The Bricks of Heaven - Mishpatim - Mythic Torah

Lucifer published by DC Comics

If you want to read a comic about Lucifer, the fallen angel starred in his own series written by Mike Carey, published by DC comics, from 1999-2006. A spinoff from Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Lucifer followed the story of the devil after he quit his job and left the management of Hell to others.

But if you want to read a comic about God, you're out of luck. With the exception of DC Vertigo's comic Preacher, whose depiction of God is graphic and theologically challenging, the big comic book publishers have chosen to keep God out of there comics.

God clearly exists in the DC universe, for example as seen in Sandman's Season of Mists, but God is never depicted. Both Marvel and DC have chosen to avoid showing God in the flesh, as it were, choosing to have God off the page, if mentioned at all.

While their reasoning may be simply to avoid offending Christians, Muslims or Jews, they are remarkably in-keeping with most of the Bible, that teaches that "you cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live" (Exodus 33:20).

We may be surprised then to learn that in this week's parasha of Mishpatim, 74 people did just that.

From the Deep - Drawing Borders - Leviathan in Job 26

10] He drew a boundary on the face of the waters, at the border between light and darkness. 11] The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at His reproof.

12] By His power He stirs up the sea (Yam), and by His skill he struck Rahav. 13] By His wind He calmed the heavens; His hand slew the swift serpent (Nachash).

14] Behold, those are but parts of His ways; and how little is the thing that is heard of Him - who can understand the thunder of His power?

י חֹ֣ק חָ֭ג עַל־פְּנֵי־מָ֑יִם עַד־תַּכְלִ֖ית א֣וֹר עִם־חֽשֶׁךְ: יא עַמּוּדֵ֣י שָׁמַ֣יִם יְרוֹפָ֑פוּ וְ֝יִתְמְה֗וּ מִגַּֽעֲרָתֽוֹ: יב בְּ֭כֹחוֹ רָגַ֣ע הַיָּ֑ם ובתובנת֗ו [וּ֝בִתְבוּנָת֗וֹ] מָ֣חַץ רָֽהַב: יג בְּ֭רוּחוֹ שָׁמַ֣יִם שִׁפְרָ֑ה חֹֽלְלָה יָ֝ד֗וֹ נָחָ֥שׁ בָּרִֽיחַ: יד הֶן־אֵ֤לֶּה ׀ קְצ֬וֹת דרכו [דְּרָכָ֗יו] וּמַה־שֵּׁ֣מֶץ דָּ֭בָר נִשְׁמַע־בּ֑וֹ וְרַ֥עַם גבורתו [גְּ֝בוּרוֹתָ֗יו] מִ֣י יִתְבּוֹנָֽן:

In Job 26, Job is speaking once again (funny how, in a book of conversations between Job and his 3 friends only Job ever mentions sea monsters... we'll talk about this in two weeks time when we review the book of Job as a whole), and he describes how God slew the sea monster at the time of creation (when God drew a boundary around the waters).

We see three words/phrases used in parallel - Yam, Rahav and Nachash Bariach. I wrote about Yam here, Psalm 74,, and Nachash Bariach, the swift serpent here on Isaiah 27, but while we saw Rahav mentioned in Isaiah 51, I haven't written much about the significance of this particular name of the sea monster.

Today is Rahav's day.

A Dream of a Place - Tu Bishvat, Israel and the Sandman

My latest piece for Jewish Eyes on the Arts - Oholiav is up now in which I explore dreams of places, and touch upon the dark side of mythology: A Dream of A Place - Tu Bishvat, Israel and the Sandman.

In some ways, this article should be read in concert with my earlier post on why mythology matters, because while I believe that mythology is central, it can be abused to demonise the other, casting them in the role of the archetypal evil. This balance is a key part of my current thinking, that although myth is central, it should not be confused with history/reality.

Happy tu bishvat!

Dreamscape - Behind the Scenes

So far I've posted seven tales of the Dreamscape, posted in the order in which I wrote them. They are:
•Gladiator
•Birth Day
•Sir Gallant 1 and 2
•Genesis
•Prophecy
•The Dinner Party 1 and 2
•Woman of his Dreams 1 and 2

But I haven't written anything about why or how I began to write this cycle. I decided that that ought to change.



Origin of the Dreamscape
I've been working on stories in this world for a long time. I distinctly remember when the first words of Gladiator came into my head as I was walking to the train station in Bristol having spent the weekend with my future wife. Suddenly the opening words coalesced in my mind, and I had to keep repeating them over and over so as not to forget them before I had a chance to write them down.

That was about 7 years ago.

The initial idea was, I believe, the science-fiction element - a dystopian London where the homeless are driven underground and forced to live in the dark and filth. There I imagined they created their own parallel reality of dream and fable, a place where no one suffered and everyone could have all they wanted. I believe that the element of the dream world was very much inspired by Neil Gaiman's Sandman (which is my favourite book of all time and if you haven't read the series, you really must).

Development of the Tales
But what made this idea better than many others I've had over the years, I think, is that this world provided a frame for far more than just science-fiction stories. In this world of dream and fable I could explore ideas of religion, fantasy, mythology and fairy-tale.

I realised that within this one world I could tell stories in every genre I love.

(more after the jump)