Enitharmon

Last updated March 30, 2019

Enitharmon is a major female character in William Blake's mythology, playing a main part in some of his prophetic books. She is, but not directly, an aspect of the male Urthona, one of the Four Zoas. She is in fact the Emanation of Los, also male. There is a complex verbal nexus attached. The Zoa Tharmas has emanation Enion, and Eni-tharm(as)-on is one derivation of her name. That should perhaps be read in the inverse direction though, as a construction of the Tharmas/Enion pair's names. Within Blake's myth, she represents female domination and sexual restraints that limit the artistic imagination. She, with Los, gives birth to various children, including Orc.

The prophetic books of the English poet and artist William Blake contain an invented mythology (mythopoeia), in which Blake worked to encode his spiritual and political ideas into a prophecy for a new age. This desire to recreate the cosmos is the heart of his work and his psychology. His myths often described the struggle between enlightenment and free love on the one hand, and restrictive education and morals on the other.

The prophetic books of the 18th-century English poet and artist William Blake are a series of lengthy, interrelated poetic works drawing upon Blake's own personal mythology. They have been described as forming "what is in proportion to its merits the least read body of poetry in the English language". While Blake worked as a commercial illustrator, these books were ones that he produced, with his own engravings, as an extended and largely private project.

In the mythological writings of William Blake, Urthona is one of the four Zoas, who were created when Albion, the primordial man, was divided fourfold. Specifically, he is the Zoa of inspiration and creativity, and he is a blacksmith god. His female counterpart is Enitharmon. Urthona usually appears in his "fallen" form, that of Los.

Background

It is possible that the character Enitharmon was based on Blake's wife, Catherine Blake. In a letter from Blake to his friend Thomas Butts, Jr. on 22 November 1802, he claimed that his place at Surrey had "Enitharmon's bower". S. Foster Damon explained the name Enitharmon as a derivation or an elision of (z)enit(h)-harmon(y). This is to be read in the light of the mirrored name Los (Sol = Sun in Latin). He also suggested that the Greek anarithmon or "numberless" as another possible starting point for the name. Urthona is "earth-owner". Enitharmon is not therefore a simplistic Earth Goddess , but is also not disconnected from that role. Her name can also be broken down to form the names of her two material parents, Enion and Tharmas.^[1]

Samuel Foster Damon was an American academic, a specialist in William Blake, a critic and a poet. When remembered as a Blake scholar, he is often compared in importance to Northrop Frye and David V. Erdman.

In the mythological writings of William Blake, Enion is an Emanation/mate of Tharmas, one of the four Zoas, who were created when Albion, the primordial man, was divided fourfold. She represents sexuality and sexual urges while Tharmas represents sensation. In her fallen aspect, she is a wailing woman that is filled with jealousy. After the Final Judgment, she is reunited with Tharmas and able to experience an idealised sexual union.

In the mythological writings of William Blake, Tharmas is one of the four Zoas, who were created when Albion, the primordial man, was divided fourfold. He represents sensation, and his female counterpart is Enion, who represents sexual urges. He is connected to the God the Father aspect of the Christian Trinity and is the begetter of Los. Tharmas is mostly peaceful, and flees during most of his fights with Urizen. He is depicted in various ways ranging from a youth with wings to an old bearded man.

Character

Enitharmon represents spiritual beauty and poetic inspiration. She is symbolised by the moon and she is characterised by Pity. With Los, she is connected to the North in that they were from Urthona, who dominates there. As poetic instinct, Enitharmon is represented as being born of the sexual problems that happen during puberty.^[1] She rules as the Queen of Heaven in Blake's works.^[2] In Enitharmon's connection to Urthona, who is represented by the loins, she is a goddess that represents what cannot be found within nature. In a natural cycle within Blake's myth, there is a repeating image of an Old Woman, who is represented by Rahab, Enitharmon, or Vala based on which part of the cycles are being discussed.^[3] Enitharmon represents what Los is trying to create, and he cannot have Enitharmon until he is able to complete his duty. In her connection to space, she represents the psychological aspects of unbound space upon the mind.^[4]

Queen of Heaven is a title given to Mary, mother of Jesus, by Christians mainly of the Roman Catholic Church, and also, to some extent, in Anglicanism, some Lutheran churches such as the Church of Sweden and Eastern Orthodoxy. The title is a consequence of the First Council of Ephesus in the fifth century, in which Mary was proclaimed "Theotokos", a title rendered in Latin as Mater Dei, in English "Mother of God".

