The word archangel itself gives a vibe of goodness and holiness. Some even consider archangels to be saints, and would pray for them with hopes of guidance. But the archangel Samael does not reflect qualities of a holy and good heavenly being. The name Samael means the “poison of god”, or, “the venom of god”, or, “Blindness of God”. The archangel lives up for his name ‘Samael’, than to the qualities of an archangel. In Christianity, he is sometimes identified as a fallen angel, or the Satan himself, because his functions resemble so much to that of Satan. In some believes, he is not necessarily evil. They believe his functions are also benefit for the greater good. Such as eliminating sinners, is a way of doing good.
Whether being an angel or a demon, Samael is most certainly a powerful figure. Those who believe him to be a demon, believes he’s an arcdemon. And those who believe him to be an angel, believes he’s an archangel. He rule over an inevitable cause of life, which no being has control over. He is considered in “Talmudic texts”, to be a member of the heavenly host. Unlike other angels, he is often given destructive duties. In “Jewish lore”, Samael is the main “angel of death” and remains as a servant of god.
He appears in the story of Garden of Eden, and engineered the fall of Adam and Eve. The serpent described in the story is not Samael, but a beast he rode. Some also believe, that he manipulated eve and fathered Cain. This explains Cain’s evil nature and the desire to betray god. Samael is also considered as the lover and spouse of the demoness “Lilith”.
Romans believe him to be their guardian angel, hence he becomes the undefeatable enemy of Israelites. Due to his identification with Rome, he became the representative of Christianity during the period Christianity began to spread in Europe. Those who consider him to be a holy figure, consider him as the prince of the fifth heaven, and many angels who commit destruction, serve under his command. It is believed he played a major role in creating the physical world. To anthroposophist, Samael is known as one of the seven archangels.
Saint Gregory, gives the seven archangels as Anael, Gabriel, Michael, Oriphiel, Raphael, Samael, and Zerachiel. They are all imagined to have a special assignment to act as a global “time spirits”, each for responsible for a periods of about 360 years. But even with the holiness, he still plays a role with the dead. In apocryphal Gedulat Moshe, which translates to “The Apocalypse of Moses”, Samael is mentioned as a being in 7th Heaven. In this text, Moses describes his journey in the heaven, accompanied by angel Metatron. Moses encounters Samael in the 7th heaven. He describes Samael to be different from other angels and he fears upon seen him. He describes Samael as a very tall figure, with glaring eyes from his head to toe.
And he describes that it would take five hundred years to cover a distance equal to his height. Moses is told by angel Metatron, that he is the angel of death and is responsible of collecting souls. Moses then prays to God, for his soul to be spared from the hands of Samael.
Majority of the text consider him to be an evil figure and to be one of the fallen angels. He is first mentioned in the Book of Enoch along with other rebellious angels. According to the “Greek Apocalypse of Baruch”, he is a significant and dominant evil figure. Samael is the angel who was responsible for planting the Tree of knowledge, knowing mankind would fall if they eat from it. God got furious of this act and not only forbid the tree, but also banished Samael from heaven and cursing him for eternity. In order to take revenge, he tempted Adam and Eve to eat from the tree and led them into sin. In this story, he rides the serpent like that of a camel into the Garden of Eden, and confront eve.
Those who believes him to be a holy host, interpret the story as god wanting to test his greatest creation. So he tasked Samael with the duty to plant the tree of knowledge, and so he did. The temptation to eat from the tree is not done by Samael, but by Satan. So the angel does not fall from heaven and continues to remain as a god’s servant.
In Talmudic-Midrashic literature, Samael's role as an agent of evil is rather marginal, but from the fifth or sixth century onward, this name again becomes one of the most prominent among the demonic entities. In the “Exodus Rabbah”, Samael is depicted as the accuser in the heavenly court and tempting to sin, while Archangel Michael defends Israel's actions. Here, Samael is identified with Satan. While Satan describes his function as an "accuser," Samael is considered to be his proper name. He also fulfills the role of the Angel of Death, when he comes to take the soul of Moses, he is identified as the leader of devils. The title of Satan is also applied to him in the text “Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer”, where he is described as the chief of the fallen angels. According to the text, Samael opposed the creation of Adam and descended to Earth to tempt him into evil. Riding the serpent, he convinces Eve to eat the forbidden fruit.
There is another story where Samael is considered to be the spouse of Lilith, the first woman created by god using clay before Eve. After Lilith fled from Garden of Eden, god sent Samael to bring Lilith’s soul if she continues to rebel against god and refuse to return. Yet the angel fell in love with Lilith and sired demonic children. Hence the angel is viewed as a demon because he disobeyed god’s command and took a demon to be his spouse.
Although both Samael and Lilith are major demons in earlier Jewish traditions, they do not appear as a pair, until the second half of the thirteenth century, when they are introduced together. The two are said to parallel Adam and Eve in the demonic world. Regardless of being a demon or an angel, Samael is related with death and destruction. There’s a lot of contradiction whether the character is actually evil or holy, since many debate that death is an inevitable part of life.
So it’s better to believe that it is an angel that comes to collect the soul than a demon. But because death is related with evil, Samael is tend to believe as evil and a demon. Whatever the belief is, Samael is not a soft hearted character to be sure. Samael, either as a demon, or, an angel, is associated with death. This makes him an extremely powerful being, since no man, regardless of their goodness, power or wealth, can escape death. So every one of us are destined to meet Samael whether we like it or not.
Comments
Post a Comment