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Demiurge

Demiurge (the Latinized form of Greek language|Greek ''demiourgos'', '''δημιουργός''', literally "public or skilled worker", from ''demos'' "common people" + ''ergos'' "work"Online Etymology Dictionary http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=demiurge&searchmode=none and hence a "maker", "artisan" or "craftsman") in philosophical and religious language is a term for a creator deity, responsible for the Creation myth|creation of the physical universe. In the sense of a divine creative principle as expressed in ''ergon'' or energy|en-erg-y,Neoplatonism and Gnosticism By Richard T. Wallis, Jay Bregman, International Society for Neoplatonic Studies Published by SUNY Press, 1992 ISBN 0791413373 "Plotinus is also willing to say that the Nous is unlimited (seeIII,8,8, 46) but not in the same way as the One. The One is infinite because of his indeterminate nature: and for this reason only dynamis, never energeia (which implies determination, limit and form), can apply to him. The Nous, however, is determinate, energeia and thus can not be infinite in its very nature. Nonetheless, Nous is in one respect unlimited like the One: in that Nous is the productive source of potentially innumerable logoi".pg 183http://books.google.com/books?id=WSbrLPup7wYC&pg=PA173&dq=plotinus+energeia&sig=_pNuhvtMY4HEJWulC7-WTIWGDTA#PPA183,M1 the word was first introduced by Plato in Timaeus (dialogue)|''Timaeus'', 41a (ca. 360 BC). It subsequently appears in a number of different religious and philosophical systems of Late Antiquity besides Platonic realism, most notably in Neoplatonism. In Neoplatonism Plotinus identified the demiurge as ''nous'' (divine mind), the first emanation of "the One" (see monad). Neoplatonists personified the demiurge as Zeus, the high god of the Greeks. In Fourth Tractate 'Problems of the Soul' The Demiurge is identified as Zeus.10."When under the name of Zeus we are considering the Demiurge we must leave out all notions of stage and progress, and recognize one unchanging and timeless life." The term also appears in Gnosticism in which the material universe is seen as evil or at least created by a lesser and or inferior creator deity. In Gnosticism, the Demiurge is a being that never should have come into existence, the result of Sophia emanating without her male counterpart. The Gnostics attributed to the Demiurge much of the actions and laws that in the Tanach or Old Testament are attributed to the Hebrew God Yahweh (see the Sethians and Ophites). Alternative Gnostic names for the Demiurge, include ''Yaldabaoth'', "Samael", "Saklas", and "Kosmokrator", and several other variants. He is known as ''Ptahil'' in Mandaeanism. The figures of the "Angel of YHWH" and the "Angel of Death" may have contributed to the Gnostic view of the Demiurge.

