The Paladin's Odyssey (The Windows of Heaven) (58 page)

Although the literary and historic context and commentaries of the ancient Jews of Jesus’ day
(
and before
)
uniformly interpret Genesis 6 as referring to fallen angels in some way “taking wives,” it would not be necessary that the “giants” be anything other than genetically human
given the above scenario.
The idea of
the
god-human hybrid was a main basis for legitimizing power among the “god-emperors” of the ancient world. The whole thing may well have been the
template
of “the Lie”
Satan
used. Genesis 6:4 may even suggest this was true after the Flood as well as before:

“There were giants on the earth in those days,
and also afterward
, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”

Something perverse went on, but it need not have been capable of producing natural offspring.
Priests and priestesses, under demonic influences, did what men and women do “in the name of their god.”
The
offspring
would have been raised to believe they were supernaturally conceived and the use of hallucinogens (many of which are also mutagens)
on the women would cement the lie in emotionally experiential stone. In terms of phenomena, the s
ociety viewed it as a “marriage
”
and the children as being “born to the sons of God” by their “wives.”
There are animist cults in West Africa that do exactly this very thing
today
.

Th
is possibility
would not imply that Noah or any of the Bible patriarchs or authors considered such marriages valid; anymore than biblical Christians consider a homosexual marriage to be valid simply because they might refer to it as “Gay marriage” in describing the history of our times.

Of course, none of us
was
there. Could fallen angels tamper with the human genome? Who knows?
Th
at
possibility creates many theological problems for us today—we don’t see reality as the ancients did. I think the best we can do is to word our discussion of this subject carefully, as did William Whiston, who used the phrase “in some sense” when he said,
“that the fallen angels were, in some sense, the fathers of the old giants, was the constant opinion of antiquity.”

In what sense, we have no way to know
for sure
. I depict various forms of tampering on the part of the “sons of God” to pull off procreation
, though all require both male and female
human
genetic material—even
for
my more fanciful chimeras like “Typhunu.”
Some of this tampering is quite sophisticated
in the story
, while other forms are primitive and rely more on mutagenic and hallucinogenic potions and altered states of consciousness. Either way, the antagonists of this story cross divine limits they should not cross, manipulating human beings
in dehumanizing ways
to do so. This is the theological substance of Genesis 6, even if I’ve gotten the
particulars
all
wrong (which I probably have, since I wasn’t
there
to witness things).

This approach has opened the door for this story to make pertinent statements about current bio-ethics, particularly the abuses of genetic engineering and neuro-pharmacology—which is a rightful and necessary province for any Christian fiction writer in the 21
st
century. Thus
,
I make no apologies. For our culture, like
that of
the pre-Flood world, is also crossing many divine limits that
it
should
not
.

No doubt
,
the consequences will eventually be just as devastating.

THE PALADIN’S ODYSSEY
|
367

Glossary of People &
Terms
(Updated for Book 2)
The definitions are often in relation to the story – some are fictional, others connect with either biblical history or ancient mythology.

A’Nu-Ahki –
Prince of Salaam-Surupag and Akh’Uzan; the biblical Noah.

A’Nu –
The person of the Creator God
E’Yahavah
residing in the Heavens; which describes God in his most vast, beyond human ability-to-know sense. The contraction
A’Nu
loosely translates as
heaven
, and so the name of
A’Nu-Ahki
(in the story) means
Heavensent Comfort
. The biblical name
Noah
means simply
rest
or
comfort
. My attempt to fictionally
reverse-engineer
Sumer
o-Akkad
ian theo-historic revisionism (their “sky-god” was called Anu or An) may prove incorrect—though it is reasonable, as scholars with far more qualification than I have suggested it as a hypothesis. Nor is it an attempt at mix paganism with Judeo-Christian theology, since the Sumerian Anu
i
s revisionism, and my story clearly defines its own terms on this matter. Since I view Genesis as history
,
and the implications of Babel are that we all come from common stock, it is not unreasonable or blasphemous to expect Sumer to have revised the meaning of earlier names to misuse them in their polytheistic mythology. History is full of such examples. The dignified
El Elyon
of Melchizedec and Abraham was 500 years after Abraham depicted by Ugaritic Canaanite inscriptions in less-than-flattering terms. The Canaanite tablets still presented
El Elyon
as the in-name-only head of their pantheon even in redefined form, nevertheless. In no way do my novels imply that the Sumerian Anu and the Hebrew YHWH are the same divinity. Rather
,
they suggest that maybe the polytheistic Sumerians (or perhaps their immediate predecessors) corrupted earlier names and terms from an entirely different Noahic theological tradition. It would have been easier than trying to use divinity names that people found foreign.

