Gen 6:4 There were Nephilim in the earth in those days

[Bruce Michael]

There is not a lot in Genesis on this, but as you will see, it is fleshed out in the Jewish tradition.



Along with instruction in the forbidden art - which I take to mean black magic practices - the Nephilim also gave instruction in warfare. They were in other words, Black Adepts. Their instruction was never of a free and helpful nature however, but always at a terrible cost- after all they despised humanity.

Now the some quotes from A. E. Waite, based on the Hebrew traditions:
First the argument over the creation of Adam:

"There was another class, the downfall of which was consequent on the Holy One assembling several legions of superior angels and advising them that He intended to create man. They appear to have replied by quoting the Psalmist when he said: "Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish."

"Thereupon the Holy One stretched forth a finger and burned these blessed legions, after which He called others into His presence and made the same statement, to which they answered on their part: "What is man that Thou art mindful of him and the son of man that Thou visitest him."

"The Lord explained that man should be made in His image and would be superior to those whom He addressed. It does not appear what happened to these legions. There were, moreover, those Sons of God who "saw the daughters of men that they were fair," and they included Aza and Azael, who entered into a dispute with Shekinah on the advisability of creating Adam, seeing that he would end by sinning with his wife, to which Shekinah replied that before they could make accusations of this kind it must be postulated that they would prove more chaste in their own persons.1

"This was the conclusion for the moment, but the children of God had recourse to the daughters of men and "took them wives of all that they chose."

"The result was that Shekinah stripped them of their sanctity and of all part in eternal beatitude, which had been the case also with the rebellious angels belonging to the first category: these are burnt eternally in Sheol.

"When Aza and Azael were cast down, they assumed bodies on earth and were imprisoned therein.2 "It was subsequently-according to this version--that they were seduced by women and are alive at this day, still instructing men in the art of magic, which they had begun to teach soon after their descent. They were chained on certain black mountains, which Laban and Balaam frequented for instruction in the forbidden art. There were in all five orders of intelligence which seem to have ben cast out of heaven, and some of these were incarnated as men. These were the Giants of Genesis, the Nephilim, the descendants of Amalec, the Intruders of the Talmud, and so forth.

It is on record that they destroyed the Temple.

Footnotes:
1 Certain codices of the Zohar cause the Shekinah to intimate at this point that Adam will indeed end by sinning with a single woman, but it will prove also with her that 'he will be able to repair the fault, while the lost angels will sin with many women and will be deprived of all reparation. '

2 They belonged to that class who appeared under the form of men, and it was possible therefore for them to exist on earth. They assumed bodies to come down and because of their revolt they could not unclothe to reascend. By their union with women they engendered giants, the "mighty men of old," and "men of renown," mentioned in Gen. vi, 4.
End of quote.

The Nephilim are the Rakshasas or Giant Demons of the Hindu tradition. So if you look up "Rakshasas" in Theosophical literature, you will get more of the story. Notice how Kali is represented with a string of human heads around her neck.

-Br.Bruce

[Nick the Pilot]

“And there we saw the giants....” (Numbers 13:33)

“Which also were accounted giants....” (Deuteronomy 2:11)

“For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants....” (Deuteronomy 3:11)

Easter Island

The statues on Easter Island give a clue.

“The Easter Island relics are, for instance, the most astounding and eloquent memorials of the primeval giants. They are as grand as they are mysterious; and one has but to examine the heads of the colossal statues, that have remained unbroken on that island, to recognize in them at a glance the features of the type and character attributed to the Fourth Race giants.” (SD vol II p. 224)

[Quahom1]

The thread has been moved to Belief and Spirituality, since it does not isolate any particular Abrahamic faith's belief and includes Hidi, as a collective of scriptures pertaining to the subject. It should do fine here.

v/r

Q

[sam1008]

Originally Posted by Bruce Michael

The Nephilim are the Rakshasas or Giant Demons of the Hindu tradition. So if you look up "Rakshasas" in Theosophical literature, you will get more of the story. Notice how Kali is represented with a string of human heads around her neck.

-Br.Bruce

I know this isn't the point of your thread but i thought I should still pick you up on it.

