The Origins in Ugarit
Leviathan is one of the most well-known daemons, ruler of the sin of Envy, speculated by some to be the beast of the apocalypse. However, there are older records about the daemon we know as Leviathan that appear in texts from the city of Ugarit (present-day Syria), around 1300 BC. At that time he was known as Lotan, which means "coiled," also transliterated as Lôtān, Litan (LTN) or Litānu.
In the Baal Cycle - a cuneiform tablet that recorded the deeds of the god Baal - Lotan is described as a seven-headed serpent or sea dragon, subordinate to the God Yam (also called Yammu), who reigned over the sea, the oceans and any other bodies of water. In this context, Lotan was Yam's helper and acted as the guardian of aquatic chaos. By bringing these two names together on the tablets, the scribes suggested that the dragon (Lotan) did not act on its own, but as an extension of the ocean's own unpredictable fury (Yam).
This connection reinforced the idea of a confrontation against the chaotic forces of nature, supported by being explanations of natural phenomena, just as myths were created to shed light on a problem.
Interestingly, there are scholars who believe that the reference to Lotan's "seven heads" may also be associated with the Greek myth of the Hydra. However, whether he, as Leviathan, is a reptile or another monster is much debated. For Kent Hovind and his followers, for example, they believe that Leviathan is a Tyrannosaurus rex. However, the organization Answers in Genesis presents a list of possibilities, but specifically states that it cannot be a Sarcosuchus, leaning more towards the hypothesis that the animal belonged to the order Plesiosauria or the family Mosasauridae. This is addressed in the article Drawing Out the Biblical Leviathan, by Simon Turpin, published on August 8, 2020:
"There are several plausible suggestions, based on extinct marine reptiles, for the identification of Leviathan: Kronosaurus, Liopleurodon, Sarcosuchus, Mosasaurus and Plesiosaurus. Sarcosuchus imperator seems to match many aspects of Leviathan's physical characteristics. However, there are problems in identifying Sarcosuchus as Leviathan: (1) it does not really fit the description of Leviathan as a twisting sea serpent; and (2) it has no known mechanism for expelling fire."
It has also been suggested that the appearance of Lotan with seven heads could come from eyewitness accounts — navigators of Antiquity who had the misfortune of encountering the notorious giant squid while traveling the Mediterranean trade routes.
The Baal cycle tells the story of the god Baal-Hadad, god of storm and fertility, who learns about a competition to see which God would be worthy of becoming the King of the Gods. The God El favored Yam in the competition, but Baal easily defeated him with a magical weapon forged by the God Kothar-wa-khasis, symbolizing the victory of heaven against the sea, of chaos against order.
In archaeology and Semitic studies, the texts discovered at Ras Shamra, the most famous mention of Lotan occurs in Tablet KTU 1.5 (Column I, lines 1 to 8). In this passage, the god of death, Mot, is speaking with Baal and recalls the victory over the sea monster. The text says: "Since you struck Lotan, the fleeing serpent, you annihilated the twisting serpent, the tyrant of seven heads, the heavens will wither and dissolve…" — (Tablet KTU 1.5, Column I)
It is even this passage that connects him to the Judeo-Christian tradition, for the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 27:1) uses exactly the same adjectives centuries later in Hebrew to describe and refer to Leviathan: "Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, Leviathan, the twisting serpent." Some historians also conclude that Leviathan may be the Hebrew name for Tiamat, given the similarities they both share.
As the tablet describes the god's journey in facing Lotan and Yam, Baal did not fight alone. In such tales, the gods acted in pairs, and in this fight Anat accompanied him. Scholars of religion suggest that the real situation was a joint battle: Anat acted on the front line decapitating the dragon's heads, while Baal used his lightning and storms to subdue chaos.
"Did I not crush Yam, El's beloved? Did I not destroy Rabiym, the great river? Did I not muzzle the Dragon? I crushed him! I crushed the twisting serpent, the tyrant of seven heads." — (Tablet KTU 1.3, Column III - Speech of the goddess Anat)
In the writings, in terms of passages that explicitly use the name Lotan, these are the main sources that have specifically survived. Furthermore, there are mentions that describe him under other names or titles associated with Yam (the Sea).
