Ahania

 Ahania

Ahania represented Urizen's intuitive and visual self; he seems to have preferred reposing in Ahania rather than continuing his activity spreading the seeds of Science in his golden chariot (or plow!). The upshot of this was a level of doubt that caused him to cast Ahania out. Unfortunately when he did this, his intuition failed and he resorted more and more to vindictive law rather than 'sweet reason'; his creations thereafter were fallen (although the golden chain remained, even when it turned to iron).

"Am I not God said Urizen. Who is Equal to me
Do I not stretch the heavens abroad or fold them up like a garment
......
His visage changd to darkness & his strong right hand came forth
To cast Ahania to the Earth. He seizd her by the hair
And threw her from the steps of ice that froze around his throne.............
Saying Art thou also become like Vala? Thus I cast thee out.
Shall the feminine indolent bliss
Set herself up to give her laws to the active masculine virtue,
Thou little diminutive portion that darst be a counterpart
Thy passivity, thy laws of obedience & insincerity
Are my abhorrence.
And art thou also become like Vala? Thus I cast thee out."
(Four Zoas Night 3 42:19-43:22 [328-9]

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From Wikipedia:

"She is the representation of pleasure and the desire for intelligence. Although Urizen casts her out as being the manifestation of sin, she is actually an essential component in Blake's system to achieving Divine Wisdom. She is a figure of the goddess of wisdom. It is through her that the sons and daughters of Urizen are born. In the original myth, her son Fuzon rebels against his father and is responsible for separating Urizen and Ahania. In his later version, Ahania is separated from Urizen after he believes that she is sinful."

The Book of Ahania yields a lot of information about what Ahania meant to Blake:

"Fuzon, the fourth son of Urizen but first conceived, is the element fire. The other three elements are represented by three other sons of Urizen: Grodna = earth, Thiriel = air, and Utha = water. As the four elements, these four sons of Urizen form the material basis of Urizen's world. 

 

As the element of fire, the element symbolizing the energy Urizen wishes to subdue, Fuzon rebels against Urizen, initially in The Book of Urizen, a Moses figure who leads his people in their flight out of Egypt, Urizen's world. In The Book of Ahania, Fuzon comes into direct conflict with Urizen, battling with him for control of the world. The representation of this battle draws on elements from Greek mythology: Cronos's castration and overthrow of his father, Uranus; the battle between the Titans led by Cronos and Cronos's children, the Olympians, led by Zeus; and the battle between Zeus and Typhon. However, as opposed to the Greek mythos, Urizen defeats Fuzon and crucifies him. Thus Fuzon can also be seen as a Christ figure.
 

See Urizen, Plate 24, for an illustration of the birth of the four elements and Urizen, Plate 16, for an illustration of the element fire."

The Book of Ahania begins:

"1: Fuzon, on a chariot iron-wing'd On spiked flames rose; his hot visage Flam'd furious! sparkles his hair & beard Shot down his wide bosom and shoulders. On clouds of smoke rages his chariot And his right hand burns red in its cloud Moulding into a vast globe, his wrath As the thunder-stone is moulded. Son of Urizens silent burnings
2: Shall we worship this Demon of smoke, Said Fuzon, this abstract non-entity This cloudy God seated on waters Now seen, now obscur'd; King of sorrow?
3: So he spoke, in a fiery flame, On Urizen frowning indignant, The Globe of wrath shaking on high Roaring with fury, he threw The howling Globe: burning it flew Lengthning into a hungry beam."