Primordials or Protogenioi
| “ | The Universe is a lot bigger than most people think. Naturally a house that big needed a lot of helping hands. So you could say the Primordials acted as walking renovations for the Archangels to use on the Universe. Sure, some wanted to start something of their own and we let them. Sadly, didn't turn out well. | „ |
| ~ Gabriel |
Primordials, also known as Protogenoi (Greek), Kotoamatsukami (Japanese), or Ogdoad (Egyptian), were the basic components of the universe which emerged at Creation. They are among the most powerful beings in all of creation, rivaling the Ogdru Jahad, and even surpassing several lesser Archangels in power and strength along with being the ancestors of the gods.
Overview
As the first born of the immortals (barring the archangels), who helped stabilize the very fabric of the universe, they were primarily known in Greek mythology as the Protogenoi (protos meaning "first," and genos "born").
Even though the Primordials that are mainly known stem from Greek mythology, not all Primordials are them. All Primordials originated from Chaos or one of the pre-existential entities like God and Asherah. These Primordials would serve either Chaos or God and along with the Protogenoi, they maintain Creation.
Description
They were, for the most part, purely elemental beings who perfectly embody the main aspects of existence which included earth, air, sea, sky, water, underworld, darkness, night, light, day, procreation and time. Examples pf such are Ouranos being the Sky and Gaia being the Earth. A few of them were occasionally described or portrayed in anthropomorphic form, however these forms were inevitably inseparable from their native element
It is generally believed that the Primordials represent the "light" of creation while their counterparts the Ogdru Jahad represent the dark. The Primordials were used as tools of power during the war against Azathoth. The Primordials also had children which were a second generation of Primordials and from said generation came the gods of polytheistic myths.
History
Genesis
The Primordials were said to have been fashioned and given life by Asherah with God's aid. It is said that God cupped His hands within the waters of chaos, lighting a single flame of His Vril which submerged into it, before Asherah breathed life into the puddle. Asherah then dipped Her fingers into the contents and flicked them forward creating the Primordials. The Primordials aided their "parents" alongside their "siblings", that being the first five archangels, in the defeat of the Ogdru Jahad and Azathoth.
After the defeat and imprisonment of Azathoth, God then turned His attention to these primeval beings. The angels at first opted to destroy them in fear that they might turn against them just as the Ogdru Jahad did, but God refused for He noticed that despite being born out of the chaos that molded with life, they were rather benevolent, and thus spared them.
With existence itself coming into form they took began to take corporeal form but one that is attributed to a certain aspect born from the emergence of the universe and its components. Seeing that they embody the components of creation itself, Asherah convinced her consort to assigned them with becoming these very components once the universe and all its concepts were done in order for the "natural wheel" to spin in a stabilized manner. Both God and the Primordials agreed and carried on with this task.
One with Creation
When the universe and all that it is was properly formed, God and His angels rested and left its maintenance in the hands of the Primordials. However, as time went on, some of the Primordials established a hierarchy of sorts over the cosmos which then led to the conception of the gods that humans have come to know in ancient mythology while other Primordials were simply concerned with the tasks given to them. Once complete, they laid dormant in their natural state for many centuries and in the process gave birth to other primeval deities.
However, when the gods of old were born by the Primordials or the Second-Generation Primordials, many of them warred against their mighty parents and relatives for the right to claim lordship over the Earth and the universe whilst others relinquished their status to their children. Their children emerged victorious and established themselves as the new rulers of the cosmos in place of their parents and ancestors. To this day, some of the Primordials that did not partake in these conflicts remain inactive and take no part whatsoever in the events that transpire concerning the mortal realms, for they are one with the forces and concepts they embody.
Notable Primordial Groups
The Kotoamatsukami (which literally means distinguishing heavenly kami) are the collective name for the first Shinto gods which came into existence at the time of the creation of the universe. They were born in Takamagahara, the Shinto sector of Heaven at the time of the creation. Unlike the later gods, these deities were born without any procreation only created by Chaos' avatar Amatsu-Mikaboshi. The next generation of gods that followed was the Kamiyonanayo where afterwards, the Kotoamatsukami "hides away" as Hitorigami. Though the Zōkasanshin (three deity of Creation) are thought to be genderless, another theory stated Kami-Musuhi was the woman and Takami-Musubi the man, comparing them with water and fire or with yin and yang.
The Ogdoad were eight Egyptian primordial deities worshiped in Hermopolis. References to the Ogdoad date to the Old Kingdom of Egypt, and even at the time of composition of the Pyramid Texts towards the end of the Old Kingdom, they appear to have been antiquated and mostly forgotten by everyone except religious experts. They are frequently mentioned in the Coffin Texts of the Middle Kingdom. They are described as having the heads of frogs (male) and serpents (female), and they are often depicted in this way in reliefs of the Ptolemaic Kingdom
Primordials
- Chaos: Greek Primordial God of the Void, Nothingness and Creation.
- Nyx: Greek Primordial Goddess of the Night
- Erebus: Greek Primordial God of Darkness and Mist
- Tartarus: Greek Primordial God of the Underworld
- Gaia: Greek Primordial Goddess of the Earth and the Land
- Eros: Greek Primordial God of Love
- Ouranos: Greek Primordial God of the Sky and the Heavens
- Hemera: Greek Primordial Goddess of the Day
- Pontus: Greek Primordial God of the Sea
- Achlys: Greek Primordial Goddess of the Mist of Death and the Eternal Night
- Aion: Greek Primordial God of the Ages