"I muzzled the Dragon (Tunnanu), I bound him tightly. I rubbed the snout of the horned serpent, I cut the back of the serpent that has fangs, I destroyed the creature that fights the gods…" — (Tablet KTU 1.3, Column III)
In this passage, the goddess Anat describes the monstrous attributes of the sea creature she fought (often associated with Lotan)
"The club danced in Baal's hands… he struck Yam's skull, the tyrant, between the eyes of the Judge River. Yam collapsed, he fell to the ground; his joints trembled, his spine bent…" — (Tablet KTU 1.2, Column IV)
After being struck by Baal's magical weapons, the text physically describes the collapse of the sea deity/monster. While Baal is crowned, gains his Palace and the cycle continues until his death and reincarnation.
Centuries later, this primordial creature of great influence in the myths of the Ancient Middle East, which shares similarities with other ancient monsters, such as Tiamat for the Mesopotamians, Jormungand for the Norse and Apep/Apophis for the Egyptians, would be absorbed by other cultures.
The parallel with Tiamat is still prevalent, for the account of Tiamat's death and the use of her body to form the earth and sky finds a parallel in medieval rabbinic literature, which mentions that, after being killed, Leviathan will form "a sparkling canopy over the world." And they share significant similarities as primordial aquatic monsters, symbols of chaos and related mythological figures, linked to the ancient creation traditions of the Near East.
As a matter of curiosity, the Litani River, which winds through the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, was named after Lotan, as it was believed that the river was the personification of the god.
The Judeo-Christian View
In the Hebrew tradition, this same creature appears under the name of Leviathan as we know it, maintaining characteristics very similar to its Ugaritic predecessor, which indicates a direct continuity between the myths of Ugarit and the formation of the biblical texts. According to Jewish mythology, in the beginning of everything, Yahweh created creatures of monumental size to rule the world:
These three entities form the triad of primordial monsters in Jewish mythology: Ziz, Behemoth and Leviathan. They represent complete dominion over the elements of the cosmos - air, earth and sea. Ziz: The colossal bird of the heavens, whose wingspan is capable of blocking the sun and protecting the earth against stormy winds. Behemoth: The indomitable beast of the earth, associated with the brute force of large quadrupeds and the solidity of the ground. Leviathan: The monumental sea monster, lord of the depths and often associated with primordial chaos. According to Jewish tradition, at the end of times, these three creatures will face each other in a mythical battle or serve as the sacred banquet for the righteous at the messianic banquet. The Bible brings detailed descriptions of Leviathan in different books, such as Isaiah 27: "I will not fail to speak of his limbs, of his strength and his graceful form. Who can remove his outer coat? Who would approach him with a rein? Who dares to open the doors of his mouth, surrounded by his fearsome teeth? His back has rows of shields firmly joined together; each is so close to the other that even air cannot pass between them; they are so interlocked that it is impossible to separate them. His strong breath shoots out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn. Firebrands come out of his mouth; sparks of fire leap forth. Smoke comes out of his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames leap from his mouth. So much strength resides in his neck that terror goes before him. The folds of his flesh are firmly joined together; they are so firm that they do not move. His chest is hard as stone, hard as the lower millstone. When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they flee in fear of his blows. The sword that strikes him does nothing to him, nor the spear, nor the arrow, nor the dart. Iron he treats as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. Arrows do not put him to flight, slingstones are like chaff to him. The club seems to him like a wisp of straw; the brandishing of the great spear makes him laugh. His belly is like a jagged potsherd and leaves a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. He makes the depths churn like a boiling cauldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. He leaves behind him a shimmering trail, as if they were the white hairs of the abyss. Nothing on earth compares to him: a fearless creature! He looks down on all the haughty; he reigns sovereign over all the proud." Isaiah 27:1: In that day, the Lord, with his severe, long and strong sword, will punish Leviathan, the swift serpent, Leviathan, the twisting serpent; he will kill in the sea the aquatic serpent. Psalms 104: There the ships pass, and also Leviathan, which you formed to play with him. Some ancient interpretations suggest that God created Leviathan to play like a pet or a delightful creation, while others see him as a monster swimming freely in the waves.
