In general use, the word "apocrypha" came to mean "false, spurious, bad, or heretical." This meaning also appears in Origen's prologue to his commentary on the Song of Songs, of which only the Latin translation survives: De scripturis his, quae appellantur apocriphae, pro eo quod multa in iis corrupta et contra fidem veram inveniuntur a maioribus tradita non placuit iis dari locum nec admitti ad auctoritatem.[9] "Concerning these scriptures, which are called apocryphal, for the reason that many things are found in them corrupt and against the true faith handed down by the elders, it has pleased them that they not be given a place nor be admitted to authority."
In the Apocalypse of Abraham
In the extra-canonical text the Apocalypse of Abraham (c.1stC CE), Azazel is portrayed as an unclean bird who came down upon the sacrifice which Abraham prepared. (This is in reference to Genesis 15:11: "Birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away" [NIV]).
And the unclean bird spoke to me and said, "What are you doing, Abraham, on the holy heights, where no one eats or drinks, nor is there upon them food for men? But these all will be consumed by fire and ascend to the height, they will destroy you."
And it came to pass when I saw the bird speaking I said this to the angel: "What is this, my lord?" And he said, "This is disgrace – this is Azazel!" And he said to him, "Shame on you, Azazel! For Abraham's portion is in heaven, and yours is on earth, for you have selected here, [and] become enamored of the dwelling place of your blemish. Therefore the Eternal Ruler, the Mighty One, has given you a dwelling on earth. Through you the all-evil spirit [was] a liar, and through you [come] wrath and trials on the generations of men who live impiously.
— Abr. 13:4–9
The text also associates Azazel with the serpent and hell. In Chapter 23, verse 7, it is described as having seven heads, 14 faces, "hands and feet like a man's [and] on his back six wings on the right and six on the left."
Abraham says that the wicked will "putrefy in the belly of the crafty worm Azazel, and be burned by the fire of Azazel's tongue" (Abr. 31:5), and earlier says to Azazel himself, "May you be the firebrand of the furnace of the earth! Go, Azazel, into the untrodden parts of the earth. For your heritage is over those who are with you" (Abr. 14:5–6).
Here there is the idea that God's heritage (the created world) is largely under the dominion of evil – i.e., it is "shared with Azazel" (Abr. 20:5), again identifying him with Satan, who was called "the prince of this world" by Jesus. (John 12:31 niv)
Seventh-day Adventists
A depiction of Azazel in his familiar form of a goat-like demon, from Jacques Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal (Paris, 1825).
The Seventh-day Adventist Church teaches that the scapegoat, or Azazel, is a symbol for Satan. This was commonly taught among Christians of other centuries as well.[25] The scapegoat scenario has been interpreted to be a prefigure of the final judgment by which sin is removed forever from the universe. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, the sins of the believers are forgiven them, but the fact that sins were committed still exist on record in the "Books" of heaven (see Revelation 20:12). After the final judgment, the responsibility for all those forgiven sins are accredited to the originator of sin, Satan, after which Satan is destroyed in the Lake of Fire. Sin will no longer exist anywhere.[26]
They believe that Satan will finally have to bear the responsibility for the sins of the believers of all ages, and that this was foreshadowed on the Day of Atonement when the high priest confessed the sins of Israel over the head of the scapegoat (Leviticus 16:21).
Some critics have accused Adventists of giving Satan the status of sin-bearer alongside Jesus Christ. Adventists have responded by insisting that Satan is not a saviour, nor does he provide atonement for sin; Christ alone is the substitutionary sacrifice for sin, but holds no responsibility for it. In the final judgment, responsibility for sin is passed back to Satan who first caused mankind to sin. As the responsible party, Satan receives the wages for his sin – namely, death. Jesus alone bore the wage of death for the sinful world, while the guilt of sin is ultimately disposed of on Satan who carried the responsibility of "leading the whole world astray." Thus, the unsaved are held responsible for their own sin, while the saved depend on Christ's righteousness.[27] The SDA Sabbath School quarterly, 2013 asks the question, "Does Satan then play a role in our salvation, as some falsely charge we teach? Of course not. Satan never, in any way, bears sin for us as a substitute. Jesus alone has done that, and it is blasphemy to think that Satan had any part in our redemption."
In Islamic tradition, Azazel (Arabic: Azāzīl) is depicted as a former archangel, who is identified with Iblis, that means "to despair". Accordingly Azazel despaired from God, thus earning him the name Iblis.[29] The name Azazel is also related to the Arabic words Aziz and il with the meaning either God's strength or God's dear, the latter referring to Azazil, as God's once favorite angel.[30] Although Azazel is not mentioned by name in Quran, he is commonly mentioned in some reports of the Sahabah especially those attributed to Ibn Abbas.
