Luciferianism History And Culture Theology Religion Essay

As I tried to state in the introductory chapter, Luciferianism is seen by some as an auxiliary of Satanism, due to the popular identification in some novels of Lucifer with Satan. Some Luciferians accept this identification or consider Lucifer as the light bearer aspect of Satan. Others reject it, arguing that Lucifer is a more positive ideal than Satan. They are inspired by different cultures’ mythologies, by Gnosticism, and by western occultism. In the historical Luciferianism there were several cults that worshiped Lucifer. The Gesta Treverorum records that in 1231, heretics began to be persecuted throughout Germany. Among them, there were also Luciferians. Over the following three years, several people were burned as a result. According to a papal letter from Gregory IX, one of the claims made by the Luciferians was that Lucifer had been cast out of Heaven unjustly. Women were implicated in the cult, and the Church accused those named as heretics of sexual perversities.

In Modern Luciferianism, The Church of Lucifer is an organization that represents modern Luciferianism where Lucifer is considered a symbol of endless desire for knowledge and a power over all aspects of nature. Modern Luciferianism activates since before de 1980’s in America and includes members from around the world. Modern Luciferianism encourages the study of various ancient cults.

There are several organizations of Luciferianism and each one of them sees Luciferianism from its point of view differently and, in the same time, very similar. The Order of Phosphorus is a nonprofit organization that offers great honor to Luciferian principles of discipline, spiritual excellence, and the endless desire of knowledge. The Church of Adversarial Light, an ecclesiastical affiliation of the Order of Phosphorus worships culture and knowledge of current Luciferianism without the rigors and requirements of the system of the Order of Phosphorus

The organization Ordo Luciferis, opposed to The Ordo Luciferi, is a spiritual group of Luciferians representing a high degree of Masonry.

The Ordo Luciferi is an international organization that does not mandate for a strict religion or a dogmatic belief system. Known as The Luciferian Order, The Ordo Luciferi exists to provide discussions about philosophy, magic and lifestyle. In this organization there is a working group appointed to coordinate events. It is considered “The Official Think Tank of the Luciferian Order” and is involved in the development of occult techniques.

The Temple of the Dark Sun, also known as The Order of the Dark Sun is an occult Luciferian organization that considers that the white energies must be harnessed as well as the black energies (earth and universe) to establish the natural balance. The Luciferian organization is very selective in choosing members that want to join. The Temple of the Dark Sun has a system of grades and each grade has different needs for advancement.

As there exist several cults that worship and function for Lucifer, there are, in the world, different religions that worship different gods or beliefs. These religions or belief systems have ranged in iconology and practice, but common threads are clear and concise. In their systems, most notably is the idea of dualism. Merriam Webster defines dualism as a “doctrine that the universe is under the dominion of two opposing principles one of which is good and the other evil.” (2003: 384) With this definition we can further elaborate of the meaning of the concept as an intricate balance, here of good vs. evil. This theme may be as widespread as civilizations needed to classify their residents and at the same time teach them the difference between good and evil. Egyptians used mythology to educate their society on behavior and religion. “Myths are based on rivalry or struggle of the myths characters.”(Idem, 1221)

All of the above refer to the duality of the human being and of the nature. Duality always implies two sided things. It is like different and opposed things and aspects. We can talk about the duality God and Satan/Lucifer, good and evil, yin and yang, the Egyptian gods Horus and Seth, etc. The duality most frequent in the mysticism refers to good vs. evil. An even though we also have other dualities, all of them drive us to these two concepts: good and evil.

Talking about the duality formed by God and Lucifer/Satan, we can see different perceptions, depending on everyone’s religion or belief: skeptics reject the existence of God, the Christians believe in Him. One of the most common reasons skeptics reject the existence of God is due to the presence of evil in this universe. They reason that a perfect God would not create a universe in which evil exists. Skeptics claim that since God created everything, this means God must have also created evil. They even cite Bible verses. In Isaiah, for example, it is stated that: “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” (45:7), or Amos, “Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?” (3:6), or passages from Lamentations: “Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not evil and good?” (3:38).

