In the complex mythology

William Blake's mythology

The prophetic books of the English poet and artist William Blake contain a rich invented mythology , in which Blake worked to encode his revolutionary spiritual and political ideas into a prophecy for a new age. This desire to recreate the cosmos is the heart of his work and his psychology...

 of William Blake

William Blake

William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...

, Urizen is the embodiment of conventional reason

Conventional wisdom

Conventional wisdom is a term used to describe ideas or explanations that are generally accepted as true by the public or by experts in a field. Such ideas or explanations, though widely held, are unexamined. Unqualified societal discourse preserves the status quo. It codifies existing social...

 and law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

. He is usually depicted as a bearded old man; he sometimes bears architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

's tools, to create and constrain the universe

Universe

The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...

; or nets, with which he ensnares people in webs of law and conventional culture. Originally, Urizen represented one half of a two-part system, with him representing reason and Los

Los (Blake)

In the mythological writings of William Blake, Los is the fallen form of Urthona, one of the four Zoas. He is referred to as the "eternal prophet" and creates the visionary city of Golgonooza. Los is regularly described as a smith, beating with his hammer on a forge, which is metaphorically...

, his opposition, representing imagination. In Blake's reworking of his mythical system, Urizen is one of the four Zoas that result from the division of the primordial man, Albion, and he continues to represent reason. He has an Emanation

Emanationism

Emanationism is an idea in the cosmology or cosmogony of certain religious or philosophical systems. Emanation, from the Latin emanare meaning "to flow from" or "to pour forth or out of", is the mode by which all things are derived from the First Reality, or Principle...

, or paired female equivalent, Ahania

Ahania

Ahania is the Emanation, or female counterpart, of Urizen, Zoas of reason, in William Blake's mythology. She is the representation of pleasure and the desire for intelligence. Although Urizen casts her out as being the manifestation of sin, she is actually an essential component in Blake's system...

, who stands for Pleasure

Pleasure

Pleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria...

. In Blake's myth, Urizen is joined by many daughters with three representing aspects of the body. He is also joined by many sons, with four representing the four elements. These sons join in rebellion against their father but are later united in the Last Judgment. In many of Blake's books, Urizen is seen with four books that represent the various laws that he places upon humanity.

Character

In Blake's original myth, Urizen, the representation of abstractions and an abstraction of the human self, is the first entity. He believes himself holy and he sets about establishing various sins in a book of brass that serves as a combination of various laws as discovered by Newton, given to Moses, and the general concept of deism, which force uniformity upon mankind. The rest of the Eternals in turn become indignant at Urizen turning against eternity, and they instill these essences of sin within Urizen's creation. This torments Urizen, and Los soon after appears. Los's duty within the work is to watch over Urizen and serve as his opposition.

In terms of Blake's Orc cycle, Urizen serves as a Satanic force similar to Milton's Satan. After Urizen defeats the serpent/Orc figure in the Garden of Eden story, the Orc figure, in the form of Urizen's son Fuzon, battles against him in a story based on Exodus. Urizen, as a pillar of cloud that hinders the Israelites in their journey home, battles against Fuzon, as a pillar of fire that guides them by night. Eventually, Urizen is able to destroy his rebellious son and impose laws upon the Israelites in the form of the Ten Commandments. This also leads to a death of the Israeli culture, and the Israelites under Urizen are imprisoned in a similar manner to how they were under the Egyptians. Symbolically, the Orc cycle describes how Urizen and Orc are part of one unified whole with Urizen representing the destructive and older essence while Orc is the young and creative essence.

In Blake's later myth, Urizen is one of the four Zoas, the fourfold division of God. The other three represent aspects of the trinity and he represents the fallen, Satanic figure although he is also the creator figure. Among the Zoas, he represents the south and the concept of reason. He is described as what binds and controls the universe through creating laws. He is connected to his Emanation known as Ahania, the representation of pleasure, and he is opposed to the Zoas named Urthona, the representation of Imagination. His name can mean many things, from "Your Reason" or a Greek word meaning "to limit". Urizen originates in the beginning of Blake's version of Genesis. He was the entity created when a voice said that light should be born, and he was the fourth child of the characters Albion and Vala. He is said to represent the Heavenly host, but he experiences a Satanic fall in that he desired to rule. He is motivated by his pride and becomes a hypocrite. When Albion asks for him, Urizen refuses and hides, which causes him to experience his fall. After his fall, Urizen set about creating the material world and his jealousy of mankind brought forth both Wrath and Justice.