The Mother Goddess Kali is not a rakshasa She is a representation of The Almighty. Her name comes from the word Kaala meaning time. The severed heads She wears round Her neck represent the false ego and its offspring the negative passions such as hatred, greed, envy etc.

Her name pronounced Kaali should not be confused with the name of the demon Kali (which is spelt the same in English but is unrelated in Sanskrit) which means quarrel and conflict he is the embodiment of sin and is said to rule the age of Kali or Kali yuga.

[Bruce Michael]

More on the Nephilim:

In the Book of Enoch (which should have been included in the Bible, and is still canonical some churches) is a wonderful description:

Chapter 6
1 And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto 2 them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: 'Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men 3 and beget us children.' And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: 'I fear ye will not 4 indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.' And they all answered him and said: 'Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations 5 not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.' Then sware they all together and bound themselves 6 by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn 7 and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And these are the names of their leaders: Samlazaz, their leader, Araklba, Rameel, Kokablel, Tamlel, Ramlel, Danel, Ezeqeel, Baraqijal, 8 Asael, Armaros, Batarel, Ananel, Zaq1el, Samsapeel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael, Sariel. These are their chiefs of tens.

The Book of Enoch used to be admired by Jews and Christians alike, but later fell into disfavor. Of course the Ethiopians kept it as part of their canon.

[Chapter 7]

1 And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms 2 and enchantments, and the cutting of roots, and made them acquainted with plants. And they 3 became pregnant, and they bare great giants, whose height was three thousand ells: Who consumed 4 all the acquisitions of men. And when men could no longer sustain them, the giants turned against 5 them and devoured mankind. And they began to sin against birds, and beasts, and reptiles, and 6 fish, and to devour one another's flesh, and drink the blood. Then the earth laid accusation against the lawless ones.

The Manicheans also had a version of this tale, called "The Book of Giants".

[Chapter 8]

1 And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all 2 colouring tinctures. And there arose much godlessness, and they committed fornication, and they 3 were led astray, and became corrupt in all their ways. Semjaza taught enchantments, and root-cuttings, 'Armaros the resolving of enchantments, Baraqijal (taught) astrology, Kokabel the constellations, Ezeqeel the knowledge of the clouds, Araqiel the signs of the earth, Shamsiel the signs of the sun, and Sariel the course of the moon. And as men perished, they cried, and their cry went up to heaven . . .

There is a more detailed description of the fate of the Nephilim- termed the hosts of Azazel:
Here is an excerpt:

[Chapter 54]

"1 And I looked and turned to another part of the earth, and saw there a deep valley with burning 2 fire. And they brought the kings and the mighty, and began to cast them into this deep valley. 3 And there mine eyes saw how they made these their instruments, iron chains of immeasurable weight. 4 And I asked the angel of peace who went with me, saying: ' For whom are these chains being prepared ? ' And he said unto me: ' These are being prepared for the hosts of Azazel, so that they may take them and cast them into the abyss of complete condemnation, "

And now from C.G.Harrison's The Transcendental Universe 1893:

"It was a fall of the angels of light, the "sons of God" who "saw the daughters of men that they were fair" and united themselves to them in the bonds of matter. This fall from heavenly to earthly love brought them immediately under the dominion of Satan, the prince of this world, and inaugurated on earth the reign of physical and intellectual force.

"This union of intellect and form was the origin of the arts and sciences. Civilization advanced by leaps and bounds, but it was a curse rather than a blessing. By the time the Fourth Root Race, with its physical and intellectual giants, had reached the apex of its development, the whole earth was filled with violence, and the great cataclysmic period, known as the Flood and preserved in the traditions of all nations, swept them and their children away.

"These semi-human creatures, the progeny of the fallen angels, are known in the Hindu Scriptures as the "Asuras" and are sometimes called "Rakshasas," or demons, but they are quite distinct from the offspring of the "incubi" and "succubae" who spring from the element of water (not, of course, material water, but the aqueous or static principle of the universe).

"The Asuras are igneous, or dynamic, in their nature, and their power for evil was terrific. It was destroyed for ever by the advent of Jesus Christ, and they are now, as St. Jude puts it, "reserved in everlasting chains until the judgment of the great day."'

Stated in scientific terms, they are held in check, unable to move backward or forward......

