Morning, Glory! Moses, Elohim, And The Melam

The following conversation takes place on Mt. Horeb in the northern reaches of modern-day Egypt.

The General stood before the tall, broad figure and listened humbly. The pair had known each other a while. Their relationship had been…difficult…but both were finding a certain rhythm born of trust and respect. The General was much shorter than his counterpart, who was nearly 9 feet tall with very broad shoulders, long hair, fierce features, and clothing made of strange and somehow luminous fabrics. The figure looked human, the General mused, but was not. Uncertainty and a storied past between the two species always made for tense moments.

The tall figure was a prince and a captain in the ranks of an alien race that enslaved humans like the General. This time, though, the General seemed to have found favor with the alien. Though the General could not fathom it, the alien seemed to like him. He said so. But the General also served a valuable purpose for the alien. He had been chosen to lead the Prince’s chosen workers. They were a rowdy bunch of humans, and constantly tested the Prince’s patience. This meant the General was constantly begging the Prince not to kill his people. The workers were a labor asset for the captain, and he was charged with finding them a safer place to live. To say the least, it was…complicated.

They’d been through alot, this pair. The Prince had waged battle on behalf of the humans. He had rescued them from slavery, led them through a wilderness, and had spent much time with the General, teaching him how to organize the people into a nation. The group had traveled many years to the place that they would eventually call home. Here and now approached the final battles to clear the land of enemies and dangers. As they prepared for this final phase, the General had grown a little nervous. 

It was one thing for this prince to fight for them. The Prince was a god, of a race far superior, worshiped and dreadfully feared by the people. Plus, he was huge- he alone was equal to 100 human men in battle. It was another thing entirely for the people to fight for themselves against savages and warriors. This was a servant people, not a warrior class. The General mustered his courage. 

“It’s great that you are doing these things for us. We see how powerful you are. But when we get to the place you are bringing us, how will the other army know who you are? Maybe they won’t fear you and we will have to fight to the death.”

The Prince thought for a moment. “Ok, I will send my power with you. I will show the enemy you are not to be trifled with. That should suffice.”

The General listened and nodded. He still wasn’t quite satisfied. He knew neither he nor any other man was a match for the creature. Certainly no match for more than one of them. But all the General knew of the Prince was that he appeared in the sky in some sort of ball that moved through the air surrounded by fire and smoke. He did not doubt the power. He wanted to understand it. He knew very little of this creature and its magic. If he was going to battle and put himself and his people in harm’s way, he wanted to know what sort of creature he was dealing with. 

“Show me what you are,” said the General. “Show me where your power comes from.”

“Your human mind is too primitive. If I showed you, your mind would break. Instead, I will undress and walk by you. You can see my power in my nakedness. But I will only show the parts of my back. You may not see the parts of my front.”

And so it happened as the alien said. He had the General stand between two rocks. This was for the General’s protection against whatever effect might befall a human seeing a naked alien of this kind. The General saw his back. He saw raw power rippling off of his skin. As if waves of radiance or light moved over his skin like a thin veil of brilliant smoke. He felt his own skin crawl and tingle with the static-electric current pouring from the Prince. It was enough. The General was satisfied, and the two continued their work. 

I’ve embellished the story above. It is a true story, if you are a person of faith of a certain flavor. The story is from the Bible, the book of Exodus. It is the story of the time God placed Moses in the cleft of a rock as he passed by in all his glory. “Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee.” You can read the full account in Exodus 33:1-34:8. The experience so effected Moses that his own face glowed radiant. Just like gods. Moses had to wear a veil so he didn’t scare the shit out of the Israelites. One of my all time favorite stories…a god and a man who planned a nation and became friends. 

Obviously, this is a different way of looking at this story. When you adopt new perspective, it really is amazing how differently a great many things in life appear. I have changed my perspective on so many things. I have worked particularly hard to gain perspective spiritually. As part of my therapy process the past couple of years, I have been asked to spell out clearly what I believe about god. This prompted alot of digging and soul searching and truth finding. Endless parsing of history, legend, myth, explanations. Alot of semantics and words and meanings seen in a different light. I enjoy this process. I enjoy taking something I’ve learned with one particular way of thinking, and then applying that thinking to other long-held external truths. This serves a valuable purpose in both testing the thinking and in discovering new ideas. This, the story of Moses, is one of my all-time favorites. It always struck me as completely unexplainable. And it was, in my limited perspective. Until now.

