Lucifer in esotericism
In the works of esotericists of the New Age, Lucifer was interpreted quite traditionally as an initially omnipotent, magnificent and perfect Spirit, who received great strength and power from God, but rebelled against him and was thrown into the underworld for this. The image of Lucifer occupies an important place in the work of the German writer, alchemist and mystic Georg von Welling (1655 - 1727) “Opus Mago-Cabbalisticum et Theosophicum”
(“On the Origin, Nature, Properties and Uses of Salt, Sulfur and Mercury”), published in 1719.
Lucifer was in the most perfect and spiritual Splendor and was following the living God, not spiritually, but majestic and perfect in absolute freedom. And so here he remained in greatness and splendor, and in him the most tender Light of Divine Majesty was endlessly observed, while many powerful angels and countless millions of spirits were completely obedient to his free will. He experienced desire within himself, and as a result of such enormous and terrifying power, he accordingly began to hinder with his own free will the influence of Divine Love-Light (Fig. 54. FB.), which was his essential harmonious Joy-Life. Instead, he sought and loved his own power outside of Divinity, within himself, captivating all his armies with whim and imagination. Because the action of the Divine Light ceased in him with lightning speed, and this magnificent radiance was completely closed and turned over in him, as well as for all the angels, armies and essential creatures of his essence who obeyed him - all this fell with him to the sphere of the Sons of God[1].
Lucifer in various religious and spiritual traditions
“The Luciferians”, illustration by Pierre Mejanel for the book “The Secrets of Freemasonry” by Leo Taxil, 1886.
Some Christian sects, considered heretical by the orthodox church, identified the fallen demon with the Creator God of the Old Testament. In Bogomil
The text known as the Book of John the Divine or the Gospel of the Last Supper tells that Satan was a glorified angel, but fell from heaven to create his own kingdom and become the Demiurge. He created the material world and imprisoned souls from heaven inside matter. Jesus came down to earth to free trapped souls. Unlike Christianity, the cross was condemned as a symbol of Satan and a weapon for the murder of Jesus.
The Swedish mystic Emmanuel Swedenborg (1688 - 1772) denied the existence of Satan and demons. He attributed all power to the True and Good Deity, or Lord, and asserted that there was no devil who commanded hell. He said that although the literal reading of Scripture tells the story of the fall of Lucifer, in fact the words “devil” and “Satan” simply mean hell, the place of evil and lies, chosen by those who follow the path of self-love and lack of mercy. From Swedenborg's point of view, "Lucifer" means "Babylonians."
Mormons
believe that God the Father had two sons born from the Heavenly Mother, whose names were Lucifer and Jesus (aka Jehovah). Jesus was supposed to rule the earth, but a third of the angels, along with Lucifer, rebelled and began to fight against Jesus and the angels who supported him. Lucifer's supporters were defeated and punished by the fact that they would never be able to incarnate into bodies and would forever remain spirits. Lucifer himself became Satan and from now on “walks the earth back and forth, trying to destroy the souls of men.”
Cover of "Lucifer the Lightbringer" by Harman
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From the end of the 19th century, the image of Lucifer began to be identified with the image of Prometheus and was used as a symbol of freethinking and a fighter against Christian orthodoxy. American schoolteacher and women's rights activist Moses Harman
(1830 - 1910) On August 24, 1883, he renamed his anarchist magazine Lucifer the Light-Bearer, explaining that “the name was chosen because it expressed the mission of the publication.
Lucifer, the name given to the morning star by the people of the ancient world, represented the beginning of a new day.” Harman saw in Lucifer the teacher of humanity. “The God of the Bible is doomed.
humanity to eternal ignorance,” wrote Harman, “and [people] would never have distinguished good from evil if Lucifer had not told them how to become as wise as the gods themselves . Articles published in Lucifer discussed topics such as religion, relationships and parenting. In his works, Harman rejected all forms of religion and social institutions, including marriage.
Mother and father of a fallen angel
Among hoaxers, sorcerers and demonologists, it has now become fashionable to speculate about who the mother of Satan was.
The story of Lucifer in the Bible does not provide any information about this. In Christianity there is no such thing as the mother of Satan, but in many myths and legends there are fictitious facts about the biography of the fallen angel.
Important! There can be no mention of the family of Lucifer in the Bible, since all heavenly bodies have only a Father and He is God, there cannot be any other origins of angels in Orthodoxy!
In the Middle Ages, it was widely believed that all angels were created from a primordial clot of energy called Lucida, which is what the mother of Satan is called in mythology and heretical texts.
