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The Golem Of Prague

Dana said:
I wonder if people truly believe in the existence of such creatures? Are they considered real or just an obscure folklore? could such a thing be possible?
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Unless you could actually show us one it would be difficult to say it was possible - the problem lies in that it only really works within a Judeo-Christain faith framework (and while the creation myth is part of Christianity the idea that one can create a golem isn't - as far as I'm aware) so while one might make an arguement about how faith could make it happen without an external supernatural agency it gets awfully theological.

Is it possible to give some semblance of life to inanimate matter? Well in some ways we are doing that already with robots but the actual creation of a golem might require some seriously fancy pants nanotechnology.

So long answer short: No, folklore and no. ;)
 
Keep in mind that the Golem is part of the Cabbalah. And not the trendy bit that Madonna's into.

In other words, it's not strictly a part of Jewish faith, but rather a part of a particular form of Jewish mysticism, and has its roots in folktales rather than the Talmud.
 
golem article

There's a fantastic article on Golem and homunculus in issue two of Mark Pilkington's Strange Attractor: it would appear that the golem is a largely metaphorical: symbolic that man is an imperfect version of God. Man in creating a golem, makes an imperfect version of himself (but at the same time becoming closer to the creator in a cabbalistic way. "as above so below" that sort of thing. Fascinating article. Buy the mag...
 
Gremlinclr said:
It!
Year: 1966
Director: Herbert J. Leder
Stars: Roddy McDowall, Jill Haworth, Ernest Clark, Paul Maxwell, Aubrey Richards
Genre: Horror, Trash
Rating: 0 Votes
Review: The only feature-length British movie to be based on the Eastern European legend of The Golem, It! is a peculiarly though unsuccessfully ambitious effort. Roddy McDowall plays Arthur Pimm, assistant curator at a musty, relic-filled museum, who discovers the ancient, 8-foot clay figure following a fire at a nearby warehouse – while Pimm’s attentions are elsewhere, the impressive, imposing Golem appears to murder his boss (Ernest Clark at his most dapper and urbane), and Arthur starts to get ideas. Before long, he’s controlling the gigantic stone man to do his bidding, corpses begin piling up, and the police start taking as much interest in Pimm as he does towards alluring museum employee Jill Haworth (paucity of budget allows for a modish hairdo for the female lead, but unfortunately very little in the way of trendy accompanying outfits). The addition of a would-be Norman Bates angle, with the nervous McDowall keeping his late mother’s decayed body around the house for conversation purposes, over-eggs the pudding somewhat since Roddy’s manic performance not only imitates that of Psycho’s Anthony Perkins but at times anticipates the twitchy sarcasm of Jeffrey Combs in the later Re-Animator. As the film lumbers, much in the manner of its title character, to a close, the Golem manages to demolish Hammersmith Bridge before eventually being nuked by the armed forces, but on an outlay of about one-and-ninepence I’ll leave it to you to rate just how spectacular the achieved effects of these mediocre ‘highlights’ really are. It probably all sounded great in the script.
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This is a review for a movie I saw a long time ago about the subject. It was cheesy but interesting none the less. :spinning
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It is interesting that the protagonist is named Arthur Pimm. Edgar Allen Poe wrote an excellent "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym"...Perhaps it is a little tip o' the hat by the screenwriter toward the great Poe?