Abyssu –
The original massive water sphere from which all other elements and compounds were formed through gravity compaction-induced nucleosynthesis on creation days 1 and 2. The etymology of the English word traced back through Greek to the Sumero-Akkadian word
Absu
. In Sumero-Akkadian myth, the
absu
was the
subterranean
fresh water abyss that housed their earth god Enki. The Sumero-Akkadians personified the
absu
as the consort o
f the ocean-water abyss monster—
goddess
Tiamat
.

aerodrone –
A fixed-wing aircraft that functions by the same aerodynamic principles as modern airplanes. At first fueled by alcohol burning air-cooled internal combustion engines, but later by a more efficient turpentine-like distillate of an extinct conifer.

amphiptere –
A non-crested winged dragon that fed on carrion. Fossil remains of this creature today are called
Dimorphodon
.

Archronos –
The unique title of the divinely created first man and archon. Later corrupted to Chronos, an early Greek god (father of Zeus) who devoured his children and had to be overthrown along with the
titans
.

Assuri
and
Assurim –
The pre-Flood Assyria of Genesis 2 and the people who lived there. Similarity with the post-Flood Assyria is only in name.

astra
– An aircraft with jet turbine engines more advanced than aerodrones.

At’Lahazh
– Prominent
titan
in Aztlan—remembered in Greek myth as Atlas, King of Atlantis.

Atum-Ra –
The biblical Adam, which devolved much later into the earliest version of the Egyptian creator/sun god Ra, who was the eldest of the gods and ruled during the idyllic “First Time” of Egyptian myth. Though connecting Adam with Atum is a fictional device, the ancient god-kings of most pagan mythologies have too many
commonalities to be coincidental, and may be faded deified memories of our much longer-lived early fathers.

Basilisk, the –
The oldest and chief of the heavenly rebels of the First Insurrection. The biblical serpent of Eden.

behemoth –
The superlative form of
behema
—the biggest and most magnificent of all grazing animals. The description of this creature in Job 40:15-24 resembles most a sauropod dinosaur. (Hippos, elephants, and all other large modern herbivores suggested by modernist opinions do not have large “cedar-like” tails but little dinky things—see the Bible passage.)

cockatrice –
A chameleon pack-hunting wurm, the fossils of which are today classified in the
Velociraptor
,
Utahraptor
,
and
Deinonychus
family. It is used almost synonymously with the word
basilisk
.

Comforter from A’Nu, the –
A semi-messianic prophetic figure predicted to arise among the Seer Clan that would comfort the faithful concerning the depredations of the Curse and preserve them through
W
orld-end. We find a glimmer of this preserved in Genesis 5:28-29, where the biblical Lemech of Seth’s line prophesies over his son Noah.

Cosmic Dynasty Stele –
The account of creation given by E’Yahavah
in written form to the first created man and woman, a version of which survives today as a redaction by Moses in Genesis 1 and part of chapter 2.

creation codes –
Genetic codes expressed on the DNA molecule.

Divine Name –
Describes the proper name of the Creator God.

Divine Wind –
A spiritual persona of the Creator God
that uses natural phenomena to reveal the Divine presence, and which breathes life into prophecy. Called
El-N’Lil
, or God-as-Air, this name distorted later into the Sumerian storm god Enlil. In this story, it is an early and incomplete
understanding of what Christians would later call the Holy Spirit.

Dragon Breaker, the –
The constellation today called
Perseus
.

El-N’Lil –
See
Divine Wind
.

Eluhar –
The masculine
high majestic
plural (a fictional extinct language form) used with a singular verb to describe generically the Creator God, usually as a judge. It is linguistically related to the Hebrew
elohim
(which also uses a singular verb form), which is the generic term for God.

Elyo
– A depiction of creatures named briefly in the Book of Jubilees as “Eljo” and associated with the giants and other bizarre offspring of the sons of God and the daughters of men. My version of them is
fictional
, although the use of the phrase
el
indicates a linguistic relationship to the Hebrew root for god or judge. I have rendered the term as a contraction that means
Agents of Judgment
, though this may not be how the name developed. The
Elyo
Typhunu is meant to be
a
form of the Greek monster Typhon.