Still within Jewish mythology, it is said that Yahweh originally created two Leviathans, one male and one female, as a demonstration of his absolute power. However, fearing that the reproduction of these serpents would lead to the extinction of humanity, God killed the female. For this reason, in the view of many practitioners of esoteric branches, Leviathan can choose to manifest in both male and female forms, alternating between the two.
Leviathan is identified with Rahab, angel/demon of the primordial abyss, of the sea, of chaos and of the depths, by Gustav Davidson, author of the "Dictionary of Angels", due to the chaotic capacity that both beings possess.
There are some theories that place him as the beast of the apocalypse, supported by Isaiah 27:1 in which Leviathan is called a "twisting serpent," an epithet that recalls Revelation 12:9 which gives Satan the nickname of "old serpent": Then the great dragon was cast out. He is the ancient serpent called the Devil or Satan, who deceives the whole world. He and his angels were cast down to the earth.
And 13:1: Then the dragon stood on the sand of the sea. I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems, one on each horn, and on each head a blasphemous name.
We saw that, despite the various hypotheses about its appearance, these passages refer again to Lotan with the number of heads.
In the Gnosticism of Justin described by the heresiologist Hippolytus of Rome in the 2nd century AD (specifically in the apocryphal book Book of Baruch by Justin), the universe is generated from three eternal principles: two masculine (Elohim, the spirit of good) and one feminine (Edem, the soul of the world and matter itself, described as a woman from the waist up and a viper from the waist down). From this marriage of Elohim and Edem, two orders of 12 paternal and maternal angels or archons are born. It is precisely here that Leviathan appears: In Justin's cosmology, Leviathan is explicitly listed as one of the twelve maternal angels of Edem. While Elohim's angels try to elevate the human spirit to heaven, the maternal angels (including Leviathan) work to keep the human spirit trapped in dense matter and carnal desires. Although visions vary among sects, Gnosticism often merges the image of Leviathan with that of a cosmic serpent that bites its own tail (Ouroboros). It encompasses the Earth and acts as a boundary barrier: enlightened souls break through this barrier to ascend to the Pleroma (the true heaven), while ignorant souls are devoured by Leviathan and reincarnated into material or animal bodies.
Modern Occultism
Over the centuries and the evolution of Abrahamic theologies, Leviathan ceased to be just a biblical monster and became a central figure in European demonology. He was pointed out, for example, as one of the possessing demons in the famous Loudun Possessions and who would have signed the Treaty of Urbain Grandier, a priest who supposedly made a pact and spells, which led the nuns of the convent to be possessed, together with Lucifer, Satan, Beelzebub, Asmodeus, Zebulon, among other daemons.
In the work Treatise on the Confessions of Malefactors and Witches (1589), by Peter Binsfeld, Leviathan was classified as the demon of envy, a title he carries to this day among the seven princes of hell. In the Malleus Maleficarum (1486), however, Leviathan was related to the sin of arrogance and pride, identified as the demon who tries to convince human beings to elevate themselves with haughtiness.
He is also often classified as the one who guards the gates of Hell, acting, for comparison purposes, like Cerberus guarding Hades. In medieval art and in invocation grimoires, the giant maw of Leviathan is often drawn as the very physical entrance to Hell, used to swallow the condemned souls at the Final Judgment.
In other classifications of medieval hierarchies, he is categorized as the very Dragon of Chaos, wielding absolute dominion over the Sea and the Void. As he governs the element of water, mainly in the Dukante hierarchy, this also means that he possesses a proficiency in the dominion over the unconscious, dreams, emotions and sensations, the "interior / human psyche."
In contemporary occult philosophy, the figure of Leviathan gains a much more metaphysical and archetypal interpretation. In the words of writer and occultist Asenath Mason, Leviathan is defined as: "The soul of the world, the eternal beginning and end, the element of inner chaos and the divine potential that lies dormant in the dark recesses of the human psyche… [He is] the primordial force of all creation and all destruction… Leviathan is the very beginning, the original cosmic force that gave rise to the universe… He is that which is above and that which is below."
In her book: The Complete Book of Demonolatry, Conolly says that Leviathan may also be known as Luithian. However, I found no mention of this name in traditional grimoires or in any books. I found it worth mentioning for curiosity's sake.