Who is Lucifer in Orthodoxy
Lucifer, Satan, demon, devil, fallen angel - synonyms?
The devil is a “slanderer” because he uses lies to achieve his goals and accuses people before God so that they share his terrible fate. Satan is the “adversary.” Despite their different meanings, these titles of the Prince of this world are used as synonyms.
The Fall of Simon the Magus, icon.
A fallen angel can be called either Satan or any demon. However, Satan is not called a demon; he is higher than them in status, since he rules the kingdom of evil spirits. And the word “Lucifer” is actively used in this meaning by Hollywood screenwriters. Columnist for the Thomas magazine, publicist and theologian Sergei Khudiev believes:
Who is Lucifer?
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes.
In our language, in our culture, in the entire reality around us, many biblical concepts have been preserved, the true meaning of which we often do not know for a long time. And in some cases we even make serious mistakes in their use. One of these concepts is the name Lucifer. Who is Lucifer?
The word "Lucifer" in modern language is fixed to name Satan; It is in this meaning that it is used by countless Hollywood thrillers on the theme “Careless students, after reading an ancient manuscript aloud, accidentally awakened an ancient curse that slept under the ominous ruins of an ancient castle, where a powerful warlock, burned by the Inquisition, once ruled. The hellish Lucifer crawled out of the basement and ate everyone, except one student, who somehow hung out before dawn.” This word came into our language, as you might guess, from English. Its source is the classic Bible translation of the King James, where the book of the Prophet Isaiah 14:12 says “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” In English, in turn, this word came from Latin, where it literally means “light-bearer” and is used to name the morning star, Venus.
Let us turn to the Russian translation of this chapter of the Prophet:
“How you fell from the sky, Lucifer, son of the dawn! crashed to the ground, trampling the nations. And he said in his heart: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mountain in the assembly of gods, on the edge of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” But you are cast into hell, into the depths of the underworld. Those who see you peer into you and think about you: “Is this the same man who shook the earth, shook kingdoms, made the world a desert and destroyed its cities, and did not let his captives go home?” All the kings of the nations, all lie with honor, each in his own tomb; and you are cast down outside your tomb, like a despised branch, like the clothing of those killed, struck down by the sword, who are lowered into stone ditches - you, like a trampled corpse, will not be united with them in the grave; For you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people; the generation of the wicked will never be remembered” (Isaiah 14:12-20).
A little earlier in the text, this “lucifer” (lucifer of the English and Latin translations) is directly named - this is the king of Babylon, an arrogant pagan tyrant who finally reaped the fruits of his crimes: “Your pride has been cast into the pit with all your noise; The worm is spread under you, and the worms are your covering” (Isaiah 14:11).
He is called the morning star, the morning star, for the sake of the glory that he possessed at that time - just as the morning star, Venus, in the sky is much brighter than all other stars and is visible even when they all disappear from sight, so is the king of Babylon with his power and splendor eclipsed all the rulers of that era.
Saint Lucifer of Kalaritan
The direct and literal meaning of the Prophet’s words is precisely this - the arrogant pagan ruler fell under the weight of his exorbitant pride. But the Bible is a very deep, multi-layered book; When we read these words, it is difficult to escape the feeling that we are talking about well-known tyrants of the not so distant past. Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, and many others would fit this description. This is a description not just of one proud man, but of pride in general; and therefore, for a very long time, pious readers attributed these words of the Prophet to the first of the proud - the devil. The devil is compared to the morning star, the morning star, in the sense that he was created as a beautiful angel, full of light and glory, but then fell into the darkness of the underworld, rebelling against God in his pride and lust for power.
Thus the title "Lucifer", "light-bringer", applies to Satan before his fall - to call him Lucifer after that would be inaccurate. The tradition of such naming is quite late, and in its original Latin use the word “lucifer” simply means “morning star” or “luminary,” often having nothing to do with Satan. For example, the Latin church hymn Lucis largitor splendide, apparently addressed to Christ, contains the line “Tu verus mundi lucifer” (You are the true Light-Bearer of the world). Many pious Christians in the early centuries of the Church bore the name "Lucifer." This was the name of at least two Bishops, and one of them, Saint Lucifer of Cagliari, was canonized.
We probably shouldn’t use the word “Lucifer” to name Satan - firstly, now he’s definitely no longer a light-bringer, secondly, we shouldn’t offend pious people who bore this name, and thirdly, we shouldn’t get involved with Hollywood's tradition of Luciferic horror stories, which can be spiritually confusing.