In the material world, he had Steeds and a Chariot of Day that were stolen from him by Luvah. This occurred because he, reason, sought to take over the Northern lands of Luvah, Imagination. After setting to take over Imagination, Luvah's stealing of the horses, which represented instruction, showed how emotion could dominate over reason. After Luvah falls and becomes Orc, Urizen tries to regain his horses but can only witness them bound. Eventually, the horses are returned to him after the Final Judgment

Last Judgment

The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...

.

Within the early works, Urizen represents the chains of reason that are imposed on the mind. Urizen, like mankind, is bound by these chains. Additionally, these works describe how Newtonian reason and the enlightenment view of the universe traps the imagination. The poems emphasis an evolutionary development within the universe, and this early version of a "survival of the fittest" universe is connected to a fallen world of tyranny and murder.

Urizen's daughters started as the children of light and are possible images of either the planets or of the stars. After his fall, they gain human form. Three of his daughters are Eleth, Uveth and Ona, which represent the three parts of the human body. Together, they also organize the waters of Generation, they are the creators of the Bread of Sorrow, and read from the Book of Iron. At the Last Judgment, they watch over Ahania. His sons are differently organised, in different poems: as Thiriel

Thiriel

In the mythological writings of William Blake, Thiriel is the first son of Urizen. There is a possible confusion with Tiriel, the protagonist of the first prophetic book, of that name....

, Utha

Utha

In the mythological writings of William Blake, Utha is the second son of Urizen.In Chapter VIII of The Book of Urizen his birth is briefly described:...

, Grodna

Grodna (Blake)

In the mythological writings of William Blake, Grodna is the third son of Urizen.In Chapter VIII of The Book of Urizen his birth is described:...

, Fuzon

Fuzon (Blake)

In the mythological writings of William Blake, Fuzon is the fourth and final son of Urizen, associated with the classical element of fire. In The Book of Ahania he fights Urizen for control of the world....

, aligned with the four classical elements; or as twelve, aligned with the signs of the Zodiac, and builders of the Mundane Shell and seek to keep mankind from falling. In Blake's early myths, they dwell in various cities and do not abide by Urizen's laws; Fuzon directly rebels against Urizen, is able to cut Urizen's loins, and is crucified for his actions. In later versions of the children, they are wise and dwell with Urizen. They, with Urizen, fall after Luvah takes over Urizen's realm. After their fall, they are tortured in hell, and Urizen's creation of science is seen as his domination over them. However, the four sons are placed in charge of Urthona's armies and rebel against Urizen's rule. During the Last Judgment, the sons get rid of their weapons and celebrate Urizen's return to the plow, and they join together for the harvest.

Urizen is described as having multiple books: Gold, Silver, Iron, and Brass. They represent science, love, war, and sociology, which are four aspects of life. The books are filled with laws that seek to overcome the seven deadly sins. He constantly adds to the works, even when he faces his opposition in Orc, but the books are destroyed in the Last Judgment. The Book of Brass sets forth Urizen's social beliefs that seek to remove all pain and instill peace under one rule. The attempt to force love through law encouraged the Eternals to put forth the Seven Deadly Sins that Urizen hoped to prevent. The Book of Iron was lost in the Tree of Mystery, and represents how Urizen can create wars but cannot control them.

Appearances

The character Urizen is first directly mentioned in Blake's "A Song of Liberty" (1793) where he is first described in his dispute with Orc. He is described as a "starry king". In To Nobodaddy, he is given the title "Father of Jealousy" and he is an enslaver. In America a Prophecy

America a Prophecy

America a Prophecy is a 1793 prophetic book by English poet and illustrator William Blake. It is engraved on eighteen plates, and survives in fourteen known copies. It is the first of Blake's Continental prophecies.-Background:...

