The Golem in History
The word, Golem, has been used for a long, long time. In today’s society, it refers to a mindless construct, serving man. In the Bible, it was used to describe and un-finished substance. The Mishnah used the word Golem to describe an uncultivated person. Even in the Yiddish language, it is used as an insult, referring to someone either lacking in intelligence or speed.
Some of the earliest stories involving a golem come from Judaism. In the Talmud, Adam was created from dust, which was ‘ kneaded into a shapeless hunk ‘. This material, dust or clay, is prominant in most golem literature, as the main component of their body. Some considered the act of creating a golem to be a holy matter, and one meant to bring them closer to God. They believed that by creating a golem, and thereby creating a form of life, they held the same power as God. Yet, regardless of how holy that person may have been, their creation was only a mimicry of one created by God.
In the early literature, one constant hinderance of the golem was a lack of speech. Some believed that, were a golem to be able to speak, it would then have a soul. And, since no golem could be made that was perfect in every way, having a soul would make it extremely dangerous.
Through time, the characteristics of golems were added to, bit by bit. Some stories state that the golem must be carved with words of magic, or religious significance to enable it to be animated. Words of religious significance such as the names of God, usually inscribed on it’s forehead, is one such example. Also present in the stories are the names written on a slip of paper then inserted into it’s mouth, as well as enscribed on some other part of it’s body. Additionally, some stories tell of writing the word ‘ Emet ‘ which is Hebrew for ‘ truth ‘ on it’s forehead. A golem in one of those stories would be deactivated by erasing the first letter of the word, changing it to ‘ Met ‘, which then translates to ‘ Dead ‘. Another method of activating a golem was to write a specific incantation on a parchment of calfskin and then place it inside the mouth. Usually, the incantation was written in the owner’s very own blood.
