet (Nibiru) & mated with (or at least genetically messed with) human women. They also gave humanity a few things: civilization, makeup, weapons, warfare, & farming. (Our founder is currently reading The 12th Planet right now, as of the date this posts. They are about done with it, like 2 more chapters!)

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