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springworms · 26 days ago

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facets of lucifer - a devotional rambling

originally posted this to reddit, but wanted to do my part to contribute to the luciferian tag on here and see what others think.

intro (feel free to skip to list below if not interested): my own luciferian journey has been marred by the fact that i have severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, and am unable to do. basically ANYTHING spiritual without being overtaken by obsessive and all-consuming doubt and fear about everything from just being wrong to literally damning my soul to Hell (which, to be fair, i don't even particularly believe in at least in the typical culturally Christian way). seeing as theres not really any compulsions i can do to alleviate this anxiety ala handwashing or checking the lock on the front door, my main way of coping with this has been exposing myself to other's perspectives and experiences, and scouring as much historical information about the origins of Lucifer and the different cultural perspectives and characters that have contributed to His mythos. as a result of this, i've come out on the other side feeling a lot more reassured in not only my own beliefs but also a lot more open-minded in general spiritually. the fact of the matter is that not one of us will ever, ever have definitive proof of what we are experiencing or of what will happen to us or our souls after death, and i have learned to feel comfortable in that. i hope i can finally take steps to deepen my spiritual practice after this, now that my ocd has a lot less to latch onto.

so here we go, common aspects/facets/what have you of Lucifer as noted by my own experience and the experiences of others that i have read, and both some 'positive' and 'negative' domains/associations. i'll also have a section at the bottom dedicated to related separate figures commonly syncretized with or related to Lucifer that i didn't feel like reducing to facets, but please understand these are not meant as demonizations and are not meant to encourage taking these entities out of their cultural contexts.

Lucifer as lord of liberation and enlightenment: particularly derived from romantic readings of Lucifer post Paradise Lost, but i myself also find some evidence of this in the typical biblical telling of Lucifer's fall as refusing to follow an order which He felt demeaned Him and/or refusing to see Himself as lesser than God, as well as within the telling of the Serpent who gifts Eve with forbidden knowledge which frees humanity from the Garden. in this way, He becomes in my mind associated with both standing up to tyrannical rulers/institutions which seek to exert control over those they view as lesser and creating a distinct divide between greater and lesser, as well as a lord of the oppressed, the marginalized, the silenced. on the more "negative" side, He also comes to be associated with pride, unchecked ego, and a sense of self-importance which negatively impacts oneself and those around them and leads to isolation.

Lucifer-Eosphoros, celestial lord of stars: another common interpretation of Lucifer that i have seen. takes the lore of the greco-roman god Eosphoros and often seeks to reconcile it as the "true" independent origin of Lucifer as a figure within mythology. while i would argue against this, i can see why this happens as people want to point to a starting point both removed from Christianity and which they deem as authentic and similar enough to modern lore that it looks like an intentional bastardization. related to new beginnings (as the morning star rises above the horizon and guides the sun), enlightenment (literally, bringing the light of the new day), and stars. seen as a leader in His own right as Eosphoros was sometimes seen as the one who lead the Astra Planeta. frequently winged and common in manifestation to one of the Erotes, carrying a torch.

Lucifer-Eros-Phanes, manifesation of/emanation of the divine Source: an aspect i am particularly fond of as i find myself fascinated by Orphism, and the idea of gods/entities as emanations of the Source through which it can express different aspects of itself has informed a lot of my understanding of the universe. an emanation of the firstborn divine androgyne Eros-Phanes which carries the light of Their fire as a torch as a reminder of the light which They first shed upon the universe upon their birth from the cosmic egg, creating space within the primordial darkness and casting shadows from which all other things found definition and created their forms from darkness. equated with Eros as manifestation of divine procreation and desire; desire to exist, desire to create, desire for individualism and definition within the darkness. the one who inspires us to deepen our understanding of the universe and the depth of all things through association with Metis ('thought') who was consumed by them and passed to each Orphic king in succession, through which each king is driven to think, create, learn, and expand the universe as a macrocosm of the mind. winged figure standing as a manifestation of the World, entwined with a serpent, crowned in flames, cloven-hoofed. that which illuminates the darkness and things that have been hidden (whether you want to see them or not), strives to exist loudly, burning bright and driving creation forward against all else like an unstoppable freight engine.