Platonism and Neoplatonism

Plato has the speaker Timaeus refer to the demiurge frequently in the Socratic dialogue ''Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus'' circa 360 BC. The title character refers to the demiurge as the entity who “fashioned and shaped” the material world. Timaeus describes the Demiurge as unreservedly benevolent and hence desirous of a world as good as possible. The world remains allegedly imperfect, however, because the demiurge had to work on pre-existing chaos|chaotic matter. Plato's Timaeus is a fleshing out of Hesiod's cosmology, from Hesiod's work ''Theogeny'' reconcilling Hesiod to Homer,Python (mythology)|Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origin By Joseph Eddy Fontenrose pg 226 http://books.google.com/books?id=h56ansk4SyQC&pg=PA226&dq=theogony+timaeus&lr=&sig=GZCR7p87-IJEGh8JmQlbHLx7J_s http://books.google.com/books?id=h56ansk4SyQC&pg=PA226&dq=theogony+timaeus&lr=&sig=GZCR7p87-IJEGh8JmQlbHLx7J_sChorology: On Beginning in Plato's Timaeus By John Sallis pg 86 ISBN 0253213088 http://books.google.com/books?id=gS_9aQ5mYKgC&pg=PA86&dq=theogony+timaeus&sig=pq-zk6XaQB5zvRp-Ek202rHFeToThe mythology of ancient Greece and Italy By Thomas Keightley Whittaker pg 44 Oxford University http://books.google.com/books?id=lWAEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&dq=theogony+timaeus&source=web&ots=Ky1QUcicnt&sig=h-hUAq6p24pQmBXRsfSwV71asgI in a dialectical discourse between Timaeus and the other guests at a gathering, in the dialog of ''Timaeus'' (see also Plato's Symposium (Plato)|Symposium). The concept of artist or creator and even the Platonist conflict between the poet and philosopher (see Plato's The Republic (Plato)|''The Republic'') has a link in Plato's expression of the demiurge in his works. For Neoplatonist writers like Plotinus, however, the demiurge represents a second cause (see Dyad (symbol)|Dyad). The first and highest aspect of God is the One, the source or the Monad (Plato describes this concept as the Good above the demiurge). The Monad emanation|emanated the Nous (consciousness), which Plotinus referred to figuratively as the demiurge. In this he claimed to reveal Plato's true meaning, a doctrine he learned from Platonic tradition that did not appear outside the academy or in Plato's text. Plotinus also elucidates the equation of matter with nothing or non-being in his EnneadsPlotinus "Matter is therefore a non-existent" Ennead 2, Tractate 4 Section 16 which is to express the concept of idealism in connection with the nous or contemplative faculty within man.Schopenhauer wrote of this Neoplatonist philosopher: "With Plotinus there even appears, probably for the first time in Western philosophy, idealism that had long been current in the East even at that time, for it taught (Enneads, iii, lib. vii, c.10) that the soul has made the world by stepping from eternity into time, with the explanation: 'For there is for this universe no other place than the soul or mind' (neque est alter hujus universi locus quam anima), indeed the ideality of time is expressed in the words: 'We should not accept time outside the soul or mind' (oportet autem nequaquam extra animam tempus accipere)." (Parerga and Paralipomena, Volume I, "Fragments for the History of Philosophy," § 7)Similarly, professor Ludwig Noiré wrote: "For the first time in Western philosophy we find idealism proper in Plotinus (Enneads, iii, 7, 10), where he says, "The only space or place of the world is the soul," and "Time must not be assumed to exist outside the soul." 5 It is worth noting, however, that like Plato but unlike Schopenhauer and other modern philosophers, Plotinus does not worry about whether or how we can get beyond our ideas in order to know external objects. This tradition of creator God as nous (the manifestation of consciousness), can be validated in the works of pre-Plotinus philosophers such as Numenius of Apamea|Numenius. As well as a connection between Hebrew cosmology and the Hellenic Platoistic one (see also Philo).Numenius of Apamea was reported to have asked “What else is Plato than Moses speaking Greek?” Fr. 8 Des Places The Demiurge of Neoplatonism is the Nous (mind of God), and is one of the three ordering principles:
- arche (Gr. "beginning") - the source of all things,
- logos (Gr. "word") - the underlying order that is hidden beneath appearances,
- harmonia (Gr. "harmony") - numerical ratios in mathematics. Before Numenius of Apamea and Plotinus' Enneads, no Platonic works ontologically clarified the Demiurge from the allegory in Plato's Timaeus. The idea of Demiurge was, however, addressed before Plotinus in the works of Christian writer Justin Martyr who built his understanding of the demiurge on the works of Numenius."Plato is just the Greeks Moses Numenius", Frag. 8 (Des Places) The Neoplatonic Writings of Numenius Translated by Kenneth Guthrie Selene Books ISDN 0-933601-03-4

