Cain, the first child of Adam and Eve, has been frequently tied to Gnosticism, sometimes even being considered a descendant of the Serpent. As with Genesis 3, this involved understanding Genesis 4 in a way not necessarily intended by the pro-Demiurge authors. Here is the story of Cain from Genesis:
Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, and she said, "I have acquired a man with the Lord." And she continued to bear his brother Abel, and Abel was a shepherd of flocks, and Cain was a tiller of the soil. Now it came to pass at the end of days, that Cain brought of the fruit of the soil an offering to the Lord. And Abel he too brought of the firstborn of his flocks and of their fattest, and the Lord turned to Abel and to his offering. But to Cain and to his offering He did not turn, and it annoyed Cain exceedingly, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you annoyed, and why has your countenance fallen? Is it not so that if you improve, it will be forgiven you? If you do not improve, however, at the entrance, sin is laying, and to you is its longing, but you can rule over it." And Cain spoke to Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. And the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" And he said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" And He said, "What have you done? Hark! Your brother's blood cries out to Me from the earth. And now, you are cursed even more than the ground, which opened its mouth to take your brother's blood from your hand. When you till the soil, it will not continue to give its strength to you; you shall be a wanderer and an exile in the land." And Cain said to the Lord, "Is my iniquity too great to bear? Behold You have driven me today off the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden from before You, and I will be a wanderer and an exile in the land, and it will be that whoever finds me will kill me." And the Lord said to him, "Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be wrought upon him sevenfold," and the Lord placed a mark on Cain that no one who find him slay him. And Cain went forth from before the Lord, and he dwelt in the land of the wanderers, to the east of Eden.
The Torah does not explain much, if anything, and later attempts at deciphering the story, from the works of Rabbis to Romantic Satanist Lord Byron, and everyone in between, only add more possibilities and questions. How one interprets this story can tell themselves a great deal about their own cosmology and where they stand. It poses many questions, so let us look at those questions now.
Why Was Cain's Offer Rejected?
The main reasons for this are generally Cain not giving his best offerings, or that he simply went along with the motions without truly honoring Yahweh. This was the route taken in Hebrew School, where it was taught Cain was an evil man who had fallen due to arrogance and pride. It never occurred to me how the story of Cain mirrors the fall of the Devil in Christianity. It seems standard to believe that whatever went wrong was with Cain, not with Yahweh, as one might expect. By this “logic,” Yahweh rejecting an offering, by definition, would make the offering wrong – it is not what Yahweh wanted.
Another possibility that can be considered is that Yahweh intentionally angered Cain so that he would strike down his innocent shepherd brother, like how Yahweh would later use the human blood sacrifice of Christ to “redeem” the world from sin. Maybe this was his first attempt? In this theory, Yahweh intended for Abel to die in whatever manner, in hopes that his innocent blood would redeem the world from the Original Sin of his parents. If this was the goal however, it does not seem to have worked, for this story is followed shortly by the great flood.
Personally, I believe the take that Cain's sacrifice was rejected because it was not of blood. Yahweh’s lust for blood is clear both in his own texts and the actions of his followers throughout history. Abel's sacrifice would have bellowed in pain, tortured by the flames as it died and the smell of charred blood filled the air, while Cain's just sat there. To Yahweh, the latter was meaningless without its suffering, leading God to reject it. It seems that Lord Byron came to a similar conclusion, a mix between Yahweh preferring blood and Cain’s attitude. Cain becomes enraged and strikes down the altar in Byron’s telling, refusing to honor Yahweh, and Abel is openly willing to give his life to keep his sacrificial altar standing.
Why Did Cain Kill Abel?
The traditional reason given is jealousy, that Cain killed his brother because he was jealous God had only accepted Abel's sacrifice. It has also been suggested that Abel was the favorite of their parents, causing further jealousy in Cain. This is what was taught in Hebrew school, that Cain was more of a petty barbarian than anything else.
Another idea has been that in the missing details of the story, Abel attacked Cain, and Cain acted in self-defense, killing his brother on accident. Byron taps into this a bit with Abel and Cain struggling over the attempted destruction of the former’s altar. This take completely changes the narrative to make Abel the questionable one as he dies in defense of living sacrifice. At odds with Left-Hand Path ideology, Abel states that the honoring of Yahweh is worth more than one’s own life, something the Angel explicitly did not require of Cain, and promised never to require.
An alternative idea is that Abel was being groomed to be taken up by God, like others Yahweh swoops down and carries off to heaven in the Torah (including Enoch, Elijah, and several others). Perhaps God’s intent was to come down on a chariot of wheels and multi headed angels to carry Abel to heaven? Cain would not allow his brother to face such a fate. Here we start moving into a more sympathetic and Romantic Cain, as the one found in Byron.
Finally, there is the idea I share, that there was no intention behind the killing at all. Cain did not understand Death, he and his family knew it was coming, but none of them had ever died at that point, only animals. Cain is therefore entirely innocent and ignorant in his killing of Abel, as he has no idea that Abel is capable of not waking up. In this case it is an accident with no intent, more the crime of Yahweh than Cain for creating Death at all, or releasing it upon the world, at the very least. Perhaps Cain did in fact do it to save his brother, not realizing all which that entailed?