Our adversary the devil, alas, is completely real, only he has very little to do with Hollywood special effects, suddenly growing fangs, wild howls, blue-green faces and the like. His goal is to draw us into sin, and above all, into the same sin that cast him down from heaven, into pride; but also to everyone else. He is not going to unmask himself with special effects, and prefers to act secretly and by deception.
And if, by chance, in the ominous ruins of an ancient castle, covered in dark legends, you find an ancient manuscript dotted with mysterious signs - well, take it to the local history museum and let the experts sort it out.
On the screensaver: photo fragment by paul morris on Unsplash
Why was Lucifer driven out of heaven?
, a new version of the story appeared , telling of the fall of Lucifer. Initially, the main qualities of this beautiful angel were wisdom, humility and goodwill . Other angels loved their mentor and revered him .
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The Son of God Jesus Christ , who in those days was still one with his Heavenly Father, in turn, was the mentor of Lucifer . When the soul of the rebel arose, he began to doubt that the Most High Father loves him more than anyone else.
After all, Jesus was closest to him and deserved more trust from the Creator than he, the first and brightest of the angels. And he also could not accept the fact that all the angels were obliged to worship Jesus as God himself.
in her darkness and took precedence over all the virtue that was given to Dennitsa by the Creator. Lucifer plotted to overthrow God and take his place. Wisdom and humility turned into cunning and caution .
The angel hid his ambitious plans from others for a long time; he gradually sowed confusion among the other angels, hinting that they were not receiving due attention from the Heavenly Father, that God’s rule was not at all ideal.
In his speeches, Lucifer complained about the insufficient respect and love of the Creator for his angels, about excessive love and admiration for his son Jesus. He proposed to take control of the Universe ourselves and not ask anyone for permission.
The disgraced speeches of the first of the angels confused many. Other seraphim , who were faithful to God's will, began to persuade Lucifer to come to his senses and abandon his terrible plans. But among them there were also those who decided to join the “son of the dawn.”
There was a rebellion. Many like-minded people of Dennitsa fell from the hand of the Creator, while the rest, along with their leader (who was created specifically for guilty angels).
Later, along with the guilty angels, wicked people began to go to hell.
Lucifer lost his wings
Who is Lucifer in the Bible: Old and New Testaments
In the Old Testament, the fallen angel is not specifically mentioned as Lucifer. He is present on the pages of the book in several episodes as Satan and tempts Eve with an apple.
More about the Bible and the Old Testament:
- Prophecies from the Bible
- Book of the Prophet Daniel
Who is Lucifer in the Bible
The concept of a light-giving angel appeared already in late Christianity and was mentioned for the first time in the Book of Isaiah. According to the New Testament, Lucifer does not carry any evil within himself; the name comes from the derivative words: “carries” and “sun”, can mean “morning star” or “bringer of light”. The Creator gave this name to the beautiful seraphim, who was closest to the Lord and stood at the head of all the seraphim.
The story of Lucifer in the Bible says that the angel was not evil, but suffered from pride and one day he could not come to terms with the fact that God ruled over him and resisted his will. After God created man, he ordered the angels to kneel before their creation, to love him just like God - Lucifer opposed man.
Because the angel disobeyed the will of God, he ceased to be the “morning star” and was cast down together with his like-minded people from heaven. He lost his Godly name and was called Satan, and his army - demons.
After the demons were doomed to eternal languor in the dungeon, they began to seduce and tempt human souls, luring them to their side.
Attention! The name Lucifer, the “morning star,” went away along with the rank of angel, so it is not correct to call Satan by this name, since he has not brought any light to anyone for a long time.
Orthodox prayers from evil forces:
- Prayer against the Antichrist of the Optina elders
- Prayer from the evil eye and damage
- Prayer to Archangel Michael - protection from evil forces
Who was Lucifer before Christianity?
Mentions of a certain “evil incarnate” also existed in the pre-Christian era. For example, in ancient Roman mythology, Lucifer was the son of the Titan Astria and the goddess of the dawn Aurora . In the Aeneid it appears to be a kind of epithet for the planet Venus.
Lucifer was still in the Aeneid
In the Middle Ages, simultaneously with Christian teaching, there was an opposition cult of Lucifer (Satanism) . The Luciferists were a secret community, so it is difficult to say exactly what their cult represented even now. All information remained only within the cult and was strictly classified.
Sometimes it turned out that members of the sectarian community were also members of the Masonic lodge. Such a unification was necessary for a more productive search for artifacts that would help lead seekers to God or the devil .
What is Lucifer's real name?