Rahab was, according to the Book of Joshua, a woman who lived in Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites in capturing the city by betraying her people. In the New Testament, she is lauded both as an example of a saint who lived by faith, and as someone "considered righteous" for her works.

Unlike the other Emanations, she is not a shade of a divine form, but serves as a material wife of Los as well as his Emanation. Blake's early myth describes how she was born after Los gave a material form to Urizen, and she was born as the first female. In his later myth, the sight of Enitharmon's birth caused Urthona to fall and be born from Enion. In that version, both Los and Enitharmon spring from Enion. After her birth, Enitharmon declares that women will rule the world, with Man being given Love and Women being given Pride. This would create within men a fear of female dominance that would in turn bring them under control of the females. In her sexual system, there are four parts: Manathu-Varcyon (desire), Antamon (sperm), Theotormon (frustration), and finally Sotha (war). These are represented by sexual desire being contained to Ethinthus (body), which leads to Leutha (guilt), followed by Oothoon (frustration) and ends with Thiralatha (erotic dreams). In the last stage, war is the ultimate result of sexual repression.^[1] This war is connected to general war and to energy as a whole. Sex is supposed to lead to imagination and love. Love is supposed to leave one to a higher state, and the perversion of sexuality, in Blake's view, leads to destruction.^[5]

In the mythology of William Blake, Urizen is the embodiment of conventional reason and law. He is usually depicted as a bearded old man; he sometimes bears architect's tools, to create and constrain the universe; or nets, with which he ensnares people in webs of law and conventional society. Originally, Urizen represented one half of a two-part system, with him representing reason and Los, his opposition, representing imagination. In Blake's reworking of his mythical system, Urizen is one of the four Zoas that result from the division of the primordial man, Albion, and he continues to represent reason. He has an Emanation, or paired female equivalent, Ahania, who stands for Pleasure. In Blake's myth, Urizen is joined by many daughters with three representing aspects of the body. He is also joined by many sons, with four representing the four elements. These sons join in rebellion against their father but are later united in the Last Judgment. In many of Blake's books, Urizen is seen with four books that represent the various laws that he places upon humanity.

Sexual repression is a state in which a person is prevented from expressing their own sexuality. Sexual repression is often associated with feelings of guilt or shame, being associated with sexual impulses. What constitutes sexual repression is subjective and can vary greatly between cultures and moral systems. Many religions have been accused of fostering sexual repression.

The Female Will is born from an object of affection refusing to give up its independence, and the concept represents what prohibits an individual from being able to have true vision.^[6] Under Eitharmon's rule, representing the rule of the Female Will, leads to Los and Enitharmon entering into a constant state of strife with each other. However, the conflict also leads to Los pursuing her and the two procreating. Urizen is able to take advantage of the struggling between the two by tempting them with the ability to judge Luvah and Vala. This causes both of them to lose the last bit of their innocence. Their union was thereafter filled with both envy and jealousy. Their union also causes Enion to lament over the fallen state that began from this.^[7] She is married to Los, and through their marriage Orc, the representation of revolution, is born. This symbolises the relationship between art and revolution. Los, however, grows jealous of Orc and chains him to a mountain. Enitharmon tries to intervene but Los is unable to release Orc. Following Orc, Enitharmon gives birth to many children. Of these, Satan, John Milton, and Mary are described as her children.^[8]

In the mythological writings of William Blake, Luvah is one of the four Zoas, who were created when Albion, the primordial man, was divided fourfold. He represents love, passion, and rebellious energy. His Emanation is Vala; his fallen form is Orc. Throughout Blake's mythological system, he is opposed to Urizen, the representation of reason. He is also connected to Jesus, who takes upon his form as the being of love after Luvah falls and turns to a being of hate.

