Message #1253

[Victoria Liss]

Metatron in Media
Literature

Metatron figures prominently in the third installment of His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman as the chief enforcer of the Authority (a high ranking angel pretending to be God) and a major antagonist. In the novel The Amber Spyglass, it is revealed that Metatron was at one time Enoch (see Origins above) and that Enoch encountered Yahweh 4,000 years before the events of the story. Transformed into an angel, Enoch became his Regent, charged with the task of exercising the will of the Authority. Metatron now vehemently persecutes all who oppose the Authority.

Metatron also appears in Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, described as "the Voice of God. But not the voice of God. An entity in its own right. Rather like a Presidential spokesman".

Sol Yurick wrote "Metatron," published by Semiotext(e) in 1985. The more complete name is "Behold Metatron, the Recording Angel," which appears on the title page inside. It might be of interest to those interested in the questions concerning technology and other symptomotology known as the post-modern (or post-human) condition: "All knowledge is in the process of being converted to computer compatibility. The old 'philosopher's stone' could convert base metals into gold. Now humans, real estate, social relations are converted into electronic signs carried in an electronic plasma. The dream of magical control has never been exorcised. . . ."

Metatron is a character in Tony Kushner's one-act play Dr. Arnold A. Hutschnecker in Paradise. He is portrayed as a "vast fiery being with a million eyes" and works as a psychoanalyst.[25]