Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...
Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...
Satanism Today - An Encyclopedia of Religion, Folklore and Popular ...
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Bosch, Hieronymus 31<br />
make mischief with the residents. They are said to<br />
delight in tormenting small children by stealing<br />
their food <strong>and</strong> by almost suffocating them at night,<br />
which is where we derive the vague notions that we<br />
pass on to our children in threats about how “the<br />
bogeyman will get you if you don’t watch out.”<br />
For Further Reading:<br />
Briggs, Katharine. <strong>An</strong> <strong>Encyclopedia</strong> <strong>of</strong> Fairies. New<br />
York: Pantheon, 1976.<br />
McCoy, Edwin. A Witch’s Guide to Faery Folk. St.<br />
Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 1994.<br />
Book <strong>of</strong> Jubilees<br />
The Book <strong>of</strong> Jubilees is an apocryphal work<br />
composed during the so-called intertestamental<br />
period. According to this book, the angels were<br />
created on the first day <strong>of</strong> creation: “On the first day<br />
He created the heavens which are above <strong>and</strong> the<br />
earth <strong>and</strong> the waters <strong>and</strong> all the spirits which serve<br />
before Him—the angels <strong>of</strong> the presence, <strong>and</strong> the<br />
angels <strong>of</strong> sanctification, <strong>and</strong> the angels <strong>of</strong> the spirits<br />
<strong>of</strong> the winds, <strong>and</strong> the angels <strong>of</strong> the spirit <strong>of</strong> clouds,<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> darkness, [<strong>and</strong> so forth]”(Giovetti 1993, 19.).<br />
Among other contents, the Book <strong>of</strong> Jubilees<br />
repeats the central angel tale in the Book <strong>of</strong> Enoch<br />
in which a group <strong>of</strong> angels mate with mortal<br />
females. They then fell from grace <strong>and</strong> became<br />
devils after leaving their heavenly abode. The Book<br />
<strong>of</strong> Jubilees adds that God sent the Flood to destroy<br />
the race <strong>of</strong> sinful giants who were the <strong>of</strong>fspring <strong>of</strong><br />
these unnatural unions.<br />
See also Enoch; Judaism<br />
For Further Reading:<br />
Giovetti, Paola. <strong>An</strong>gels. The Role <strong>of</strong> Celestial<br />
Guardians <strong>and</strong> Beings <strong>of</strong> Light. Transl. Toby<br />
McCormick. 1989. York Beach, ME: Samuel<br />
Wiser, 1993.<br />
Prophet, Elizabeth Clare. Forbidden Mysteries <strong>of</strong><br />
Enoch: Fallen <strong>An</strong>gels <strong>and</strong> the Origins <strong>of</strong> Evil. 1983.<br />
Livingston, MT: Summit University Press, 1992.<br />
Bosch, Hieronymus<br />
As a result <strong>of</strong> the complicated messages <strong>of</strong> his art,<br />
Bosch has <strong>of</strong>ten been described as a worshiper <strong>of</strong><br />
Satan, as well as a devout Catholic, a psychotic<br />
madman, a naïve humorist, <strong>and</strong> a religious<br />
fanatic. Even though little is known about his life,<br />
it is presumed that the popular, moralizing literature<br />
<strong>and</strong> other beliefs <strong>of</strong> his time influenced<br />
Bosch’s symbolism.<br />
The paintings <strong>of</strong> the Flemish artist Hieronymus<br />
Bosch (Hertogenbosch 1450–1516),<br />
reflect his obsession with man’s sin <strong>and</strong> damnation.<br />
The world portrayed by the artist is populated<br />
by a multitude <strong>of</strong> symbols from astrology,<br />
sorcery, <strong>and</strong> alchemy, <strong>and</strong> strange forms that are<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten composed <strong>of</strong> dislocated elements <strong>of</strong> real<br />
beings. Each detail <strong>of</strong> his paintings contains an<br />
allusion to a symbolic significance within the<br />
whole, which can be considered a kind <strong>of</strong> allegory<br />
illustrating the opposite guises <strong>of</strong> Christian life:<br />
sin <strong>and</strong> attachment to earthly pleasures on one<br />
h<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> the force <strong>of</strong> faith against evil on the<br />
other. Bosch’s themes, however, reveal his<br />
pessimism about man’s redemption after life, <strong>and</strong><br />
hell is usually portrayed as a common condition <strong>of</strong><br />
the world in which man lives.<br />
The great themes <strong>of</strong> Bosch’s work, such as the<br />
snares <strong>of</strong> the Devil <strong>and</strong> the soul’s perpetual exposure<br />
to the wiles <strong>of</strong> evil, already appear in the paintings<br />
attributed to his youthful period, which<br />
include: the Crucifixion (Brussels, Coll. Franchomme),<br />
containing the theme later developed by<br />
the painter’s scenes from the Passion; the Seven<br />
Deadly Sins (Madrid, Prado), in which the circle<br />
symbolizes the world <strong>and</strong> the three concentric<br />
circles with the seven sins represent the divine eye<br />
with Christ as the pupil; <strong>and</strong> the Conjurer (St.<br />
Germain-en-Laye, Museum), an image <strong>of</strong> the<br />
credulity that leads to heresy, with the first reference<br />
to the tarot cards <strong>and</strong> astrology. The famous great<br />
triptychs, the Hay Wain (Madrid, Prado), the<br />
Garden <strong>of</strong> Delights (Madrid, Prado), <strong>and</strong> The<br />
Temptation <strong>of</strong> St. <strong>An</strong>thony (Lisbon, Museo National<br />
de Arte <strong>An</strong>tiga), belong to the period 1485–1505.<br />
In the Hay Wain, Bosch illustrates an old<br />
Flemish proverb: “The world is a mountain <strong>of</strong> hay;<br />
each one grabs what he can.” The central panel <strong>of</strong><br />
the triptych shows a large hay wagon surrounded<br />
from all stations <strong>of</strong> life. The Demon, who assumes<br />
human, animal, <strong>and</strong> vegetable forms, gives a fictitious<br />
value to the goods <strong>and</strong> pleasures <strong>of</strong> life on<br />
the earth <strong>and</strong> leads the procession <strong>of</strong> humanity<br />
from the garden <strong>of</strong> heaven, situated on the left<br />
wing, toward hell, on the right wing.