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In The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, the
necromancer Joseph Curwen signs one of his letters "Sir, I am yr olde and
true friend and servt. in Almonsin-Metraton." In who? Actually, this
is one of HPL's fairly few references to Jewish mysticism. We know he read
Spence's Encyclopaedia of Occultism (still a handy volume, by the way),
and he probably derived the spelling "Metraton" from there. Spence has
"Metratton", who he says is an angel who "receives the pure and
simple essence of the divinity and bestows the gift of life upon all." This
information, however, is misleadingly bland, and Spence's version of the name is
either mistaken or corrupt.
Actually it should be "Metatron", and this
figure was of crucial importance in Jewish mysticism. The archangel Metatron was
the highest of all created beings. He commanded the armies of heaven and was
even called "the Lesser Yahweh". Though no one is sure, the name
"Metatron" may come from metathronios, i.e., "he who
stands beside the throne" of God, as his second in command. Metatron
represents a conflation of the legends of Yahoel, the Old Testament "angel
of the Lord", and of Enoch the righteous patriarch who was taken bodily
into heaven, escaping death. According to legend, Enoch was not only admitted to
heaven, but also transfigured into a gigantic fiery angel and given the name
Metatron.
If Lovecraft, as seems probable, merely lifted the
name from Spence, he was most likely ignorant of the connection of Metatron with
the immortal saint Enoch. In any case, that joseph Curwen should have been
devoted to him is entirely fitting, since like Enoch-Metatron, he hoped forever
to cheat death.
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