Iamblichus

The figure of the Demiurge also emerges in the theoretic of Iamblichus of Chalcis|Iamblichus (a Neoplatonism|Neoplatonist), in which it acts as a conjunction between the transcendent, incommunicable “One”. The One or Source that resides at the summit of his system, and the material realm. Through the Neoplatonic theurgy of Iamblichus one unites with the demiurge and therefore the monad, this process and end result of return, is called henosis (see Theurgy, Iamblichus and henosis). Iamblichus' description consists of the One, a monad whose first principle or emanation is intellect (''nous''); between this monad and "the many" that follow it. Iamblichus posited a second, superexistent "One" that is the producer of intellect or soul ("''psyche''"), completing the dyad mentioned above. The former and superior "One" is further distinguished by Iamblichus as the spheres of the intelligible and the intellective; the latter sphere is the domain of thought, while the former comprises the objects of thought. Thus, a wikt:triad#Noun|triad is formed of the intelligible ''nous'', the intellective ''nous'', and the ''psyche''. Of this intellectual triad Iamblichus assigned the third rank to the Demiurge. The figure is thus identified with the perfected or Divine ''nous'', the intellectual triad being increased to a ''hebdomad''. As in the theoretic of Plotinus, ''nous'' produces nature by the mediation of the intellect, so here the intelligible gods are followed by a triad of psychic gods.

Gnosticism

Gnosticism also presents a distinction between the highest, unknowable God and the demiurgic “creator” of the material. In contrast to Plato, several systems of Gnostic thought present the demiurge as antagonistic to the will of the Supreme Being: his act of creation occurs in unconscious semblance of the divine model, and thus is fundamentally flawed, or else is formed with the malevolent intention of entrapping aspects of the divine ''in'' materiality. Thus, in such systems, the demiurge acts as a solution to the problem of evil. In the ''Apocryphon of John'' circa 200 AD, the demiurge has the name “Yaldabaoth,” and proclaims himself as God:

"Now the archon (ruler) who is weak has three names. The first name is Yaltabaoth, the second is Saklas (“fool”), and the third is Samael. And he is impious in his arrogance which is in him. For he said, ‘I am God and there is no other God beside me,’ for he is ignorant of his strength, the place from which he had come." The Nag Hammadi Library (see Nag Hammadi)

Yaldabaoth

Gnostic myth recounts that Sophia (wisdom)|Sophia (Greek, literally meaning "wisdom"), the Demiurge’s mother and a partial aspect of the divine Pleroma or “Fullness,” desired to create something apart from the divine totality, and without the receipt of divine assent. In this abortive act of separate creation, she gave birth to the monstrous Demiurge and, being ashamed of her deed, she wrapped him in a cloud and created a throne for him within it. The Demiurge, isolated, did not behold his mother, nor anyone else, and thus concluded that only he himself existed, being ignorant of the superior levels of reality that were his birth-place. The Gnostic myths describing these events are full of intricate nuances portraying the declination of aspects of the divine into human form; this process occurs through the agency of the Demiurge who, having stolen a portion of power from his mother, sets about a work of creation in unconscious imitation of the superior Pleromatic realm. Thus Sophia’s power becomes enclosed within the material forms of humanity, themselves entrapped within the material universe: the goal of Gnostic movements was typically the awakening of this spark, which permitted a return by the subject to the superior, non-material realities which were its primal source. (See Sethian|Sethian Gnosticism.) Under the name of ''Nebro'' (rebel), Yaldabaoth is called an angel in the apocryphal ''Gospel of Judas''. He is first mentioned in "The Cosmos, Chaos, and the Underworld" as one of the twelve angels to come "into being to rule over chaos and the underworld". He comes from heaven, his "face flashed with fire and whose appearance was defiled with blood". Nebro creates six angels in addition to the angel Saklas to be his assistants. These six in turn create another twelve angels “with each one receiving a portion in the heavens.”

Samael

“Samael” literally means “Blind God” or “God of the Blind” in Aramaic (Syriac ''sæmʕa-ʔel''). This being is considered not only blind, or ignorant of its own origins, but may in addition be evil; its name is also found in Judaism|Judaica as the Death (personification)#Death (angels) in religion|Angel of Death and in Christian demonology. This leads to a further comparison with Satan.

Saklas

Another alternative title for the Demiurge, “Saklas,” is Aramaic for “fool” (Syriac ''sækla'' “the foolish one”).