I see god differently now. I believe that early humans simply lacked the language to convey their experience. Remember, Moses was not very far removed, historically speaking, from the invention of the wheel. He, like others of his time, had to use the best words they had to describe things they had never seen and could not possibly understand. If I were suddenly in the presence of advanced aliens, I may at least have the benefit of science fiction to inform my communication efforts. Moses didn’t have that. The best he could come up with was a ball of fire and a pillar of smoke in the sky that descended to the ground. Other parts of ancient texts refer to similar experiences as gods riding chariots of fire. Even today, we vaguely describe a UFO as a sort of space vehicle. We know what a vehicle is. Moses didn’t. Closest he and his counterparts could come up with was “chariot”. 

TRIGGER WARNING: WE ARE ABOUT TO TALK ABOUT GOD'S PENIS. IF THAT BOTHERS YOU, DO SOMETHING ELSE. What follows is humorous to think about. It's ok to laugh. What follows is also plausible, so don't laugh too hard.

Here’s where it gets interesting. Moses asked to see the alien naked. It makes a certain sense. On a timeline of history, this interaction is what changed the balance over time for the entire nation. It tipped the scales from polytheism to monotheism. Before Moses, the Hebrew nation was essentially polytheistic in practice, if not by admission. After Moses, the one god was enough. 

Early Judaism was polytheistic and arose from a scattering of fertility cults in that region of the world. So, while Judaism was NOT a fertility cult, the Hebrew people themselves were all about fertility gods. It was in their DNA. Right before this incident with Moses and a naked god, the Jewish people had begun worshipping BAAL, a calf worshipped by the local fertility cult. It was so upsetting that Moses shattered the newly minted 10 Commandments in fury and God threatened to kill them all for being so stubborn. Twice. Complicated.

Let’s talk about this word “glory”. That’s what Moses asked to see. What is “glory”? Well, let’s begin with the idea that Moses literally wanted to see God naked. To see his penis. It’s not as crazy as it sounds. In fertility religions, which was the predominant religion in that area at the time, the size of male genitalia was often greatly exaggerated, as humans believed that power was drawn from its essence. Moses wanted to know how powerful god was. So he asked to see for himself. It’s possible and plausible, however ridiculous it may sound today. 

The word Moses used for “glory” was “kavod” in hebrew. God responds by showing Moses his “goodness”, but did not show him his physical front. While “kavod” conveys most of the meaning here, there is another word from the time period that captures the full meaning of what transpired between the two. The word is “melam” in Sumerian. “Melammu” in Akkadian.

So, in short, the conversation, using more words, may go something like:

“Take off your clothes and let me see how powerful you are,” Moses demanded. 

Elohim responds, “My power doesn’t come from where you think it does. I am not like your other gods. I am not the golden calf. My power comes from my goodness. I will show you because you asked, and I like you. But you cannot see my front."

Melam is a Sumerian word that is quite complicated. The word refers to a divine, terrifying, and overwhelming radiance/splendor or aura that gods, demons, and heroes possess. The word itself in context often had to do with light, but its physical manifestations and effects were seen and interpreted as raw power. But it’s more than that. In Sumerian texts- particularly those surrounding the Anunnaki- gods, demons, and heroes that possessed “melam” were able to put it on and remove it as a garment. “As a garment” is an intentional simile. It wasn’t an actual coat or robe or jacket, it was generally accepted that this power could be “activated” or turned on or off by the being as simply as donning or removing a robe. 

The effect of the melam was physically visible and radiated outward from the beings at the center. We all know the early artistic renderings of this effect as a “halo”, often seen around the head or bust of divine characters in art. Melam was such a common experience for early humans in the company of these beings, there was a word for how it made them feel: “Ni”. Ni referred to a tingling sensation on the flesh caused by the overwhelming presence of the divine aura. 

