Ancient of Days

(Art by Damiane)

The **Ancient of Days**, also known as **Ancient of Ancients**, **Elder of Days** and the **Old One of all Ages**, is one of the many avatars of God, personifying Destruction, Renewal, Law and Judgment.

## Overview

The Ancient of Days is a figure who appears in the Book of Daniel in the Bible, accompanied by another mysterious figure known as the "son of man". The Ancient of Days was considered one of the names of God and has been referenced in diverse belief systems such as Kabbalah, Mormonism, Christianity, Judaism and Gnosticism, including in narratives such as the works of William Blake.

## Appearance

The Ancient of Days is responsible for most of the representations of God, as it was thanks to His appearance as an elderly man that inspired many artists to represent God as an old man. Apparently, this appearance is due to the fact that the Ancient of Ages is the oldest of God's avatars, in contrast to the Son and Holy Spirit who are the youngest avatars of God.

When the Ancient One was seen by Daniel in the year 539 BCE, He was already old and rusty, being now in the 21st century with an extremely elderly appearance due to extreme age. Currently, the Ancient of Days is extremely old and weak, being almost completely blind and deaf, needing an oxygen cylinder to breathe, being in a wheelchair and needing to be taken from one side to another by an Angel.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Embodiment of Destruction**: As an Avatar of Destruction, Ancient of Days is the personification of destruction and acquires the ability to bring destruction wherever it goes with thought. It is capable of breaking, shattering, crushing, disintegrating, exploding or imploding into oblivion.
	+ **Absolute Destruction**: Ancient of Days is able to destroy everything without limits, from concepts, boundaries and causation, to studies like metaphysics and science, even irrational "concepts" like the fabric of nothingness or even totality itself.
* **Lightning Bolts of Destruction**: Ancient of Days can fire a concentrated beam of fiery lightning bolts from its center which creates devastating explosions capable of destroying even gods.
* **Swords of Destruction**: It can summon eight swords that can move with its mind and cut anything and he can throw them at the opponent. It can also accumulate the swords together and use it as a drill to strike with loads of sacred energy, capable to eradicate even the strongest of gods.
* **Judgment Blast**: It can detonate an entire area with atomic-like explosions with merely a thought, destroying and annihilating anything in that area.
* **Rays of Judgment**: It can create a wall of small star-like lights that fire a myriad of laser beams of light that explodes on impact can annihilate anything in that area.

## History

The Ancient of Days was one of the first, if not the first, fragment of God to become an avatar of the Creator after the beginning of Creation. Obviously, the Ancient of Days did not have that name, but was known as **Urizen**, but after billions of years serving the will of the Almighty, old age ended up hitting the mighty Urizen, weakening and making him older and older.

After the reign of the Gods of the Old Testament ended and the reign of the Gods of the New Testament began, the Ancient of Days, like the other avatars of God, stepped down from their duties. The Ancient of Days went to live in the city of Jerusalem. In the 21st century, the Ancient of Days remains in a wheelchair, extremely old and rusty, being constantly accompanied by an angel who pushes his wheelchair, usually Uriel.

## Myths and Legends

The term "Ancient of Days" appears three times in the Book of Daniel (specifically in chapters 7:9, 13, and 22), contributing to the idea of God as an Eternal Being. This recurring reference emphasizes the timeless nature of God in the biblical context.

In the realm of Kabbalah, a mystical tradition of Jewish mysticism, particularly as documented in the Zohar during the 13th century in Spain, there are mentions of the "Ancient of Ancients," including the "Holy Ancient One" known as Atika Kadisha. These terms are often interpreted as being synonymous with the concept of the "En Sof," which represents the unmanifested and infinite Godhead in Kabbalah.

The "Ancient of Days" in Kabbalah is seen as the manifestation of the "Ancient of Ancients" within the context of Creation. This concept aligns with the idea that the "Ancient of Days" represents the most primary and ancient source of creation, originating from the divine will, often associated with the Keter (Crown) sefirah in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. Keter is the highest sefirah and symbolizes the divine will and the source from which all creation emanates.

In essence, the "Ancient of Days" concept in Kabbalah underscores the divine and eternal nature of God, with various interpretations aligning it with the En Sof and highlighting its role as the source of creation within the Kabbalistic framework.

## Gallery

*The Ancient of Days Watercolor etching* (Art by William Blake)
## Trivia

* According to Mormonism, the Ancient of Days is a title of Adam who is also strangely related to the archangel Michael.
* Theologians have equated the Ancient of Days with Jehovah, Adam, Kartikeya, Brahma, and Sanat Kumara.