However, evil is not really a created thing. You can’t see, touch, feel, smell or hear evil. It is not one of the fundamental forces of physics, nor does it consist of matter, energy, or the spatial dimensions of the universe. Still, skeptics like to claim that God created evil and cite the Bible to prove their point. The Bible is quite clear that God is not the author of evil and insists that He is incapable of doing so: “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” (23:19).

Skeptics love the King James Bible. Use of this translation is problematic these days, since it uses an archaic version of modern English, which doesn’t necessarily mean the same things today as when it was translated over 400 years ago. In addition, the King James Version was produced using a limited number of medieval manuscripts that did not represent the earliest Alexandrian set of manuscripts.

There are different interpretations of the translated King James Version: “The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.” (Isaiah 45:7) is translated nowadays as “I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7).

Isaiah 45:7 contrasts opposites. Darkness is the opposite of light. However, evil is not the opposite of peace. The Hebrew word translated “peace” is “shaÌ‚loÌ‚m”, which has many meanings, mostly related to the well-being of individuals: completeness, soundness, welfare, peace, “Râ‛aÌ‚h”, the Hebrew word translated “evil” in the King James Version often refers to adversity or calamity. There are two forms of the word.

In Amos 3:6: “If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the LORD done it?” translated “When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?” (3:6). Likewise, Amos 3:6 uses the same word, “râ‛aÌ‚h”, referring to “calamity” or “disaster”. The context (a disaster happening to a city) does not refer to moral evil.

These examples are very illustrative to point out that God is not the author of evil: “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with You.” (Psalm 5:4). Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.” (James 1:13).

When talking about the duality, the nature of the individual is dual in itself. The philosophers have different opinions but in all of them this duality is mirrored. Thomas Hobbes argues that the natural state of people is violent and inclined to devolve toward the bestial. Aristotle argues that that the natural state of humans inclines towards the good; much of the arguments that he puts forth in The Nicomachean Ethics contains at its core the Platonic assumption that evil is simply ignorance and can be educated away. Aristotle firmly believes that everyone has it within himself to become a better person through thought, observation, education, and experience (and of course the practice of philosophy). Not only does each person have this capacity, Aristotle argued, but has the moral obligation to try to improve.

Evil is considered by some to be something which has no definite meaning, as there will always be someone who has a different interpretation. It will remain in this world in order to test people’s temptations and morals. Evil can be classified as an act which causes pain purposely and not accidentally. A person committing an act of evil knows that he/she is doing something which is morally wrong but then still proceeds to do it. Evil is an ugly thing but then one needs to have evil so that there would be good in the world. There has to be something out there which will allow us to classify something as an act of good so that it can be distinguished from evil. Evil has to be there so it can balance goodwill in the world so that life can go on. This is known as the theory of duality where it states that life is a struggle between good or evil. It is believed that evil and good are different parts of the pole and cancel each other out.

St. Thomas Aquinas sees evil as having no purpose or substance of its own, because God did not create it and neither does He allow it. It exists only because the human will, which is free, opts for it. He says that evil is not an essence, form or substance, which goodness possesses. Rather it is the absence of that goodness or the privation of good. A created thing or creature is created for a purpose by God and that purpose is necessarily good, because God created it, and that individual’s nature is directed at that purpose, which is good. When the individual, by his or her own free will, decides not to opt for that purpose directly or indirectly it violates its own nature, which is aimed or directed towards its own good, and therefore, commits evil.

Centuries before the establishment of modern religion, the problem of evil already plagued humanity. Early philosophers discussed its defining characteristics at length. Socrates, who roamed the Greek city-state of Athens nearly 400 years before Christ’s birth, claimed that good and evil could only be distinguished through self-knowledge. However, it seems that this discovery was no easy task; over 2000 years later, theologians continue to debate the problem of evil. At the core of this debate is a struggle to discover the essence of evil and to describe this essence in a way that will force humanity to confront and to judge its own actions. For Socrates, this confrontation took the form of knowledge. The world’s theologians, however, sought to define the problem in more concrete ways.

