Баал

Баа́л — bl греч. Ваал — «хозяин», «владыка». В палестинской и сирийской мифологии божество отдельной местности или стихии, тождественное Балу. В западносемитской мифологии прозвище богов, производное от Балу.

См. также: Балу Баалат

Черновые материалы

Баал и Баалат / Baal and Baalat

God and goddess worshipped by the Semites, Baal as a storm- and fertility-god, Baalat as a fertility- and especially a corn-goddess. The Hebrew prophets, proclaiming Jehovah as a god conceived upon a higher plane, denounced their worship, deep-seated and constantly revived, which «showed (though in unhealthy and monstrous forms) the religious value of organic life, the elementary forces of blood, sexuality and fecundity» (ELIT p. 4). The worship of Baal came to symbolize the existence or the regular return within all civilizations of a trend towards magnifying the powers of instinct. The worship of Jehovah «manifested amore perfect holiness, it sanctified life without in any way allowing it to run wild… revealed a spiritual economy in which man’s life and destiny gained a totally new value; at the same time it made possible a richer religious experience, a communion with God at once purer and more complete» (ibid.).

Литература

• Одноимённая статья в MNME
• Статья «Baal and Baalat» в PENG