Features
Traditionally Azazel is depicted as an angel with four wings,[31] who was the leader and teacher of the other angels. Additionally he was appointed as the ruler of the lower heavens and the earths[32] and was member of an angelic group called 'jinn', who were the guardians of Jannah.[33][34] Then the former inhabitants of earth caused corruption, Azazel came down from the heavens with an army of angels to defeat them.[35] Then God created human to supersede the former inhabitants of earth, Azazil grow haughty, since he thought, the angels were now the favorite creation of God, thereupon He ordered the angels to prostrate before human as a test.[36] Azazel along with the angels argued, why God should create a human being, who will shed blood and confusion like the former inhabitants, whom they had just defeated before, while the angels prostrate before God and sing his glory day and night, thus would never fail Gods orders.[37] Since Azazel insisted on being superior than any other creature, even compared to other angels,[38] he refused to prostrate himself, whereupon he was cast out of heaven.
The eleventh-century Islamic scholar Al-Tha`labi listed in his work Arāʾis al-madjālis fī ḳiṣaṣ al-anbiyā the ten punishments of Azazel for his refusal[39]:
He lost his rank as a member of the keepers of paradise.
He was cast down to earth, expelled from the presence of God.
He was turned from an angel into a demon.
His name was changed into iblis.
He became the head of the damned.
He was cursed by God.
His insights was taken away.
The door of repentance was closed for him
He was made unruly, someone who misses the mercy of God.
He became the preacher of the hellfire.
Further Al-Tha`labi relates a story, in which Azazel tried to sneak back into the Garden Eden and tricked its keeper by hiding inside the mouth of a serpent and with the aid of a peacock
Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz
Author Anonymous: attributed to Johann Valentin Andreae
Original title Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz anno 1459
Language German
Publication date
1616
Media type Print
The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz (German: Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz anno 1459) is a German book edited in 1616[1] in Strasbourg. Its anonymous authorship is attributed to Johann Valentin Andreae. The Chymical Wedding is often described as the third of the original manifestos of the mysterious "Fraternity of the Rose Cross" (Rosicrucians), although it is markedly different from the Fama Fraternitatis and Confessio Fraternitatis in style and in subject matter.
It is an allegoric romance (story) divided into Seven Days, or Seven Journeys, like Genesis, and recounts how Christian Rosenkreuz was invited to go to a wonderful castle full of miracles, in order to assist the Chymical Wedding of the king and the queen, that is, the husband and the bride.
This manifesto has been a source of inspiration for poets, alchemists (the word "chymical" is an old form of "chemical" and refers to alchemy—for which the 'Sacred Marriage' was the goal)[2] and dreamers, through the force of its initiation ritual with processions of tests, purifications, death, resurrection, and ascension and also by its symbolism found since the beginning with the invitation to Rosenkreutz to assist this Royal Wedding.
The invitation to the royal wedding includes the Monas Hieroglyphica associated with John Dee.
There is some resemblance between this alchemical romance and passages in the Bible such as:
The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, and And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: (Matthew 22:2,11 KJV)
And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)
The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz (CRC) first appeared in Strasbourg in the year 1616. It was written in German and entitled Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz anno 1459. No author was named in the book, other than Christian Rosenkreutz (henceforth CRC), but Johannes Valentinus Andreae (1586–1654) claimed to be the author, in his autobiography. First English version appeared in 1690, by Ezechiel Foxcroft, followed by translations into many languages throughout time.
Although the book first appeared in 1616, the story takes place over 150 years earlier. The events of this story span seven days and are divided into seven chapters, each chapter relating a different day. The story begins on an evening near Easter. In the final chapter—the seventh day—CRC is knighted; the year is 1459. It was on Easter-day 1459 that the Constitutions of the Freemasons of Strasburg was first signed in Regensburg, with a second signed shortly afterwards in Strasburg. The Gutenberg Bible began printing in Mainz, Germany in 1455, and the first Bible in German, the Mentel Bible, was printed in Strasburg in 1466.
The nine Lords
The nine Lords are nine books of the New Testament, I Peter, II Peter, James, Jude, I John, II John, III John, the Gospel of John, and the Revelation. CRC believed that the Gospel of John is the only gospel that is historically plausible, and that it is the unleavened bread and its relationship to the Passover that truly divides John's gospel from the synoptic Gospels. The nine lords were bound together with the rest that were at the table (27 total) and CRC cried.
