The Golem

In this post I want to talk about one of my favorite aspects of Jewish mythology, the golem. Its a creation myth, but rather then a myth of a god creating humans, it is humans creating protectors, of clay. I what to focus on a few ideas first the idea of the protector in any mythology, then the idea of creation from clay or some from of earth present in other mythologies, and finally I want to talk about the golem in modern setting.
The idea of protectors, totems that help societies of peoples stay safe, for the Jewish there is the golem, for the medieval Christian's it was gargoyles, and to the Babylonians it was the lamassu. Fear is an emotion everyone share so even a made up sense of safety is comforting. The mythology around the golem is that it will protect the Jewish people from people who wish to harm them or get rid of them, and given the history of the persecution of the Jewish people its an understandable fear to have. The medieval Christians had fears of a different kind they had the fear of the world, quiet literally anything that wasn't explained by the church was something to be feared. The gargoyles were on the gothic cathedrals to protect them from evil spirits. The Babylonians believe that the lamassu would protect them from invading forces an thus they were put at the gates of cities to protect them from outside forces. Then there are the creation myths tied in with golem.
Mutiple creations myths involve the use of some form of earth, from the Judeo Christian creation myth, and Grecian creation myths, as well as the golem itself. The Judeo Christian creation myth is that God created the first man out of the dust of the ground and formed him in to the current shape of humanity. Then there are multiple creation myths in Greek mythology, one of which is that a man who threw rocks to the ground and these rocks sprung up as men to be part of his country. The golem itself is made of clay and then given life. The importance of all these being linked is that it results in an interesting connection to humanity and earth, in a sort of circle of life way, it explains our burial practices and out belief systems.
Now lets talk about the golem, like I said one of my favorite Jewish myths, if not one of my favorite myths period. The golem interests me because it is a creation meant for protection but also because it give a man the ability to be a god to give life to an object in a more real way then one could accomplish in any other way. What role does the golem play in the modern setting you might ask and the answer to that would be a favorite past time of mine, D&D. In D&D there are multiple types of golems not just clay, but iron and stone and golems made of flesh. I think these are interesting because the myth never states that a golem must be made of clay and thus anything formed into the shape of a human can be animated with a spell and serve as a protector. However they are always automatons, creatures without thoughts or feelings they serve a purpose in obeying their masters. Which really limits and confuses can they be seen as something that needs caring from a creator or can they be wiped away as marker on a white board and I think that leaves an interesting place when connected to the creation myths, does that mean man is mindless? Does it mean that we can be destroyed pointlessly and with out a 2nd thought?