St. Augustine believed evil was allowed to exist, despite the goodness of God, in order to create and strengthen the belief in God. St. Augustine spent many years contemplating the problem of evil, wondering why evil exists despite the fact that God, the almighty controller of the world, is entirely good and all-powerful. He believed that God made everyone and everything completely good, yet recognized that evil existed in the world. Therefore, he aimed to understand evil in order to develop his faith. His major question was: If the body and soul are created by God and are therefore good, what causes evil?

He initially believed that God made a perfect world, but that God’s creatures turned away from God of their own free will, through different types of falls, and that is how evil originated in the world. In Augustine’s study of the problem of evil, he argues that there are a variety of things that are good. Without this variety, he says, there can be a greater goodness of things as a whole than there would be if this variety did not exist. Augustine also argues that evil is not completely real in itself. Instead, it is dependent on something more real, like disease, which is a form of evil. He points out that disease can only exist in a body, which is a form of good. Therefore, Augustine says, God, who is the source of everything that exists, is not in contest with a positive being or a counterpart that is evil.

Good and evil create a yin and yang effect that many believe is necessary to understand life and its balance. It is difficult to prove what is evil and what is good; there are many different opinions, depending on the circumstances. To totally remove the problem of evil, everyone on earth would have to be destroyed, which would be pointless. The opposing opinion is that evil need not remain with humanity. Many believe that evil and good are not actually opposing forces. They are not forces at all. Instead, they are simply words that are put on actions and ideas, depending on what the majority of the society agrees upon. There are many places that do not have the same rules and regulations as other areas, but that does not make one of these places evil and the other place good. It only makes these places different from one another. It is the same with good and evil. They are side by side, not opposed to one another, and the only difference between the two is based in the perceptions and opinions of those around them.

Throughout the Bible there are many examples of which humans must make a choice between good and evil. If the Fall had never occurred humankind would never have the responsibility to make their own choices. The consequences of the Fall provide humanity with the knowledge and characteristics that make them human. While the knowledge may not always result in the right choices, it at least provides people with humanity. Without the freedom to make their own choices people are more like soulless beings. Knowledge is a key human characteristic that often leads to other humanlike qualities, such as modesty, fear, blame, and jealousy. The Fall provides people with those humanlike qualities.

Other elements that form an interesting duality consist of the Egyptian gods Horus and Seth, which are considered to be Lucifer like. It seems that Lucifer; Horus and Seth are regarded as similar archetypes. The eye of Horus and the eye of Lucifer is said to be the “all seeing eye”. Then by saying that Lucifer-Seth and Lucifer-Horus are similar archetypes, Seth and Horus are connected indirectly. But Seth and Horus were adversaries and sworn enemies even though they did stop attacking each other later on. But then it seems like almost everyone has the “all seeing eye” as their symbol. The eye is also a symbol for free masonry. Any insight appreciated.

It is interesting that in the case of Isis, Osiris, and Horus one can also say the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost, or Mary, God, and Jesus. Lucifer was the morning star and Isis also held that title, so I would not say Horus and Lucifer are the same, but I would say there is a connection.

Horus and Set were originally expressions of the primal duality, the two aspects of Heaven, the day-sky and night-sky. As the Egyptian mythology was elaborated towards its final chaotic state, their symbolism drifted away from these absolute poles into the middle ground, first becoming solar, and finally taking on a variety of solar/martial and zodiacal characteristics. Yet their final form can still be expressed in a concise symbolism, that of the astrological signs of Aries and Scorpio. Taken whole, their symbolism is that of the primal duality manifesting in its male aspects.

A brief list of some of the characteristics associated with the gods shows their positions as opposite poles of a duality. These characteristics are extracted from myths quoted in Budge’s Gods of the Egyptians.

Horus is associated with daylight, life, fire and its symbol: Aries. He is considered a slayer, the bursting forth of life. He is the conqueror and the king; it rises into the sky and steals Seth’s virility. On the other side, Seth is associated with exactly the opposite characteristics of Horus: night, death, water and its symbol: Scorpio. He is considered a slain, the withdrawal of life and its reappearance. He is the victim and the rebel and he descends into the earth.