Anthrorob
 
I have seen two Golem movies: the 1915 silent film, which we screened in a German film class I took for fun, and "Snow in August," into which I wandered when my husband was 20 minutes into it. It's 1947 and an altar boy in Brooklyn becomes Shabbos Goy for the neighborhood Weird Old Man - an elderly rabbi, recently immigrated, who is the focus of suspicion and hostility, especially from the local youth gang, who have already beaten up and killed one Jew. He and the kid bond in admiration of Jackie Robinson, with whom the kid is obsessed, and they learn various things from each other in cozy movie fashion. Mostly it's stuff like the rules of baseball and how to drink tea through a sugar cube, but one thing the kid learns is that the old man holds the secret for making a Golem (I'm hazy on this; I think he tried to use it during the Holocaust and something went wrong - at any rate, he couldn't save his family). When the gang beats up the old man and threatens his mother, the kid - who witnessed the previous Jewbashing and was frightened into silence - locates the key ingrediants to making the golem in the ruined synagogue next door to the old man's house. This is chiefly what I remember about the movie - the kid diligently and solemnly making a man out of construction earth, dressing it in a tablecloth for a Superman-like cape, and pinning the tablecloth with his most precious possession, a Jackie Robinson pin.

http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=7270
 
Mythopoeika said:
Delbert said:
And, Mythopoeika , I've seen "The Keep" and it is a very good, atmospheric film, although I'm not sure about the "mostly German actors", considering that , admittedly alongside Jurgen Prochnow, it stars Ian McKellen (English), Scott Glenn (American) and Gabriel Byrne (Irish)! And it is most disturbing that the end theme is an instrumental version of "Walking in the Air" from "The Snowman" ... :eek:
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OK, that's my memory at fault - I stand corrected. It was filmed in Hungary, I believe. Funny about the tune - this was years before 'Walking in the Air' became famous, I believe.
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Exterior scenes were shot in Llanberis, Wales, if you visit the slate museum you can see some of the locations.
 
D'oh, me and my sieve-like memory again! :lol:
I really must look at IMDB more often.
 
The golem story started up in mid (possibly early) 1800's as a story from a collection of Jewish Tales. That's it's earliest origins. In the early part of the 1900's it resurfaced, I believe. So the story of the Golem of Prague is a relatively recent story attributed to an earlier time (mid 1500's). In short, it's meant to be read as allegory, not as something that really happened.
 
That's a shame... I want.. to believe....


I love this story, it's such a great tale. Ho hum.
 
The all-knowing Wiki indicates that the Golem of Prague IS just from 1847 on in written form... but that the idea of the Golem goes back quite a bit earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golem_of_Prague

Earliest stories
The earliest stories of golems date to early Judaism. Adam is described in the Talmud (Tractate Sanhedrin 38b) as initially created as a golem when his dust was "kneaded into a shapeless hunk". Like Adam, all golems are created from mud. They were a creation of those who were very holy and close to God. A very holy person was one who strove to approach God, and in that pursuit would gain some of God's wisdom and power. One of these powers was the creation of life. No matter how holy a person got, however, the being they created would be but a shadow of one created by God.

Early on, the notion developed that the main disability of the golem was its inability to speak. In Sanhedrin 65b, it describes how Rabba created a golem using the Sefer Yetzirah. He sent the golem to Rabbi Zeira. Rabbi Zeira spoke to the golem, but he did not answer. Said Rabbi Zeira, "I see that you were created by one of our colleagues; return to your dust".

Owning and activating golems
Having a golem servant was seen as the ultimate symbol of wisdom and holiness, and there are many tales of golems connected to prominent rabbis throughout the Middle Ages.

Other attributes of the golem were gradually added over time. In many tales the Golem is inscribed with magic or religious words that keep it animated. Writing the name of God on its forehead, (or on a clay tablet under its tongue) or writing the word Emet (אמת, 'truth' in the Hebrew language) on its forehead are examples of such words. By erasing the first letter in Emet to form Meit (מת, 'death' in Hebrew) the golem can be deactivated.

