Golem

In Jewish folklore, a golem (/ˈɡoʊləm/ GOH-ləm; Hebrew: גולם‎) is an animated anthropomorphic being, magically created entirely from inanimate matter. The word was used to mean an amorphous, unformed material (usually out of stone and clay) in Psalms and medieval writing.

The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late-16th-century rabbi of Prague. There are many tales differing on how the golem was brought to life and afterwards controlled.

History

Etymology

The word golem occurs once in the Bible in Psalm 139:16, which uses the word גלמי (galmi; my golem), meaning "my unshaped form", "raw" material, connoting the unfinished human being before God's eyes. The Mishnah uses the term for an uncultivated person: "Seven characteristics are in an uncultivated person, and seven in a learned one," (שבעה דברים בגולם) (Pirkei Avot 5:6 in the Hebrew text; English translations vary). In Modern Hebrew, golem is used to mean "dumb" or "helpless". Similarly, it is often used today as a metaphor for a brainless lunk or entity who serves man under controlled conditions but is hostile to him under others. "Golem" passed into Yiddish as goylem to mean someone who is clumsy or slow.

Golem (Dungeons & Dragons)

The golem is a fictional class of monster created for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game based upon the Golem of Jewish mythology. The golem first appeared in the original Greyhawk supplement (1975) written by Gary Gygax and Robert J. Kuntz and has since then became one of the most well-known creatures of the Dungeons & Dragons game.

Golems are magical constructs made of inert matter animated by high-level spellcasters through the use of powerful spells during magical rituals. The main aspect differentiating one type of golem from another is the material from which it is built. There are four standard types of golems, from weakest to strongest: flesh golems, clay golems, stone golems and iron golems. The flesh golem is created from human remains, and the others are created from earthen components: clay, stone and iron respectively. Virtually any material can be used to create a golem, and hundreds of different types of such creatures have been described for one edition or another of the game.

The Golem (Gustav Meyrink novel)

The Golem is a novel written by Gustav Meyrink in 1914.

First published in serial form as Der Golem in 1913-14 in the periodical Die weissen Blätter, The Golem was published in book form in 1915 by Kurt Wolff, Leipzig. The Golem was Meyrink's first novel. It became his most popular and successful literary work, and is generally described as the most "accessible" of his full-length novels.

Plot

The novel centers on the life of Athanasius Pernath, a jeweler and art restorer who lives in the ghetto of Prague. But his story is experienced by an anonymous narrator, who, during a visionary dream, assumes Pernath's identity thirty years before. This dream was perhaps induced because he inadvertently swapped his hat with the real (old) Pernath's. While the novel is generally focused on Pernath's own musings and adventures, it also chronicles the lives, the characters, and the interactions of his friends and neighbors. The Golem, though rarely seen, is central to the novel as a representative of the ghetto's own spirit and consciousness, brought to life by the suffering and misery that its inhabitants have endured over the centuries.

Faces (Earth, Wind & Fire album)

Faces is the tenth studio album, a double-LP by R&B artists Earth, Wind & Fire, released in 1980 on ARC/Columbia Records. The album reached number 2 and number 10 on the Billboard Black and Pop albums charts.

It has been certified gold in the US by the RIAA. In a 2007 interview when asked which EWF album is his favorite Earth, Wind & Fire leader Maurice White replied "Probably Faces because we were really in tune, playing together and it gave us the opportunity to explore new areas".

The lead-off single was "Let Me Talk". The songs "You", and "Sparkle" followed as single releases. Unlike previous Earth, Wind and Fire albums, there was no U.S. tour in support of the album. This was also the last Earth Wind and Fire recording with guitarist Al McKay, who left the group the next year. This album is noted for featuring Steve Lukather, guitarist for EWF's label mate Toto, on the songs "Back on the Road" and "You Went Away".

2 extra interludes have been included as part of the album since the release of the Columbia Master's collection in 2011. The track "Oriental" comes directly before "Faces" while "Pipe Organ" follows it.

Faces (Star Trek: Voyager)

"Faces" is the 14th episode of Star Trek: Voyager.

Plot

Lieutenant Paris (now Junior Grade, evinced by the partially filled pip on his collar), Chief Engineer Torres and Ensign Durst fail to return from an away mission to a planet. The away team have been captured by the Vidiians, and a Vidiian scientist has used advanced medical technology to create two forms of Torres from her mixed DNA, one pure Klingon and one pure human. The scientist hopes to create a cure for the Phage, a deadly disease that afflicts his entire race, by studying the unusual resistance that Klingon metabolism has to it. Commander Chakotay takes a team to investigate and discovers that the caves in which the away team were working have shifted. They deduce that the caves are illusions: advanced holography as used by the Vidiians in a previous encounter with the Voyager crew.

The human version of Torres, meanwhile, is kept imprisoned with Paris and Durst. The Vidiian scientist studying Klingon Torres sees her going through the first symptom of severe agony, but she is fighting off the disease. Meanwhile, Paris, still in the holding cells, finds B'Elanna as a full human. While there, B'Elanna explains her origins, of how her father left when she was five and how she did everything to hide her Klingon heritage as a child. Klingon B'Elanna tries to use her feminine charm to have the scientist release her, but his desire to find a cure overrules his lust. In the holding cells, two guards arrive and take Ensign Durst. The human B'Elanna is scared as opposed to her Klingon half's relentless tenacity. After reviewing what they know from the last time the Vidiians encountered Voyager, the crew begin running simulations on how to get past the Vidiian force fields. In a naive effort to calm his prisoner, the Vidiian scientist kills Durst and uses his face to cover his Phage-ravaged features to try to better impress Klingon B'Elanna.

Faces (John Berry album)

Faces is an album released by American country music artist John Berry. It was released in 1996 by Capitol Nashville. It peaked at #9 on the Top Country Albums chart, and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album's singles "Change My Mind," "She's Taken a Shine" and "I Will, If You Will" all reached Top 20 on the Hot Country Songs charts.

Track listing

Personnel