John Milton 17th-century English poet and civil servant

John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, man of letters, and civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written in blank verse.

Appearances

Enitharmon appears in Europe a Prophecy , which compares her rule in regards to the fall of Christian culture. Through her, oracles and the Olympian gods are brought back.^[9] The bulk of the work is devoted to Enitharmon's domination of the material world and puts forth various sexual rules through religion. Blake describes how these rules are errors found in orthodox Christianity. The Book of Urizen describes how Los's pity, Enitharmon, separated from him and became the first female after Los created a form for Urizen. In Vala, or The Four Zoas , she is similar to eve and she is the tempter of Los/Adam. The work also describes the connection of poetic instinct and sexuality, along with pointing out how she and her daughters are able to create various things, such as a body for various Spectres to be created. Milton a Poem describes how Enitharmon gave birth to many children, which included Milton himself. In the work, she is described as being connected to Space while Los is connected to Time. In Jerusalem The Emanation of the Giant Albion , she is connected to poetry, and she realizes that she must eventually vanish in the end. Enitharmon is described as having a Looking Glass, which reflects the Eternal world in the Material world. This image appears in the 99th illustration of Blake's to the works of Dante. The design shows the Queen of Heaven, who represents feminine rule and the glass is of materialism.^[10] She also appears as an illustration in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell .^[11]

Europe a Prophecy is a 1794 prophetic book by the British poet and illustrator William Blake. It is engraved on 18 plates, and survives in just nine known copies. It followed America a Prophecy of 1793.

The Book of Urizen is one of the major prophetic books of the English writer William Blake, illustrated by Blake's own plates. It was originally published as The First Book of Urizen in 1794. Later editions dropped the "First". The book takes its name from the character Urizen in Blake's mythology, who represents alienated reason as the source of oppression. The book describes Urizen as the "primeaval priest" and tells how he became separated from the other Eternals to create his own alienated and enslaving realm of religious dogma. Los and Enitharmon create a space within Urizen's fallen universe to give birth to their son Orc, the spirit of revolution and freedom.

Vala, or The Four Zoas refers to one of the uncompleted prophetic books by the English poet William Blake, begun in 1797. The titular main characters of the book are the Four Zoas, who were created by the fall of Albion in Blake's mythology. It consists of nine books, referred to as "nights". These outline the interactions of the Zoas, their fallen forms and their Emanations. Blake intended the book to be a summation of his mythic universe but, dissatisfied, he abandoned the effort in 1807, leaving the poem in a rough draft and its engraving unfinished. The text of the poem was first published, in 1893, by the Irish poet W.B. Yeats and his fellow collaborator, the English writer and poet Edwin John Ellis, in their three volume commentary book about William Blake's works, The Works of William Blake: Poetic, Symbolic and Critical.

Notes

1 2 3 Damon 1988 p. 124
↑ Frye p. 127
↑ Bloom 1993 pp. 32, 60
↑ Frye 1990 p. 261
↑ Frye 1990 pp. 262–263
↑ Frye 1990 p. 263
↑ Bloom 1993 pp. 78, 84
↑ Damon 1988 pp. 124–125
↑ Frye 1990 p. 262
↑ Damon 1988 pp. 124–125, 246
↑ ['The Marriage of Heaven and Hell', with an introduction and commentary by Sir Geoffrey Keynes, Oxford University Press 1975 Link text], additional text.

Related Research Articles

Orc is a proper name for one of the characters in the complex mythology of William Blake. A fallen figure, Orc is the embodiment of rebellion, and stands opposed to Urizen, the embodiment of tradition.

In the complex mythology of William Blake, Albion is the primeval man whose fall and division results in the Four Zoas: Urizen, Tharmas, Luvah/Orc and Urthona/Los. The name derives from the ancient and mythological name of Britain, Albion.

Jerusalem, subtitled The Emanation of the Giant Albion, was the last, longest and greatest in scope of the prophetic books written and illustrated by the English poet, artist and engraver William Blake. Etched in handwriting, accompanied by small sketches, marginal figures and huge full-plate illustrations, it has been described as "visionary theatre".