Byron writes it as Cain striking down Abel while attempting to destroy his sacrificial altar, while mixing in a general ignorance for what Death really is.
What Was the Parentage of Cain?
It is accepted that Eve was the mother of Cain, but there has been debate on who the father was. The main contender is Adam, and Genesis itself does not add characters like Samael and Lilith until a bit later. The original telling does give an alternative though:
"And the Lord God said to the Serpent, ".... And I shall place hatred between you and between the woman, and between your seed and between her seed."[1]
The seed of the Serpent is a contender for creating Cain. Even the Torah itself implies that there was not hatred and division between the two seeds prior to Yahweh’s curse. It also could explain why in Genesis God fears Cain and his future, and uses this as an excuse in his rejection of Cain's offering:
“... If you do not improve, however, at the entrance, sin is laying, and to you is its longing, but you can rule over it."[2]
The Serpent is another possible father of Cain. This is the view I personally hold. I do not think Lord Byron was aware of this view, and do not really see anything suggesting he is not Adam’s son in the original.
As mentioned above, there are tales outside of the Torah which also suggest Adam is not the father of Cain. Most famous of these later tales is that of Adam’s first wife, Lilith. The story goes that Lilith and Adam were both made as equals from dust. Lilith wished for equal treatment, she refused to submit to Adam, and so Adam had Yahweh drive Lilith from the garden of Eden. In the wilderness, Lilith came upon the (sometimes fallen) angel Samael (not to be confused with Samael as a name of the Gnostic Demiurge), and she became the mother of demons. It is then Samael, as the Serpent, who tempted humans and impregnated Eve with Cain as a form of revenge against Yahweh’s chosen family. Suffice it to say, there is nothing new to this “Serpent Seed” theory.
When discussing this “Serpent Seed” theory there are two different paths one can follow. The first is that there was a literal, biological “race of Cain” and the other idea is that the “race of Cain” is a spiritual one, and identical to the Left-Hand Path tradition in the West. I like the latter, and I believe Byron would have agreed – anyone who embodies the spirit of his work belongs to the same spiritual family, those who would challenge the supposedly omnipotent tyrant.
How Did Cain View Yahweh?
I think from the Torah to Jewish mysticism to the Left-Hand Path there is only one answer given: Cain did not think positively about the God of his parents. He did not like to engage in prayer or offerings, he was not pleased with Yahweh’s preference for blood and murder in sacrifice, he was not happy about being cursed for the sins of his parents and with Death when he had no part in such “sin.” Cain also struggled with classic issues like the Problem of Evil in Byron’s tale, why Yahweh would plant the trees of life and knowledge where Adam and Eve could reach their fruits, or why Yahweh could not find Adam in the garden and did not know where Abel was either.
How Did Cain View His Family?
The Torah does not speak much on this issue, glazing over the entire family history in a few verses. In classic takes, Cain was jealous because Abel was preferred by their parents and Yahweh, making Cain angry with his parents and God alike. This was also a view that stuck with me since Hebrew school, that Cain must have been some sort of petty, pathetic individual, more immature and yearning than his younger brother. Some stories have it where Cain was jealous of Abel's wife, his own twin who was more beautiful than Abel's twin, making Cain even more petty and vain. I would agree with the take that Cain disliked his mother and Adam for being trampled over by Yahweh, yet still honoring him as good and loving. Maybe Cain would come to somewhat understand Eve's desire for knowledge in Eden, as in many stories he himself seeks knowledge, including Byron’s.
That said, Cain always seems to view both Adam and Abel as weak and misled. The ones Cain seems to truly love throughout the history of the story are his wife and children, his wife being called Adah. Byron appears to completely agree with this, and Adah is the only one besides the Serpent who readers ever really see Cain drawn to or in agreement with to any extent.
It is interesting to note the treatment given to Adah by Byron. She acts as a balance between Cain’s views and his family’s values. Adah may just present the key to understanding the “mystery of Cain,” at least as Byron intended that. She does not stand wholly with the blind obedience of Yahweh, nor would she sacrifice love for the knowledge that the Angel offers her. She does not go with the Angel because of love, nor does she remain with her family at the end, because of love. Adah represents a distinct 3rd option between Yahweh and the Serpent – one’s own subjective desire and human love here and now. Both Abel and Cain are seeking something external after all, salvation and knowledge respectively. All Adah cares about is what her heart tells her.
This adds an interesting dynamic to the whole battle between Heaven and Hell. From what we see, Adah would follow Cain right into the pit if it meant staying with him, and there is something important to be said about those who are family to us and improve our lives. Cain loses sight of this love and present path to joy, but Byron does not dignify this.
This itself is another lesson in family that I take away from the story of Cain: family is that which you love and that which makes life worth living, it is not something defined by blood or birth. What greater blasphemy is there against a God who loves suffering than joy?