Yahweh

Some Gnostic teachers (notably Marcion of Sinope and the Sethians) seem to have identified the evil Demiurge with Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament, in opposition and contrast to the God of the New Testament. Still others equated the being with Satan. Catharism apparently inherited their idea of Satan as the creator of the evil world directly or indirectly from Gnosticism. "YHWH" is generally not used as a name of the demiurge in Gnostic texts. Yaldabaoth isn't likely from "YHWH Sabaoth" since Yaldabaoth has an "L" at the end of "ya", suggesting the name of an angel is the origin of the term as the names of most angels of Jewish origin end with the syllable "el". On the other hand, some angels were called by some YHWH because they represented God's power and authority. This was especially true of the supreme angel that represented God, who was sometimes called the "lesser YHWH", in the Rabbinic tradition called Metatron. A Jewish sect of first century B.C., called the Maghariyyah, held that angels organized the world and ordained the Law. Such views may have been part of the origin of Gnostic Christian belief in the Demiurge and his archons. Nowhere in the Old or New Testament canon, is the creator of the world or the universe identified as Satan, or the cosmos, nature or earth referred to as evil. Rather than presenting Satan as the creator of the world as we know it, orthodox Christianity holds that creation has been subjected to Satan's rule through mankind's defection from the creator. As a result, Satan is called "the god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4); John states that "the whole world lies in the grip of the Wicked One." (1 John 5:19) The vilification of the Creator of the material world is inimical to both orthodox Christianity and orthodox Judaism.St. Irenaeus, ''Adversus Haereses'' Book III, Chapter 2. While concepts such as Syzygy|syzygies (see Valentinus (Gnostic)|Valentinus) and the soul and spiritual as good and the body and the material universe as evil would indeed reflect a very distinct and clear Dualism (philosophy of mind)|duality as it is expressed within the Sethian and other gnostic traditions (also see Mind-body dichotomy). Some people think St. Paul's passage was referring to ''men'' of power falling under the influence of evil as in the world-rulers (since the word ''Kosmokrators'' in Ephesians is ''plural'' meaning many rulers not one ruler) of the darkness of the age this then meaning many evil rulers not just one. The Gnostics held there were several archons under the supreme archon of the cosmos, the Demiurge, but none of the archons are referred to as kosmokrators within gnostic text.

Neoplatonism and Gnosticism

Gnosticism attributed falsehood, fallen or evil, to the concept of a Creator (see Zeus and Prometheus), though sometimes the creator is from a fallen, ignorant or lesser rather than evil perspective (in some Gnosticism traditions) such as that of Valentinius. The Neoplatonic philosopher Plotinus addressed within his works what he saw as un-Ancient Greece|Hellenic and blasphemous to the demiurge or creator of Plato.

Neoplatonic Criticism

Gnosticism's conception of the Demiurge was criticised by the Neoplatonist philosopher Plotinus. Plotinus is noted as the founder of Neoplatonism (along with his teacher Ammonius Saccas),Neoplatonismhttp://www.unl.edu/classics/faculty/turner/triadaft.htm His criticism is contained in the ninth tractate of the second of the Enneads. Therein, Plotinus criticizes his opponents for their appropriation of ideas from Plato:

- From Plato come their punishments, their rivers of the underworld and the changing from body to body; as for the plurality they assert in the Intellectual Realm—the Authentic Existent, the Intellectual-Principle, ''the Second Creator and the Soul''—all this is taken over from the Timaeus. (Ennead 2.9.vi; emphasis added from A. H. Armstrong's introduction to Ennead 2.9)

