Ruha (the Spirit of the lower world)
Mandaean · deity · Mandaean Gnostic religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Ruha, simply 'the Spirit', is the great female power of the lower world in Mandaean cosmology, a deeply ambivalent figure. Though her name means 'spirit' and she bears the title Ruha d-Qudsha, 'the Holy Spirit', she is not benevolent: she is the mother of the seven planets (the šuba) and the twelve signs of the zodiac (the trisar), the astral powers that govern and bind the material cosmos. She personifies the lower, passionate and material element that entangles human souls and impedes their return to the Light, and is portrayed as a seductress (Ruha Masṭanita). In the cosmological narratives she rules the realm of darkness together with her offspring, and is confronted by the descending saviour Hibil Ziwa.
Domains
- spirit of the lower world
- planets and zodiac
Powers
- to bring forth the seven planets and twelve signs of the zodiac
- to entangle souls in the material world and hinder their ascent
Epithets
- Ruha ḏ-QudšaE.S. Drower, The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1937) (secondary); Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley, The Mandaeans: Ancient Texts and Modern People (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) (secondary)
- Ruha MasṭanitaE.S. Drower, The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1937) (secondary)
Relations
- enemy: Hibil Ziwa (Abel of Splendour)Ruha and the powers of the lower world are confronted and subdued by Hibil Ziwa in his descent.Mark Lidzbarski (trans.), Ginza: Der Schatz oder das grosse Buch der Mandäer (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1925) (primary); Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley, The Mandaeans: Ancient Texts and Modern People (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) (secondary)
- ally: Ptahil (the Fourth Life, the demiurge)Ruha and her planetary offspring are associated with Ptahil in the fashioning of the lower, material world.Mark Lidzbarski (trans.), Ginza: Der Schatz oder das grosse Buch der Mandäer (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1925) (primary); Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley, The Mandaeans: Ancient Texts and Modern People (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) (secondary)
Sources
- Ruha, 'the Spirit', is the ambivalent female ruler of the Mandaean lower world, mother of the seven planets and twelve zodiacal signs, who entangles souls in matter.: E.S. Drower, The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1937) (secondary); Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley, The Mandaeans: Ancient Texts and Modern People (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002) (secondary); Mark Lidzbarski (trans.), Ginza: Der Schatz oder das grosse Buch der Mandäer (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1925) (primary)