Ahania is the Emanation, or female counterpart, of Urizen, Zoas of reason, in William Blake's mythology. She is the representation of pleasure and the desire for intelligence. Although Urizen casts her out as being the manifestation of sin, she is actually an essential component in Blake's system to achieving Divine Wisdom. She is a figure of the goddess of wisdom. It is through her that the sons and daughters of Urizen are born. In the original myth, her son Fuzon rebels against his father and is responsible for separating Urizen and Ahania. In his later version, Ahania is separated from Urizen after he believes that she is sinful.

The Book of Ahania is one of the English poet William Blake's prophetic books. It was published in 1795, illustrated by Blake's own plates.

Tiriel is the eponymous character in a poem by William Blake written c.1789, and considered the first of his prophetic books. The character of Tiriel is often interpreted as a foreshadowing of Urizen, representative of conventionality and conformity, and one of the major characters in Blake's as yet unrealised mythological system.

In the mythological writings of William Blake, Los is the fallen form of Urthona, one of the four Zoas. He is referred to as the "eternal prophet" and creates the visionary city of Golgonooza. Los is regularly described as a smith, beating with his hammer on a forge, which is metaphorically connected to the beating of the human heart. The bellows of his forge are the human lungs. Los's emanation, Enitharmon, represents spiritual beauty and embodies pity, but at the same time creates the spatial aspect of the fallen world, weaving bodies for men and creating sexual strife through her insistence upon chastity. In the Book of Urizen (1794), Los and Enitharmon have the child, Orc, who is the embodiment of the spirit of revolution. The name Los is, by common critical acceptance, an anagram of Sol, the Latin word for "sun". Such innovations are common in many of Blake's prophetic poems.

Tiriel is a narrative poem by William Blake, written c.1789. Considered the first of his prophetic books, it is also the first poem in which Blake used free septenaries, which he would go on to use in much of his later verse. Tiriel was unpublished during Blake's lifetime and remained so until 1874, when it appeared in William Michael Rossetti's Poetical Works of William Blake. Although Blake did not engrave the poem, he did make twelve sepia drawings to accompany the rough and unfinished manuscript, although three of them are considered lost as they have not been traced since 1863.

America a Prophecy is a 1793 prophetic book by the English poet and illustrator William Blake. It is engraved on eighteen plates, and survives in fourteen known copies. It is the first of Blake's Continental prophecies.

The Book of Los is a 1795 prophetic book by the English poet and painter William Blake. It exists in only one copy, now held by The British Museum. The book is related to the Book of Urizen and to the Continental prophecies; it is essentially a retelling of Urizen from the point of view of Los. The book has been described as a rewriting of the ancient myth of creation that equates Fall with the loss of spiritual vision brought about by selfhood.

In the mythological writings of William Blake, Vala is an Emanation/mate of Luvah, one of the four Zoas, who were created when Albion, the primordial man, was divided fourfold. She represents nature while Luvah represents emotions. Originally with Luvah, she joins with Albion and begets the Zoa Urizen. In her fallen aspect, she is the wandering figure known as the Shadowy Female. After the Final Judgment, she is reunited with Luvah but placed under the dominion of the restored Urizen.

References

Bloom, Harold. The Visionary Company. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993.
Damon, S. Foster. A Blake Dictionary. Hanover: University Press of New England, 1988.
Frye, Northrop. Fearful Symmetry . Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Damon_p._124-1] 1 2 3 Damon 1988 p. 124

[2] Frye p. 127

[3] Bloom 1993 pp. 32, 60

[4] Frye 1990 p. 261

[5] Frye 1990 pp. 262–263

[6] Frye 1990 p. 263

[7] Bloom 1993 pp. 78, 84

[8] Damon 1988 pp. 124–125

[9] Frye 1990 p. 262

[10] Damon 1988 pp. 124–125, 246

[test-11] ['The Marriage of Heaven and Hell', with an introduction and commentary by Sir Geoffrey Keynes, Oxford University Press 1975 Link text], additional text.