How Did Cain View Death?
Cain was furious about having to die, especially since he saw life itself as pointless and empty in many takes on the myth, twice as meaningless if all lived just to suffer then die. This was deepened because Cain did not believe he and his siblings should receive punishment for a sin they did not commit or play any role in. I do not think this ever really changes. In some takes, he comes to learn that Death is a spiritual world beyond Yahweh, which leads me to think he possibly killed Abel to spare him. There is also the idea that Cain did not understand Death at all and was as shocked by Abel dying as everyone else. It is an extreme Romantic irony that the man who most feared Death became the first one to cause Death, and just when Cain finally overcomes that fear and makes peace with Death it is stripped from him for millennia.
A Sevenfold Gift or Curse, and Why?
Some say that Yahweh cursed Cain, others that he blessed Cain. If God intended for Cain to murder the innocent Abel, then perhaps he blessed Cain for his role in it with immortality. We have seen that Yahweh enjoyed choosing certain humans and bringing them to the heavens, and if Cain aided him in getting Abel there he may have been rewarded. On the other hand, perhaps this was a curse for Cain to live out his days in sadness and isolation, punishment for murder and perhaps other crimes against Yahweh as well. In my understanding, what Yahweh did to Cain was a curse, making sure Cain lived as long as possible in Yahweh’s world for taking his favorite, Abel, from him. As far as Byron goes, the punishment was specifically for the killing of Abel, and not a positive or good thing.
The question also arises as to if Cain was cursed for his offering, for his murder of Abel, or simply for the question, “am I my brother’s keeper?” The offering seems unlikely as God already had a sit down with Cain about his actions regarding the ritual, and the rejection of Cain’s fruits would have been the punishment for that act already. Most I have read or spoken to believe Cain is banished and punished for the sin of killing his brother, since murder is a thing most people can agree is bad. But if Cain had no true understanding of what Death was, and no intent to somehow bring it upon Abel, could he really deserve to be punished for causing it? Surely that would make Yahweh extremely unjust.
I think Cain was punished for the sin of individuation, that he is not his brother’s keeper. Individuation is, of course, a central and defining trait of the Left-Hand Path traditions in the West. He and his brother are not one, nor is he just a member of the family, nor a slave to Yahweh. Cain is not just a statistic, not just one of the herd. Cain, much like the Prince of Darkness, realized he is a discrete individual with his own will and existence, independent from that of Yahweh. Therefore he was punished – for the birth of individuality in humans like that of the angels which caused the great war.
What Did Cain Mean by His Words to Yahweh?
In Genesis 4:13-14, Cain says to Yahweh:
Is my iniquity too great to bear? Behold you have driven me today off the face of the earth, and I shall be hidden before you, and I will be a wanderer and an exile in the land, and it will be that whoever finds me will kill me.
Most read this as Cain saying he cannot bear the weight of his own sin and agreeing to leave his land and the sight of Yahweh forever. In this case Cain recognizes himself as an evil being deserving of punishment. It further seeks to give glory and positive traits to Yahweh – he is so great that he not only spared Cain, but made sure others could not harm him.
Others, including myself and seemingly Byron, disagree. Some take it that Cain’s first question is a mockery of the supposedly all-loving and powerful God, who neither forgives Cain nor can handle Cain being in his land. How is Yahweh all-loving when he cannot forgive Cain? How is Yahweh all-powerful when he cannot simply change what has happened?
Cain then tells Yahweh that he will escape from the God’s grip and carve out his own path. It seems implied that there was other life in the wilderness, perhaps fallen angels, the Wanderers, etc., and Cain hopes that if he runs across these Others, they will take him from Yahweh like he took his brother. Yahweh instead marks Cain so that nobody will kill him, ensuring a long life in the world controlled by Yahweh.
What Did Cain Do After Banishment?
The Torah says that Cain went to the land of “wanderers” East of Eden, and there with his wife he had a family and built a great city. The first interesting question is who these “wanderers” are when Adam’s family is supposedly the only group of humans on earth? Could it be others who were cast down or left the sight of Yahweh? It seems that Cain expects to meet others when he goes out into the wilderness, this is how Yahweh ends up cursing him with the mark of Cain. This means the beings beyond the outskirts of Eden were known to Adam and his family.
I personally think these wanderers were most likely fallen angels. In Byron’s tale the Angel speaks of others like him and Cain, who stand up to the “omnipotent tyrant”. Cain and Adah also discuss the fact that they have interacted with lesser angels before the beginning of the story. Further, Cain is taught in Act II that Yahweh has destroyed the world many times over, when there were greater beings than humans upon it, and the arguable existence of two separate creation stories in Genesis may support this. Besides fallen angels, perhaps there are remains of these old civilizations as well?
Some choose to take Cain’s building of a city literally, but it has also been interpreted as Cain starting a new tradition, the Left-Hand Path, and the land of Nod may symbolize the inverse of Eden.
[1] Gen 3:14-15
[2] Gen 4:7
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