Lucifer as divine punishment/justice: the figure of ha-Satan***** from which our common notion of Satan/the Devil who punishes sinner in Hell exists not as an independent agent of evil or chaos, but as an agent of the Source/God who punishes those who do evil, commit atrocities against others, blaspheme the heavenly and choose to remain ignorant to the divine Light/Knowledge/Doctrine/etc. even in tales of the folkloric Devil, we see those who wish for personal gain beyond what they could reasonably achieve/at the expense of others punished by this figure and left with nothing in the end, not even their souls. He who takes those who have refused to respect the divine Knowledge or have turned away from their fellow man/their own humanity and rebirths them through fire, which makes their souls clean and (hopefully) teaches lessons which they carry into their next incarnation. * i am not Jewish, and am more than open to being corrected on my knowledge of ha-Satan and their purpose within Jewish religious narrative. i am attempting to keep my description here brief both as a way of leaving room for error to be corrected, and as i do not want to assert authority over or make sweeping assumptions regarding a subject i know i could be wrong or better informed about.

Lucifer-Samyaza, lord of witches and the magical arts: the fallen lord of this world/earth, who falls in love with humanity and gifts unto them the knowledge of magic, of the herbal arts and of incantations. very alike (in my own mind) to the horned one as present within sects of Traditional Witchcraft. Samyaza is the leader of the Watcher angels in the Book of Enoch alongside Azazel, seen as a parallel to the figure of Lucifer as a fallen angel who gifts forbidden knowledge and is punished for it. i don't see a lot of recognition/talk of Samyaza within luciferian circles and i find that to be quite a shame, as i find Him such an enigmatic figure who very much fits this archetype of a folkloric devil who teaches us of and acts as a patron of the ways of witchery and initiates us into deeper knowledge of the universe.

Lucifer-Eros as lord of Venus: a syncretic appearance of Lucifer i have noticed that takes aspects of the greco-roman god Eros/Cupid. like the aforementioned Erote, acts as the manifestation of love and desire, sudden and powerful, but in more than just a romantic or sexual sense. this is the sensual, artistic Lucifer; the indulgent one who drives us to indulge in our vices, sometimes to a detrimental degree if we do not know how to discipline ourselves. patron of artists, hedonists, dreamers, lovers. the angel on your shoulder who sweet-talks you. representative of the typical aspects associated with Venus (the planet)

Lucifer-Attar, twin conterpart of Ishtar: the story of the biblical fall finds parallels within the story of Attar, who seeks to take the throne of Baal but finds Himself inadequate and so falls to become Lord of this Earth. Attar is seen as either a masculine twin or cultural equivalent to Inanna/Ishtar/Astarte, so in this form He takes on many of the qualities commonly ascribed to Ishtar - war, fertility, divine justice, and the like. but from the many different forms of Attar across neighboring cultures, we can find many different associations which see Him as holding very powerful domains: to the Armaeans He was called Attar of the Heavens, who fertilized the earth below with rain and held dominance over lightning, storms and moisture; similarly, the ancient peoples of South Arabia saw Him as a lord of rain and thunder while still holding providence over the planet Venus, and a hunter for whom ritual hunts were performed, with Him at one point perhaps even replacing the former supreme god of the pantheon; and to the kingdom of Aksum He held dominion over the sun and the moon, cementing Him as a deity with heavy cosmological influence.

Lucifer, draconic angel/peacock angel: another form of Lucifer which mixes elements of the biblical angel, the Red Dragon, and esoteric appearances of Lucifer within modern grimoires and strains of TradCraft. cannot be entirely separated from the Yazidi Melek-Taus, as their imagery and lore are incredibly similar, but i am personally against solidly equating the two or using the name Melek-Taus as the Yazidis have long faced persecution and genocide for what has been viewed as “devil worship”. whether they are syncretic figures able to be recognized across cultures is one thing, but using a distinctly cultural name is outside of my comfort zone just in an effort to remain respectful and not contribute to further demonization.

