Burning Angels : Freezing Demons
Mythology - Analogy: Suffering or "Just Fuck it"...
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Nearing the final days of the Roman Empire, around the time King Alaric (of the Visigoths) had been tearing up Rome (Approximately 410AD), the furthest Western appendage of Roman influence -what we now know as Great Britain- was left a clusterfuck of cultural melding…
Briton and Celtic believers, some steadfast in their traditions, held tightly to their history. Others, as is seemingly inevitable when dealing with “belief”, adopted favored beliefs from other theological platforms. The borrowing and exchange of mythologies/religious doctrine contributes greatly to the evolution of the many Judeo-Christian sects we see today. During the course of this “religious smelting” process many of the less persuasive beliefs were separated and discarded… Even hidden as if they never were.
Briton and Celtic believers, some steadfast in their traditions, held tightly to their history. Others, as is seemingly inevitable when dealing with “belief”, adopted favored beliefs from other theological platforms. The borrowing and exchange of mythologies/religious doctrine contributes greatly to the evolution of the many Judeo-Christian sects we see today. During the course of this “religious smelting” process many of the less persuasive beliefs were separated and discarded… Even hidden as if they never were.
But I am a skeptic regarding the true nature of religion. Most times I feel it is not the divine story of all things and creation. I feel it is Man -at his analytical, imaginative, and metaphoric best- behind our most enduring and persuasive mythologies. I view many of the stories as the poetic expression of human emotions (the feelings we experience during “Life”). It is from this perspective (and the following ancient snippet of discarded belief) I derive a powerful analogy regarding relationships and the change in behavior that often follows… In the time before machines… In the time when dragon, elf, and man shared the Earth… There lived in the cosmos, far from here, a glorious God. The Creator, the Mother of the Universe… Pure and wonderful. She made a section of the cosmos a paradise wherein |
She and her most beloved (Angels, if you will) lived in Unity and Happiness. For Happiness was all there could be in the presence of God.
After an age (as gods and angels have no reason to count “years”), God decided to venture from their paradise to explore other parts of Her creation… And the Angels were not to accompany Her. Nor were the Angels allowed to wait idly in Paradise for their God’s return. God decreed the Angel’s would journey the cosmos on their own while She journeyed elsewhere. The cosmos is infinite, its vastness has no end; the Angel’s were each provided with a powerful “light” (or lantern of sorts, for explanation sake). This light, as long as they held it, would serve to guide them back to God’s presence (no matter how far they’d journeyed) when She returned home.
After an age (as gods and angels have no reason to count “years”), God decided to venture from their paradise to explore other parts of Her creation… And the Angels were not to accompany Her. Nor were the Angels allowed to wait idly in Paradise for their God’s return. God decreed the Angel’s would journey the cosmos on their own while She journeyed elsewhere. The cosmos is infinite, its vastness has no end; the Angel’s were each provided with a powerful “light” (or lantern of sorts, for explanation sake). This light, as long as they held it, would serve to guide them back to God’s presence (no matter how far they’d journeyed) when She returned home.
At this point, things seemed fine. Many Angels much looked forward to the adventure of travel. But as God and Her Angels parted ways the Angels began to notice an uncomfortable side effect to the carrying of their light… It began as a mild itching. Then quickly, as God traveled further away, a warming sensation began to spread. Soon they felt the light they held encompass their entire bodies, and the warmth became a burning, and the burning… was intense. A number of Angels learned to cope with this pain. Some even journeyed to Earth and, when having interactions with Man, were often described as appearing “illuminated” or “glowing”. Others, not able to accustom themselves to the discomfort of immolation, when having dealings with humanity remained silent, as the only sound they could muster in their torment had been an agonizing shriek. And there, of course, were Angels |
traveling in directions far from here… Some able to deal the searing, fiery glow that consumed them… Others, howling under the strain of their immeasurable suffering… Though, all the while, clinging dearly to the cause of their pain. The light had been their only hope to return to paradise some day.
And, then… There were others… To a God, years are like seconds… centuries are but minutes… and an eon can seem like a reasonable amount of time to be away. (Try this: Sit in a comfortable chair, make sure you’re perfectly situated, and slowly count to ten. Wasn’t bad was it? Now, try this: turn on your stove, make sure the burner is good and hot, firmly place your hand to the hottest coil or flame available, and slowly count to ten. I doubt you’ll go through with the second experiment; but, I think you see my point.) There were others… Angels, sincerely in love with God but, lacking the constitution of those previously mentioned. There were numbers of Angels that grew weary of the pain. Many, after suffering this |
never-before experienced sensation of agony, began to doubt whether God would EVER return. Attempts were made by many, despite God’s instruction, to find Her (wherever She had gone). But, as we’ve said, the Universe is infinite; its vastness knows no end. The Angels that continued to suffer, while some gave up their light, were appalled (some, even jealous) with those who abandoned the notion of God’s return. No longer would these Angels be allowed a return to paradise, never again would they bask in the presence of God, and no longer would they ever be recognized as an Angel. They were given the name Daemon (demon) from then on.
And the Demons, at first, found relief in having cast aside their light. The crackling pain of fire rippling throughout their every cell had left them. And they felt the coolness of the cosmos around them. They enjoyed the coolness in exchange for what they had endured for so long… But… Soon, the coolness became even colder. A frigid wave of icy stillness crept through their skin until it met itself in the middle. A new pain they found… A pain unlike the torment of fire but far worse as its numbing teeth incessantly devoured them bite after icy bite. The torture and isolation of freezing coldness was maddening; self-hated abounded. The Demons overcome by and filled with hatred and this new, unfathomable suffering began behaving as one would imagine.
… Or, so the story goes.
And the Demons, at first, found relief in having cast aside their light. The crackling pain of fire rippling throughout their every cell had left them. And they felt the coolness of the cosmos around them. They enjoyed the coolness in exchange for what they had endured for so long… But… Soon, the coolness became even colder. A frigid wave of icy stillness crept through their skin until it met itself in the middle. A new pain they found… A pain unlike the torment of fire but far worse as its numbing teeth incessantly devoured them bite after icy bite. The torture and isolation of freezing coldness was maddening; self-hated abounded. The Demons overcome by and filled with hatred and this new, unfathomable suffering began behaving as one would imagine.
… Or, so the story goes.
But is this lost, little-known, mostly forgotten story of God, Angels, and Demons really about Heavenly beings? Or does it more befit mankind’s feelings when holding on desperately to a dream? It’s the personification of pains we feel as worry, frustration, and doubts tear at us while painfully clinging to whatever hope we have left… And, at times, the expression of the previously-unimagined pains we find in finally giving up that hope. Thanks for reading. |