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Dave's Mythical Creatures and Places |
Golem
From the film "Der Golem" (1920)
| Description |
A large, bulky, and somewhat featureless creature in the shape of a
man that can be made out of a lump of clay and brought to life.
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| Features |
Generally half-conscious and only capable of doing menial tasks.
This creature should have "EMET" (truth) written on its forehead, and
it can be destroyed by erasing the letter E- leaving "MET" (death).
Other versions describe a tablet with writing on it that is worn or
placed under the tongue- when the tablet is removed, the Golem
crumbles.
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| Described By: |
Jewish mysticisim- particularly the Kabbalists, who studied the
letters of the Bible looking for secrets hidden in the number or order
of words. They felt that if they understood the secret messages they
would be able to create life. In Medieval times stories grew
about such creatures grew, as did the idea of alchemy. The most
widely told story was of Rabbi Low of Prague, who created a Golem to
perform menial tasks around the synagogue. Unfortunately, the
Golem would grow larger, and more powerful and dangerous, occasionally
turning on its master.
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| Related to |
Homonculus- described by Swiss chemist
Paracelsus (1493-1541)- is a man crested by alchemy. In
his 1572 book
De Natura Rerum, Paracelsus gives the following
recipe to create a homonculus- "Let the semen of a man putrefy by
itself in a sealed cucurbite with the highest putrefaction of venter
equinus for forty days, or until it begins at last to live, move, and
be agitated, which can easily be seen. At this time it will be in some
degree like a human being, but, nevertheless, transparent and without
a body. If now, after this, it be every day nourished and fed
cautiously with the arcanum of human blood, and kept for forty weeks
in the perpetual and equal heat of venter equinus, it becomes
thencefold a true living infant, having all the members of a child
that is born from a woman, but much smaller. This we call a
homunculus; and it should be afterwards educated with the greatest
care and zeal, until it grows up and starts to display intelligence." Also, the Golem is believed to be the inspiration for the Frankenstein story.
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| Links |
Background on the Golem Legends
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