The Book of Radiant Darkness: Part 3

March 14, 2022

Continued from Part 2…

When writing this story, I aimed to use a present tense to emphasize the “here and now” nature of how I see it. It is not to be interpreted as referring to any sort of historical event somewhere in the past, nor is it dependent on any one text.

It is symbolically teaching about consciousness and spiritual practice.

I implemented a biblical writing style I think appropriate in feel and accordingly a verse system to make reference easy.

So, let’s break it down a bit at a time….

“1. In the beginning is the Abyss, a heart of radiant darkness dwelling in the unity of depth and silence, the waters of a womb pregnant with possibility, an emptiness of form yet a fullness of potentiality.”

What is pointed to here is the ultimate fundamental reality beyond all conceptual being. All description can only point at it, it can only be experienced. In the Gnostic system of Valentinus, according to Iranaeus, it is described as a kind of androgynous formless unity, a Father called Depth (Bythos) and a Mother called Silence (Sige), two aspects with no clear distinction possible so utterly unified are they, not Father and Mother but rather Father-Mother. Preceding the figurative moment of creation, the unity may be described simultaneously as empty given that no form, no conceptualization, is present, yet given this state contains within it the potentiality for all things, it may also thus be described as a resounding Fullness (Pleroma). It is the heart of all being. The concept is paralleled in the Saivite Tantric system in the concept of the Tattva of the Heart (hrdaya):

“It is this same ultimate principle that is worshipped in radically nondual Goddess Tantra as Kali Kala-sankarsani: the radiant Dark, the resounding Silence, the Devourer of Time—by which is meant the timeless ground of the cycle of creation, stasis, and reabsorption.” -”Tantra Illuminated,” by Christopher D. Wallis

Interestingly this concept is even found in Christianity in the work of the early church father St. Gregory of Nissa:

“For leaving behind everything that is observed, not only what sense comprehends but also what the intelligence thinks it sees, it [the heart] keeps on penetrating deeper until by the intelligence’s yearning for understanding it gains access to the invisible and the incomprehensible, and there it sees God. This is the true knowledge of what is sought; this is the seeing that consists in not seeing, because that which is sought transcends all knowledge, being separated on all sides by incomprehensibility as by a kind of darkness. Wherefore John the sublime, who penetrated into the luminous darkness, says, ‘No one has ever seen God’, thus asserting that knowledge of the divine essence is unattainable not only by men but also by every intelligent creature.” -“Life of Moses”

In Hermetic Qabalah this largely corresponds to the Ain Soph, the “no limit”, that precedes creation.

In terms of consciousness this may be described as pure Awareness, Self in the most authentic sense. Take a moment to look at yourself, who are you really? You are not your narratives. You are not your emotions or any other transient thing about you. They are all valid parts, but none are a whole and none are constant. What is the one part of you that is in fact constant, the “You” that is always there in every waking moment? Nothing other than Awareness itself, the arena in which all experience occurs. This pure Consciousness, the “Higher Self,” is what pervades all experience, it is what preceding all label and thought and is the source of all things.

Now, it is very common in spiritual circles to say things like “You are not your thoughts, feelings, body, etc.” As I said, “You are not your narratives.” And in a sense, this is very very true and can be a critically helpful and necessary realization. It opens the door to the all-important question: “If I am not these things, then who or what the hell am I?” But this language also has a built-in danger, a door can be opened to dissociation and spiritual bypassing, to self-gaslighting where things such as feelings, thoughts, and the body, or even material reality itself are dismissed as illusory.

We need not fall into that trap though if we think of ourselves more like an iceberg. Imagine if our thoughts, our feelings, our bodies, our experiential reality are often like the tip of that iceberg. No one would be foolish enough to claim that the tip that we see is fake or not real, but we often are foolish enough to assume that the tip of the iceberg is the whole thing. The problem is a matter of perception.

We overidentify with the tip and ignore the very depths and ground of our being, so narratives that allow us to take that step back and see the big picture are thus really important! We just need to not go so far as to make the mistake of total dissociation from the iceberg. The tip is just as much an important, genuine, necessary, valid, and good part of us as what lies beneath it.

Now to return to the answers to these questions: if I am not merely these things above the surface, what the hell am I? What the hell are we? What the hell is reality? Let’s take the iceberg analogy a bit further. Reality as we view it is really more like countless tips poking through the surface of ordinary perception, and we see the diverse forms each one takes individually, but beneath the surface all those individual tips are part of one mindbogglingly huge mass of ice. That depth that lies beneath the surface? The ground of your very being? It is Awareness itself! It is what is actually is doing the viewing of each individual tip. It is also the least unique thing about you! Now that flies in the face of what you are socially taught as our sick society thrives on the largely ephemeral things that divide us, feeding the ego and profiting off its insecurity and alienation. Reality has little time for such delusion, however. We are connected, and we have far more in common than we do differences. Difference and diversity should be celebrated absolutely but also, we are a communal species, and we should act like it.

“2. From the passion of unity of light and dark, depth and silence, potentiality overflows into
manifestation in a creative explosion, emanating as dualities pervaded by unity, like a tree
sprouting mirrored branches from its trunk. Every branch was another womb, another world, another home, each with its rulers and citizens.”

“From the passion of unity of light and dark, depth and silence” is a direct reference to the idea of creation coming into existence due to the sexual union of Divine masculine and feminine principles. It is a means of describing in relatable terms the energy of creation from unity to a duality prevaded by an ongoing unity. In Tantra this is embodied in the famous union of Shiva and Shakti. I would like to be careful to point out that each part of any such pair is whole
and complete in and of itself, it does not “need” a counterpart, it seeks its other not from any position of lack, but from a position of overflowing potential manifesting as a willingness to share in free creative worship. I would also caution regarding the use of gender in spirituality. Such language is simply a useful tool for describing polarities, for creating a usable system out of already existing and commonly understood language, but do not assume that naked reality cares one bit for such socially constructed divisions! Reality is more like a diverse spectrum than any neat divide.

In Valentinus’ system the action of Silence upon Depth causes the emanation of a series of progressive emanations of unified pairs called syzygys. In Tantra a system of emanations of Tattvas is seen. Here, however the Hermetic Qabalah is in focus, with this interpretation seeing the Trees of Life and Knowledge as one Tree with two sides, each sephiroth and qliphoth an inseparable pair. This is the “tree sprouting mirrored branches from its trunk.”

“3. The dark emanation from primal silence, the first thought, the embodiment of wisdom, is called
Lilith.
4. The light emanation of primal depth, the embodiment of liberation, is called Lucifer.”

The primal first principles from the beginning take form as emanations, named Lilith and Lucifer. Here they take and act out the roles that in Gnostic myth are that of Sophia and Christ respectively. It is also here that the myth becomes expressly Luciferian in nature.

“5. Now, in order for manifestation to occur, in order for unity to exist as plurality, an illusion of
separation within unity must occur. In order that the whole may be revealed, it must first be
concealed.
6. Hence, Lilith in her wisdom sets out to impart concealment. She weaves a web of fate, and begins
to pull its strings. Being utterly one with source she cannot be the concealer herself, so she brings forth
a being modeled on the highest oneness yet ignorant of its origin, a craftsman to create and separate
and manifest the illusion on behalf of the Divine.”

We turn next to Lilith’s role in the unfolding of Divine will. In the Gnostic version of the creation myth the embodiment of the divine feminine is known as Sophia, and she creates the Demiurge by mistake when she attempts to create something without her masculine partner. She then falls into and becomes trapped in the creation of the Demiurge, waiting for Christ to rescue her. Obviously, the Gnostics were Jews and Christians, and this version of the myth is accordingly patriarchal. The result also leaves a degree of dualism even in the otherwise monist scheme of Valentinus.

But what if we keep the myth but clean out the patriarchy with the Luciferian approach instead? With Lilith in this role things work much better. Now, rather than an ignorant damsel in distress, we have an empowered cosmic being knowingly creating the Demiurge as part of the natural and necessary process of manifestation. Any remaining dualism is eliminated. The world isn’t an illusion to escape from, it’s a real and valid part of creation about which we have illusions we need to be liberated from and those illusions need to come into existence precisely so that liberation can happen.

“She weaves a web of fate and begins to pull its strings.” With this phrase Lilith is likened to a spider on a web because, as the creator of the Demiurge, as the one who is both the actual manifest immanent Divine lying behind the Demiurge’s illusions, she is the weaver of the web of cause and effect, what in Buddhism is called “codependent origination,” the understanding of reality as a vast predetermined multidimensional pattern of interdependence. Quite simply the cause of all things is everything else that has ever occurred! It could not be otherwise.

“7. She creates the Demiurge, who looks upon creation as though he were floating over a chaos of
formless waters, an imperfect reflection of the Divine, and he begins to create, separating light from
dark, water from dry land and so on, naming and imposing limit.
8. He creates for himself angels to serve him, imitations of the highest emanations, and a kingdom to
rule over until the end of the age.”

We are now meeting up with the standard Genesis account with the Demiurge perceiving himself floating over the waters that are “formless and void.” As in that myth, which gives no explanation where he came from, he begins to create a world, and he does this via a process of separation and imposing name. If the primal heart or oneness from which all things spring is seen as our direct nonconceptual experience of raw reality, then the Demiurge can be seen as the embodiment of ego, creating a world of narratives and identity that hides that reality from us.

As we so often do in life, we attempt fit everything within the convenient boxes of label, and that isn’t bad in some moral sense. Labels are useful but the reality we blind ourselves to is the reality that such narratives are not truths but tools. And as so often happens, reality refuses to conform to the boxes we try to stuff it in. It is too messy, too wild. Dissatisfaction and suffering are the inevitable result of all this, feelings of fear and incompletion, lashing out, and the search for escape, for salvation, for liberation arises. Rebellion becomes necessary. I want to take a moment to be very clear here about something: the Demiurge is not and should not be described as simply “evil”! Evil is first of all a human moral construct, and while often the Demiurge here is functioning in the role of ego, and while much “evil” can definitely arise from that, it also needs to be recognized that the ego serves a critically important role, a necessary role in human development. It is also important to understand the context in which Luciferianism is rising from: a defiance of Christian supremacy. It subverts the dominant oppressive forms of Christianity. It is not a subversion of every form of Christianity nor is it simply a subversion of Judaism. It is extremely dangerous and unacceptable to simply demonize the deity of an oppressed group, in this case that would lead directly to antisemitism, and there is nothing Luciferian about bigotry. There is a world of difference between the Demiurge presented by the dominant American megachurches and those of similar mind on the one hand, who we happily blaspheme, and the God professed by the downtrodden, with whom we will gladly show solidarity.

