Clive Barker's Midian was located in the province of Alberta, Canada. Although Shere Neck and Dwyer do not exist on any map I've ever seen, both Athabasca and Peace River do [view map]. Using the directions that Narcisse relayed to Boone, we can assume that Clive Barker's Midian was fairly isolated. Granted, we can't pinpoint exactly where it is, but "the middle of nowhere" would probably be an accurate description.

The filming locations, on the other hand, are likely going to be a bit easier to identify. The skyline shots were filmed in Calgary, where Boone and Lori lived, and certain sources claim that other scenes were filmed in Drumheller and Canmore [view map]. I have yet to find out where the cemetery was located/constructed, but I'm looking into it and will update this page when I know more.

Depending upon your personal philosophies, the other location of Midian was far removed from Canada. In fact, it existed in an entirely different place and time, yet in some ways, the tale of Clive Barker's Midian closely parallels that of Biblical Midian. Although its potential residents weren't technically monsters by the textbook definition, they were also "different" and experienced a type of unjust persecution that tends to leave more than a few students of religious doctrine perplexed. Ashberry's quote regarding the war on Midian is actually paraphrased scripture taken from Numbers 31:3-31:11.

"So Moses spoke to the people saying arm yourselves for war and let them go and take vengeance for the Lord on Midian. And so they burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt and killed the kings of Midian, both man and beast." - Ashberry

Biblical Midian is thought to have been located on the Red Sea in the country currently known as Saudi Arabia [view map]. However, scholars still have not agreed upon whether Midian was a physical place as much as a conglomeration of amorphous nomadic tribes. Either way, the Midianites were not barbarians. Their civilization was complex, sophisticated and economically prosperous.

Much like Clive Barker's Midian, Biblical Midian was composed of many different types of people with different backgrounds, ethics and systems of belief. Some were reportedly hostile and predatory while others were serene. The hostile and predatory Midianites were thought to have engaged in activities such as raiding and slavetrading while the others likely raised livestock. Either way, Midian was considered to be a dominant military force, primarily because of their more hostile denizens, and eventually found itself allied with Moab.

Though Midian and Moab were tolerated by Israel, Moab was still afraid of what the Israelites might do while passing through their territories after seeing what they'd done to the Amorites. Long story short, the Amorites refused the Israelites passage through their country, and the Israelites "took" their villages by force. So, Moab convinced Midian's elders that that it was necessary to put a "curse" on the Israelites to give Moab (and Midian) the strength to protect their land. As the story goes, Moab and Midian's collective request for a "curse" was made to Balaam and prevented by the Israelites' God.

Now, boys and girls, this is where things get a bit sketchy. Moab worshipped a god named Chemosh, but they reportedly also worshipped Baal by engaging in religious rituals that involved sexual and other hedonistic practices at Mount Peor. It is unclear whether or not the Midianites also worshipped Baal, but they were accused of such. Evidently, Moabite women or "the daughters of Moab" seduced the Israelites into joining them in those practices, which obviously pissed the Israelites' God off.

The interesting thing about the seduction is that when it happened, the Israelites were staying at a small village named Shittim, which was 30 miles north of Moab. And for the record, Moab was located by the southeast side of the Salt Sea in the area we know as Jordan [view map]. The trip from Moab to Shittim would have taken at least 2-3 days by caravan, yet these women showed up in droves. And somewhere along the lines, a Midianite tribal chief's daughter got involved. Keep in mind that if Moab was 30 miles south of Shittim, the area thought to be Midian was at least 180 miles south of Shittim.

Nevertheless, the whole Moab incident was eventually blamed on the Midianites even though the "Children Of Israel" never even passed through Midian. It likely would have taken over two weeks for the Midianites to travel to Shittim through the desert by caravan leaving their families, responsibilities and morals behind just to aggressively seduce a group of people that weren't even a threat to them by prostituting and humiliating themselves. We're not talking about a couple of women here either, we're talking about 5,000 to 15,000 women. Oh, and by the way, it has been implied that all of those women were carrying highly contagious sexual diseases.

Regardless, the Israelites' God passed judgment on them. Well, not all of them. You see, the Moabites were spared. Everything became Midian's fault. And in exchange for their supposed role in the ordeal, the Israelites' God ordered Moses to send 1,000 men from each of 12 tribes to make war against Midian, which may or may not have meant certain encampments of Midianites. They killed every male (including Midian's kings and male children), slaughtered every woman who wasn't a virgin (they "spared the virgins for themselves"), stole their cattle and sheep, and then plundered and burned their cities and camps. Disturbing, eh?

So, what does all of that mean exactly? Not a damn thing. Scripture is obviously open to interpretation. There are some who claim what the Israelites did to the Midianites was nothing short of attempted genocide. Others allege that the virgins the Israelites spared were turned into sexual slaves. And there are those that recognize the actions of the Israelites as a distressingly violent form of religious persecution. Oh yeah, and we can't forget that "precious" group of people who think the Midianites got exactly what they deserved.

The point is that the Biblical Midian existed thousands of years prior to Clive Barker's Midian, yet both tales seem to share a few surprisingly common elements.

©2006 Baphomette