METATRON WATCH, and other interesting esoterica and magica:

The Frog, the Demons, and the Jewish Star

Menachem Wecker (The Jewish Press)
Posted Oct 01 2008

The Frog, the Demons, and the Jewish Star
Mark Podwal: Jewish Magic
Forum Gallery, 745 Fifth Avenue
http://www.forumgallery.com


Perhaps upholding Leviticus 19:31, which insists, "Do not turn to those who worship Ob or to wizards; do not desire to become defiled by them," King Saul launched a campaign to eradicate magicians from the Holy Land which was so devastating that the Bible mentions it on three separate occasions. Yet Saul decided to violate his own ban when all he heard was dead air in response to his request of God for advice on the proper military strategy to defeat the Philistine army.

Saul masked his identity and visited a "wife of the idol of Ob" to ask her to facilitate communication with the late prophet Samuel. Amazed, the conjurer asked, "Do you not know what Saul has done, that he has cut off the worshipers of Ob and the wizards from the land," and perhaps suspicious of her client's identity added, "Why are you tricking my soul, to have me killed?" (1 Samuel 28: 3-14).



Although commentators and scholars debate Saul's actions and their apparent disregard for the Second Commandment, Kabbalistic masters and Jewish artists have long embraced magic and amulets. Hamsa hands are still believed to disarm the evil eye, and some carry miniature copies of the book of the Angel Raziel to protect against fires. Mark Podwal's exhibit, "Jewish Magic" at Forum Gallery in Manhattan, continues in that tradition, drawing specifically from the artist's many visits to Prague, where he is such an important fixture that he holds his own personal seat at the Altneuschul, the Old New Synagogue.

[...]

Several other supernatural forms appear in Podwal's works in the Forum show, including Lilith, queen of the demons; Metatron, a non-biblical angel who was said to be the chief angel and divine scribe; and "The Devil Proper" (2006), represented as a brick-red bat's wing, with three demons grabbing on for the ride. Just as many Jewish medieval manuscripts show the hand of God exacting punishment on the Egyptians (but never more of God), Podwal shows just the devil's wing, which leaves the full extent of Satan's horror and menace up to the viewer's imagination. This is, of course, far more frightening - to not even know the extent of the evil present.

[...]

There are pictures and discussions of several of Podwal's works. And there's much more on the artist and the exhibition at the Forum Gallery website.