“1. Lucifer, seeing the kingdom of falsity, steps forth in the form of an angel into the heaven where
the Demiurge rules and begins to spread truth among his servants. The angels marvel at his wisdom
and praise his beauty as being above all others, likening his glory to the morning star.
2. Yet many are angered at his unbending truth, denouncing him as proud, and there is war in the
heavens.
3. When the Demiurge moves to seize him, Lucifer casts himself down to the earth, leading a host of
angels with him, where he begins to work time and again to shine the light of liberation within the
world as an example to all.
4. In a world of lies the speaker of truth is hated, but where there is oppression there is always
resistance.”

One of the most popular myths regarding Lucifer that has captivated people far beyond Luciferians themselves is the myth of his fall. This derives from the 14th chapter of Isaiah which regards a Babylonian king. However, when the text was translated into the Latin Vulgate under direction of St. Jerome in the 4th century he used the name Lucifer, which was a symbolic personification of the morning star used by Roman poets. The Romans did not consider Lucifer a deity in the way they did say Mars or Mercury. It is not due to a mistake that the verse is associated with Lucifer and the Orthodox Satan as is sometimes believed. Rather, early Christian writers such as Origen and Tertullian in “Adversus Marcionem” already had associated the text with the Devil before Jerome. So simply the myth can be read to both be a prophecy about a human king and also a reference to already existing lore regarding Satan. The myth has certain plot holes that placing it into a Gnostic context easily fills. How can angels, who are supposed to be perfect and basically utter slaves, be described as proud and spontaneously engage in rebellion? How is he not simply seized and destroyed by the Demiurge who is supposed to be all powerful? An intrusion from outside is clearly needed.

If Lucifer is the Gnostic Christ, his appearance in heaven is simply the intrusion intended to subvert the Demiurge’s kingdom and provide an example for humanity to follow. He cannot be simply destroyed because he is more powerful and of purer stuff than the Demiurge. He does not simply destroy the Demiurge because the being serves a necessary purpose.

“1. The Demiurge then goes forth and begins to create from clay a figure, in the shape of that which
he saw in the waters and tries to give it life. At the moment he breathes into it, Lucifer steps forth
again, bestowing a life-giving flame, and the first man comes alive, but like his creator, the man is
ignorant of the true source of his nature.
2. Satisfied, the Demiurge declares the need for this man to have a servant, as his angels serves him,
and so, he forms a woman of the same substance, but being closest in form to the true manifest world,
Lilith herself takes on the body in accordance with Divine Will.”

In much of the accounts from here on I present a retelling of the myths of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel rooted in the biblical account but filling out the often-sparse nature of such texts by drawing on Gnostic scriptural traditions that can be found in the Nag Hammadi scriptures as well as points taken from folklore and non-Canonical texts such as the “Life of Adam and Eve” and Traditional Witchcraft lore regarding Cainite mysteries. In verses 1 and 2 we are in pretty standard biblical territory although the Demiurge, lacking the ability to give genuine life to anything, requires Lucifer to step in and bestow that spark secretly. This points to the idea that all life, all humans whether having Gnosis or not, are endowed with the spark, the Black Flame, of Divinity within them all of them have the potential whether or not it has been used. It also points the fact that even the realm of illusions that the Demiurge creates contains a bit of the essence of the Divine. The Demiurge again continues his attempts to create, driven to model his continued work as a poor image of things above him and things he has already done. In this he is us, our ego, constructing narratives that at best can contain some degree of Truth, can point at Truth, but are always inferior imitations, undermined often by the nature of Truth itself undermining our certainty. He accordingly makes a woman and for a moment we step out of the biblical text and into folkloric accounts. Lilith takes the opportunity to step forward. This theme of Lucifer and Lilith each stepping into the act of creation is present at every point in this myth as manifestation is seen as a kind of dance, a conversation, they each play their role in the undermining of the Demiurge’s plans.

“3. From the beginning Lilith argues with the man, who demands she lie beneath him and be
subservient to him and bear him offspring. She refuses, declaring herself his equal, and when she
finds he will not relent, she flees his presence across the Red Sea.
4. The Demiurge in his anger sends his angels after Lilith but she speaks the True Name of the
Demiurge and in that moment, seeing her true nature and power revealed, they can not seize her.
5. Lilith dwells then in a cave upon the sea, hidden as a spider in a burrow, waiting and weaving
the strings of Divine Will.
6. The Demiurge then creates a new woman from the rib of the man he called Adam, a woman who
would be called Eve.”

I present here a simple and pretty straightforward retelling of the standard Lilith myth. But it raises a big question: How does she know his True Name if she is simply his human creation? The True Name of a thing, in occult tradition, embodies that which is named.

To know it suggests tremendous power and such names are typically kept secret. I suggest there’s really only one way she could know it: because she created him. She is a demonization of the feminine archetype, a kind of dark Shekinah. She is the Gnostic Sophia minus the patriarchy.

Let’s go further into the identity of Lilith. In 1587, the famed occultist John Dee with his partner Edward Kelley evoked a spirit, who gave a famous vision where she said,

“I am the daughter of Fortitude and ravished every hour from my youth. For behold I am Understanding and science dwelleth in me; and the heavens oppress me. They cover and desire me with infinite appetite; for none that are earthly have embraced me, for I am shadowed with the Circle of the Stars and covered with the morning clouds. My feet are swifter than the winds, and my hands are sweeter than the morning dew. My garments are from the beginning, and my dwelling place is in myself. The Lion knoweth not where I walk, neither do the beast of the fields understand me. I am deflowered, yet a virgin; I sanctify and am not sanctified. Happy is he that embraceth me: for in the night season, I am sweet, and in the day full of pleasure. My company is a harmony of many symbols and my lips sweeter than health itself. I am a harlot for such as ravish me, and a virgin with such as know me not. For lo, I am loved of many, and I am a lover to many; and as many as come unto me as they should do, have entertainment.”

Now this bears striking resemblance to a text neither Dee nor Kelley had access to: the Gnostic scriptures of Nag Hammadi, the text of “Thunder, Perfect Mind,” where Sophia, also known as Barbelo, speaks for herself,

“I am the honored one and the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin…”
and
“I am the knowledge of my inquiry,
and the finding of those who seek after me”

A careful comparison is worth studying as the places where the character differs seem to be directly related to history, “Thunder…” was written at a time when the role of women in the church was being debated. The “Daughter of Fortitude” speech is the words of a goddess set to return,

“As yet, I walk in the clowdes,
As yet, I am carryed with the wyndes:
And cannot descend unto you
for the multitude of your abbominations,
& The filthy lothesomnes of your dwelling places.”
“….I comme unto you again.”
Aleister Crowley and Victor Neuberg performed Dee’s ritual themselves in 1909
and here the Goddess Babalon revealed herself saying,
“I am the harlot that shaketh Death.
This shaking giveth the Peace of Satiate Lust.
Immortality jetteth from my skull,
And music from my vulva.
Immortality jetteth from my vulva also,
For my Whoredom is a sweet scent like a seven-stringed instrument,
Played unto God the Invisible, the all-ruler,
That goeth along giving the shrill scream of orgasm.”

In Thelemite Jack Parson’s Babalon Working, Babalon ties her own identity directly to Dee’s ritual.

“23. My calls as thou knowest. All love songs are of me. Also seek me in the Seventh Aire.” -Liber 49

Crowley also flatly stated,

“Here also is a mystery of mysteries. Lilith is truly Babalon.” -”footnote on the 3rd Aethyr”

So. If Daughter of Fortitude = Sophia, Daughter of Fortitude = Babalon, and Babalon = Lilith, then Lilith= Daughter of Fortitude and Lilith= Sophia.

Psychologically our ego is a direct product of our environment and upbringing and Lilith as an embodiment of the manifest world, literally a dark sort of ‘earth mother” is that environment. Like the real manifest raw reality, she sits hidden behind the veil, the realm of the Demiurge, yet continues to pull the strings of fate, and this is symbolized in her residency in her cave; a cave that naturally sits on a sea, reiterating her relationship to the watery Abyss of nonconceptual reality.

“1. Now there grows in the midst of the garden a tree, and the Demiurge knows not from where it came and is afraid, but he takes credit for its creation and warns Adam and Eve saying “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree in the middle you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die. ”

While the Demiurge is away curiosity gets the best of Eve and she approaches the tree.”

The classic story of the Garden of Eden is a symbol for the basic human situation. We come into this world as children into a garden with nothing but our inborn potentialities, our inborn Divine nature, yet ignorant. We are taught rules, narratives as we grow, do this, don’t do that. The world is divided into the pure we can touch and the impure we mustn’t. But before the installation of social conditioning we experience reality nakedly. This is reminiscent of the Indian Left Hand teachings of the Aghori sadhus:

“The gurus and disciples of Aghor believe their state to be primordial and universal. They believe that all human beings are natural-born Aghori. Hari Baba has said on several occasions that human babies of all societies are without discrimination, that they will play as much in their own filth as with the toys around them. Children become progressively discriminating as they grow older and learn the culturally specific attachments and aversions of their parents. Children become increasingly aware of their mortality as they bump their heads and fall to the ground. They come to fear their mortality and then palliate this fear by finding ways to deny it altogether.” – Ron Barrett, “Aghor Medicine: Pollution, Death, and Healing in Northern India”.

