Lucifer is a very complex and multifaceted entity because it depends on which canon you’re following. I look at Lucifer from a very Judaic understanding, which is as The Adversary or The Accuser. Lucifer is not inherently bad, however he does hold knowledge without gnosis over knowledge with gnosis, which can have shitty results for the Hermeticist. Lucifer has the power to bind us in Malkuth by convincing us that Malkuth is the largest, most detailed place on the Tree—the most important part of the Tree because it’s the most prominent in our lives.
I sort of agree with The Unknown Friend regarding The Devil. The Devil is any thing or any force which keeps us from being pierced by the light of the Logos. If Malkuth becomes too big, too real, too important before understanding its place on the Tree, then literally, how can the light of Tiphareth reach us? It can’t, because .we have lost our faith in the reaffirming power of gnosis through the Word. And since gnosis I think is our primary connection to Tiphareth through Yesod, that means going through the Middle Pillar is impossible. Which means union with the Godhead is lost. The Devil is matter without spirit, and Idea without spirit.
Of course there are many positive traits to this idea of The Devil as well. There’s something to be said for forms of knowledge that don’t require gnosis, so long as we don’t worship that kind of knowledge or apply it in magick where it keeps us from reunification with the One. If such knowledge were not important or useless the magician would never have to spend her time with the Seven Liberal Arts, with Scripture, with grimoires, etc. And The Devil—Light’s Shadow—has much to teach us by negative example. Any one who is wise has sat at the knee of the Devil as a student with open ears. Only by completely ignoring him do we not learn anything, do we remain trapped in Malkuth. The Devil can bring us face to face with our own shortcomings, can help us achieve knowledge of all the forces of the Universe, and forces us to contend with the problems of matter as dual beings.
As for your other remark…I personally welcome our reptilian overlords 😉
I’m curious about your assessment of Lucifer as a bringer of Knowledge without Gnosis… As from my own experience, he’s the embodiment of character traits that makes gleaning Knowledge from direct experiences [Gnosis, to me] of our carnality even possible. In the luciferian sense, of which I’m exploring right now, he is the solar stone – to be combined with the lunar stone of Lilith / Babalon. By developing character traits of cunning wit, relentless Will and yes, even Pride [Lucifer / Samael], one can explore and experience their inner dark desires and unconscious beasts [lilith / babalon] first hand… the imagination made flesh… Only then, after the undeniable embodiment of what’s really fuelling you, can you reconcile your nature with that of what you know intuitively / through your HGA to be beautiful… to be Godly.
VITRIOL, right? Visit the depths of your body, to find the hidden stone~
The Adversarial aspects that you mentioned are spot on, as He is the Shaitan of the Natural Order… but the Natural Order of what? Of God / beauty itself? or the Natural Order of your constructed life as you know it..?
Lucifer in my experience, is a powerful begetter of Gnosis… but Gnosis of your own constructed life as you know it.
All of these roles are acceptable of Lucifer. They do not contradict canon about him and they certainly don’t contradict a LHP’s understanding of Lucifer. I also think scrollofthoth was onto something when he said we can use Lucifer’s understanding of Malkuth to transform Malkuth into Kether (because As Above, So Below, Malkuth is in Kether and Kether in Malkuth). So it makes sense also that the Devil is in the Godhead as the Godhead is within the Devil. Light is in Darkness as the Darkness is in the Light.
I don’t dispute this.
So it’s not that I disagree with you, but my interpretation has to ultimately lie within a Hermetic understanding, and since my Hermeticism is primarily of Judeo-Christian parentage, the Devil assumes a different role for me than it would for a LHP.
And in the very long run of things it’s just an archetype just like the others. It’s not that the devil is evil or bad. The Devil is just a polarization at the end of a spectrum which is infinite. I stand by my understanding that the Devil is rooted in matter. I take a stance that within the WMT there is a distinct difference between knowledge of spirit and knowledge of matter. We can use either type to find out more about the other, for negative examples are possible and potent, but the path of carnality through the Devil is not one I have chosen for myself.
Reblogged for excellent commentary.