Now here’s where I am going to do some creative weaving of ideas to fill in some gaps in what we can infer from this story. In Moses’ telling, there was a radiance. He asked to see it. So we have visible light. This tracks with other accounts in the Old Testament. A pillar of fire at night and a thunderous cloud in the day led the Israelites through the desert. God is often depicted as descending in fire or thunderous clouds. Moses didn’t describe a sound. He instead focused in this story on what god said as he passed…not background noise. 

But was there a sound? We do have examples from other texts that can inform our weaving. In the Bible, the Koran, the Book of Enoch and in the writings of Josephus, we often see descriptions of sounds that accompany light or glory or splendor in interactions with gods, demons, and heroes. “Thunderous sounds” or “sounds like thunder” are often described in these interactions. Thor, in Norse religion, is the literal god of thunder. We see you, Enlil. So, I feel comfortable saying that thunder is a common sound heard in interactions between humans and gods, and, at the minimum, sound frequently exists in those interactions.

Shifting gears: in the Pentateuch, the Books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) the names for God shift from start to finish. We start with 4 names, or forms, in Genesis: El (LORD or YHWH), Elohim (God), and Adonai (Lord, or Master), and The Serpent. These 4 are either 4 personalities of the same being OR 4 distinct beings…this is dependent on WHEN in the history of Judaism the story is told. This is an effect of Judaism’s slide from polytheism to monotheism. Let’s be clear: in Genesis and Exodus, it was understood that these were 4 different beings with very different personalities and roles. The Israelites were scared shitless of El and often pled to Elohim or Adonai to protect them from El. Over time, these names and forms morphed into the singular God, or YHWH. The serpent personality was understood to be in the same class or of the same species as El, Elohim, and Adonai. 

That established, it is my belief that the Sumerian and Akkadian Annunaki are the same beings or of the same race of beings that Moses and the Hebrews interacted with in the Bible. I also believe that the Melam that was attributed to the Anunnaki is the same radiance and glory that Moses demanded to see on his master’s naked body. Elohim obliged because he liked Moses. He said so. The Melam effect is often described using simile, but I believe that it is a literal effect and a literal telling using the best words they had at the time for something they didn’t understand. 

In my belief, these beings are able to adjust their resonant frequency at will. To suddenly and willfully increase their vibration until their energy is luminous. It becomes light…raw energy rippling over their skin and clothing and radiating outward. As the frequency increases and changes and moves into a range human ears can detect, humans may hear a thunderous, static sound that accompanies the outward-radiating light and energy of the melam. 

Early humans described this as putting on a coat of light…what they were seeing and describing and conveying is the sudden visibility of the spiritual aura. As we know now, that aura is always there. These beings had the ability to send deliberate pulses of energy outward through it until it became visible, and, in some cases, audible. It was quite a show and scared the shit out of people. No wonder they fell down and worshipped. What else could they do? We, those pitiful apes. 

Something other than worship, as it turns out. Because there is another takeaway here in this perspective. Moses did more than fall down and worship. Moses was fucking curious and a little bit entitled. He did grow up a prince in Pharoah’s court, after all. Moses fell down on his face at times. But Moses also stood and talked to his Master, Elohim. He wasn’t afraid to make demands or challenge him. He wasn’t afraid to ask for shit and advocate for his people, often convincing Elohim not to kill them en masse for being so stubborn. Moses talked to his Master face to face as a man talked to his friend. I would love to know what they talked about. And when he would spend long hours on the mountaintop with Elohim, Moses would come down from the mountain and his own face glowed like the gods. The Israelites were terrified of him. He had to wear a veil or they refused to look at him out of sheer terror. Moses had the Melam. 