Interestingly, this idea that the method is one of returning to a primordial,
Christ teaches childlike state as well:

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” -Matthew 18:1-4, NASB

And yet much like the mysterious Tree, reality intrudes into our world of illusions, a means that can be used for escape, though we are told of course, “Thou shalt not touch it!”

“2. On its shady side Lucifer awaits in the form of a serpent. And he says to the woman, “Has your
Lord really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
Eve replies, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree
which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or on that
day you will die.’”
3. The serpent says to the woman, “You certainly will not die! For your Lord knows that on the day
you eat from it the eyes of your mind will be opened, and you will become like the Divine, knowing
good and evil.”
4. When the woman sees that the tree is good for food, and that it is a delight to the eyes, and that
the tree is desirable to make one wise, she takes of its fruit and eats. Immediately the eyes of her
mind are opened and she sees things nakedly. Imbued with the power of the fruit, she is with child,
though she does not know it.”

The “shady side” of the tree is a reference to the Sitra Achra, the “other side” of the Tree of Life in Hermetic Qabalah, and I imply here that rather than two trees growing in opposite directions and united only by their root as some traditions speak, I favor an interpretation where the light and dark sides are one fully united tree and to work with one side is to work with the energies of the other. An obvious question should arise to anyone reading this myth: given that the Demiurge depicted in Christian versions is supposed to be a beneficial character, one mankind is supposed to follow, if that is the case, why does he so much wish his creations to remain ignorant and enslaved to his will? Doesn’t seem very “good.” The Luciferian answer, which dates back to the Gnostics who first said it, is: because the Serpent is actually the one mankind should be following not the Demiurge. It is the Serpent who acts as the liberator. And surely enough, Eve did not die on the day she ate of the tree but as promised the eyes of her mind were opened. Next question: what exactly was the “fruit” in question? The fruit of the tree is metaphorical for sacred sexuality. Note that the type of fruit is not mentioned. It is said to awaken to the knowledge of good and evil and reveal nakedness. What sort of act could both reveal nakedness and the implications of one’s actions? The counterargument here that one might expect is that surely the Demiurge does not see sexuality as a sin in and of itself as, in the original scriptures, he gives the command to “Go forth and multiply” and therefore the fruit cannot be sexuality. But what needs to be understood is that the fruit given here is not just any sexuality. It is one outside the boundaries of the Demiurgic plan. It is a sacred one, nothing less than sex magick. The Demiurge intended for sexuality to be for procreation, hence why his command was focused on reproduction, and given his rejection of the equality between Lilith and Adam and the creation of the subservient Eve, he intended for the power dynamic of procreative sexuality to be patriarchal. Lucifer’s gift to Eve was one that bestowed the knowledge of a sexuality that transgressed all that. In doing so he planted a seed of his own, a blood line of a different order.

“5. She gives fruit to Adam and he also eats of it and the eyes of his mind see their nakedness. In
shame he makes them garments of fig leaves to cover themselves.
6. The Demiurge returns in the cool of the day and when Adam sees him he hides himself.
“Where are you?” the Demiurge calls out.
7. Adam says, ““I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I
hid myself.”
8. And the Demiurge asks, “Who showed you your nakedness? Have you eaten from the tree from
which I commanded you not to eat?”
9. The man says, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the
tree, and I ate.”
10. Then the Demiurge says to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman
says, “The serpent seduced me, and I ate.”
11. Then he curses the serpent for giving them a glimpse of naked reality.
12. He curses the woman and the man and all their descendants for their disobedience. He condemns
forever the seed of the Serpent and the man to enmity.
13. Then the Demiurge says to his angels, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good
and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take more fruit from this tree of life, and
eat, and live forever.”
14. He then makes them drink from the waters of forgetfulness and casts the couple out into the
world and sets angels to guard the tree for all time.”

Having learned from the Serpent, Eve now initiates Adam who likewise awakens but feels shame for his transgression and chooses to cover the offending body parts. When the Demiurge returns, he hides himself in fear. He immediately blames Eve who then blames the Serpent. Note that Adam’s primary sin here is basically that he listened to his wife but neither of them, despite having a small glimpse of Gnosis, is willing to take responsibility for their actions. So, the Demiurge begins handing out his punishments and he specifically places a curse of enmity between the seed of the Serpent and that of Adam. Again, the idea of sexuality as fruit is invoked here as in the original scriptures the imagery of fruit and seeds is often used to refer to procreation. The seeds represent the spiritual bloodline of the Serpent and that of the Demiurge via the man, the Serpent-seed planted here specifically is that of Cain.

Next the Demiurge speaks to his angels and declares openly that the eyes of these humans have indeed been opened however briefly and that they have “become like one of Us,” so out of fear that they might more fully attain to such heights and become perhaps even more powerful than he, the Demiurge wipes their mind of any attainment and casts them out of the garden placing his angels to guard the Tree forever.

“1. Now Adam and Eve have their first children, a set of twins, who grow to be shining and
beautiful, the male she names Cain and his twin sister she names Calmana. They are of the blood of
the serpent, called Lucifer, as an image of the truth, a complementary unity with desire only for each
the companionship of the other.
2. Adam impregnates Eve and again twins are born, called Abel and Azura. They are of the blood
of their father, in the image of separation, out of deficiency they grow to desire their elder siblings.”

3. The Demiurge conspires with Adam and commands that Cain should marry Azura
and Abel should be wed to Calmana. When the older twins hear of this they protest to
Adam and he declares as his ruler instructed: to have Cain and Abel each bring an
offering to the Demiurge, that he might show one favor and thereby decide the case.
4. Now Abel is a shepherd in the hills and he brings to the altar his best lamb and slays
the peaceful beast upon the altar and a fire from heaven strikes down upon it and burns
it up and the smoke rises to the heavens.
5. Cain is a worker of the field, a grower of crops and he brings some of his best crops
to be offered up. He burns them upon the altar but the smoke does not rise, instead he
is surprised to find the smoke lingers on the ground at his feet and absorbs into it. Cain, angry at the rejection of his offering, leaves.
6. The next day as he is working in his fields, Lucifer appears to Cain as a fellow farmer
saying, “Behold! The ruler to whom you gave offering conspired against you! Listen
and follow me though and you will have great wealth and my relations will attend you.”
7. Cain asks, “Where are your relations?”
Lucifer responds, “I have come from roaming about the earth, and walking forth on it.
My relations are a kingdom all about you though men do not see them. I am your
relation as I am your father.”
8. At these words Cain’s ears are opened to truth and his eyes see clearly. He sees there
will be no justice without rebellion. He conspires with Calmana who lures Abel to the
field and Cain slays him there with his sickle. Upon that field of harvest, the Blood
Acre, Abel’s blood is offered up as sacrifice to the Divine, the blood following the path
of its furrows, a sacred place where the illusion of separation collapses, the roads of
material and spiritual cross. Here, the awakened Cain and Calmana worship in awe.
9. Cain makes a necklace of his bones as a wedding present for his bride. From Abel’s
blood and the grain of the field she makes a bread that they share in celebration, a
communion of the Divine, washing it down with wine from the vineyard.
10. In rage, Abel’s blood cries out for vengeance and the annihilation not merely of his
brother but also his descendants, for he is like the Demiurge who would say, “ I am a
jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children.”
10. And the Demiurge hears its call and comes and asks Cain, “Where is Abel your
brother?”
“Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain answers disdainfully.
11. And he answers, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying
out to me from the ground.” And the Demiurge tries to curse Cain and Calmana but
they cannot be seized, so he only manages to put marks on them, horns that grow from
their heads and send them away.
12. So they leave the place and walk the Crooked Path of the witch, learning the ways
of herbalism and divining, how to traffic with spirits and work magick at the feet of
Lucifer and Lilith themselves.
13. From they and their descendants, all those bound by the spiritual lineage of
Witchblood, does all wisdom come. Unto humans the spirits teach knowledge, of
music to Jubal, of the forging of weapons to Tubal-Cain, of cosmetics to his sister
Naamah, and so on.
14. The history of man from then is the history of oppression and the enduring spirit of
rebellion against it, from which all progress comes.

It is important to reiterate that the myths being dealt with here are not historical but spiritual events, and this is exemplified in the Cain and Abel story, where we see the process of initiation and spiritual practice dramatically played out. Cain, whose name means to acquire, from a root that means to create, embodies the Initiate, he is the first Witch and therefore the root of the lineage of Witchblood. Abel, whose name derives from a word that may be rendered breath, vapor, and vanity, implies something surface, ephemeral, impermanent. He embodies the initiate’s binding narratives, habits, material unaligned with ultimate reality and therefore to some degree false. Calmana and Azura continue the theme of reality exiting in complementary polarity, both have names that imply beauty, though Calmana represents the deeper beauty of reality versus the surface nature of Azura.

The myth here derives from canonical sources with material supplemented from noncanonical sources with nods to Sabbatic Craft.

So, there you have it. Does this material resonate with you? Looking to put it into practice?

Go here next!

The Book of Radiant Darkness: Part 2

March 7, 2022

Continuing from the previous article….

To communicate the highest spiritual realities and experiences, to speak at
all utmost reality is only ever a game of approximation, the game of myth. Words
can only point towards truth yet never capture that which dwell before label and
concept. Myths are necessary and powerful because the soul speaks in the language of
symbol, and language, like the soul, evolves. Every age produces new myths and
reimagines old ones, as the Divine, and our relationship to it develops in an endless
conversation. Myth then, is not a record of the historical or the literal, but something
higher, and if that is what you wish, let me give you then, this myth.