E’Yahavah –
The proper name of the Creator God (in the story), which was lost but restored in history as the Tetragrammaton
YHWH
during the Mosaic revelation of God to the Hebrews. In this novel series,
E’Yahavah
has three aspects:
E’Yahavah A’Nu
—the vast “God of the Heavens and Eternity,”
E’Yahavah El-N’lil
—the “Divine Wind” of prophecy that uses natural forces to express himself, and “The Messenger of
E’Yahavah
”
or “Word-speaker”
who comes in a human form to interact with men when he sees fit. Together they preside over a council of created lesser gods who are beings analogous to the highest level of angels. A’Nu-Ahki’s clan and Seti in general do not view this council in a polytheistic sense
,
nor in a henotheistic one where a lesser god could actually unseat
E’Yahavah’s
preeminence. (That was a later Sumerian corruption.) Evidence in the Old Testament (Psalm 82, Job 1-2, for example) demonstrates that the
early Hebrews had a “divine council” concept in their theology that did not violate the Creator’s unique Deity as a monotheistic God, nor the later Trinitarian revelations of Christianity.

Fire River, the –
The stream of stars today called
Eridanus
. It is associated with the Greek mythical figure Phaethon, who tried to drive Apollo’s sun chariot and was burned.

Fire-sphinx, the –
The bearer of the flaming sword that guards the east gate of
Aeden
. See Genesis 3:24.

First Heaven, the
and the
Ten Heavens –
The ancient Hebrews believed that there were many heavens, 10 by some accounts, 7 in others. The First Heaven was that which held the stars and planets (the atmospheric sky is just the “face of the first heaven” in this view). The other 9 heavens were inhabited by various angelic majesties on up to the “heaven of heavens” where God alone dwelt. This view, though not taught directly in Scripture, is reflected in ancient Hebrew literature such as the Enoch manuscripts, originally believed to be written circa 200 to 150 BC. An allusion to the 3
rd
Heaven is made in one of the New Testament Corinthian letters, and the view of 10 heavens was part of Jewish tradition well into the Middle Ages. In certain parts of the story, like the advanced physics of Q’Enukki, the 10 heavens can be compared to the modern physics theory of 10 dimensions. Though this association is interesting, it should not be taken too seriously. More study in both physics and ancient manuscripts needs to be done.

Gihunu –
The biblical pre-Flood river Gihon of Genesis 2.

gryndel –
The largest of the carnivorous wurm-kin, fossils of which are today called
Tyrannosaurus Rex
or by the name of other large therapod dinosaurs like
Allosaurus
in other locations.

gryphon –
A flying dragon known for its talons and sharp bill. Fossils of this creature fall into the
Pteranodon
family.

Heh’Bul –
The biblical Abel.

Hiddekhel –
The biblical pre-Flood river Hiddekel of Genesis 2, which was associated with the post-Flood river Tigris. It is possible that the post-Flood river was named in early times after the pre-Flood one, though the Earth was so radically changed in the cataclysm that it has no geographic correlation.

High Archaic –
The dialect of the higher tiers of the Seti clans, that is, the oldest generations. Because humans back then lived to such great ages, the most profound modifying factor of language was age, not distance, as it is today. Imagine if Shakespeare were alive today, or Chaucer—how much would they have resisted the innovations and corruptions of speech made by younger men like H.G. Wells or John Grisham. Imagine also how much more forcefully the young would want to express their own ideas and the alienation that would have existed between the young and the old.

Ish’Hakka
and
Khuva –
Ish’Hakka
is the fictional root word for the real Hebrew word for woman,
isha
. At first the proper name of the created woman, until her husband changed her name to Khuva, which is the fictional root word for
uva
,
ova
,
ava
,
ave
,
ovary
, which all linguistically relate to motherhood and to the name of the biblical Eve.

Iya’Baalu
and
Iyu’Buuli –
The biblical Jabal and Jubal, sons of the Lemech from Cain’s line in Genesis 4.

Iyapeti
– A’Nu-Ahki’s eldest son by
Na’Amiha
. The biblical Japheth.

Iyared
–
The biblical Jared of Genesis 5.