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Abaddon (Page 2)
The role of Apollyon in biblical
references is ambiguous, sometimes being described as a good
angel who serves God, and
sometimes also being described as a fallen angel who succumbed to
evil.
The word Apollyon and its variations
are sometimes used to mean Hell
itself (in the Old Testament the name Abaddon is used for the place of the
dead). In rabbinical literature,
Milton —
in
Paradise
Lost — also used the name for the pit itself:
"In all her gates Abbadon rues
Thy bold attempt."
(Paradise
Regained, iv 1671)
Abaton was the Greek word for Pit, which the Hebrews altered to Abaddon,
which later became synonymous with the Christian hell. Abaton, also called
'mundus' or earth-womb, was an actual pit, habitually placed under or inside
pagan temples. Those entering it desired to "incubate" or sleep there
overnight in magical imitation of the incubatory sleep of the womb, to be
visited by an "incubus" or spirit who brought
prophetic dreams. Apprentice priests endured longer periods of incubation to
mimic the experiences of death, burial, and rebirth from Mother Earth.
Once initiated, they sought to acquire the ability of
oneiromancy.
Abaddon was also invoked by Moses to bring down the rain over
Egypt, as reported by Mathers in
The Goetia, The Key of Solomon the
King. In the work of the Kabbalist
Joseph ben Abraham Gikatilla,
Abaddon is referenced as the sixth lodge of the seven lodges of
Hell.
In occultism and esoterism, Abaddon is associated with the colors blood red, brown and
green, the winter season, the month of January, intuition, sacrifice
and challenge. His day of the week is Saturday, his precious stone the ruby,
and his weapon the sword. His Tarot symbol is
the one of judgment.
In early British paganism, Abaddon was also an evil spirit. At
wartime, hundreds of captured soldiers were burned alive inside gigantic
wooden figures, in an effort to
conjure
him and get his assistance in the battlefield.
See
Heptameron,
Demonology,
Demonomancy,
Grimoires,
Casting Black Magic Spells,
Commanding Spirits,
The Tarot Store and
Divination & Scrying Tools and Supplies.
Sources: (1)
The Catholic Encyclopedia, The Encyclopedia Press;
(2)
The Encyclopaedia
Britannica Eleventh Edition Handy Volume Edition, Oxford
University Press; (3) Walker, Barbara G.,
The Woman's Encyclopedia
of Myths and Secrets, Harper Collins; (4) Mathers, S. Liddell
MacGregor,
The Goetia, The Key of Solomon the
King, The Book Tree; (5) van der Toorn, Karel,
Dictionary of
Deities and Demons in the Bible, Wm. B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company; (6) Masello, Robert,
Fallen Angels. . . and Spirits of the Dark,
The Berkley Publishing Group; (7) Mack, Carol and Dinah,
A Field Guide to
Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits,
Arcade Publishing; (8) Milton, John,
Paradise
Lost and Paradise
Regained; (9) Agrippa, Cornelius, Occult
Philosophy; (10)
Lewis,
James R.,
Angels A to Z,
Visible Ink Press.
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