Of note here is the remark concerning the second Creator and Soul. Plotinus criticizes his opponents for “all the novelties through which they seek to establish a philosophy of their own” which, he declares, “have been picked up outside of the truth”; they attempt to conceal rather than admit their indebtedness to ancient philosophy, which they have corrupted by their extraneous and misguided embellishments. Thus their understanding of the Demiurge is similarly flawed in comparison to Plato’s original intentions. Whereas Plato's demiurge is good wishing good on his creation, gnosticism contends that the demiurge is not only the originator of evil but is evil as well. Hence the title of Plotinus' refutation "Enneads" The Second Ennead, Ninth Tractate - Against Those That Affirm the Creator of the Kosmos and the Kosmos Itself to be Evil: Quoted as "Against the Gnostics". Plotinus marks his arguments with the disconnect or great barrier that is created between the nous or mind's noumenon (see Heraclitus) and the material world (phenomenon) by believing the material world is evil. The majority view tends to understand Plotinus’ opponents as being a Gnostic sect—certainly, (specifically Neoplatonism and Gnosticism|Sethian) several such groups were present in Alexandria and elsewhere about the Mediterranean during Plotinus’ lifetime, and several of his criticisms bear specific similarity to Gnostic doctrine (Plotinus pointing to the gnostic doctrine of Sophia and her emission of the Demiurge is most notable among these similarities). However, Christos Evangeliou has contended that Plotinus’ opponents might be better described as simply “Christian Gnostics”, arguing that several of Plotinus’ criticisms are as applicable to orthodox Christian doctrine as well. Also, considering the evidence from the time, Evangeliou felt the definition of the term “Gnostics” was unclear. Thus, though the former understanding certainly enjoys the greatest popularity, the identification of Plotinus’ opponents as Gnostic is not without some contention. A. H. Armstrong identified the “Gnostics” that Plotinus was attacking as Jewish and Pagan in his introduction to the tract in his translation of the Enneads. Armstrong alluding to Gnosticism being a sort of Hellenic philosophical heresy of sorts, which later engaged Christianity and Neoplatonism. John D. Turner professor of religious studies at the University of Nebraska and famed translator and editor of the Nag Hammadi library stated that the text Plotinus and his students read was Sethian gnosticism which predates Christianity. It appears that Plotinus attempted to clarify how the philosophers of the academy had not arrived at the same erroneous conclusions (such as Dystheism or misotheism for the creator God as an answer to the problem of evil) as the targets of his criticism.

Modern Philosophical views

The symptom of disconnectedness, alienation, or somnolence first expressed by Plotinus in his Against the Gnostics, was also later expressed by Eric Voegelin within his philosophy of Consciousness, in his critique of Gnosticism.Voegelin used Nous to mean intellect that is a divinely creative substance. It is a point of contact between the human and the divine. - Eric Voegelin The Restoration of Order by Micheal P. Federici pg 227Egophanic Revolt- the reductionist aspect of gnosticism. Voegelin as well as Vladimir Solovyov (philosopher)|V. Soloviev sought to reconcile the concepts of Platonism, Neoplatonic philosophy, and gnosticism with Christianity. Soloviev, under the intent of sobornost, sought to reconcile Neoplatonic, Patristic Orthodox Christianity, gnosticism, and nihilism. Soloviev (and by proxy Dostoevsky--see The Possessed (novel)|Demons and the Russian Symbolism|Russian Symbolist movements) represented the demiurge, creativeness, consciousness as nous and stated that to vilify the nous, conscious existence, caused social crises, crises that manifest in scientism or positivism. Voegelin, Dostoevsky, and Soloviev among others believe that it is the vilification and or denial of the nous, consciousness or man's inner experience (spirit) that manifests as scientism and or positivism and causes most of the social ills that plague modern mankind.The Crisis of Western Philosophy: Against the Positivists'' by V Solovyov Lindisfarne Press 1996 ISBN 0-940262-73-8Federici, Michael: Eric Voegelin: The Restoration of Order, ISI Books 2002,pg 17 Political and social policies can not effectively treat the current crisis unless they are shaped and accompanied by the truth of man's spiritual existence. - For the crisis is a loss of the first order, one that threatens the very meaning of the Western world: its consequences are nothing short of that loss of consciousness of reality that leads in its most advanced stages to totalitarian mass murder and existential destruction.

Christian heresies

Cerinthus

According to the Christian heresy|heresy of Cerinthus (who shows Ebionite influence), the ancient Hebrew term Elohim, the “uni-plural name,” a name of God throughout Book of Genesis|Genesis 1, can be interpreted as indicating that a hierarchy of ancient spirits (angels or gods) were co-creators with a Supreme Being, and were partially responsible for creation within the context of a “master plan” exemplified theologically by the Greek word Logos. Psalm 82.1 describes a plurality of gods (''ʔelōhim''), which an older version in the Septuagint calls the “assembly of the gods”; however, it does not indicate that these gods were co-actors in creation. Also, an abstract similarity can be found between the Logos (as applied to Jesus in the Gospel of John|Gospel according to St John) and Plato’s Demiurge, as in John 1:1, which reads: “in the beginning was the Logos|Word (''Logos''), and the Word was with God and the Word was God”. However, typical Christian theology identifies Jesus as the second person in the holy and undivided Trinity, thus rejecting the notion that the world was created by an ignorant or even malevolent demiurge in co-action with a separate, higher and unknowable god.

