View source for Shishlam

{{short description|Uthra (angelic being) in Mandaeism}}
{{Infobox deity
| type         = Mandaean
| name         = Shishlam
| deity_of     = Prototypical Mandaean priest
| member_of    =
| image        =
| alt          = <!-- for alternate text of the title image per [[WP:ALT]] -->
| caption      =
| other_names  = Shishlam Rabba (Šišlam Rba)
| hiro         =
| affiliation  = <!-- or | associate = -->
| cult_center  = <!-- or | cult_centre = -->
| abode        =
| planet       = <!-- or | world = -->
| mantra       =
| weapon       = <!-- or | weapons = -->
| battles      =
| artifacts    = <!-- or | artefacts = -->
| animals      =
| symbol       =
| parents      =
| siblings     =
| offspring    =
| consort      = [[Ezlat]]
| predecessor  =
| successor    =
| army         =
| texts        = {{hlist|''[[The Coronation of the Great Shishlam]]''|''[[The Wedding of the Great Shishlam]]''}}
| equivalent1_type =
| equivalent1 =
| region       =
| ethnic_group = [[Mandaeans]]
| festivals    = [[Feast of the Great Shishlam]]
}}
{{Mandaeism}}
In [[Mandaeism]], '''Shishlam''' ({{langx|myz|ࡔࡉࡔࡋࡀࡌ|Šišlam|consummate perfection}};<ref>Drower/Macuch: {{cite book |last1=Drower |first1=E. S. |title=A Mandaic Dictionary |date=2021 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-7252-7204-0 |page=464a |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nws8EAAAQBAJ&q=464 |language=en}}</ref>) is a figure representing the [[archetype|prototypical]] [[Mandaean priest]] or [[Mandaeans|Mandaean]]. He is also frequently referred to in [[Mandaean texts]] as '''Šišlam Rabba''' ({{langx|myz|ࡔࡉࡔࡋࡀࡌ ࡓࡁࡀ|Šišlam Rba|Great Shishlam|link=no}}.<ref name="Buckley2010">{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Jorunn Jacobsen|title=The great stem of souls: reconstructing Mandaean history|publisher=Gorgias Press|publication-place=Piscataway, N.J|year=2010|isbn=978-1-59333-621-9}}</ref> Shishlam is sometimes identified with [[Adam Kasia]], the "Perfect Man".<ref>Drower/Macuch: {{cite book |last1=Drower |first1=E. S. |title=A Mandaic Dictionary |date=2021 |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers |isbn=978-1-7252-7204-0 |page=464a |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nws8EAAAQBAJ&q=464 |language=en}}</ref>
==In Mandaean scriptures==
In Mandaean texts, Shishlam communicates with [[uthra]]s from the [[World of Light]] and partakes in rituals to re-establish ''[[laufa]]'' (spiritual connection) with the World of Light.<ref name="Buckley2010"/> Hence, Shishlam is essentially a literary personification or representation of the Mandaean who is participating in the ritual that the text is being used for.
''[[The Wedding of the Great Shishlam]]'', a ritual text used during [[Mandaeans|Mandaean]] wedding ceremonies, is named after Shishlam.<ref name="Buckley 2002">{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Jorunn Jacobsen|title=The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people|publisher=Oxford University Press|publication-place=New York|year=2002|isbn=0-19-515385-5|oclc=65198443}}</ref><ref name="DC38">Drower, E. S. 1950. ''[https://archive.org/details/sarhdqabindsisla0000unse Šarḥ ḏ qabin ḏ šišlam rba (D. C. 38). Explanatory Commentary on the Marriage Ceremony of the great Šišlam]''. Rome: Ponteficio Istituto Biblico. (text transliterated and translated)</ref>
As the priestly prototype or [[archetype]], Shishlam features prominently in several Mandaean priestly esoteric texts used during ''[[tarmida]]'' and ''[[ganzibra]]'' initiation ceremonies. These texts include:
*''[[The Thousand and Twelve Questions]]'',<ref name="DC36">{{cite book|last=Drower|first=Ethel S.|title=The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia)|location=Berlin|publisher=Akademie Verlag|year=1960}}</ref> which mentions Shishlam as the son of [[Nbat]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Drower|first=Ethel S.|title=The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia)|location=Berlin|publisher=Akademie Verlag|year=1960|page=158}}</ref> or alternatively as the son of [[Adam Kasia|Adam S'haq Rba]] (literally 'Adam was bright, the Great'). [[Ezlat]] "She Wove", described as the "Wellspring of Light," is mentioned as Shishlam's wife or female consort.<ref>{{cite book|last=Drower|first=Ethel S.|title=The Thousand and Twelve Questions: A Mandaean Text (Alf Trisar Šuialia)|location=Berlin|publisher=Akademie Verlag|year=1960|page=111}}</ref> In Book 2, Part 5.2 of ''The 1012 Questions'', Shishlam is also mentioned as the son of Lihdaia Rba Zadiqa (the "Unique Great Holy One"; or "Unique Great Righteous One," see ''[[Right Ginza]]'' 9.2<ref name="GR Gelbert">{{cite book |url=https://livingwaterbooks.com.au/product/ginza-rba/ |last1=Gelbert |first1=Carlos |title=Ginza Rba |year=2011 |publisher=Living Water Books |location=Sydney |isbn=9780958034630}}</ref>).
*''[[The Coronation of the Great Shishlam]]''<ref name="DC54">Drower, E. S. 1962. ''[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1351010 The Coronation of the Great Šišlam: Being a Description of the Rite of the Coronation of a Mandaean Priest according to the ancient Canon]''. Leiden: Brill.</ref>
*''The [[Scroll of Exalted Kingship]]''<ref>{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=Jorunn Jacobsen|title=The Scroll of Exalted Kingship: Diwan Malkuta ʿLaita|location=New Haven, Connecticut|publisher=American Oriented Society|year=1993}}</ref>
*''[[Alma Rišaia Rba]]''<ref name="pair">Drower, E. S. 1963. ''[https://archive.org/details/pairofnaoraeanco0000unse A Pair of Naṣoraean Commentaries: Two Priestly Documents, the Great First World and the Lesser First World]''. Leiden: Brill.</ref>
*''[[Alma Rišaia Zuṭa]]''<ref name="pair"/>
==Feast==
{{main|Feast of the Great Shishlam}}
Shishlam's festival is the [[Feast of the Great Shishlam]], celebrated annually by Mandaeans on the sixth and seventh days of the first month.<ref name="Aldihisi 2008">{{cite thesis|url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1444088/|last=Aldihisi|first=Sabah|year=2008|title=The story of creation in the Mandaean holy book in the Ginza Rba|type=PhD|publisher=University College London}}</ref>
==See also==
*[[Self in Jungian psychology]], a [[Jungian archetypes|Jungian archetype]]
*[[Adam Kasia]]
*[[Mandaean priest]]
*[[Yura (Mandaeism)]]
*[[Ezlat]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Mandaeism footer}}
[[Category:Mythological archetypes]]
[[Category:Conceptions of self]]
[[Category:Mandaean priests|*]]
[[Category:Personifications in Mandaeism]]