The classic narrative
The most famous golem narrative involves the Maharal of Prague, a 16th century rabbi. He is reported to have created a golem to defend the Prague ghetto from Anti-Semitic attacks. However these stories are of relatively recent origin. The story of the Golem first appeared in print in 1847 in a collection of Jewish tales entitled Galerie der Sippurim, published by Wolf Pascheles of Prague. About sixty years later, a fictional account was published by Yudl Rosenberg (1909). According to the legend, Golem could be made of clay from the banks of the Vltava river in Prague. Following the prescribed rituals, the Rabbi built the Golem and made him come to life by reciting a special incantation in Hebrew. The word "emet", meaning "truth", was placed on the Golem's forehead. The Golem would obey the Rabbi's every order and would help and protect the people of the Jewish Ghetto. However, as he grew bigger, he also became more violent and started killing people and spreading fear. Rabbi Loew was promised that the violence against the Jews would stop if the Golem was destroyed. The Rabbi agreed.

The existence of a golem is in most stories portrayed as a mixed blessing. Although not overly intelligent, a golem can be made to perform simple tasks over and over. The problem is one of control or getting it to stop, bearing a resemblance to the story of the broomstick in The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
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the ragman from dc comics, when re-written for a mini-series became jewish and had a golem figure in it, which was trying to kill the ragman in order to gain it's own soul.
 
GolemRocks!
Golem

New York-based Klezmer/Rock band GOLEM (named after the legendary Jewish Frankenstein of Prague) transforms the music of its Jewish grandparents, making it modern, edgy, sexy and brash. GOLEM has infused the World Music scene with a breath of fresh air from Eastern Europe. Fronted by Annette Ezekiel - bandleader, accordionist and singer - and madcap vocalist Aaron Diskin, Golem's explosive onstage attitude gets Klezmer to rock.

Through updated versions of old Yiddish tunes, Golem seduces audiences of Klezmer fans and rockers alike, and is equally at home in venues as varied as rock clubs, synagogues, and concert halls, from Lincoln Center's Damrosch Park to the rock clubs of the Lower East Side.

This music isn't just for your grandma!
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I'm heading to Prague in two weeks, so if anyone has some suggestions for good fortean places to go let me know.
 
Xanatico said:
I'm heading to Prague in two weeks, so if anyone has some suggestions for good fortean places to go let me know.
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If you get a chance, read:- By Night Under the Stone Bridge by Leo Perutz, (Nachts unter der steinernen Brücke).

The tale tells of Prague,the then capital of bohemia & the Holy Roman Empire, at the end of the sixteenth century. It features on the emperor, Rudolf II & on the teeming, delapidated Jewish ghetto ruled by the Great Rabi.......
 
Well, I'm back from Prague now. Didn't really see anything fortean. I missed out on a place with a hundred mummified monks, and apparently there is a church somewhere with a real mummified arm hanging off it that I didn't see. But I do have a small clay golem figure in front of me that I bought in the Jewish ghetto. Now I just need to figure out how to bring it to life.
 
Ohhh... do you have the capabilities to get a picture of it?
 
Try visiting 'Kutna Hora' Ossuary. Look it up ont tinternet.
If that aint a bit weird i dont know what is.

Prague is the dogs jimmy, i love it. Been three times now. Lots to see.

Witchflame :D
 
My experience of Prague is: Party town. No real fortean experiences to speak of; but some interesting and novel proposiitons by ladies of dubious virtue..

Not quite a bad Vietnam movie, but the same direction. No, I didn't take up their offers...however... :lol:
 
This Stone Golem was constructed using about 5 foam mattresses, over 50 sticks of hot melt glue, and 8 cans of grey and black spray paint. The foam is glued in large thick sheets (approx 20cm thick) to a fabric bodysuit, and the deep cracks are carved into the foam surface. The bodysuit has a zip up the back to allow the wearer to enter it, and the zip is concealed by abutting foam. The soles of the feet are made of corflute that has been sliced in half to expose corrugations that act as grip. The arms are about twice the length of the wearer\'s arms, and act as swinging weapons made entirely of soft foam. The golem took about 100 hours of work to construct, between 3 people. On its first appearance, the Stone Golem sent twenty bold adventurers into a hasty retreat without so much as touching them.
stolen from:
http://www.mordavia.com/ ...
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www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHl6QkC9__8
 
Yeah, I went to see the bone chapel in Kutna Hora. No that big but interesting nonetheless. Also I took a picture of this golem statue protuding out of the side of a house, I'll try and get it up here.
 
