The Golem

[scriptomanen]

In Jewish folklore, 'a golem' is an animated being created entirely from inanimate matter. In modern Hebrew the word literally means 'cocoon', but can also mean 'fool' or 'stupid'; in Yiddish it is a slang insult, meaning 'clumsy' or 'slow'. The name appears to derive from the word 'gelem', which means 'raw material'. In the Bible, 'a golem' refers to an embryonic or incomplete substance, an 'unshaped form'. Today, 'a golem' stands for an entities serving man under controlled conditions but hostile to him in others.

In the late nineteenth century the golem was adopted by the European mainstream. Very famous was the novel Der Golem (1915) by Gustav Meyrink, a most fascinating fantasy author and member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.  Having studied theosophy, Kabbala, christian Sophiology and Eastern mysticism, he also tried to practise (in the beginning, quite naively). The main character of Der Golem is Athanasius Pernath, a contemporary artist from Prague. It is left to the reader to decide whether Pernath is simply writing down his hallucinations or gradually turning into a real golem... as maybe Meyrinck was?

Full story here:
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Golem-meets-Meyrinck-in-the-Old-Prague

[Levinthross]

ive eheard that the sorcerer or priest who rectify such things can only do so in a environment in which jewish people are beingopressed and even them give much of there own spirit in doing so
to animate and power the golem.