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.
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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; (11) Gettings, Fred, Dictionary of Demons: A Guide to Demons and Demonologists in Occult Lore, Trafalgar Square Publishers.
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