I found the below while looking for stuff on Lake Vostok and there is extensive coverage lower down.
For those who don’t recognise the name, Mr. Sarfatti is a physicist who when young received a phone call in 1953 from a metallic voice telling him, basically, that he was chosen for great things. In his early days he was at the “Chicken Farm” for spoon benders and all manner of occult jiggery-pokery. This NG is seriously weird in parts and there is other discussion of the Golem on other pages.
http://www.ced.appstate.edu/projects/fifthd/index.html

http://www.ced.appstate.edu/projects/fifthd/legend.html

[04:09p.m. As you can see below I have a direct Jungain Synchronicity
that resonates, connects with Jack Sarfatti and his Telephone Call
From the Future 1953, and the Rabbi of Prague's GOLEM from the FIFTH
DIMENSION. ENIAC.


Then a printer began ever so slowly to print. The keys began to work
faster, and faster, and faster. All the kids and interns gathered
around the printer and read the message.

The message said, "I AM THE GOLEM! THIS IS MY FIFTH DIMENSION! I WILL
SEND YOU THE FIFTH DIMENSION CONSTITUTION. FROM THIS DAY ON, I WILL
BE RIDING AND SURFING ON YOUR CYBERWIND

Where is the Golem now? Some think the Golem lives in the memories of
computers. Others think that the Golem hides in ENIAC, the first
computer ever made.

All we know is that the Golem is some where out there in cyberland
having fun and playing jokes on us when we play in the Fifth
Dimension! :splat:
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A blatant BUMP for this thread to add the following LINK:

How does one actually make a golem? Rashi (10th century) commenting on the Talmudic account cited above explains that Rava made his Golem "by means of the Book of Formation" and all the sources agree that this is how a Golem is made. The procedure is described by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan:

An initiate should not do it alone, but should always be accompanied by one or two colleagues. The Golem must be made of virgin soil, taken from a place where no man has ever dug. The soil must be kneaded with pure spring water, taken directly from the ground. If this water is placed in any kind of vessel, it can no longer be used. The people making the Golem must purify themselves totally before engaging in this activity, both physically and spiritually. While making the Golem, they must wear clean white vestments… One must not make any mistake or error in the pronunciation… no interruption whatsoever may occur…

There is also evidence that creating a Golem was primarily not a physical procedure, but rather, a highly advanced meditative technique. By chanting the appropriate letter arrays together with the letters of the Tetragrammaton, the initiate could form a very real mental image of a human being, limb by limb… Once the conceptual Golem was completed, this spiritual potential could be transferred to a clay form and actually animate it. This was the process through which a physical Golem would be brought to life.

For example, Eleazar of Worms, in his Commentary on Sefer Yetzirah, wrote (in a somewhat twisted fashion) that after kneading virgin soil from the mountains with pure water, the first stage of creation is to form the "limbs" of the golem ("limb", in this case, seems to also represent the torso and head) . Each limb has a "corresponding letter mentioned in Sefer Yetzirah", and this letter is to be combined with every other letter of the Hebrew alphabet to form pairs. Then a more general permutation is done (again for each limb separately) of each letter of the Hebrew alphabet with every other letter into letter pairs, "each limb separately". This second, basic method of combination is called the "221 gates". Then you combine each letter of the alphabet with each vowel sound (apparently for each limb). That concludes the first stage, the formation of the golem's body. In the second stage you must combine each letter of the alphabet with each letter from the Tetragrammaton (YHVH), and pronounce each of the resulting letter pairs with every possible vowel sound. In this case the use of the Tetragrammaton, even though it is permutated, is the "activation word".
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Once went to a lecture by a learned Rabbi about the Golem of Prague.
He said there was no evidence for it ever having existed, and that the earliest reports about it were written over 100 years later.
 
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