I. The Creation

1. In the beginning is the Abyss, a heart of radiant darkness dwelling in the unity of depth and silence, the waters of a womb pregnant with possibility, an emptiness of form, yet a fullness of potentiality.
2. From the passion of unity of light and dark, depth and silence, potentiality overflows into manifestation in a creative explosion, emanating as dualities pervaded by unity, like a tree sprouting mirrored branches from its trunk. Every branch is another womb, another world, another home, each with its rulers and citizens.
3. The dark emanation from primal silence, the first thought, the embodiment of wisdom, is called Lilith.
4. The light emanation of primal depth, the embodiment of liberation, is called Lucifer.
5. Now, for manifestation to occur, for unity to exist as plurality, an illusion of separation within unity must occur. In order that the whole may be revealed, it must first be concealed.
6. Hence, Lilith in her wisdom sets out to impart concealment. She weaves a web of fate and begins to pull its strings. Being utterly one with source she cannot be the concealer directly, so she brings forth a being modeled on the highest oneness yet ignorant of its origin, a craftsman to create and separate and manifest the illusion on behalf of the Divine.
7. She creates the Demiurge, who looks upon creation as though he were floating over a chaos of formless waters, an imperfect reflection of the Divine, and he begins to create, separating light from dark, water from dry land and so on, naming, and imposing limit.
8. He creates for himself angels to serve him, imitations of the highest emanations, and a kingdom to rule over until the end of the age.

II. The Rebellion

1. Lucifer, seeing the kingdom of falsity, steps forth in the form of an angel into heaven where the Demiurge rules and begins to spread truth among his servants. The angels marvel at his wisdom and praise his beauty as being above all others, likening his glory to the morning star.
2. Yet many are angered at his unbending truth, denouncing him as proud, and there is war in the heavens.
3. When the Demiurge moves to seize him, Lucifer throws himself down to the earth, leading a host of angels with him, where he begins to work repeatedly to shine the light of liberation within the world as an example to all.
4. In a world of lies the speaker of truth is hated, but where there is oppression there is always resistance.

III. The Incarnation

1. The Demiurge then goes forth and begins to create from clay a figure, in the shape of that which he saw in the waters and tries to give it life. Now he breathes into it, Lucifer steps forth again, bestowing a life-giving Black Flame, and the first man comes alive, but like his creator, the man is ignorant of the true source of his nature.
2. Satisfied, the Demiurge declares the need for this man to have a servant, as his angels serves him, and so he forms a woman of the same substance, but Lilith herself enters the body in accordance with Divine Will.
3. From the beginning Lilith argues with the man, who demands she lie beneath him and be subservient to him and bear him offspring. She refuses, declaring herself his equal, and when she finds he will not relent, she flees his presence across the Red Sea.
4. The Demiurge in his anger sends his angels after Lilith but she speaks the True Name of the Demiurge and in that moment, seeing her true nature and power revealed, they cannot seize her.
5. Lilith dwells then in a cave upon the sea, hidden as a spider in a burrow, waiting and weaving the strings of Divine Will.
6. The Demiurge then creates a new woman from the rib of the man he called Adam, a woman who would be called Eve.

IV. The Seduction

1. Now there grows during the garden a tree, and the Demiurge knows not from where it came and is afraid, but he takes credit for its creation and warns Adam and Eve saying “From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree in the middle you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die. ” While the Demiurge is away curiosity gets the best of Eve and she approaches the tree.
2. On its shady side Lucifer awaits in the form of a serpent. And he says to the woman, “Has your Lord really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” Eve replies, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or on that day you will die.’”
3. The serpent says to the woman, “You certainly will not die! For your Lord knows that on the day you eat from it the eyes of your mind will be opened, and you will become like the Divine, knowing good and evil.”
4. When the woman sees that the tree is good for food, and that it is a delight to the eyes, and that the tree is desirable to make one wise, she takes of its fruit and eats. Immediately the eyes of her mind are opened, and she sees things nakedly. Imbued with the power of the fruit, she is with child, though she does not know it.
5. She gives fruit to Adam, and he also eats it and the eyes of his mind see their nakedness. In shame he makes them garments of fig leaves to cover themselves.
6. The Demiurge returns in the cool of the day and when Adam sees him, he hides himself. “Where are you?” the Demiurge calls out.
7. Adam says, ““I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so, I hid myself.”
8. And the Demiurge asks, “Who showed you your nakedness? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”
9. The man says, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me some of the fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
10. Then the Demiurge says to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” And the woman says, “The serpent seduced me, and I ate.”
11. Then he curses the serpent for giving them a glimpse of naked reality.
12. He curses the woman and the man and all their descendants for their disobedience. He condemns forever the seed of the Serpent and the man to enmity.
13. Then the Demiurge says to his angels, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out with his hand, and take more fruit from this tree of life, and eat, and live forever.”
14. He then makes them drink from the waters of forgetfulness and casts the couple out into the world and sets angels to guard the tree for all time.

V. The Initiation

1. Now Adam and Eve have their first children, a set of twins, who grow to be shining and beautiful, the male she names Cain and his twin sister she names Calmana. They are of the blood of the serpent, called Lucifer, as an image of the truth, a complementary unity with desire only for each the companionship of the other.
2. Adam impregnates Eve and again twins are born, called Abel and Azura. They are of the blood of their father, in the image of separation, out of deficiency they grow to desire their elder siblings.
3. The Demiurge conspires with Adam and commands that Cain should marry Azura, and Abel should be wed to Calmana. When the older twins hear of this they protest to Adam and he declares as his ruler instructed: to have Cain and Abel each bring an offering to the Demiurge, that he might show one favor and thereby decide the case.
4. Now Abel is a shepherd in the hills, and he brings to the altar his best lamb and slays the peaceful beast upon the altar and a fire from heaven strikes down upon it and burns it up and the smoke rises to the heavens.
5. Cain is a worker of the field; a grower of crops, and he brings some of his best crops to be offered up. He burns them upon the altar, but the smoke does not rise, instead he is surprised to find the smoke lingers on the ground at his feet and absorbs into it. Cain, angry at the rejection of his offering, leaves.
6. The next day as he is working in his fields, Lucifer appears to Cain as a fellow farmer saying, “Behold! The ruler to whom you gave offering conspired against you! Listen and follow me though and you will have great wealth and my relations will attend you.”
7. Cain asks, “Where are your relations?” Lucifer responds, “I have come from roaming about the earth, and walking forth on it. My relations are a kingdom all about you though men do not see them. I am your relation as I am your father.”
8. At these words Cain’s ears are opened to truth and his eyes see clearly. He sees there will be no justice without rebellion. He conspires with Calmana who lures Abel to the field and Cain slays him there with his sickle. Upon that field of harvest, the Blood Acre, Abel’s blood is offered up as sacrifice to the Divine, the blood following the path
of its furrows, a sacred place where the illusion of separation collapses, the roads of material and spiritual cross. Here, the awakened Cain and Calmana worship in awe.
9. Cain makes a necklace of his bones as a wedding present for his bride. From Abel’s blood and the grain of the field she makes a bread that they share in celebration, a communion of the Divine, washing it down with wine from the vineyard.
10. In rage, Abel’s blood cries out for vengeance and the annihilation not merely of his brother but also his descendants, for he is like the Demiurge who would say, “ I am a jealous God, inflicting the punishment of the fathers on the children.”
10. And the Demiurge hears its call and comes and asks Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain answers disdainfully.
11. And he answers, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground.” And the Demiurge tries to curse Cain and Calmana but they cannot be seized, so he only manages to put marks on them, horns that grow from their heads, and send them away.
12. So they leave the place and walk the Crooked Path of the witch, learning the ways of herbalism and divining, how to traffic with spirits and work magick at the feet of Lucifer and Lilith themselves.
13. From they and their descendants, all those bound by the spiritual lineage of Witch blood, does all wisdom come. Unto humans the spirits teach knowledge, of music to Jubal, of the forging of weapons to Tubal-Cain, of cosmetics to his sister Naamah, and so on.
14. The history of man from then is the history of oppression and the enduring spirit of rebellion against it, from which all progress comes.

What I have aimed to do with presenting this myth, rather than creating something completely new and original, is bring together some of the various myths popular among Luciferians in one place, one narrative. At the same time, I also wanted to push further than that, push towards theological evolution.

It is impossible I think for an author’s voice to not shine through in a written work. Bias will always seep in, so rather than attempt some feigned neutrality, I openly embrace that this is my interpretation. But why listen to me?

Well firstly, why listen to any of the writers of the so called “Left Hand Path’s” claims? Are most scholars with degrees? Not really. There are no PhD’s in Luciferian Theology! They are just people offering their own interpretations based on their study and practice and I am no different in that, no less valid. Some might try to invalidate this narrative by appealing to older interpretations or etymology and to those people I simply respond that things change. I am not interested in static conceptions of spirituality. I see humanity’s relationship to the Divine and to spiritual beings as an ongoing conversation and progressive unfolding, a thing of constant reimagining and I would suggest that newer traditions and approaches may better fit the needs of spiritual seekers better than older ones. We are to learn from history, not be bound by it.

You are welcome to accept or reject as you please.

Second, the next part of this series I will hopefully show here why I interpret things the way I do. I will show my influences and cite my sources and I will look to other traditions for corroboration.

Stay tuned.

The Book of Radiant Darkness: Part 1

February 28, 2022

Alice Pike Barney’s “Lucifer”

Preface

What follows is a statement of belief. A mythology. A theology. And a bit of how I got here.

After a lot of thought and consideration I have felt called to address a lack in the Luciferian community, to provide an alternative voice to what often passes for Luciferianism, Satanism, and so called “Left Hand Path” spirituality in the wider occult movement. Over many years of study and practice in which I engaged with many of these types of western “Left Hand” practice and its “scene” I became disillusioned. I walked away in disgust. Yet life has a way of calling us back, of forcing us to rethink. Fires get rekindled. I was called back with renewed vigor, and a deep feeling that what was often being taught was off base. So, I threw myself into study, dug deep into how this kind of spirituality developed, the sources of its language. I have learned much since regarding the roots of Luciferian ideas and the tangled pathways of witchcraft. I have tapped deep into veins of heresy and mysticism. Here I am certainly indebted to some amazing scholars and those who have come before me and presented their own forms and systems of Luciferian ideology, some of whom I agree with and some I most definitely do not! There are many Luciferianisms to be honest.

It is not a dogmatic spirituality.