Lucifer, leader of demonized gods/possible fae king???: while i’m still looking into this particular facet of Lucifer myself, i find a great similarity between Him and the figure of the Fae King from certain TradCraft circles. it is common knowledge that many (though not all) Goetic demons are either demonized versions of ancient pagan gods or at least take inspiration from them, and in the view of Lucifer as ruler of Hell He becomes either a leader of or at least the “face” of these demonized gods, in the same way that so many gods across different cultures only had their lore survive through equation with the Devil after Christianization. following this, as many land spirits, fae and other equivalents across many cultures were reduced to demons, so the god(s) who lead them were often equated to the Devil; we can see this in entities such as Gwyn ap Nudd, who becomes reduced to the Devil and whose court becomes all the demons of Hell who God traps within His form. add in the underworld associations of Lucifer along with the fact that some cultures viewed fae-like spirits as either equivalent to the souls of the dead OR their realms being equated to the Realm of the Dead under the Earth, and i think it touched on an interesting mask of Lucifer as leader of the fae, who lured those not wise or respectful into their trap, but can make a beneficial ally to the learned practitioner. Hell as a fae realm is certainly a weird, if intriguing way to think of it.

Noctifer/ the "dark Lucifer": finishing this off with the aspect of Lucifer that i am least familiar with, a dark and solemn figure who walks the line between life and death and lives in the shadow of the moon. He who is intimately familiar with death, night, terror and things hidden under cover of darkness. an angel of death not too unlike figures such as Azrael or Samael*. the black church grim walking the graveyard, the vulture by the side of the road, the psycopomp of lost souls.

and to end things off, a few figures that i have seen equated/associated with Lucifer in one way or another, whether i personally agree with them or not:

getting this out of the way first, Enki: i can completely see where one can draw this conclusion based on similarities between the devil as lord of magic, mischief, intelligence and as acting "in opposition" to a lord of light (Enlil). however, i think it very important that we as a community acknowledge that a lot of those who take fondness of this theory are either a part of or are inspired by JoS, and i think as torchbearers of illumination it is our duty to rid our circles of neo-Nazis and others who knowingly preach ignorance. then, and only then, do i think we can begin approaching this syncretism and discussing in without inadvertently feeding into doctrine written by antisemitic dickheads. luciferian circles have an awful problem with antisemitism, white nationalism and bigotry in general that i think needs to be urgently addressed by all of us. we could all stand to turn the mirror on ourselves and see what prejudices we are carrying, consciously and unconsciously.

Azazel: while i am inclined to view Azazel as a separate figure within a sort-of luciferian "pantheon" so-to-speak, He has been historically equated with Lucifer in the same way Beelzebub has as just an alternative name, and many people still see Him as another name or title of Lucifer within luciferian circles today.

Dionysos: having formerly been one of a Dionysian focus within my practice, i find the parallels between Dionysos and Lucifer to be incredibly intriguing and not nearly talked of enough, both as a god in His own right and through His Orphic association with Phanes. a lord of masks (deception), leader of cults (mostly consisting of women and other marginalized people) which reveled in blood, ecstatic ritual and trance; a horned god with underworld associations; lord of rebirth and patron of initiation into the mysteries. i could go on, but i also just think its really fun to research Dionysos as more than just "god of parties and wine" - He has so, so much more depth, both mythological and esoteric.

Samael*: seen as a punishing angel of death who acts through the will of the Source/God, frequently paired with Lilith, often equated with the Serpent and variously called a "satan". while i can see a lot of similarities between Samael and the Noctifer aspect, i once again am not Jewish and cannot speak authoritatively on the subject. while i have seen arguments of Samael's mention among the watchers within the Book of Enoch, i have yet to see any proof of this myself other than as a mistranslation/misspelling of one of the watchers names, so i'm going to err on the side of respect and say that i am personally not comfortable taking a culturally Jewish figure as a part of my practice.

Quetzalcoatl*: admittedly i am also not nearly educated enough to make sweeping assumptions about a figure from a culture i am unfamiliar with, but i felt inclined to include Him if for nothing else than that i have frequently seen the two compared. this is not at all meant as a demonization of Quetzalcoatl, but simply acknowledging that others have found similarities. i am more than open to critique by any pagans more knowledgeable on Mesoamerican mythology and culture, and do not mean to speak for them. i recommend r/Anahuac for some more educated voices.

Shamash/Utu: a new one i am looking into and am putting into as a footnote for anyone who may have more ideas. i believe i read of this syncretization in a Michael Howard book, but the gist of my understanding is the solar associations, being a twin of Ishtar and being intimately associated with Divine Justice.

#luciferian #theistic luciferian #paganism

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