In its most general form, Aries is represented by the myth-pattern called the Man-Who-Lives, which appears in many different myth-systems essentially unchanged. He is the warrior who by right of conquest becomes the King, and rules until he is overcome by Death. Cabalistically speaking, he represents the transformation of the martial sexual power into a solar child, or the transformation of fire-by-friction into solar fire.

Scorpio is a watery sign, representing the withdrawal of life from the plant kingdom at the end of the growing season, and its concentration into the seed, which is buried in the Earth to await a new life. Extension of this principle into the animal kingdom accounts for its connection with the sex act.

Horus can not maintain a state of ascendancy without a self-interested and emotionally passive population to rule. His opponent Set/Scorpio seeks to break out of the emotional passivity, creating disturbances and breaking the patterns of normal life so that new conditions might be created.

The myth-pattern of Set is that of the Man-Who-Dies. In one aspect, he is the victim of Horus, the one who is slain so that Horus’s reputation can be enhanced. Except for his slaying of Osiris, there are very few instances in Egyptian mythology where Set engages in active violence. In contrast, the myths of Horus are filled with detailed accounts of slaughter. Set traditionally acts the part of the perpetual victim. Horus slays him over and over, and always he reappears in another form to be slain again. In another aspect he is the rebel, the man who does not submit to conquest and goes “underground”, opposing the conqueror secretly because he lacks the power to oppose him openly. His is also the pattern of the martyr who prefers to submit to death rather than abandon his principles. Or speaking more generally, the Eagle aspect of Scorpio represents adherence to the ideal at the expense of the mundane.

There is also at least a partial correspondence between Scorpio and the self-immolating Phoenix, which destroys itself in order to reproduce.

Cabalistically speaking Set represents the transmutation of fire-by- friction through a dark solar stage into electric fire, the fire of the divine will. He is the Wandering Son, the Everyman who breaks away from his home life and community, passes through strange ordeals and trials, and returns home a demi-god to save the community from destruction and oppression by the conqueror.

Both are heroes, both necessary to the accomplishment of the hero’s task. Their fundamental natures embody the same energies but with dissimilar emphasis. While related to Aries and Scorpio in their individual manifestations, together they are the twins of Gemini. Thus they at times appear to be in conflict, as in the Horus/Set, Cain/Abel, and Romulus/Remus, or even God/Lucifer myths, and at other times they cooperate, as in the Arthurian Romances and the myth of Castor and Pollux.

By examining the myth of the feud between Horus and Seth, we can find parallels to Christianity. Even those who do not practice as Christians are well aware of the Bible’s teaching of Lucifer, commonly known as the Devil, and God, a perfect example of good versus evil.

How can we define what is good and what is evil? Are there universal indicators behind, within, or consequent upon an action by which one can determine whether it was a good or an evil act? How can one tell whether a person is good or evil? The scriptures of the world’s religions provide a variety of answers to these questions.

The first group of passages defines good and evil by their fruits. A good person or a good deed bears good fruits; and an evil person or an evil deed produces evil fruits. From the fruits, the person’s heart and sincerity can be known. Among the good fruits, of special importance for their traditions are the Confucian Five Happinesses and the Christian Fruits of the Spirit.

Second are passages which define good and evil by purpose and intention. Purpose may mean to follow an objective standard: the Dhamma or the will of God or Way of Heaven. Or, intention may be known inwardly and intuitively. Defining good and evil by purpose or intention permits one to know good or evil even when the result is not visible. But since intention is often hidden, it may have to be brought to light by testing, as in the final selections.

In Saint Matthew, we can read:

“That deed that I am desirous of doing with the body is a deed of my body that might conduce to the harm of self and that might conduce to the harm of others and that might conduce to the harm of both; this deed of body is unskilled, its yield is anguish, its result is anguish. If you, Rahula, reflecting thus, should find it so, a deed of body like this, Rahula, is certainly not to be done by you. (7.16-20).