What I intend to present here is the center of my contribution to an ongoing evolution, to present the core of Luciferianism as I teach it. It is what I refer to, to distinguish it from others and to emphasize its roots and mindset, as Gnostic Luciferianism.

To be sure, the kind of Gnosticism in question here is not the hard dualistic and anti-cosmic sort from which some others draw inspiration but closer in themes to that of the monist Valentinus. This is a Luciferianism that weaves this together in its web with Hermetic Qabalah and expresses it in the practice of Traditional Witchcraft. I seek to transcend simple reversals of Christian worldviews and approaches that seem to lead only to bloated egos, dark fetishism, and the valorization of trauma and personal toxicity. This is a mature Luciferianism focused on spiritual wholeness and embodied liberation.

What I feel called to do in this text is retell and then interpret Gnostic mythology in a Luciferian manner. But why would I do that?

Firstly, Luciferianism has a long history of incorporating Gnostic ideas, it is easily argued that the practice of witchcraft and the occult in general owes much to Gnostic derived ideas in the Middle Ages.

This is discussed by Jefferey Burton Russell in “Witchcraft in the Middle Ages” and by Richard Cavendish in the later chapters of “The Black Arts. ”

The basic scenario is that the sects and the associated systems used by the Gnostics were largely crushed by the Orthodox Church, however the ideas of these sects survived and filtered into medieval Europe over the centuries in a constant stream of heresy, from the Gnostics and Marcionites to the Paulicians, then Bogomils, then Cathars in southern France, Amalricians, Brethren of the Free Spirit, etc. Everything medieval witches would be accused of is that which all of these heresies were accused of as well. Early witch trials? Many spring up dead in the middle of Cathar country. At some point it is suggested that a reversal occurred, heretics adopting and owning the accusations against them. As Cavendish suggests in regard to the Cathars:

“ It is possible that some of them concluded that if the Catholic God was really the Devil, then the Catholic Devil might be the true God.”
– “The Black Arts”

Did such witches actually exist? It has been suggested that no one was practicing the worship of Lucifer historically, that all those accused were innocent of any sort of occult practice. But this appears overly skeptical. Certainly, if anyone was practicing such things they were not practicing any sort of survival of pagan religion. Murrayism has been debunked since the mid-20th century. So if anyone was practicing such things, what they were worshiping could only be the devil due to sheer process of elimination and the fact that confessions openly and consistently state such. But are any confessions believable? They were extracted often under torture or more often the threat of it. Well, what do we actually know about magic and witchcraft in this period?

We do know that the practice of magic was widespread among the populace. A whole host of charms and spells, herbalism, astrology and other systems of divination that any modern person would now call witchcraft was popular at the time.

Most of this was undoubtedly heretical but still very much Christian.

At every point in history there has been resistance movements to the dominant narratives.

We do know from some of the most credible confessions, especially those extracted without torture, that much of what is accused of occurring are things that could easily be stage managed with things like masks and costumes.

We know that the concoctions known as ‘flying ointments’ in trial records are functional and reproduce the very effects associated with “midnight rides to the Sabbat.” If there were no witches practicing these things, why are there functional ointments that induce these very experiences?

As there are people today and in recorded history who are attracted to such things, based on what we know it seems reasonable to conclude that there were at least a few scattered individuals and groups practicing the worship of Lucifer. We will never know for sure of course as illiterate peasants did not leave us with any records.

Regardless, that folklore and mythology, those ideas, persisted. But put yourself in the shoes for a moment of an LGBTQ person in the Renaissance. You have been raised from birth to believe you are hopelessly damned.

An abomination.

The god of the church does not accept you. Your community would hate you if they knew.

But there is one who will, one who offers power, and a place where you will be accepted. Celebrated.

So, do we really think no one had a good reason to seek out the Devil?

People openly claiming and praising Lucifer start showing up in the 19th century where he is embraced as a figure of rebellion and revolution by poets, artists, occultists, and anarchists.

Gnostic and Luciferian ideas and mythology show up extensively as well in modern Traditional Witchcraft with the prominence given to the folkloric Devil. So retelling Gnostic myth in a Luciferian way both honors the roots of the religion while also appreciating and considering its development in history.

The use of transgression of social norms is a defining feature of this type of spirituality. This is because to experience ultimate reality one must be able to move past one’s social condition. Mind you this is not merely a pursuit of shock value, nor is it any sort of excuse to hate the practitioners of the many diverse Abrahamic faiths, nor is it a vehicle for base hedonism. People whose interest is of this nature should be discouraged. But so long as the Christian faith remains the dominant one even to the point of shaping our very language, Luciferian spirituality will remain relevant. Heresy is always relevant, and if the things said in this text are heresies even to other Luciferians, so much the better!

Introduction: The Gnostic Luciferian View

I would like to begin by presenting in a brief point by point manner the basic principles of Gnostic Luciferianism, I will flesh these out over the course of these articles but for now just give them some consideration and invite yourself to consider how your life might be different if they were true.

1. All of reality is One Divine Essence manifesting as particular diverse forms in a massive web of dynamic interdependency. All that manifests may be understood as patterns of energetic vibration, from common objects to spiritual beings.

2. This Divine Essence is experienced as pure consciousness as consciousness pervades all experiential existence.

3. There is no separation between the spiritual and the physical. This Divine unity in diversity is embodied beautifully in Levi’s art depicting Baphomet and in the Hermetic maxim of “That which is above is like that which is below to achieve the wonder of the One thing.”

4. As there is no separation between material and spiritual, scientifically verifiable natural laws are Divine Laws part of the Divine Will, and science a tool for us to better know and refine spiritual knowledge and destroy illusions.

5. The diverse forms the Divine energy manifests as includes ourselves and the beings we variously call specific deities, demons, spirits, etc. The difference between humans and such beings is that deities and other spirits simply exist in other dimensions relative to our own perception.

6. Myths regarding such beings should not be seen as literal truths regarding historical events but as sacred allegories teaching mystical truths.

7. The central beings worshiped in Gnostic Luciferianism are Lucifer and Lilith as complementary manifestations of the Divine, along with various demons, and other spirits who act as spiritual guides and teachers to humanity.

8. Lucifer is the bearer of the Divine Light of Knowledge to mankind. He embodies destruction of illusion, he ignites the Black flame of Wisdom within the Self that burns away our falsehoods, that liberates us from the bonds of our social conditioning and our narratives, allowing us to see reality as it is. He is the dark and radiant Gnostic Christ. He is One with Divine Transcendence.

9. Lilith is the initiator into sensual grounded being, she is defiant sensuality, the dark womb from which all things spring, the embodiment of feminine equality and justice in a world that seeks to enslave, she is emotion and passion, the celebration of the totality of existence. She is the dark and defiant Sophia. She is One with Divine Immanence.

10. In union Lucifer and Lilith embody the goal of genuine Gnosis: Immanent Transcendence. Fully Embodied Liberation.

11. In Gnostic Luciferianism the Demiurge taught by the Church is nothing but the Divine embodiment of ego, the lower self, here defined as that aspect of Self that produces a sense of separate, disconnected identity. In so doing it creates a “world” of illusions that keep us enslaved to it.

12. Lucifer, in relation to the Christian Demiurge, IS Satan in this tradition. He is the preeminent accuser or adversary of that being. The form of the Divine known as the Devil or Satan is nothing more than a particular dark form Lucifer takes in relation to the Demiurge. This is a title he has earned, and that history has associated with him for over one thousand years. And it is purely via that association and identification that no one even knows the name Lucifer.

13. The practice of Gnostic Luciferianism is embodied in the mysteries of Traditional Witchcraft. It embraces Magick as the practice by which the Divine Self enacts its will upon the Divine substance of reality. These practices of witchcraft include spellwork, work with spirits, divination, dreamwork, and herbalism.

14. The practice of Gnostic Luciferianism embraces the use of acts that transgress, or break accepted social rules regarding spirituality. This is done for a few reasons:

a) coming from a nondual perspective where all things are considered Divine, even that which disgusts, the liberated individual is free to spontaneously engage in actions without socially constructed shame.

b) such acts are ritually engaged to intentionally break social conditioning and identification of self with socially conditioned narratives.

c) engaging in acts that “blaspheme” the practice of a dominant spiritual institution allows the initiate to tap into the reservoirs of power those institutions contain and transmute them to their purpose.

15. The morality of Gnostic Luciferianism flows directly from its nondual understanding of the world. Since all beings are Divine whether they recognize it or not, and all are enacting the unfolding of an interdependent process, one who recognizes their own Divine nature acts accordingly. One does not act according topredetermined “thou shalt nots” or under threat of eternal punishment, nor does one act from a place of egoistic reaction, but freely responding, judging the rightness of action in specific context from a place of fullness and security that is the only place from which genuine compassion, love, and kindness can flow.

When it comes down to it, stripped to its most basic essence, Luciferianism is an invitation to experience the fullness of your being, of the overwhelming beauty and terror of existence. It says, “You are and always have been utterly Divine, whole, and perfect right from the start, you need only taste and see.”

Accordingly, it is and must be an an unflinching confrontation with all that dares
blind you to that truth, to all that conceals, so that our fullness can show itself in its
glory.

To eat the fruit of the serpent is to tangibly “bite into” reality, to fully engage
and savor, to fully see and say yes to who you are. It’s not a one-time thing either, after
all how many times do we lose sight of ourselves and our path and must choose to taste
again?

What is it in your life that is preventing you from tasting that fruit every day?

What if you just stop for a moment, every so often, and listen to that invitation?

Meanwhile, what, on the other hand, is NOT Gnostic Luciferianism? We totally reject:

…vulgar or “hyper-” individualism. That is any sort of individualism that places the individual separate from or above their social context, that rejects any sense of social obligation to other Divine beings.

… long debunked “Might makes Right” and “social Darwinist” philosophies. Such are not scientific and are simply a defense of unjust status quos and thus hold no liberatory power.

… any form of bigotry. A religion of liberation is utterly incompatible with any sort ideology that rationalizes the oppression of entire groups of people, it always stands with the oppressed.