Non-Western Views

Hinduism

A figure which closely appears to resemble the Platonic Demiurge in Hinduism inasmuch as the Demiurge is the creator, is Brahma, a member of the Hindu Trinity (Trimurti), who figures as the creator god of the universe in all of Hindu mythology. The Demiurge Brahma is a mortal with a lifespan of over 300 trillion years in comparison to the eternal, transcendent, immanent, and ineffable Brahman. Ishvara is Brahman as a personal God and supreme controller of the cosmos. In the Matsya Purana of Hindu mythology, the actual act of creating the current material universe is performed by Manu (Hinduism)|Manu after its last version is destroyed in pralaya while he is rescued by Vishnu. Manu (Hinduism)|Manu then sings/chants the universe into existence and creates the various gods along the way.

Pirahã Cosmology

Among the Pirahã people|Pirahã of Amazonas, Brazil, the demiurge Igagai recreated the world after its destruction in a cataclysm that came about when the moon was destroyed. In the cataclysm, all the animals died and all light disappeared from the world, and the higher levels of the cosmos almost fell on top of the earth. Igagai restored the structure of the cosmos, and created the animals that the Pirahã know today.Gonçalves, Marco Antonio. 2001. O mundo inacabado. Ação e criação em uma cosmologia amazônica: Etnografia Pirahã. Rio de Janeiro: Editora da UFRJ. 39-41

Chinese Mythology

Pangu can be interpreted as another creator deity. In the beginning there was nothing in the universe except a formless chaos. However this chaos began to coalesce into a world egg|cosmic egg for eighteen thousand years. Within it, the perfectly opposed principles of yin and yang became balanced and Pangu emerged (or woke up) from the egg. Pangu is usually depicted as a primitive, hairy giant (mythology)|giant with horns on his head (like the Greek Pan (mythology)|Pan) and clad in furs. Pangu set about the task of creating the world: he separated Yin from Yang with a swing of his giant axe, creating the Earth (murky ''Yin'') and the Sky (clear ''Yang''). To keep them separated, Pangu stood between them and pushed up the Sky. This task took eighteen thousand years, with each day the sky grew ten feet higher, the Earth ten feet wider, and Pangu ten feet taller. In some versions of the story, Pangu is aided in this task by the four most prominent beasts, namely the Turtle, the Qilin, the Chinese phoenix|Phoenix, and the Chinese dragon|Dragon. After the eighteen thousand years had elapsed, Pangu was laid to rest. His breath became the wind; his voice the thunder; left eye the sun and right eye the moon; his body became the mountains and extremes of the world; his blood formed rivers; his muscles the fertile lands; his facial hair the stars and milky way; his fur the bushes and forests; his bones the valuable minerals; his bone marrows sacred diamonds; his sweat fell as rain; and the fleas on his fur carried by the wind became human beings all over the world. The distance from Earth and Sky at the end of the 18,000 years would have been 65,700,000 feet, or over 12,443 miles. The first writer to record the myth of Pangu was Xu Zheng (徐整) during the Three Kingdoms (三國) period.