He didn’t have it at first. He learned it from Elohim himself. Look back at Moses’ original request/demand of Elohim in Exodus 33:13: “...teach me your ways.” What ways? How to vibrate until you glow in the fucking dark, apparently. Why do I say this? Because Moses learned to do it. He was able to align his resonant frequency to Elohim’s and produce the same effect. And the Israelites made no distinction- ZERO distinction- between the Moses Melam and the Elohim Melam. I find it somewhat humorous to think that Moses either couldn’t turn it off, or didn’t want to. He chose to keep it on and active and to wear a hoodie and cover his face. I don't think I would turn it off either.

Remember, Melam is attributed to Gods, Demons, and Heroes of old. But, Melam, in and of itself, is neither good nor evil. It is an ability innate to some beings that may include the Anunnaki such as Anu, Enki, and Enlil…Greek gods such as Zeus, Apollo, and and even heroes like Achilles and Hector are shown in artistic renderings as radiant or luminous….Akkadian deities such as Marduk…Christians depict Jesus, Paul, Peter, Mary, and other saints with the same radiance and halo. Like Moses. Melam is the outward, visible result of divine resonance.

I also believe the Catholic Church, as it sought dominance in early civilization, conflated and confused the ancient concepts of Melam into something figurative that could be bought from and bestowed by a holy priest. Pardon me while I spit. Anyway, if Melam is a thing, Humans can do it. Humans can learn.

I do believe that the Catholic Church was largely successful in stamping out, conflating, borrowing or stealing from and then changing the meaning of many ancient, pagan, and fertility truths. One idea that almost completely vanishes is the concept of the literal glowing divine aura. The Melam. Even the word itself itself- along with almost all words like it- disappeared during the rule of the Church. It’s surviving thread is the idea of a nebulous spiritual aura we think of in Western Civilization with its colors and meanings and such. 

Curiously, however, there is a similar word that survives today. It grew out of Sanskrit, an ancient language originating in an area from the Middle East to Southern India. Today, the word “melam”, same spelling, refers to a category of traditional Indian percussion instruments or a musical ensemble. Music. Frequency. Vibration. Melam. 

Why did Elohim not show Moses his front?

Why did he say that Moses would die if he saw his face when that clearly wasn’t true? Elohim and Moses often talked face to face, as friends do. By the way, it is believed that Moses wrote the book of Exodus and the rest of the Pentateuch, so this, by that token, is a first-hand account by Moses. Why did Elohim say that? First establish that he meant it only in the context of the Melam. Moses could and did often see Elohim's face...just not when he donned the Melam. Beyond that, for reasons why, I can come up with three possibilities. 

1. First, the Anunnaki had been around the block a time or two with humanity already at this point in history. They’d already had to destroy humans and the halfbred and interbred Watchers and Nephilim. They knew the chaos and violence that could arise and how things could go so very wrong for earth when humans get too wrapped up in fertility cults. Indeed, Moses also tells us in Genesis how the cause of that destruction was in large part, human females breeding with giant alien males, called The Watchers, and producing half-breed offspring (Genesis 6:4). Earthly dick can’t compete with heavenly dick, I guess. Sorry fellas. Anyway, maybe this time around, the Anunnaki got together and had a meeting and decided to deliberately dial back the dick in their daily interactions with perpetually horny humans. You may laugh, but Elohim, DID in fact shut down the big dick energy Moses threw his way, redirected him, and then refused to show his front. AND, immediately following this interaction in both the Bible and the Torah, Elohim begins laying down the Law for the Israelites. Like, the literal Law of Moses. One of the FIRST things Elohim did is lay claim to a literal piece of humanity’s collective dick-skin. God mandated circumcision. The Anunnaki shrunk humanity’s penis size, perhaps hoping to keep our eyes elsewhere for a spell. So much for that. But we can note an awkward difference between the male depictions in statues from early fertility cults to statues of Greek gods and heroes. Sorry, David. 