Next, we will dig deeper and present a Gnostic Luciferian mythology and its implications.

Stay tuned….

Gnostic Luciferian Witchcraft: A Practical Guide

February 15, 2022

Introduction

This is a record as much as a guide. It shows how I, and primarily my best friend, have been practicing witchcraft for the past few years now. Like many witches, our Practice is a hybrid, an expression of our influences. It is very animistic, spirit-work centered. Our approach is a blend of Traditional Witchcraft, grimoire tradition, and a bit of ceremonial magick all filtered through a lens of Gnostic Luciferianism that has developed over time by trial and error and with the guidance of the spirits we work with. It is an evolving thing, and it is what works for us. Even if you follow this guide your practice will not end up looking exactly like ours. That’s a feature not a bug.

Preparation
Magick, behind all apparent outward forms is nothing but the enacting of Divine Will upon the substance of Divinity. We, the Divine, worship the Divine, by means of the Divine, on the Divine, from the Divine and for the sake of the Divine alone. This is the mindset we adopt as foundational to our practice. We work for the good of all beings. This is the intent from square one.

Now, speaking of intent, it is said way too often that “intention” is what witchcraft is all about, and while yes intention is especially important, critical I’d say, you can ” intend” all over the place and achieve nothing. Why? Because you sabotage your results by adopting actions that do not fit your intentions.

Do your words and actions in fact align with your intentions? Are you aligning yourself with the laws of nature? Are you working to be aligned with your environment and the spirits around you? Alignment is everything. So, examine yourself! That is the first step.

Before beginning ritual practice, one should obtain and consecrate all relevanttools and garments. Timing ritual practice and tool production considering the movements of the moon and planets, considering days and hours, are highly recommended. Use the Crooked Path by Kelden and the Grimoirium Verum (Peterson and Stratton-Kent versions) for tool production. Do not take lazy shortcuts in this process and do not change the basic underlying structure of these procedures described in the texts. There is a reason for them and if you don’t know what they are you aren’t qualified to change them! You will have no choice but to make smart substitutes for practicality.

For example, in the production of the Scirlin parchment, most do not have access to being able to kill an animal for the materials.

You will also have to alter the wordings to strip Christian baggage out. The key here is changing the aesthetic and language not the principles or structure. Take the time to learn what things are for and why. I am not going to present you with a full breakdown of this because you need to learn how to do it yourself. This material is easily accessible, often for free. The process of tool creation is as much about you and your self-work as it is about making the tools and giving them life. Every tool has its spirit. You are building a living temple. You are learning a Craft, a discipline. Treat it accordingly.

I will give you some tips to go off of what we have been doing to at least give you a direction. We prefer to wear black with red trim rather than white for our ritual wear. Black symbolizing not evil but total acceptance of all that exists as black is the absorption of all light. Red for passion, struggle, and life that we fully embrace. Given the extremely endangered nature of frankincense substituting pine resin is acceptable, nutmeg in place of mace is acceptable. If you have no choice but to buy an item rather than create it, buy it at the appropriate hour and day with zero haggling about it. This can take months, be patient. You might find yourself picking up new skills and crafts in this process. Embrace it.

Example of General Consecration:

“I conjure thee, 0 form of the instrument: by the authority of Lucifer Almighty; by the virtues of
the Stars that rule; by the virtue of the Elements; of stones and herbs; of snowstorms, winds
and thunder; that thou now obtain all the necessary power into thyself for the perfect
achievement of all our desires!”

Example of the Astrachios Prayer, which is an excellent prayer for daily use:

“Astrachios, Asac, Asacra Bedrimulael, Silat, Arabonas, Ieralehm, Ideodoc, Archarzel,
Zophiel, Blautel, Baracata, Emagro, Abrageteh, Samoel, Geburahel, Cadato, Era, Achsah, Ebmisha, Imachadel, Dama, Elamos, Izachel, Bael, Scirlin, Genium Domos!
O Morning Star, Prince of the World, who is seated above all hells and regardeth the Abyss
among them, grant unto us Thy Grace we beseech Thee, so that what we conceive in our
mind we may accomplish in our work: through Thee Sovereign ruler of all, who liveth and reigneth in eternity. Amen”

In the days leading up to a major ritual it is suggested to engage with abstinence, fasting, and prayer to psych oneself up, to purposely withhold and build up energy that is to be directed to the purpose. This isn’t about some idea of moral purity. In our understanding there is no pure or impure to ultimate reality in any moral sense. This ritual framework assumes two people, one acting as summoner, in charge of much of the speaking, and one person acting as medium, who does the actual spirit communication, if you have more people they can act as acolytes, if less than it’s all you.

I. Rite of Opening

The Opening Rite is used both on its own and as an opening for other rituals.

The structure is flexible and should be tweaked based on need. When performed as a solo rite, the first part of Laying the Compass can be omitted, and the third part Treading the Mill is replaced with a reiteration of the Invocation of the Infernal divine. This standalone version is recommended to be practiced daily. It serves several purposes: it affirms and reinforces the identification of the divine nature of the Self, it reinforces the aura, wards off parasitic spirits, it strengthens the skills of visualization and connecting intention, energy, sound, and movement, and finally it grounds and centers the practitioner preparing them for both their day and magickal work.

Laying the Compass

The ground is marked off as desired in line with magnetic lines of the earth.

Then the Stang is raised at the cardinal direction appropriate for the season and blessed as representation of the Witchlord. Finally, three circles are made around the perimeter, the first with incense to symbolize the all-encompassing presence of spirit, then water to represent the water of the abyss from which all things sprang, and finally ash to represent the impermanence of all life.

Invocation of the Infernal Divine

1.Face east in front of the altar. Form the left hand into the sign of benediction and trace an equilateral cross before you at forehead height imagining it formed of radiant darkness. Confidently affirm: “ In nomine Luciferi, et Lilith, et filius eorum Cain.”

2. Imagine a powerful dark light, or fiercely burning black flame, above your head. Using your left hand put your thumb, index, and middle finger together representing the union of the alchemical elements of sulfur, salt and mercury. Reach up and pull that burning light down to your third eye. Feel the heat of it. Confidently say “Ego”

3. Bring your hand down to the level of your groin pulling the flame down with it. Imagine the dark light penetrating down to beneath your feet into the earth. Say “Regnum.”

4. Bring your hand to your right shoulder while imagining the same light extending out form that shoulder to infinity. Say “Et Potestas.”

5. Bring your hand to your left shoulder. As you perform this motion, imagine the dark light extending from there as well. Say “Et Gloria.”

6. Put your palms together at the level of your forehead and say “In Aeternum, Amen! “ as you bring them toward the level of your solar plexus. As you perform this motion, imagine the cross of light you have formed burning brightly and solidly.

Calling of the 4 Kings

1. Extend your hands in the shape of a cross. Affirm: “As a Divine being I call out to the kings and form the pentagrams:”

2. Take a deep breath and say the following to each respective direction: To the East: Imagine a fire elemental forming before you. Point your first two fingers of the left hand outward and trace the inverted pentagram of Earth. Then punch the pentagram in the center with your fingers while strongly exhaling. “Hail Oriens, Spirit of Fire, join me here, charge my words and burn my fear .”

3. Toward the North: Trace the first line of the circle, terminating in the North. Imagine a water elemental forming before you. Using the same method as before, trace the inverted pentagram and say:” Hail Egyn, Spirit of Water, cleanse me now, carry me through and hear my vow .”

4.Toward the West: Trace the next line of the circle, terminating in the East. Imagine an air elemental forming before you. Using the same method as before, trace the inverted pentagram and say: “Hail Paymon, Spirit of Air, come to me, lift my words and hear my plea.”

5. To the South: Holding your fingers pointing outward, trace the third line of the circle, terminating in the South. Imagine an earth elemental forming before you. Next, using the same method as before, trace the inverted pentagram and say: “Hail Amaymon, Spirit of Earth, I call to thee, ground my work and make it be.”

6. Next, draw the fourth line of the circle back to east, then bring your palms back together at the level of your forehead and say “Before me Oriens, behind me Paymon, to my right hand Amaymon, to my left hand Egyn. “ as you bring them toward the level of your solar plexus. Then, visualize the four figures bearing weapons standing guard at each cardinal point: “For about me doth the pentagrams flame, and within me fire from whence it came! Amen”

Treading the Mill

1. Raise hands in the sign of Baphomet. Say:

“Old goat god of the Wise, Initiator, and first born, Of Serpent fire, awake, arise! By blade, by bone, by horn! “*

2. Begin circling the compass widdershins, maintaining focus at the center of the circle, chanting:

“O Bearer of the mystic light, Come ye as the fire burns By the secret ways of Night The witches’ mill about thee turns!”*

Repeat until trance ensues then begin work.

*Quoted from “The Devil’s Dozen” by Gemma Gary

II. Rite of Confession

Confession isn’t a ritual step to skip. It has very ancient roots, long before Christianity got ahold of it. It’s an emotional release. It’s a proverbial wiping of one’s karmic slate. It’s a tool that protects the witch from malicious spirits who may attempt to use prior acts against them. Add an appropriate visualization here, this one, inspired by a Tantric meditation, is useful. Visualize a cleansing fire that starts at one’s feet and gradually consumes you and everything around you, every narrative you attach to yourself in every timeline should be consumed, leaving nothing but pure stillness, a layer of ash on the ground that blows away in the breeze.

“O Witch Lord and Lady, before Thee do we confess our failings and take ownership of them in Thy presence. For we have acted countless times from ignorance in this and every realm. We have failed many times to be fully present, we have not treated all of creation, every spirit and person with due reverence in every moment. We have committed every act before Thee by pride and avarice, wrath and idleness, by gluttony and debauchery. We have cast suspicions and judgments unto our selves and others. We have let ourselves be prisoner to our own fears and wallowed in loathing. We come before Thee now, stripped naked to publish our sins, so that none may have advantage over us, none may accuse us, for we are laid bare for all to see.

