Why the Name LucifersHand
When
I was young I remember reading a book on mythology. I didn’t grasp the concept
of mythology itself but the stories I read made a huge impact on my psyche. One
of the main stories that stuck with me was about Prometheus. For those of you
who don’t remember or don’t know, Prometheus was the man who stole fire from
the Gods to give to the people. He could see their anguish and would rather
suffer an eternity of suffering to bring them some comfort. If only we had more
people like Prometheus.
The
older I got the more interested in mythology I became. I classify the bible as
mythology as most of it is not able to be proven – no evidence exists to
support that King David, his son Solomon, or even Jesus ever existed. These
subjects are based in blind faith. Don’t get me wrong, I believe faith is
something important to have – faith and hope and charity are important
qualities that we should have. Why? I think the answer becomes obvious when you
have children and you start thinking about the life that awaits them. Any
loving parent doesn’t want their child to suffer in any way. Even those that don’t have children can enjoy
the light that they bring into your life. Each child has the potential to bring
something special to the table. We don’t always see this potential in children
blossom because we imprint our own negative behaviours on them without even
realizing it as we prefer to remain unaware.
One
myth that has intrigued me since my youth was that of Lucifer. According to
religion the good Lord created the angels before he created his masterpiece –
woman/man. Some of the angels became enraged that God’s preference lay in his
newest creation and that they decided to rebel. Again, no evidence here, just
myth. Many men in and out of the church have done their best to convince
nations of people that Lucifer, aka Satan, started early on in the piece as
being the one who tricked Eve to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good &
Evil. Adam, who himself received the rule from the Lord, wasn’t tricked by the
snake but ate the fruit regardless. Ironically, the serpent isn’t expelled from
the garden, only Adam and Eve are.
I
have spent many years trying to figure out the logic of the minds that would
have us believe that Lucifer and Satan are the same being. In a time when the
old gods were popular and Christianity was just starting to develop (thanks to
Constantine) they needed something that kept the mind of the community enslaved.
The old gods were demonized, disagreeing citizens punished harshly or murdered
for their beliefs, and the new enemy was considered the SHAITAN which in Hebrew
means adversary or opponent. Christianity turned a normal Hebrew word into a
dirty word. When Jesus said to Peter “get behind thee satan”, he was saying
that Peter was being adversarial in his behaviour. We understand from the bible
that Peter had issues with Jesus’ leadership.
Historically,
the name Lucifer is derived from the latin word lucem ferre, meaning “light-bearer”. This was the
name given to the planet Venus, otherwise known as the Morning Star. The
evidence used to prove that Lucifer is the devil comes from a passage in the
bible: Isaiah 14.3-20 Specifically its line 12
How you have fallen from heaven, O star
of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth, you
who once laid low the nations!
In
this passage Isaiah is referring to the king of Babylon. I can see how it would
be translated into Lucifer’s fall from heaven but considering that this is the
only section in the bible that even refers to the morning star = the devil and I
find it hard to believe that it would be considered as evidence. There is no
other source that corroborates that claim. It was more of an opinion that
formed in the 3rd century during a time when politics were erratic
at best.
Other
sections of the bible where the word morning star (lucem ferre in Latin/Lucifer
in english) is used is 2 Peter 1:19 –
And so we have the prophetic word
confirmed,[a] which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place,
until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;
We
also see it in Revelation 22:16 –
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify
unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of
David, and the bright and morning star.
Not
quite the evidence I would expect to see describing the qualities of a fallen
angel. I’ve also heard many priests and pastors try to support their cause by
justifying their belief but the reality of the situation is that there is no
evidence to support their claim.
There
are other instances where references to Satan is made, but Satan and Lucifer’s
names have been regularly interchanged.
Satan (Sataniel) makes his debut in The Book of Adam and Eve http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/fbe/fbe005.htm
We see Adam and Eve being cast out of
the Garden and facing a life of self-responsibility. The have a difficult time accepting
their new life outside the garden and are constantly committing suicide and God
constantly ‘rebuilding’ them. Sataniel however wastes no time in making their
life harder. These stories have no reason to replace the name of Satan with
Lucifer.
It
was early Christian writers such as Origen who first identified the Devil with
Lucifer and the concept of fallen angels was inspired by shooting stars, which
was seen as angels being cast out of heaven.
The
Diocese of Rome in the Catholic Church uses a liturgical rite known as the
Roman Rite.
Flammas eius lucifer matutinus inveniat: May this flame be found still burning
ille, inquam, lucifer, qui nescit
occasum, by the Morning Star:
Christus Filius tuus qui, the one Morning
Star who never sets,
regressus ab inferis, Christ your Son,
humano generi serenus illuxit, who, coming back from death's domain,
et vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum has shed his peaceful light on humanity,
and lives and reigns for ever and
ever.
You
can see that lucifer doesn’t have the negative connotations associated with it
in the catholic church. It appears that the reality of lucifer is that it is no
more than a word, but even words carry power. We only need to look to Kabbalah
to see this, but that is a much more in-depth discussion saved for another
occasion.
As
the myth goes, Lucifer was said to be the most favoured of the archangels. After
God created the earth, the first thing God called for was light, and then there
was light (Lucifer). The light that Lucifer embodies is the spark within all
creation. That spark is what is said to bring us enlightenment. It was even
said that Lucifer was the Lord’s punisher of those who committed evil acts. I
can see how that would be interpreted as evil but that in itself does not mean
that he is.
From
a theosophical point of view, when Eve ate the fruit of the tree, it
represented people’s readiness to receive self-awareness, symbolized by Adam
and Eve’s recognition of their nakedness. Leaving the garden is symbolic that
they were no longer like the other creatures in the animal kingdom. In order to
become “like Gods” we now had to work towards being more responsible and
awakening the “bright spark” we all carry within through acts of discipline,
like meditation for example. This belief implies that we CHOOSE whether we are
good or evil and therefore when we choose good, we cut off evil’s life source
and draw down God’s divine life-force.
I
choose to reflect on Lucifer as being one of the good guys as I have found
nothing to suggest otherwise except for an age-long public opinion.