2. The second possibility in my mind begins with the same idea that the Anunnaki were evolving in their dealings with humans after the flood cataclysm. Part of that evolution may be to limit, manage, or titrate ALIEN interaction with an advancing human race. Why would an advanced race (Anunnaki are said to be Level 3) conceal or hide or temper knowledge of its existence? Why, for safety, of course. There are other civilizations.  Other races. Some we know. Some we don’t know. The Anunnaki are advanced enough, so it goes, to understand the need for discretion. They have dominated and destroyed lesser races. They don’t want to be dominated or destroyed themselves. Simple. They do not advertise their existence or location so as not to invite challenge or possible annihilation. The Anunnaki may have chosen, at some point, to limit their interaction with even their own creation: us. Because as we advance and develop our own technology, we may become a threat. Plus, Mankind has to find its own way. Mankind must wakeup. I believe they did limit that interaction, and only occasionally physically check in on us to monitor our progress, and try to keep us from destroying ourselves. That is why we suspect their spaceships will look like comets or asteroids or moons. That is why UFO’s and UAV’s typically cluster around military and nuclear weapons sites…even in one case TURNING OFF the nuclear weapons systems. The monitoring and subtle messaging have increased in intensity in the past decades. But, I digress…

3. The third possibility as to why Elohim concealed his face, specifically, is exactly what he said: that it would literally kill Moses. How? We’ve discussed the Melam. What we didn’t discuss and what we don’t have enough information to intelligently speculate about is what role the eyes and face play in that process? What role, if any, does audible sound play? We are truly so devoid of context here that we are now as early humans describing UFO’s as chariots of fire…we just don’t have the generational knowledge or words, so our attempts border on the ridiculous. I can imagine a Superman-like heat vision. Or a Cyclops-esque death ray from the 3rd eye. Or a Darth Vader force-choke. For that matter, can the Melam be used to kinetically move or manipulate other objects, like the The Force? Can it bend spoons? Perhaps the experience of Melam can be accompanied by a hands-free Vulcan mind meld. We would be overwhelmed by the intrusive thoughts of the alien or the extraction of our own thoughts if not prepared. Or simply just: bro can’t handle the smolder. Maybe in that mode of Melam, in full effect, the energy pulse from the face, eyes, or 3rd eye is just too much for humans and would fucking kill us if we take it full in the face. Whatever. It tracks. Israelites sure as shit believed EXACTLY that about whatever lived within the Holy of Holies. That fear did also transfer intact to the Ark of the Covenant. In their minds, it was real.

It doesn’t really matter either. Much of what I have written in the latter part of this entry is speculative on my part, and I’ve tried to indicate that where I can without overdoing it. Is any of this true? I don’t know. It makes sense to me. It gives me a certain peace with questions I’ve wrestled with my entire thinking existence. It draws from the broadest possible array of history, legend, faith, myth, and conspiracy theory. I believe that truth is like that…drawn from every myth. And, for me, this all fits. It answers all my questions with one line of thought. So I accept it, and it doesn’t feel heretical to do so.  

More than anything, this entry was a fun exercise in thought for me. To reconcile one of my favorite religious stories of my favorite religious character. To test if my newfound perspective alters truth or illuminates it. And I found that it doesn’t alter it, and it does in some ways illuminate it. Many ways, actually. 

The end result for me is a happier, more contented, relaxed demeanor when it comes to answering many of the existential questions I’ve always struggled with. I am at peace with my answers and, as always, I may change them at any time for any reason as I see fit. That's how we grow. For at the end of the day…I’m writing the script. We all do.

When you get there, remember It is possible to alter your own understanding of meanings and language without shifting the truth or the faith meaning of the same things. In other words, believing that Elohim is an Anunnaki being from another planet that taught Moses transcendental meditation and how to manipulate his own inner energy and vibration changes absolutely nothing…nada…zip, zero, zilch…about the character of god in the Biblical story of Moses and the cleft of the rock. Nor does it alter the written words of the narrative. Nor does it change the price of rice in China today. Buuut if I really accept it, and really live it, this new view of truth would require alot of hard-ass work on my part and miserable sacrifice that mostly no one will understand or appreciate.  In other words, it may not change the price of rice in China, but it would change the dog shit out of me….for the better, in anyone’s book that matters. And all of THAT is how you know it’s right. It raises your frequency.

The truth of this story and of us is far bigger, older, and more amazing than we know. So never stop asking.