The Angel Samael
The name Samael [סםאל] is Hebrew . Every Hebrew letter has meanings and numbers related to it. When we look at the components of this word Samael, we see that it ends with EL. El in Hebrew means God. In the Bible there are places where the most holy God is called EL. He is also called Elohim which is plural for “Gods” or “Gods and Goddesses.” Elohim comes from EL.
In Hebrew Samael is spelled Samech, Mem, Aleph, Lamed. Four letters. This is a four letter name of God: a tetragrammaton.
Samael in Hebrew
The first portion of this name is Samech Mem [סם].
Sam [סם] (Samech + Mem): bitter beverage, drug, poison, toxin, medicine, potion; perfume
The name Sama-el means “the medicine of God, the perfume of God, the poison of God, the drug of God, the bitter beverage of God.” All of these are accurate translations.
In the Kabbalah we learn that Samael rode a serpent into the Garden of Eden in order to talk to the woman. The serpent is the Divine Mother Kundalini. She is symbolized in the first letter of the name Samael.
The letter Samech looks like a circle and it represents that serpent who eats its tail. That cosmic womb, the ouroboros, the great serpent of the universe, is the ancient symbol deep in the heart of every religion: the dragon of nature, the great dragon, the great serpent. Samech is a circle that is constantly in motion, rotating, which represents the cosmic womb of the Divine Mother, the fire, the base of all existence, the eternal cycle of life:
night and day, dark and light, two sides of the same thing, but which is always positive. This is the great mystery of the Divine Mother, hidden in the very first letter of the name Samael.
Arcanum 15In addition, the letter Samech is the fifteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The fifteenth letter is related to the Fifteenth Arcanum, which is Passion, the Devil. So we see here some very interesting contradictions, so we would say, so we would think. But this is part and parcel, this is integral to the nature of this great angel, duality; the positive and the negative, light and dark, black and white. Lucifer, the tempter, serves God. It is through Lucifer that the universe can exist; nonetheless, we have to defeat Lucifer.
The second letter in Samael is Mem. Mem is the thirteenth Hebrew letter and relates to water. The man represents the waters of life, which are within the womb, both in the microcosm and the macrocosm. Mem is the basis of the Mayim (Mem + Iod + Mem), which is Hebrew for the “waters.”
You can see that the letters Samech and Mem are very deeply connected. In fact, their shapes are very similar. Mem represents the Mayim, the waters, and it is from the waters of creation that all life emerges. These waters are in the womb of the Divine Mother, Maia, Mary, related to Mar, the sea.
Arcanum 13
Furthermore, Mem is the Thirteenth Arcanum, which is the Arcanum of death, Immortality, signifying great change.
So with these two numbers (15, Passion, and 13, Death) we can start to understand something that is somewhat disturbing about the nature of this angel: his name carries death and the devil; his name is related with passion, but also with the power of creation.
Samael is a very potent name, very powerful name, and a very contentious one: but do not forget it ends with EL, meaning “of God.” In other words, we are talking about a messenger from God, whose name carries death and temptation as powers of God. This is very, very important.
This angel Samael is said to be related with the planet Mars, and he states that explicitly in the Zohar . Samael says:
“...my entire domination is based on killing. And if I accept the Torah, there will no longer be wars. My rule is over the planet Maadim (Mars) that indicates spilling of blood.” - Zohar
Mars is related with the sephirah Geburah (which means “Severity”), and is the fifth sphere from the top down on the Tree of Life. Geburah is related with Mars and the Sun, and it is the domain of justice, security, punishment, but from God. In other words, when God needs to send his force to render judgement or punishment, it is the force of Samael, that angel, who does it.
"There was another angel in the seventh heaven, different in appearance from all the others, and of frightful mien. His height was so great, it would have taken five hundred years to cover a distance equal to it, and from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet he was studded with glaring eyes, at the sight of which the beholder fell prostrate in awe. "This one," said Metatron, addressing Moses, "is Samael, who takes the soul away from man." "Whither goes he now?" asked Moses, and Metatron replied, "To fetch the soul of Job the pious." Thereupon Moses prayed to God in these words, "O may it be Thy will, my God and the God of my fathers, not to let me fall into the hands of this angel."
When we look into the Garden of Eden, we see that Samael rides on the serpent; that serpent is the first letter of his name, Samech, and that serpent is the Divine Mother Kundalini, the very energy of creation. In the Bible, the serpent comes to tempt the woman in relation with the Tree of Knowledge. This indicates a very deep relationship between divine knowledge, the knowledge of God, the Divine Mother, death, water, and the serpent. All of these things are deeply profound and the meaning is not easy to grasp. But what we can see is when we investigate the many traditions throughout the world, we find this tree and we always find it is related with the Goddess. In the Egyptian tradition, Nut is the goddess of the Tree of Life, and we see pictures of her pouring out a liquid to sustain the life of her followers; that liquid is the beverage of God, the medicine of Samael. It is the ambrosia, amrita, or soma in Sanskrit terms. Soma gives the power of creation, the power of immortality. Immortality is the thirteen Arcanum (Mem) and emerges from the waters of the Divine Mother.
When we acquire real knowledge, for example, just hearing about this teaching, it can taste bitter, it can taste intense, it can shock us. That knowledge is the essence of this angel, Samael. It is “a bitter beverage” to the ego, it is “poison” to the ego, but it is the “potion” or “perfume of God” that illuminates the soul. Thus when we encounter Gnosis or Daath ( Hebrew for knowledge) we enter into a great conflict, psychologically. I am talking about real knowledge, the esoteric knowledge, not just beliefs.
When you experience this knowledge, and receive your own knowledge from that experience, you feel a great shock to the depth of our soul; most people run away because it is intense and a poison to the ego: it terrifies the ego, because that angel Samael is the angel of death to the ego. The angel Samael is Mars, Aries, the God of war against the ego.
Aries, Mars, Samael is the same force. He wages his war on behalf of God, not for selfish purposes, and not to punish indiscriminately, but to punish on behalf of God, with the permission of God, and for the good of all. Samael performs the will of God. The Zohar says:
"Rabbi Shimon opened the discussion saying, "See now that I, even I am he, and there is no Elohim with me" (Devarim 32:39). He said: Friends, listen to ancient words that I wish to reveal after permission from above has been granted for them to be said. Who is he who said, "See now that I, even I, am he?" The cause high above all causes, the one that is called the 'Cause of causes,' a Cause among all the rest of the causes. So every single one of these causes shall not do anything unless it receives permission from the cause above it...
"The phrase: "And there is no Elohim with me" is Samael and the Serpent. "I kill, and I make alive" is I kill with my Shechinah whoever is guilty and "I make alive" with her whoever is innocent." - Zohar