Does he have any other names besides Satan and Lucifer? Of course there is, and this list is not so short. Samael, Lucifer, Satan, Devil, Dragon, ancient serpent, cruel angel, evil angel, evil spirit from God, Tempter, prince of demons, lying spirit, evil one, father of lies, murderer from the beginning. And, one might say, his most ironic nickname is the Prince of This World. It very subtly hints at how deeply humanity is mired in vice and sin.
Satan
(- “enemy”, “slanderer”, “accusation”),
Devil
(obsolete
devil
, Church Slavic devil, ancient Greek διάβολος “slanderer”) means the name devil and Satan are one and the same, and who is Samael this is the name of Satan in occultism and in Judaism - the chief of demons, a destructive force and the angel of death. And this is the real name of the Devil and who is Lucifer, this was an epithet of Jesus Christ. This means that a person was mistakenly taken to Satan. Conclusion Samael is the name of Satan (Devil ) before the fall, do not underestimate his power. Satan is among the 9 strongest demons and the most dangerous, although it is debatable that Satan is a demon, he is most likely the angel of death who will swear all demons are in Judaism. The Devil, Satan, Samael is the most powerful demon of the fiery hyena, the lord of hell concentration of universal evil. He has a huge number of names and appearances. Moreover, in different Abrahamic religions and in different eras there are differences in his description. He is designated as a fallen angel who rebelled against the Lord. Moreover, also in the Middle Ages, the devil was correlated with Beelzebub, although this demon is also an independent creature. He has many names and, of course, is the father of all demons and is considered the most dangerous of them. Once he was close to God, but then he fell out of favor and was expelled. During the call, Satan appears to the sorcerers in the form of a small child. Translated from ancient Greek, the name of this demon means adversary, slanderer.
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- Why does a person worship God?
Because He is stronger? - So what?
Because He is more powerful? - So what?
Because He can help or punish? - Become free! Don’t wait for help and don’t be afraid of punishment - and you yourself will become like God. And you won’t need other gods.
And His Son asked Lucifer:
- Why does it say: servants of Satan, but servants of God?
And Lucifer answered His Son:
- Because free people serve Me. I don't need slaves.
And His Son asked Lucifer:
- It is said: “Either recognize the tree as good and its fruit as good, or recognize the tree as bad and its fruit as bad, for a tree is known by its fruit.” Is it so?
And Lucifer answered His Son:
—What is considered good and what is considered bad? That's the main problem.
- A person cannot be given anything more than what he has. If he doesn't have something, then he doesn't deserve it. Everyone gets in life exactly what they are worth. No more and no less.
No winners will be announced. They become them. You cannot appoint a wolf as the leader of the pack. Otherwise, both the wolf himself and the entire pack will die.
And Lucifer said:
“If you want to make a person unhappy, just give him everything he wants.”
And His Son asked Lucifer:
- Why?
And Lucifer answered His Son:
- Because he always wants too much.
The feelings of average people are also average. As a rule, they do not withstand even the simplest tests. The happiness of the average person lies in his invisibility, in the fact that in practice these tests very rarely happen to him.
Death is an indispensable condition for progress. The great must die! Otherwise, sooner or later they inevitably become an insurmountable obstacle to life and development. The flow of life spreads and rots. Everything becomes covered with the mold of centuries, drowns in an indifferent abyss, without even tasting the fruit of life. Apathy, indifference. Nobody cares about anything. No one is interested in anything, nothing is a pity, nothing happens and there is no one to call to action. Tomorrow is an exact repetition of yesterday.
Dead end. End. A swamp with croaking frogs, constantly praising their owner. Lord and master.
— Death is the supreme judge of life. Only in the last fight with death does it finally become clear what a person is worth. There is no more room for pretense and we have to speak frankly. In everything else, a guise is possible.
And Lucifer said:
- A person can always remain a person. Under any circumstances. Stay free. Freedom is an internal state. State of mind.
And a mighty angel, having great power, came down to Him from heaven, clothed with a cloud; over his head was a rainbow, and his face was like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire.
And the Angel said to Him:
- If you want good for people, remove evil from the world.
He answered him:
- If there is no evil in the world, how will people be able to distinguish between good and evil? They will again turn into resigned and dumb pets. To Adam and Eve.
Then the Angel said:
“You cannot build truth on lies and good on evil.” Tell people who you are. Reveal to them that You are the Son of the Enemy, the Son of Satan.
He told him:
- What difference does it make who I am and whose son I am? It is written: “By their works you will know them.” My deeds will speak for Me.
And again the Angel said:
- It is written: “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone.” Worship God and He will forgive you.
Then He, in very strong anger, answered him:
“It is also written: “And His servants will serve Him.” Get away from Me, servant of God, and let Me go My way. The way of a free man.
