In the 1980s stories about a vast conspiracy of organised Satanists sweeps the media. Known as the Satanic Panic, Christian groups allege mass satanic abuse of children and tens of thousands of kidnappings. ibid.
It is Lucifer,
The son of mystery;
And since God suffers him to be,
He, too, is God’s minister,
And labors for some good
By us not understood. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Christus
The true name of Satan, the Kabbalists say, is that of Yahweh reversed, for Satan is not a black god. Lucifer the Light Bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the light? Doubt it not. Aleister Crowley, Morals & Dogma
Lucifer is not a being that we can see with our present day physical eyes. Lucifer can be seen only with the awakened clairvoyance. Seen clairvoyantly in fact Lucifer is a particular being who was left behind during the moon phase of evolution. Rudolf Steiner
The Adversary or Satan is none other than Lucifer, the light bearer, the bright morning star. He is the initiator, awakening the divine faculties of intellect in Man. N Sri Ram
He said the supposed spirits of the dead are in reality demon spirits, fallen angels; they’re beautiful beings ... He says, Look, we worship spirits. We worship Lucifer and all his angels. They’re just as beautiful as they were before they were cast out of heaven. He says that was a misunderstanding. Roger Morneau
Faustus: Stay, Mephistopheles, and tell me, what good will my soul do thy lord?
Mephistopheles: Enlarge his kingdom.
Faustus: Is that the reason he tempts us thus?
Mephistopheles: It is a comfort to the wretched to have companions in misery. Christopher Marlowe, Dr Faustus
He provides an important excuse for evil. And that’s much worse. Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet
O thou! whatever title suit thee,
Auld Hornie, Satan, Nick, or Clootie. Robert Burns, Address to the Deil, 1786
The Prince of Darkness is a gentleman. William Shakespeare, The History of King Lear III iv 131, Edgar
What kind of pact have you got with Simon Cowell? Andy Hamilton’s Search for Satan BBC, Andy to Satan
Helen of Troy is not on the table. ibid. Satan to Andy
Just how did the fantastically powerful and ambiguous character get inside our heads? And who put him there? ibid. Andy’s commentary
He is still a big part of your life ... He permeates every corner of our culture. ibid.
He haunts our art and literature. Satan has become a global superstar. ibid.
He has evolved over thousands of years. ibid.
The Devil being given shape in scripture ... He is barely in it ... What kind of villain is that? ibid.
The New Testament ... He is constantly referred to, lurking and plotting off stage. ibid.
We first meet Satan ... in the Book of Job. ibid.
No-one ever mentions the civilian deaths and collateral damage. ibid.
Why would he imagine he can dupe the Son of God? ibid.
It’s only a problem in the characterisation of the Devil. ibid.
The letters of St Paul ... he starts to emerge as the ever-present enemy. ibid.
He is still a very one-dimensional character. ibid.
He is described through allegory and symbolism. ibid.
Three monks sketch: I’m still getting a lot of grief from believers about that question, you know, if there is only one God and he’s a loving God why did he let my crops fail? Why did he set my barn on fire? Why does he let the Romans crucify all my relatives? ibid.
Monks: Who is this Devil? And who made him? ... Why did God make him? And why did God make him such an evil git? ibid.
A huge philosophical question that confronted the early Church. ibid.
Why didn’t God just destroy him? ibid. Monk’s question
Can the Devil be redeemed? ibid. commentary
Could he not see the errors of his ways? ibid.
At least Satan had been given his own kingdom to rule. ibid.
Islam places him lower down the pecking order. ibid.
The devil’s army of demons loomed large in the popular stories of medieval Christendom. ibid.
Paradoxes which have troubled religious believers for centuries. ibid.
The major Christian churches seemed to have marginalized him almost as if he is an uncomfortable relic. ibid.
In the Bible Jesus performs many exorcisms. ibid.
The devil is one of the heroes of our civilisation ... Without him we’d have missed out on a lot of great literature and great art. And without the devil, we wouldn’t have had an alibi. ibid.
We find in pretty much every religion. Martin Palmer, historian
In Zoroastrianism the belief is that God is wounded. God has actually lost the battle. And that this physical world is now in the power of a higher mind, the evil one, the force of evil. Martin Palmer
Milton’s Satan is really a hero. Professor Ronald Hutton
The devil is the equivalent of a debauched aristocrat ... He is the devil of today: he is the devil of bedazzled. Professor Ronald Hutton
The angel was Lucifer: the light bearer. Satan: Prince of Darkness, History 1998
Satan is believed to roam the Earth. ibid.
In his most demonic role Satan has been the keeper of the darkness. ibid.
Strangely, Satan did not lose his angelic powers. ibid.
Although God fought back, He left much of the struggle to man. ibid.
They are practising Satanists. In American 76% of people identify themselves as members of a Christian faith ... So-called devil worshippers have existed for centuries. American Outsiders: Secret Passions
Steiner says that Lucifer incarnated in a human body during the third millennium before Christ, and that Ahriman will likewise incarnate in the third millennium after Christ, the one we are currently entering. How can we be prepared for the coming of Ahriman? We must balance both the attributes of Ahriman and the attributes of Lucifer with Christ as our guide and companion. In Steiner’s words: [page 18] But woe betide if this Copernicanism is not confronted by the knowledge that the cosmos is permeated by soul and spirit. It is this knowledge that Ahriman wants to withhold. He would like to keep people so obtuse that they can grasp only the mathematical aspect of astronomy.
One of the wonderful aspects of Steiner is that he sees the value of both a spirit-filled cosmology and an abstract mathematical astronomy, thus modelling for us readers how to maintain the balance between the Luciferic and Ahrimanic tendencies in our lives. The superb congruency of Steiner’s process (what he does) and content (what he says) characterizes all great teachers. Steiner never tells us to follow his instructions to the letter, instead he models for us the behaviours that will bring us the desired balance in our lives if we were to exhibit those behaviours. Bobby Matherne, A Book Review: Rudolf Steiner, The Influences of Lucifer and Ahriman
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
1That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house.
But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcass trodden under feet. Isaiah 14:12-19