, he is the evil God who rules during the Enlightenment. The work also describes how Urizen created the world. This was followed by the Songs of Experience (1794) where he appears as the creator of the Tyger and in many of the poems: "Earth's Answer", "The Tyger", "The Human Abstract" and "A Divine Image".He is mentioned later that year in Europe a Prophecy

Europe a Prophecy

Europe a Prophecy is a 1794 prophetic book by English poet and illustrator William Blake. It is engraved on 18 plates, and survives in just nine known copies. It followed America a Prophecy of 1793.-Background:...

and it is in the work that Urizen is freed from his bounds and he opens the Book of Brass in response to the American revolution.

In the Book of Urizen, Urizen is an eternal self focused being that creates itself out of eternity, and, it is only Urizen, the representation of abstractions and is an abstraction of the human self that exists in the beginning. Eventually, he creates the rest of creation but is tormented from the rest of the Eternal essence. Urizen is seen as the essence of the eternal priest and is opposed by Los, the eternal prophet. Parts of the story were later revised in The Book of Los

The Book of Los

The Book of Los is a 1795 prophetic book by English poet and painter William Blake. It exists in only one copy, now held by The British Museum. The book is related to the Book of Urizen and to the Continental prophecies; it is essentially a retelling of Urizen from the point of view of Los...

and The Book of Ahania

The Book of Ahania

The Book of Ahania is one of the English poet William Blake's prophetic books. It was published in 1795, illustrated by Blake's own plates....

: The Book of Ahania describes Urizen's relationship with his son Fuzon, and the Book of Los (1795) describes Urizen's creations from Los's viewpoint. The Song of Los (1795) describes how Urizen's laws are given to humanity and their destructive effects. The work ends with Orc's appearance and Urizen weeping.

Urizen appears within Blake's illustrations of Job

William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job

William Blake's Illustrations of the Book of Job primarily refers to a series of twenty-two engraved prints by Blake illustrating the biblical Book of Job. It also refers to two earlier sets of watercolours by Blake on the same subject...

 as an image of Apollo. He and his realm are described in Blake's Milton a Poem, and he is said to have a throne of silver/love. His realm included his children and was surrounded by justice and eternal science. The work also describes Urizen's Satanic fall. The Urizen of Milton is in the form of reason, and it is he that Milton follows. He appears again in the image "Milton's Dream" as illustrated for Il Penseroso. In the image, Urizen is with images of despair and is interfering with the image of the true God.

In Vala, or The Four Zoas

Vala, or The Four Zoas

Vala, or The Four Zoas refers to one of the incompleted prophetic books by English poet William Blake, begun in 1797. The titular main characters of the book are The Four Zoas: , who were created by the fall of Albion in Blake's mythology. It consists of nine books, referred to as "nights"...

, Urizen was said to have been born as the son of Albion and Vala, and is the fourth son. He was made the leader of Heaven's host and commanded the material sun. The work also describes his fall. Urizen appears in Jerusalem The Emanation of the Giant Albion in a form similar to the previous works. Urizen is the organiser of the universe while Los is the forger. He creates Natural Religion, and, in his returned form after Albion awakes, he is a farmer.

Derivation

Urizen has clear similarities with the creature called the Demiurge

Demiurge

The demiurge is a concept from the Platonic, Neopythagorean, Middle Platonic, and Neoplatonic schools of philosophy for an artisan-like figure responsible for the fashioning and maintenance of the physical universe. The term was subsequently adopted by the Gnostics...

 by Gnostic sects, who is likewise largely derived of the Old Testament god (more specifically, like Blake's Urizen, the demiurge is a radical remodelling of that figure achieved by expanding that figure's original contextual setting, or by removing him to one that is almost completely new). Speculative Freemasonry

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

 is another possible source of Blake's imagery for Urizen; Blake was attracted to the Masonic and Druidic speculations of William Stukeley

William Stukeley

William Stukeley FRS, FRCP, FSA was an English antiquarian who pioneered the archaeological investigation of the prehistoric monuments of Stonehenge and Avebury, work for which he has been remembered as "probably... the most important of the early forerunners of the discipline of archaeology"...

. The compass

Compass (drafting)

A compass or pair of compasses is a technical drawing instrument that can be used for inscribing circles or arcs. As dividers, they can also be used as a tool to measure distances, in particular on maps...

 and other drafting symbols that Blake associates with Urizen borrow from Masonic symbolism for God

God

God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....

as the "Great Architect of the Universe".