PURIM, MAGIC, DEMONS AND MORE
One
use of masks is to scare away bad spirits.
Making
noise is another universal way to drive out evil spirits.
Pagan Europe, East Asia,
Christianity and of course Judaism all have celebrations and ceremonies using
masks and noise as well as indulging in food and drink to clear out bad spirits
before a period of cleansing to enter the new year “clean.”
Among these, the Commedia dell’arte masked plays, associated with the Christian springtime ritual of Carnival, may have influenced the sorts of costumes we wear, see the chaste maiden and the scheming villain above.
The
new year was traditionally marked in the spring as a time of rebirth after
winter. The Chinese New Year is like
this as is Nowruz the Persian New Year. Notably, (the Islamic calendar, which is
entirely a lunar calendar, does not have a fixed season for the new year). Throughout Western history, the new year
began on March 25th. Even after the
introduction of the Gregorian calendar when January 1st became the new year, the
spring date remained in use. The
American colonies continued to observe March 25th as the new year until
1752!
Rosh Hashanah marks the change in years on the Jewish
calendar, the first month on the calendar is Nissan (Passover). Purim is compared to Yom Kippur and further
supports the idea of Purim as a new year holiday.
As in all the other cultures with a spring new year, Purim
is a time to use up and chase out the bad and the unwanted to prepare for the
spring. This is one reason why we drink
liquor on Purim as much of it will not be acceptable for Passover in another
month. It also explains the connection
to demons and evil spirits in Purim!
Further comparisons with Yom Kippur reveal the demonic nature of our Purim antagonists:
The Yom Kippur ritual of the scapegoat was also a
lottery, goral, like Haman casting lots pur, to determine the day
to attack the Jews. Putting lots into a
container, the high priest would shake them [a noisemaker!] and one goat would
go to God, the other to Azazel.
Azazel probably referred to a place of wilderness,
but came to be a name for Samael, the chief demon in Jewish lore. Samael is the most like the Christian Satan,
and among other things, was the guardian spirit of Esau and Esau’s descendants,
including Amalek and Haman. (Mishnah
Yoma 3 & 4, Yalkut I:110)
The two goats are twins, like Jacob and Esau, and
just like the two of them, represent the struggle between good and evil.
But Haman isn’t just evil like his forebears Amalek
and Esau. According to the Talmud
(Chullin 139b) he is the Serpent of Eden, "And
God said: Who told you that you are naked? Have you eaten of the tree, ha-min
ha-etz, from which I commanded you not to eat?" (Gen. 3:11) In
the same place we are told how Esther is in the Torah when God is referred to
as hiding God’s face haster astir (Dt. 31:17)
Regarding
Esther, we find a shedim, demons, helping her out, not just fighting
with her: “[Lest
you think Esther cohabitated with him] the Shekhinah hid Esther from Ahasuerus and gave him a [shapeshifting] shedah instead
while she returned to Mordecai.” While
demons are bad, unlike in other traditions, for us, nothing is outside God’s ultimate control.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:
·
Around
the world, springtime marks the start of a new year and rebirth after
winter.
·
Festivals
for “finishing off” the evil spirits of winter, food “leftover” at the end of
the outgoing year, and releasing pent up energy from being stuck inside, take
place before the start of the spring new year (Nuo before the Lunar New Year,
Mardi Gras/Carnival before Lent and Easter, Purim before Passover).
·
These
festivals involve making noise to scare off the evil and demonic, masking
oneself to hide from the evil, as well as to “get the jump” on nefarious forces
which may seek to destroy us.
·
It is
possible that some of the sumptuary queues Purim offers as well as the notion
of putting on a shpiel, were borrowed from stock characters in the
Commedia dell’arte performance tradition.
·
Rather
than see these similarities as taking away from our Jewish practices and
beliefs, they should reinforce the “truth” of these rituals as somehow
essential to humanity – historically, culturally, and psychologically if not
literally.
·
The
Rabbis have long remarked on the connection between Yom Kippur and Purim. We can see why this is so given the themes of
leaving behind the evil of the old year and cleansing oneself, revealing what
is hidden, in both holidays.
·
The
connection between the scapegoat, the demon Azazel/Samael, the Serpent, Esau, Amalek,
and Haman, vs. the sacrificial goat, God, Jacob, Esther and Mordecai speak to
Purim as being a cataclysmic clash between the forces of good and evil.
·
Humans
must themselves struggle to defeat God’s adversaries and prepare the way for
the coming redemption, which we experience at Passover.
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