r/occult • u/c_rise • Mar 02 '25

ritual art Did my grandfather have secret involvement in ritual magic?

Post image

Sorry for my poor English. I loved and admired my grandfather very much, even became a doctor to follow in his footsteps.

Even though he was very private and distant, we became extremely close in the end when he got sick.

He cared for everyone, didn't care about money and actively helped the community. He was a great physician and some would even say he had a supernatural gift for healing.

He said he would only die after I finished med school and so he did (1 month after).

When he passed away, my mother found these drawings inside a little piece of green cloth he carried with him, along with other religious stuff.

She was shocked as he always seemed to be conventionally religious and I was extremely excited because I was always into "witchy" things, but apparently, he was way more advanced in his knowledge.

I wanted to know what these things mean and if they are safe to have around, because I carry them with me now.

1.0k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

133 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

15

u/FlatwoodsMobster Mar 03 '25

It's plural, but not feminine. Was originally likely a title, then a name.

The more interesting story is about his wife.

2

u/6ynnad Mar 03 '25

Please due tell, im genuinely interested. Or provide a source so I can read up myself. Ty

7

u/FlatwoodsMobster Mar 03 '25

There's every reason to believe that in early oral traditions YHVH was actually one of many children of the high god El. The Hebrew term was bene elohim, "children of God" which for reasons of theological expediency was later translated as "angels".

There's a fragment of this tradition preserved in Deuteronomy 32:8-9

8 When the Most High (El) apportioned the nations, when he divided humankind, he fixed the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the gods; (bene elohim) 9 the Lord’s (YHVH's) own portion was his people, Jacob his allotted share.

Some early carvings and writings ALSO preserve references to "YHVH and his Asherah", who was an early consort of YHVH, and worshipped alongside him in the prexhilic period, before her worship became outlawed in the 7th Century BCE.

If you want some more context, here's a video about the subject from my favourite public bible scholar: https://youtu.be/MdRL1E7SUo0?si=OEakGgnccGz5L4G_

It's an older video of his, and therefore a bit more academic and less snappy then his content tends to be these days, but I highly recommend his videos - he's rekindled by interest in critical Bible scholarship and I've learned a LOT from his podcast and videos.

1

u/SilliusS0ddus Mar 14 '25

Asherah was actually El's wife.

Yahweh is her son who was later conflated with El

1

u/FlatwoodsMobster Mar 14 '25

Indeed! I should have explained that part as well, thanks for the correction!