The Golem is a giant creature created by humans, often enslaved by Jewish priests or sorcerers. Although Golems are created to serve, there have been instances where they escape their masters’ control, bringing disaster upon them.
Understanding the Golem Monster
The Appearance of the Golem
The Golem’s thick arms, legs, and body exude strength
The Golem is made from raw clay and takes on a humanoid shape. Since they are intended to serve in manual labor or fight in battles, they are often created to be quite large.
Their arms, legs, and bodies are thick and powerful, while their heads are small with short necks. Occasionally, they lack facial features; however, most Golems have eyes and mouths.
The eyes of a Golem can be inlaid with jewels or intricately carved. Additionally, they may have magical inscriptions etched on their foreheads.
The Personality of Golems
In many stories, Golems are depicted as aggressive creatures.
When first created, most Golems lack distinct personalities. They function merely as slaves to their creators, obedient and devoid of any thoughts.
As a result, they can appear somewhat dull-witted and require their masters to provide detailed instructions on tasks. Moreover, they are quite clumsy and prone to making serious mistakes.
However, in many tales, Golems are portrayed as aggressive beings. Some Golems even attempt to escape from their masters and devise dangerous plans of their own.
The Extraordinary Abilities of Golems
Typically, Golems do not possess many special abilities like other creatures. They can grow to an enormous size and continuously gain strength. Over time, they often increase in size.
However, because Golems are created by sorcerers, they are often imbued with various spells, weapons, or talismans. For instance, the Golem of Prague can become invisible thanks to a protective amulet. Its master can also teach it spells that summon the undead to assist in completing tasks.
Famous Golems
The Golem of Chelm
The oldest known Golem was created by Rabbi Eliyahu (the Prophet Elijah). Numerous records mention Eliyahu’s Golem, describing it as a creature beyond imagination that obeyed the prophet’s commands.
However, when Eliyahu realized that the creature would continue to grow, he began to fear it and removed the magical inscription from its forehead, turning it into a pile of rubble.
The Golem of Prague
In legend, this most famous Golem possesses tremendous strength but has a very irritable temperament. It was created by Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel to protect the Jewish people in Prague from their persecutors. Due to its incredible power, this Golem was used to assist in construction projects in Prague.
However, it eventually became a predatory monster. The Golem roamed the streets, destroying homes and slaughtering innocent people. The rabbi had to chase after his servant and remove the magical scroll from its mouth, turning it back into a pile of clay.
To this day, many theories suggest that the pieces of this ferocious Golem are hidden in the attic of the synagogue, in case Prague needs a giant protector. For centuries, this passage has been forbidden.
The Golem of Vilna
The Vilna Gaon is the only rabbi in history to have acknowledged that he attempted to create a Golem. All other legends about Golems emerged only after the rabbis had passed away.
According to the Vilna Gaon, he created a giant creature from clay to combat the evil forces threatening Jerusalem; however, he ceased his work after receiving a divine message from God.
The Vilna Gaon is the only rabbi to admit he attempted to create a Golem.
How to Create and Destroy a Golem
For thousands of years, various magical and spiritual records have described the process of creating a Golem. They all agree that the first step in this process is to shape a human figure from clay. However, the methods of animating the clay figure differ significantly.
Some sources suggest that sorcerers need to dance around the figure, chanting letters from the Hebrew alphabet and the secret names of God. When the sorcerers reach a trance state through dancing and singing, the figure becomes animated.
To destroy a Golem created in this manner, sorcerers must corner it, dance around it, and chant a reversal spell once again.
Another method mentioned involves inscribing the word “truth” (one of the secret names of God) in Hebrew on the Golem’s forehead. When this word is inscribed, the Golem comes to life. To destroy the Golem, one must erase the first letter of “truth,” which transforms it into the word “death.”
Finally, this method instructs the sorcerer to place a piece of paper with the secret name of God into the Golem’s mouth or face. To destroy these Golems, the creator must climb onto them to remove the magical paper, which is a very dangerous task.