References in popular culture

- In the novel Deus Irae (by Philip K. Dick and Roger Zelazny) there are implicit references to the architect of the Third World War, Carleton Leufteufel, as a demiurge, with his death resultant in temporary reversion of the desolate landscape of post-apocalyptic America. In Dick's Valis, there is a more explicit acknowledgement of gnostic theological concepts, such as the demiurge and Sophia (wisdom)|Sophia.
- In Jack Womack's novel Elvissey, an alternate history Elvis Presley is abducted by the Machiavellian DryCo so that he can become a messiah figure for a 21st Century religion that views the original popular entertainer as an avatar of the divine. Unfortunately for DryCo and the alternate Elvis, Valentinus (Gnostic)|Valentinian gnosticism is the dominant theological framework in its Southern United States, not evangelical Christianity. Resultantly, this Elvis regards DryCo's intended role as a messianic impersonator for him as equating him with the flawed demiurge creator of the material world.
- In the 1996 LucasArts game ''Afterlife (computer game)|Afterlife'', the player is referred to as the Demiurge. The goal of the game is to build and manage both a Heaven and a Hell to provide rewards and punishments for the inhabitants of the local planet.
- In the animated series ''Æon Flux'', the Demiurge is a god-like entity that Aeon Flux and the Monican resistance want to release into space in order to free the planet from its influence while Trevor Goodchild hopes to use the Demiurge to bring "peace" to the world in his own image. All the while, the Demiurge is using supernatural delusion to pit the two sides against each other.
- Michael Demiurgos is a principal character in the DC/Vertigo comic book series ''Lucifer (DC Comics)|Lucifer''. In this depiction, Michael was created by Yahweh with the demiurgic power to enable the physical creation of the universe. Michael was eventually taken outside of creation by Lucifer, where he released his demiurgic power, allowing Lucifer to create a second universe. Later, Michael's daughter Elaine Belloc became the demiurge.
- Demiurg (Демиург in Russian) is one of the primary characters of "Overburdened with Evil" (Отягощенные злом, 1988), a novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The origin of the name is referred to a Gnostic belief system, in which Demiurge is an entity that produces matter which is inherently overburdened with evil.
- Demiurge is a central concept in the role-playing game Nine Worlds. Players portray Archons, mortals with special powers whose actions as a group represent the will of the Demiurge.
- In the role-playing game Kult, the Demiurge is an evil being who imprisoned humanity in a world of illusions in order to keep them ignorant of their true nature and power, so that he might rule over them. At the time where the game takes place, the Demiurge has vanished and as a result the illusion-prison is crumbling.
- Marvel Comics has an entity known as the Demiurge that was responsible for creating the life on Earth. Mating with Gaea (comics)|Gaea during a demon crisis, Demiurge fathered Atum (comics)|Atum, who in turn destroyed or defeated many evil primordial gods such as Set (serpent god)|Set and Chthon (comics)|Chthon.
- Games Workshop Warhammer 40,000 universe has an alien race known as the Demiurg (Warhammer 40,000)|Demiurg who are great miners and builders.
- Ialdabaoth/Valefor|Ialdabaoth is the name of a Shura God (''Kishin'', literally meaning "Machine God") in Super Robot Wars Compact 3 and Super Robot Wars Original Generations.
- The Vala (Middle-earth)|Valar, that appear in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Silmarillion'', are referred to as demiurges in Tolkien's book ''The Road Goes Ever On''. Tolkien was a Catholicism|Roman Catholic, and the idea of Valar as gods (as presented in the The Book of Lost Tales|earlier versions of his mythos) was in clear contradiction with the uniqueness of God, so the Valar had to be angels, with lesser but still immense power.
- At the conclusion of Gary Gygax|Gary Gygax's final Gord the Rogue novel ''Dance of Demons'', the protagonist's mentor Gellor is given the role of demiurge.
- In the DC Comics Hawkman Special from August 2008, an entity that identified itself as the Demiurge abducted Hawkman from the planet Rann in the midst of the Rann-Thanagar Holy War. The being explained that it had a connection to Hawkman's future and revealed that the myriad past lives and convoluted origin of Hawkman may be a deception perpetrated by an unknown source. He claims to have inspired Plato's writing somehow, inspiring the knowledge of himself into him.

References

External links

- Dark Mirrors of Heaven: Gnostic Cosmogony Category:Greek loanwords Category:Creator deities Category:Demons in Gnosticism Category:Gnostic deities Category:Platonic deities Category:Dualistic gods Category:Conceptions of God Category:Anti-Gnosticism Category:Philosophical terminology Category:Names of God

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