| ERLIK:
Erlik is the DEVIL and ruler of the underworld of Siberian mythology.
He is the equivalent of the Christian LUCIFER, a once-favored creature who
evoked the wrath of the Supreme Being and was cast into the great abyss.
Erlik is the archenemy of Ulgan, the good
and just creator God. In some legends, Erlik and Ulgan were friends
before Erlik betrayed his ally. After turning on Ulgan and angering
the gods with his boundless pride and evil tricks, Erlik is banished to the
underworld. He immediately claims the land of the dead as his own,
infuriating the gods anew by bragging that he has more men in his realm of
the dead than are left to Ulgan among the living. Unable to deny this
fact, Ulgan eventually has to concede.
Determined to thwart Ulgan's plans for a
beautiful world, Erlik controls an army of DEMONS who seek the ruin of human
souls. His devils scour the earth, ready to snatch up the spirits of
those who have sinned. He torments these souls in the great abyss
below the ground. But legend claims that Erlik's reign is temporary,
as Ulgan will defeat and annihilate his nemesis at the end of the world, a
thesis similar to the LAST JUDGMENT doctrines of Christianity and Islam.
(o)
Resource List - all entries are taken verbatim from the
original source:
(o) "The Encyclopedia of Hell."
Miriam Van Scott. St. Martin's Press. ©1998
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