The Mandaean belief is based on a triad rather than the more commonly used dualistic symbolism, The Lightworld, Underworld and Tibil (Earth). The Lightworld is where the light beings reside such as the Utras (messengers/ angels) and is the final resting place for the soul after death. The Underworld is the place where the negative beings and the negative forces reside but is not the final resting place for an in-pure soul, all Mandaean souls eventually reach the Lightworld. Tibil (Earth) lies in-between the two mystical worlds and is where humans live, subjected to the influences of both the Lightworld and Underworld.
To the Mandaeans the human body is three fold. The body which is subject to all the influences of the dark world, the soul which originated in the Lightworld and the spirit which acts as a buffer between the body and the soul. The spirit is a representation of Ruha. Ruha is herself an interesting and important character in the Mandaean belief. Ruha is considered by many scholars to be a negative and even at times an evil entity but in some Mandaean text she shows her true origins and the divine side of her nature.
The creation myth begins when the Lightworld hears rumours of the Underworlds intention to wage a war against the Light. The Utra Hibil Ziwa is sent on a mission to find out who is planning this war and to prevent it. Hibil descends through the lofty spheres and the space where Tibil has not yet been formed to the seven underworlds. It is in the first world Hibil encounters Ruha. Hibil stays in this world with Ruha for at least a thousand years, although during this time he is hidden from Ruha’s view. Hibil then continues downward through the levels of the Underworld completing his mission defeating the forces in each region until he reaches the bottom.
In the final level Hibil encounters the Great Flesh Mountain, Krun. Hibil, clad in armour covered in knives and numerous sharp objects, hurls himself into Krun’s mouth and destroys his digestive system. Hibil then forces Krun to give him a kind of passport containing mystical powers then begins his ascent back through the Underworld. Just before he reaches the world of Ruha he steels two objects containing mrara ugimra (bitterness and jewel) the powers of darkness.