In Buddhism, there are five sources of happiness: is long life, riches, soundness of body, and serenity of mind, love of virtue, an end crowning the life. The six extreme evils are: misfortune shortening the life, sickness, distress of mind, poverty, wickedness, weakness.

Another main duality, meaning and referring to good vs. evil duality is Yin and Yang symbol. The Symbol (Yin-Yang) represents the ancient Chinese understanding of how things work. The outer circle represents “everything”, while the black and white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called “yin” (black) and “yang” (white), which cause everything to happen. They are not completely black or white, just as things in life are not completely black or white, and they cannot exist without each other. Yin is made from yin which means “clouds”, “clouded weather” and fu meaning “hill”. Yang is made of yang, meaning “sun”, “sunny hill” and again fu. So, they refer to the dark or light side of a hill, and therefore the dark and light side of everything, of how natural things are, of how the nature of the individual is.

The idea of opposites (Yin Yang, the union and harmony of opposites) has existed in both Eastern and Western philosophy since ancient times. Of the Ancient Greek Philosophers, Heraclitus and Parmenides both understood that the Universe was One and Dynamic. As Bertrand Russell writes on Heraclitus;

For Heraclitus the unity of things was to be found in their essential structure or arrangement rather than their material. This common structure or Logos, which was not superficially apparent, was chiefly embodied in a single kinetic material, fire. It was responsible both for the regularity of natural changes and for the essential connection of opposites. Heraclitus adopted this traditional analysis of differentiation through balanced interaction. The regularity underlying change was for Heraclitus the significant thing.

Yin and Yang are opposites. They are either on the opposite ends of a cycle, like the seasons of the year, or, opposites on a continuum of energy or matter. This opposition is relative, and can only be spoken of in relationships. Yin and Yang are never static but in a constantly changing balance.

They are also interdependent which means they cannot exist without each other. The Tai Ji diagram shows the relationship of Yin and Yang and illustrates interdependence on Yin and Yang. Nothing is complete Yin or complete Yang. Just as a state of total Yin is reached, Yang begins to grow. Yin contains seed of Yang and vise versa. They constantly transform into each other.

There is a mutual consumption of yin and yang. Relative levels of yin-yang are continuously changing. Normally this is a harmonious change, but when yin or yang are out of balance they affect each other, and too much of one can eventually consume the other.

One can change into the other, but it is not a random event, happening only when the time is right.

Talking about the nature of the individual, there are people that cannot balance the good and evil in each other. In real life, as well as in fiction, the good and the evil coexist, but in spite of the fact that they must be balanced, one of them often reigns over the other. Different people cannot be evil or good, but their true nature includes the both. In the same time, different people can see good or evil in their own perception. Gerald Messadié, in A History of the Devil, states that:

“In the mid-eighties, the world saw an odd and symbolic case of geographical transference. The president of the United states, Ronald Reagan, called the USSR <>, while the de facto leader of Iran, the Ayatollah Khomeini called the United States <>. Both flights of rhetoric indicate that hell, the kingdom of the Devil, doesn’t appear to be situated in the same place for everybody – and that the Devil is a politically useful figure.” (1997: 3)

There are also organizations that worship good or evil. As I stated in the beginning of this chapter, there are Luciferian cults, but there are also some other cults that we only have heard about, but there is nothing clear about what they do and plan. Such cults, like the Illuminati or the Francmasons, are, in my opinion the most complicated and long debated organizations. There is nothing material we know about them, only what others suppose or have heard from unknown people. But there is often stated that these organizations rule the world, even though we do not know yet which one is the most powerful. We will see below some opinions of different people, none of them named.

Some state that what we commonly call the historical fact is a phenomenon that takes place on two levels. The first plane is visible, to the reach of any man who comes out on the street or has TV and Internet access. This is only the tip of the iceberg. The second plane is invisible to many people. In this hidden dimension the future of the world is planned. The authors form a secret group who watches the destinies of mankind for thousands of years. Those who heard of them call them the Illuminati.

If we imagine, if only for a moment that everything we know about the surrounding reality is a big fake. Like much of what serves the media are lies and manipulation. That everything they call “free” is only the result of a false that springs from a long line of official lies.