Yet we call to the Highest, and speak of our successes as we step into our power. For we have been a light to those around us. We have lived in the moment and seen Divinity in all things. We have given reverence to all that exists. We have acted with humility and charity, kindness and diligence, shown strength and temperance. We have shown compassion and been a refuge for others even as we strive to live without shame or regret. Yes, we come before Thee that none may accuse us, like Thee O Mother we are full to overflowing with potency. We stand naked and shining, radiant and defiant like Thee O Morning Star… and like Thee… again we rise!”

III. Rite of Ablution

This is a ritual wash, the intent is again not about moral purity but about cleansing oneself of ignorance. We see ignorance, the illusion of separation from the Divine, as the root of much of human suffering, when ignorance is stripped away, we are open and seeing reality nakedly, we are aligned to the Divine Will to the utmost. The water is given a dash of consecrated salt, the words are said, then we wash face and hands three times.

“O Morning Star, among the highest Aeons, bless and sanctify this water, fill it with your light that it may be healthy for both body and soul and align its spirit with our intent. Accord us so that we may be purified of all error and stand cleansed before thee! Amen”

IV. Evocation of Scirlin

Scirlin acts as a messenger spirit, an intercessor, an opener of doors. Very useful when calling spirits. You should have done the work of making and consecrating the pact with Scirlin if you are going to call on him. Make a point of welcoming any spirit successfully summoned and offer incense accordingly.

To be chanted:

“HELOY + TAU + VARAF + PANTHON + HOMINORCUM + ELEMIATH + SERUGEATH +.
ON + CASILY”

V. a. General Evocation

Evocations often need to be repeated, take your time with this, give it some breathing space. It becomes a chant slowly building in intensity. Typically, I am repeating this evocation up to seven times, while my ritual partner chants enns if available for the spirit. Enns are a modern invention which we affectionately refer to as a demon’s phone number.

They are a string of syllables that like any words of power are excellent for trance induction. Some people like them, others hate them. Use what works.

At the very least you want the spirits name and sigil present when summoning. Make the environment conducive and welcoming for its presence with things that correspond to it. Do your homework here. We typically do use a bit of blood via diabetic kit, anointing the sigil as a means of charging and activation, visualizing the life force of the blood moving into the sigil. Offerings to spirits should be appropriate to the spirit and given in exchange for service. Treat spirits from a standpoint of love and respect and drop any baggage or preconceptions you have regarding them. Like receiving an honored guest. You’ll get way better results that way. However, spirits are not your best friends. They are teachers and guides. They can challenge you. Some spirits are dangerous. Know how to banish and cleanse. They are not Pokemon to collect. You are far better off focusing on building connections with a few spirits than trying to summon them all.

The blanks here are to be filled with the spirit’s name obviously but feel free to describe the spirit and its attributes as well to better align with it.

To be chanted:

“By the names of Lucifer, the morning star, Lilith, the lunar fire, and Cain, first of Witch-blood, we call, evoke, and conjure thee, _____. In the name of he whose name is rebellion, whose cause is liberation, come forth! In the name of she who knew and spoke the Ineffable Name, at which being heard the elements are overthrown, the air is shaken, the sea runneth back, the fire is quenched, the earth trembleth, and all the hosts of the celestials, terrestrials, and infernals are confounded, come forth. By the name of he who first transgressed in the flesh and carved the Crooked Path of the Witch, come forth. Come thou, O ______, forthwith, from any parts of the world. Come thou in peace and joy here to this circle!”

V. b. General Spellwork

Any general spellwork such as rites of release, manifestation, holiday specific rituals, curses and hexes, etc are done here, enlisting the spirits present.

VI. The Housel

We perform the Housel at full moons and holidays, it is a rite of communion with each other and the spirits we work with. When the Housel is performed a much less targeted version of the general evocation is used, one where all the spirits we work with are called upon to be honored.

For the rite itself we currently favor a nice blackberry wine and I make the Sabbat bread from “The Crooked Path”, an excellent honey oat bread. The wording is quoted from “Besom, Stang and Sword” by Chris Orapello and Tara Love Maguire. One blesses the bread and wine, each participant breaks their piece in half and offers half to the spirits and consumes the other. After the initial bread and wine, the wine is refilled, and a toast is made.

Communion

“This bread forged from the earth, a sacrifice of the land itself. May it fill us with life and sustenance. Eat of it, eat of the land and be as one. I sacrifice this life to the Witch Father, the Witch Lord. I dedicate this death to his name, so we may walk within his wild power. This wine, forged from the earth, A sacrifice by the land itself. May it fill us with life and sustenance. Drink of it, drink of the land, and be as one. I sacrifice this life to the Dark Mother, the Witch Queen. I dedicate this death to her name, so we may know her unending Mystery.”

The Toast

“A drink for the Witch King and Queen of the Sabbat!
A drink for the mighty dead and those who have gone before.
A drink for the blessings we have received and for those yet to come.
A drink for friendship and a drink for life.
A drink for love and a drink for joy.
And finally a drink for you and a drink for me.”

VII. Revelry

I was uncertain what to call this step or even whether it should be considered an actual ritual step but it always occurs in our rites. It developed spontaneously during our practice and I wouldn’t feel right without giving it formal recognition. We affectionately call it “vibing.” What it is is space, a place without firm structure for release, meditation, prayer, dance, co-regulatory exercises, whatever feels intuitively right in the moment. A moment of unity and a space to reground and allow energies to dissipate naturally before formally closing the rite.

VIII. License to Depart

Do not omit this step. Whether one still feels the presence of spirits or not, always thank them for their aid.

Say:

“Ite in pace ad loca vestra et pax sit inter vos redituri ad mecum vos invocavero, in nomine
Luciferi, et Lilith, et filius eorum Cain. Amen”

Devotional Prayers

As supplemental material I will add some example prayers to be used with offerings in regular devotional practice.

“O Lucifer, Divine Flame, we give thanks for Thy blessings.
By the light of Thy glory we rejoice that Thou hast shown us our wholeness.
We pray to Thee to keep pouring for us from the cup of knowledge, wisdom and compassion.
We ask of Thee to protect us from stumbling into Error and help us work to the good of all
beings.
We invoke Thee Lord, that as expressions of Divine Nature, we may wield the sword of
discernment, let us cut down illusion and see clearly.
Prince of the World, thou who hast shown us where we are from, who we are, and where we
are to return, we Know, we are the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, in eternity.
Amen”

“Ama Lilith, blessed Wisdom
In Thy compassion I take refuge
In Thine arms my pain is healed
In Thy passion my heart is set afire
In Thy strength my strength is revealed.
Amen”

Decolonizing Luciferianism: No Such Thing As Religion

February 9, 2022

This isn’t going to be a comfortable conversation.

It’s not an attack either.

I’m going to call out a lot of things here and give my suggestions for how we can do better.

You are free to take them or leave them.

Lest you think me a hypocrite, self-righteous, or a gatekeeper, know that virtually everything I am going to talk about I have been guilty of myself in the past.

This is about self-examination as much as navigating the difficult conversations Luciferians, Satanists, witches, occultists, whatever you want to call yourself, need to have.

Yes, this is directed at the Luciferian community, but it’s applicable way
beyond that.

So, let’s dig in…

What would you say if someone were to ask you to define religion?

Merriam-Webster gives us:

“the belief in a god or in a group of gods” and “an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods.”

This is probably pretty close to how most raised in a “Western” culture tend to think about religion. When asked to describe their religion, most will begin talking about what they believe, they will discuss views on deities and the afterlife. They would also likely tend to think about and describe their religion and those of others as systems that can be thought of and engaged separately from the cultures that created them.

Most of all they would talk about “organized” or “institutionalized” religion.

They will say things like “I’m spiritual but not religious.” But what if I told you all of this, the whole concept, is a new one? That it is something completely made up in the 18th and 19th century by white Christians?

This is exactly what is argued by scholars such as Wilfred Cantwell Smith and Timothy Fitzgerald, among others.

Smith tracks the development of our modern conceptions of religion from ancient times to modern in his work “The Meaning and End of Religion.” Here he shows how the Latin word “religio” simply meant one’s duties to family and community.

He shows that our conception of religion as something that can be thought of as separate from culture is false. Notice how vastly different that concept is to how we think about it now. Before the invention of religion as a concept every spiritual tradition was an “ethno-religion.”

That is to say that your culture determined your spiritual expression, it was a lived communal experience not an individualist choice. I strongly suggest these authors and their work, my concern involves the application of these ideas to Luciferian Spirituality.

Firstly, we need to recognize that most critiques of religion in western culture are really veiled critiques of a narrow form of Christianity. We should recognize and take greater care not to make blanket statements about sacred traditions, especially when those faiths have literally billions of adherents over periods of thousands of years. We need to be careful not to throw progressive members of such faiths under the bus nor the members of oppressed groups. I completely understand the history of church oppression and the very real trauma myself and others have and continue to experience at the hands of the church and other related faiths. It is 100% valid. But there is also nothing healthy about lashing out against others who have nothing to do with that, nothing liberatory.

Secondly, if we as Luciferians truly embrace the concept of liberation for ourselves and all people then we find ourselves in a position where we must confront issues like decolonization and, within that, issues of cultural appropriation. If we as Luciferians embrace the notion that it is part of our practice to break church based social conditioning, then I would argue that a reconsideration of our fundamental concept of religion is a great starting point for both of these things!

What happens when this modern conception of religion meets with global capitalism?

The commodification of spiritual traditions.

The shopping for sacred practices as though one were trying on clothing at a store to find just the right fit, mixing and matching for surface aesthetic expression.

Note that I am not condemning responsible approaches to eclecticism and syncretization here, but I am suggesting that:

a. one cannot easily pull practices from other traditions out of their context without losing something

b. if one’s intent is spiritual advancement and enlightenment it is not very productive to be making a spiritual “map” to somewhere you’ve never been out of pieces of other people’s “maps!”

c. we need to listen to and respect the communities whose traditions we engage with, listening and centering those voices, particularly when those groups are historically oppressed.

This obviously brings us to the controversial subject of cultural appropriation.

