The fallen angel, the rebellious jinni, the accuser, the liar, the serpent, the dragon, the Devil, Satan, Lucifer. These are all names and titles that society attributes to the same being, idea, or concept. In today’s society, there are two schools of thought that revere this “Satan” or “Lucifer”, Satanism and Luciferianism. But are they one and the same and do both schools of thought follow the same ideas? With this post, I’ll give my personal synopsis of the two similar but very different ways of thinking.
Satanism
Satanism divides into two smaller schools of thought, theistic and atheistic. Theistic Satanist believe in an actual entity “Satan”. They worship and develop a personal relationship with him. They also work with various demons, who may also be a variety of different “dark” pagan gods i.e. Set of the Ancient km.t (Egyptian) pantheon. Ritual and magick are very common amongst these individuals, and many see Satan and Lucifer as one and the same.
The thoughts of Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan for the most part dominates Atheistic Satanism. It’s adherents focus on materialism and the carnal nature of humanity. Satan to them is only but a symbol, and any “magic” that they practice is but a psychodrama. While this may be an appealing path to some, this isn’t a path for someone seeking a form of spirituality. Most Satanists of this type see spirituality as imaginary and useless.
While it is a commonly thought that Satanists are people who wish to do evil acts of murder and other horrendous crimes against people in the name of Satan, most Satanists (both Theistic and Atheistic) see these self proclaiming “Satanic” individuals as being simply psychotic and not truly representing what their school of thought is about.
Luciferianism
Luciferians observe their reverence to Lucifer in an entirely different Light than Satanists, literally. While a sect of Theistic Luciferians who believe Lucifer is an actual being exists, majority see Lucifer as an archetype. An archetype who as his name describes is a “bearer of light”, a bearer of knowledge. Compare Lucifer to the Greek archetype and concept of Prometheus.
Luciferianism can be seen as more of a philosophy rather than a religion, belief system, or practice. Luciferians primarily focus on humanitarian goals of enlightenment, independence, liberty, and progress. There are some Luciferians who see Lucifer and Satan as being two different beings entirely. Those who do see them as being one in the same see Satan as being the lower nature which they should rise above, and Lucifer as the higher self that they should strive towards being.
Conclusion
One major characteristic that both Satanists and Luciferians share is that both schools of thought are Left-hand Path philosophies. This means that both see themselves as being Gods, not being subservient to any forms of authority or higher power. The atheistic branches go without saying this is true for them. Theistic branches see Satan or Lucifer as a teacher or partner rather than someone they worship because they are his servant or slave.
As I mentioned earlier, most do not wish harm or hostility towards the general innocent populace. Since the nature of Luciferianism, Satanism, and the Left-hand Path is individualistic as a whole, individuals who do illegal or immoral acts in the name of Satan or Lucifer can not be seen as representing the majority in these schools of thought, as there is no true central authority or dogma. While Satanists and Luciferians may be hostile towards the religion of Christianity, many are not hostile towards Christians. They see Christians as being victims to their own religion.
Peace, Love, & Balance
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