There remained nine of us, and among the rest he who discoursed with me at the table too. But although our small tapers did not leave us, yet soon after an hour's time one of the aforementioned pages came in, and, bringing a great bundle of cords with him, first demanded of us whether we had concluded to stay there; when we had affirmed this with sighs, he bound each of us in a particular place, and so went away with our small tapers, and left us poor wretches in darkness. Then some first began to perceive the imminent danger, and I myself could not refrain from tears. For although we were not forbidden to speak, yet anguish and affliction allowed none of us to utter one word. For the cords were so wonderfully made that none could cut them, much less get them off his feet. Yet this comforted me, that still the future gain of many a one who had now taken himself to rest, would prove very little to his satisfaction.
The four paths
In the second chapter CRC sits down to rest under three tall cedars. There is a tablet fastened to one of them which tells of four paths. An important point is that it's the Bridegroom (Bible) that is offering these paths. It reads as follows:
By us the Bridegroom offers you a choice between four ways, all of which, if you do not sink down in the way, can bring you to his royal court. The first is short but dangerous, and one which will lead you into rocky places, through which it will scarcely be possible to pass. The second is longer, and takes you circuitously; it is plain and easy, if by the help of the Magnet you turn neither to left nor right. The third is that truly royal way which through various pleasures and pageants of our King, affords you a joyful journey; but this so far has scarcely been allotted to one in a thousand. By the fourth no man shall reach the place, because it is a consuming way, practicable only for incorruptible bodies. Choose now which one you will of the three, and persevere constantly therein, for know whichever you will enter, that is the one destined for you by immutable Fate, nor can you go back in it save at great peril to life.
The first path leads to rocky places and this is reminiscent of Peter, "the rock" as he's portrayed in the synoptic gospels. The second path in the text is the path taught in John's gospel, as CRC is told not to turn to the left or right on this path and John's is the only account not to mention two men crucified to the right and to the left of Jesus while on the cross as thieves (John 20:18). The third path would be the general letters of Peter, James, Jude, and John. In the letter of James we find reference to the royal way or royal law (Jas 2:8). In the second letter of Peter we find the only reference to one in a thousand (II Pet 3:8). The fourth path is the letters of Paul. This is where one finds the teaching of the dead raised incorruptible (I Cor 15:52), and the only place that the word "consuming" appears in the New Testament (Heb 12:29).
The story then continues, Whereupon I presently drew out my bread and cut a slice of it. It shouldn't go unnoticed that, after reading this tablet, CRC cuts the bread. Symbol XXIV of the symbols of Pythagoras indicates "Never break the bread". Bread is broken in the gospels of Mark, Luke, and Matthew; however bread is never broken in John's gospel. Bread is also broken in the letters of Paul and the Book of Acts; however bread is never broken in the general letters of Peter, James, Jude and John.
As the story proceeds it's evident that CRC took the second path with the following words, yet I still proceeded with my compass, and would not budge one step from the Meridian Line. Meaning that CRC didn't turn to the left or right. It's also noteworthy that CRC says, "I patiently took up my cross, got up onto my feet". Only in John's gospel did Jesus bear the cross. It was Simon of Cyrene who bore the cross for Jesus in Mark, Luke and Matthew's gospels. But at the same time in Mark's gospel Jesus offered a man "take up the cross, and follow me"(Mark 10:21).
The Parabola Allegory is a Rosicrucian allegory, of unknown authorship, dating from the latter part of the seventeenth century. It is sometimes attributed to German alchemist Henricus Madathanus.[1]
Bearing many similarities to The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, it is steeped in alchemical imagery. It deals with the journey of initiation of an unknown narrator, who, after many trials, enters the Rose Garden and bears witness to the dissolution and reconstitution of a pair of royal lovers into a King and Queen.
Like The Chymical Wedding, the Parabola Allegory has the haunting quality of a dream. It was taken as the starting point by Viennese psychologist Herbert Silberer for an analysis of Freudian dream interpretation, in his major work Problems of Mysticism and Its Symbolism, where the Allegory is quoted in full.[2][3] Silberer interprets the Allegory along Freudian lines then, pointing out the limitations of such an approach, goes on to interpret the narrative along alchemical/mystical lines, placing the story in the context of the Mystery traditions of the world's religions as an allegory of the Unio Mystica.
i thought the spaceport would make a nice place for the kulak wedding of BO and aflb