In this case, we will slowly discover that the “power” of this world is not that for which are fighting today the United States, Russia, Japan, and EU. All these economic and military powers are only some parts of the game, handled from the shadow by the true masters of the planet. From there, from the anonymous darkness, they bind and unite things. From the highest conceivable level of power, this unknown form many forums govern unhindered. They make laws and revolutions, introduce governments; they decide what countries disappear for other countries to take their place. They create new ideologies and even religions. About identities and nationalities of the Illuminati very few things are known, as is easy to suspect. Instead, their plans are visible as the “veil” in the eyes of those who want to know the truth, is equally erased by the thirst for knowledge and the desire to be truly free. Their power is great and feared by anyone who gets to know something about them. Over the millennia, they have perfected the art of conspiracy up to the climax of perfection. They have four great directions simple and difficult to oppose: they create conflicts and wars where the two involved parts fight against each other and never against the real instigator, never appear in public, finance all the parts involved in the conflict, and they are always seen as the peacemaker that ends the conflict.

Neither the attributes nor personification of Lucifer or Satan play any role in the beliefs or rituals of Freemasonry. The topic is only of interest insofar as anti-Masonic attacks have accused Freemasonry of worshiping Lucifer. The confusion stems from such 19th century Masonic authors as Albert Pike and Albert G. Mackey who have used the term “luciferian” in its classical or literary sense to refer to a search for knowledge. John Robinson notes “The emphasis here should be on intent. When Albert Pike and other Masonic scholars spoke over a century ago about the “Luciferian path,” or the “energies of Lucifer,” they were referring to the morning star, the light bearer, the search for light; the very antithesis of dark, satanic evil.

Roger Firestone sees freemasonry is a fraternal organization that encourages morality and charity and studies philosophy. It has no clergy, no sacraments, and does not promise salvation to its members.

Philosophy is sometimes confused with religion since the two topics cover many of the same issues. Both religion and philosophy address questions such as: Why are we here? What is the nature of reality? What is good? How should we treat each other? What is most important in life? Religion often has rituals marking important life events and times of the year. Unlike philosophy, religion makes a distinction between the sacred and the profane. Religions also often have a belief in the “miraculous.”

The Freemasons began as members of craft guilds who united into lodges in England in the early 1700’s. They stressed religious tolerance, the equality of their male peers, and the themes of classic liberalism and the Enlightenment. Today they are a worldwide fraternal order that still educates its members about philosophical ideas, and engages in harmless rituals, but also offers networking for business and political leaders, and carries out charitable activities.

The idea of a widespread freemason conspiracy originated in the late 1700’s and flourished in the US in the 1800’s. Persons who embrace this theory often point to purported Masonic symbols such as the pyramid and the eye on the back of the dollar bill as evidence of the conspiracy.

But what can we say about the link between Lucifer and witchcraft? In all the world the most significant area to Witches is Fire Island and coastal south Suffolk County, New York. It is here that Ray Buckland, the father of modern Wicca, spread witchcraft throughout the world. The geography is what makes it so significant. Because Long Island is the most significant land in the north to have a beach facing south to the Atlantic Ocean, it gets an extraordinary amount of winter sunlight. The sun coming from the south reflects off the huge ocean and increases the light intensity.  This is the reason why Sayville, Long Island was at one time the greenhouse capital of the world.

According to the National Park Service central Fire Island gets so much sunlight that, Fire Island takes its name from an illusion created by the glancing rays of sunlight on local foliage. Though only a vision, this ‘island in flame’ is an integral and fitting part of wilderness. That is an example of just how bright and strong the sun is.

Because the winter sunlight is so strong here, it is an important spot for witches. Witches believe that Lucifer is the God of the Sun. and the Sun God is also known as the “Horned God.” Lucifer is also known as the “Angel of Light.” Many of the Witch’s holy days revolve around the Sun such as the Yule. A big part of their belief system is the concept of the Sun weakening and the world dying, then on the Winter Solstice the Sun God Lucifer is reborn and warms the Earth. The best place in the world performs this demonic ceremony celebra