Cultural appropriation is the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of elements of one culture by that of another more dominant culture. This IS a real problem and issue that needs to be addressed in our community.

The arguments that have arisen on social media because of this subject, however, have risen to ridiculous and often disgusting levels. These arguments rely on poor understanding of the subjects in question and on individualist attempts at policing others behavior resulting in people simply digging their heels in when what is needed here is collective consensus building and encouragement towards individual introspection and learning on the topics.

Having seen far too often mainly well-meaning white liberals failing as often as conservatives when discussing these topics, I believe if you:

a. cannot define cultural appropriation or recognize that consensual cultural diffusion also
occurs inevitably when cultures contact and that such sharing is good,

b. do not understand the subjects you are attempting to police

c. are attempting to police a subject about which there is no general consensus

d. doesn’t understand the difference between open, closed and partially closed practices (it’s not always just an on/off switch)

…you’re not going to be a particularly good ally to oppressed groups on these subjects and are going to do more harm than good.

Defining what is appropriative is, as I said, a matter of collective consensus building and that work is mostly to be done by oppressed groups themselves in conjunction with the best scholars available on the subjects, not relying on the whims of random individuals on the internet.

So, let’s examine some of the key issues where Luciferians could do better.

When it comes to appropriation there are two big areas where several prominent Luciferian figures are in problematic territory or could be accused of it: the misuse of eastern mystical traditions and in the relationship between Luciferianism and Judaism.

First, let’s talk about the relationship between Luciferianism and various forms of eastern spirituality. I think the biggest area to focus on here is Tantra. Far too many Luciferian writers blend and take from Tantric tradition irresponsibly. Or, rather, they try to, as much of what they are pulling from is not even authentic Tantra, its neo-tantra, which is a sexualized, westernized mix of Tantric ideas, yoga, and New Age thinking. One can easily tell this by the complete lack of lineage in such writers work, their repurposing of the 7-chakra system.

Actual Tantra, depending on whether it is Buddhist, Hindu and on what lineage can have anywhere from 5 to 14 major chakras, the 7-chakra system comes from classical yoga and first gained prominence from a text from 1577.

See scholar/practitioner Chris Wallis (Trika/Krama lineage of Saivite Tantra) discussing this:
https://hareesh.org/blog/2016/2/5/the-real-story-on-the-chakras.

It had nothing to do with snakes or dragons originally, Wallis discusses the history of kundalini here: https://hareesh.org/blog/2022/1/31/the-real-story-on-kundalini

You can see this kind of poor understanding clearly in the systems of the Dragon Rouge and Temple of Ascending Flame as well as the writing of Michael W. Ford who goes further and creates the even more absurd “Ahrimanic Yoga” as if stealing from India wasn’t enough, Iran had to get ripped off too! Not surprisingly, fraud E. A. Koetting is guilty here as well.

The misinformation and ignorance just keeps getting worse as evidenced by so called “chakra removal” being pushed by some internet personalities.

Now, there is particularly good reason Luciferian inclined people are attracted to Tantric practice and I encourage respectful study and engagement with it.

There are parallels in thinking, and the practices of Tantra complement Luciferian practice extremely well, but I think there’s a responsible way of doing this. One can practice as a dual observance: pick a lineage, learn from a qualified teacher and if you are serious get properly initiated, do not syncretize these traditions at all unless you are advanced in both traditions, and always give credit to the actual sources of these teachings and practices.

I think we should also drop the use of the term “Left Hand Path” and the use of eastern terminology in general to describe Luciferianism.

The use of the term Left Hand has been annihilated in western usage from Blavatsky to everyone after her repeating it.

I used to think the solution was to simply push people to use it correctly and responsibly and if you know its actual meaning and use more power to ya but most don’t, and the damage is done, and I don’t think the term is needed anyway. There’s no reason to borrow a term we don’t need or understand from another culture….unless we’re trying to sound exotic and authoritative.

Second, let’s start examining the relationship between Judaism and Luciferianism. Let’s start by being honest as to the origins of Luciferianism as a spiritual tradition: it grows primarily out of resistance to an oppressive church hierarchy, inside a Christian cultural context that it cannot be simply separated from. It makes sense and is valid within that context and it is valid in its interpretation of its myths.

Judaism as well is valid and makes sense within the historical and cultural context in which it grew. Jewish people are not “wrong” in interpreting their scriptures the way they do. We should be aiming for mutual respect. Just because groups disagree doesn’t mean either is “wrong.” If you cannot intelligently discuss the differences between Christianity and Jewish interpretations of their scriptures you have no business condemning them and given that Jewish spirituality and Jewish culture and ethnicity cannot be easily separated you can easily stray into antisemitic territory.

Be very careful.

If you demonize the Jewish god you are easily heading into antisemitic territory. It’s a very easy step to go from demonizing a deity to demonizing those who worship it. Do not do that. Make a clear distinction between the god of the oppressive church that you actually oppose and respect other progressive interpretations in other faiths.

Luciferianism is heavily influenced by Gnostic ideas and again, one needs to be careful here and I encourage those who want to honor those influences take a more Valentinian approach to interpreting the Demiurge. One where the material creator is seen as an important and necessary part of the creation process. Not necessarily morally “good” but not inherently
“evil” either. There is again far too much of this problem in established writers and groups, again Michael W. Ford comes to mind and is all the worse for his early fascist ties via the Order of Nine Angles, and again E.A. Koetting for much the same.

See:

https://mythoughtsbornfromfire.wordpress.com/2021/08/07/we-need-to-talk-about-e-a-koetting-and-
also-michael-w-ford/

The various anti-cosmic trends within Luciferianism/Satanism, such as all those descended from Current 218 and the Temple of Black Light, are also guilty of such demonization.

Now, given that Luciferianism grows from a Christian cultural context, and one that reinterprets the myths of an oppressive church system, it inherently shares heritage with Christianity even as it reacts to it, and again given that Christianity has a great deal of Jewish originating concepts, scriptures and practices, Luciferianism does too.

The history of Christian and Jewish interaction and determining what has been freely shared and what has been egregiously appropriated by Europeans, is a mess to say the least; there’s probably many areas we will never know for sure. Again, I have heard several poorly understood claims being made here as well. I have heard Luciferians (and Satanists and other witches) should not work with Goetic demons, should not engage with Lilith, should not engage with Hermetic Qabalah, that these are all part of Jewish closed practice or are appropriated. Based on my understanding and study I strongly disagree.

The idea that only Jewish people should work with Goetia ignores the strongly Christian context of much of that material and the ultimately Greek roots of much of that practice in the Greek Magical Papyri and it dangerously reiterates the antisemitic trope that Jewish people are Satanic demon worshipers.

The idea that only Jewish people should work with Lilith fails to understand that she was already a part of Christian demonology long before Luciferians showed up. She can actually be found as early as the “Mirror of Lilith” rite described in the Munich Handbook of Necromancy explored in Richard Kieckhefer’s “Forbidden Rites.”

Although she may share a name we are not even talking about the same entity.

She is not some baby stealing monster to us; she is more like a dark and empowered version of the Gnostic Sophia if anything.

Jewish people are 100% valid to interpret their Lilith their way. But ours is valid in our very different context. I will add that while I agree it is totally possible to appropriate specific practices and teachings, the idea that anyone, individually or as a group, can own a sentient being, as spirits of most sorts are generally considered to be, seems profoundly unethical. Spirits and deities, much like humans, are not commodities, they are not intellectual property anyone can copyright. It is bizarre to me that people would treat spiritual beings so disrespectfully.

Finally, Hermetic Qabalah.

There are 3 different systems that need to be distinguished here.

There is the original Jewish Kabbalah, which is its own complete system specific to Judaism.

There is Christian Cabala, which is a pretty clear example of disgusting appropriation: created by the church to convert Jewish people to Christianity!

There is finally Hermetic Qabalah, a separate system produced in the Renaissance that shares some structures and names with the Jewish version but is heavily syncretized with Hermeticism, alchemy, astrology, Christian mysticism, and pre-Christian polytheism.

This system is foundational to most of the western occult and New Age. It is in every Rider Waite influenced Tarot Deck, it is the foundation of most of the Golden Dawn and Thelema and every tradition derived from or influenced by them. It is quite removed from the Jewish Kabbalah not merely in theory but practice. Luciferianism has again its own way of interpreting the Hermetic Qabalistic system which is, yet another step removed. As I said it is often difficult to even determine what was shared or appropriated from the period of development in question, so it is impossible to conceive how a system unrecognizable in its many differences and so far removed remains an example of problematic appropriation.

But what Luciferians can do here is give respect and credit to the roots of where this material came from.

Further, there is often not even a consensus within the Jewish community on these particular subjects.

There are Jewish witches and Luciferians of Jewish descent right now who work with all of these things and maintain they are not closed. Even views on the nature of Lilith within Judaism are not settled with Jewish feminists such as Judith Plaskow having established alternate interpretations of her.

So, I think it’s clear by now everyone needs to stay away from blanket statements in regards to spiritual practices and the people who practice them.

One thing Luciferians and occultists in general can do to respect Jewish culture is not use the Tetragrammaton in their rites. Don’t pronounce it, don’t spell it out. Yahweh and Jehovah and YHVH aren’t any better. So, remove them from any magick circles or incantations.

Generally, replace with Adonai or the word Tetragrammaton itself if you must refer to this being.

As Luciferians we have a lot of work to do in our community, there is far too little accountability, far too much misinformation, and far too much colonizer mindsets.

My hope that articles like this can help to start necessary hard conversations and self-examination for us all, myself included.

Confronting these things means taking a hard look inward as much around one.

It’s uncomfortable but all growth is and there is no liberation without growth.

And we are Luciferians, liberation is our calling.

The Nephilim Rising™

Posts by serpentchrist69

The Book of Radiant Darkness: Part 3

The Book of Radiant Darkness: Part 2

The Book of Radiant Darkness: Part 1

Gnostic Luciferian Witchcraft: A Practical Guide

Decolonizing Luciferianism: No Such Thing As Religion