"This text in S. Jude has been unfortunately misunderstood, and supposed to apply to Lucifer and the first fall of the angels-hence the Miltonic and mediaeval myths."

-Br.Bruce

[Bruce Michael]

Hello Sam,

>The Mother Goddess Kali is not a rakshasa She is a representation of The >Almighty. Her name comes from the word Kaala meaning time. The severed >heads She wears round Her neck represent the false ego and its offspring >the negative passions such as hatred, greed, envy etc.

Thank you for picking me up on that. That is how the Nephilim appeared - with bits of human body parts coming out of them.
They were not physical but quasi physical.

I have heard that Calcutta is named after Kali.

Kali as the consort of Shiva. We might have an argument about their roles later. Or maybe not...

Greetings,
Br.Bruce

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by Bruce Michael

More on the Nephilim:
In the Book of Enoch (which should have been included in the Bible, and is still canonical some churches) is a wonderful description:

The Book of Enoch used to be admired by Jews and Christians alike, but later fell into disfavor. Of course the Ethiopians kept it as part of their canon.

"The Book of Enoch was dropped from the Jewish scriptures shortly after Christ, most likely because it apparently referred to him as the Messiah. It was quoted as scripture by the early Christian Church fathers until the middle of the third century A.D., accepted as a divine work having been written by Enoch himself. It then fell into disrepute and was banned from the canon of scripture in the fourth century, partly because it didn't agree with how Christianity came to be redefined after the death of the apostles.

"The book also doubtlessly raised questions with its backwards imagery, referring to things such as "the stone which supports the corners of the earth" and "the four winds, which bear up the earth" (Enoch 18:2-3). That may have sounded primitive to the "sophisticated science" of the fourth century, but that is the same imagery used by many great prophets. For example, John in Revleation states, "I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth" (Rev. 7:1; compare imagery of Isa. 11:12, Jer. 49:36, Ezek. 37:9, Dan. 7:2, Mat. 24:31). This might be considered a point of contention when challegning the accuracy of the Bible. After all, how can so many, including Jesus, reference what doesn't "exist" ?

How therefore can we (Christians) contest a works as non cannonacal, hence apocrypha, when Jesus quoted such as part of His teachings?

Things that make you go hmmm...

v/r

Q

"in part from J.P.Pratt"

[Tao_Equus]

There is a thread from last year on the Nephilim in the Ancient Lore and Mythology section which I have bumped to make easy to find.

[Pathless]

Interesting presentation.

A host of angelic beings submits to temptation and mates with Earth matter, creating--or re-creating--the race of men. Is that it, kind of?

The quoted passages have an eerie mythical quality to them. I read this story as an archetype, as an expression of original sin. It does have a certain "Sex is bad" tone to it. Does anyone else see that? Am I too far off the point?

I thought the Nephilim are also portrayed by Alexander Stitchin as an alien race. Maybe that's in the old thread, lemme go check.

[Bruce Michael]

Shalom Q,
Yes there is a good argument for including Enoch in the canon. It is one of the older OT books. I understand there are references to it in the existing canon as well.

Of course the stories are fantastic- but so is Bel and the Dragon or maybe The Golden Legend.

Best Regards,
Br. Bruce

[Bruce Michael]

Shalom Pathless,
>It does have a certain "Sex is bad" tone to it. Does anyone else see that?

No I think it's along the lines of bestiality, with the "daughters of men" being the beasts.


Greetings,
Br.Bruce

[Pathless]

Originally Posted by Bruce Michael

Shalom Pathless,
>It does have a certain "Sex is bad" tone to it. Does anyone else see that?

No I think it's along the lines of bestiality, with the "daughters of men" being the beasts.


Greetings,
Br.Bruce

Okay, let me go wrap my head around that one.

Interesting perspective.

[flowperson]

Hello All...I found something today that makes this all ever so much more interesting and contemporary. Having been "in on" some of the early stages of the "biotechnology revolution" I have long had thoughts along these lines.

flow....

http://www.raidersnewsnetwork.com/full.php?news=8165

[wil]

Namaste Flow,

looks like that belongs on that human gene thread!

[Dondi]

Didn't I see another long thread on this subject some time ago?