-Can you rely on anyone in this world?
- No. Not for anyone. Only for yourself. This is how the world works.
And His Son asked Lucifer:
- Why are the commandments of Christ bad? Aren't they kind and fair?
And Lucifer answered His Son:
“These are the commandments of a master to his slaves.” Be kind to each other, don't quarrel, follow the rules of the community. “Love your neighbor”, “thou shalt not kill”, “thou shalt not steal”...
All this is correct, but for what? What is the end goal? There is no goal. These are simply instructions to the herd not to push and quarrel. Only the owner has a goal. Slaves and the herd do not and cannot have their own goals.
And His Son asked Lucifer:
— Why are people so willing to call themselves “servants of God”?
And Lucifer answered His Son:
— Slavery disfigures and corrupts the soul so much that the slave begins to love his chains. Freedom means, first of all, responsibility, the need to make decisions yourself. But the slave is no longer able to do this. “Everything is God’s will,” “God knows best,” “God sees everything,” and so on and so forth.
Man likes to be a slave. And it is very difficult for him to overcome this slave psychology, to “become like the gods” himself.
The only “goal” of slaves is not to create unnecessary trouble for the owner.
And again His Son asked Lucifer:
-What are Your commandments?
And Lucifer answered His Son:
- Be free! Always remain yourself! Always be human!
This is the highest goal. This is the main thing!
And for the sake of this main thing, you can do anything. Both murder and lies. You can kill a guard in order to escape from captivity, and you can deceive the enemy in order to save your family, your children, your loved ones, your homeland, your people.
And again His Son asked Lucifer:
- So, does the end justify the means?
And Lucifer answered His Son:
—Freedom does not need justification.
No humility! No fear of God! Don't be afraid of anyone or anything! Become a god yourself! Make your own decisions! God is not accountable to anyone, is not afraid of anyone or anything, and does not ask anyone anything. His only judge is He Himself.
And you do the same! Let your conscience be your only judge.
The only commandment: do not lie to yourself! carefully and biasedly weigh your actions on the scales of your own conscience! always act fairly! do not betray your divine nature. Don't turn into a demon.
But if you think you are right, go for it! Take action!! Everything is possible! And kill and betray. You can kill a traitor and betray a murderer. There are no wrong actions, only wrong goals! Within the framework of the “right” goals, any action is right!
And don't be afraid of anything! Neither in this nor in this world. Neither hell nor heaven. Neither divine judgment nor human judgment. Fear lowers a person. Makes him a slave. As long as you are not afraid, you are invulnerable. But if you faltered, got scared, became cowardly - that’s it! It's not you anymore. Which means that’s where you belong.
External image of Lucifer
His heavenly face was perfect: he was handsome, had manners that betrayed the heritage of the Lord, his special, majestic status. His bright face illuminated everyone; it was not for nothing that he was given such a name - “bringer of light.” Greatness was added by luxurious wings, which he had larger than the others. After all, he was a six-winged seraphim - the most powerful. He radiated an angelic good nature, which was later lost among selfishness and narcissism.
After being expelled from Paradise, Lucifer's wings were cut off; nothing distinguished him from an ordinary mortal man anymore. He appeared before people in the form of a dark-haired youth with bottomless black eyes. However, in ancient paintings he was always depicted as either a snake, a terrible sea monster, or a red demon with a huge pitchfork in his hands. The New Testament indicates that Lucifer could take on different appearances on earth as he wanted.
Why did God banish Lucifer?
Lucifer was endowed with a great gift - personal freedom and the ability to self-determination. He could choose between mutual love for God or selfish feelings for himself. Dennitsa surpassed all angels in dignity and beauty. But his desire to become equal to God and become higher than Him led him to inevitable death.
Pride (arrogance) is a sin that underlies all actions displeasing to God and crimes. This is a feeling of one’s own superiority over everyone else, including the Lord. It was because of pride that the fall of the greatest of all angels began, and it is this sin that is the root cause of other sins.
“There is no other passion that so destroys all virtues, and so exposes and deprives a person of all righteousness and holiness, like this evil pride: it, like some kind of all-encompassing infection, is not content with the relaxation of one member, or one part, but the whole body damages with mortal disorder, and attempts to overthrow those already at the height of virtues with an extremely difficult fall and destroy. Every other passion is content with its limits and its goal, and although it disturbs other virtues, it is mainly directed against one, it is primarily oppressed and attacked” (Rev. John Cassian the Roman, “Epistle to Castor, Bishop of Apt”)
