The fallen angel, the rebellious jinni, the accuser, the liar, the serpent, the dragon…..Satan, Lucifer. These are all names and titles that are attributed to the same being, idea, or concept known as “the Devil” by much of Western culture and religion. In modern day society, there are two schools of thought that are said to give reverence to this “Satan” or “Lucifer”, but are they one and the same and do both schools of thought follow the same ideas? With this post, I’ll give my personal synopsis of the two similar but very different ways of thinking.

Satanism can be divided into two smaller schools of thought, theistic and atheistic. Theistic Satanism believes in an actual entity “Satan” who they worship and give reverence to as well as developing a personal relationship with him and various demons, who may also be a variety of different “dark” pagan gods i.e. Set of the Ancient Kmt (Egyptian) pantheon. Ritual and magick are very common amongst these individuals, and many see Satan and Lucifer as one and the same.

Atheistic Satanism for the most part is dominated by the thoughts of Anton LaVey and the Church of Satan, in which it’s adherents are focused on materialism and the carnal nature of humanity. Satan to them is only but a symbol, and any “magic” that they practice is but a psychodrama. While this may be an appealing path to some, this is not a path for someone seeking a form of spirituality as most Satanists of this type see spirituality as imaginary and useless.

While it is a commonly thought that Satanists are people who wish to do evil acts of murder and other horrendous crimes against people in the name of Satan, most Satanists (both Theistic and Atheistic) see these self proclaiming “Satanic” individuals as being simply psychotic and not truly representing what their school of thought is about.

Luciferians observe their reverence to Lucifer in an entirely different Light than Satanists, literally. While there exist a small sect of Theistic Luciferians who believe Lucifer is an actual being, majority of Luciferians see Lucifer as an archetype, an archetype who as his name describes is a “bearer of light”; a bearer of knowledge. Compare Lucifer to the Greek archetype and concept of Prometheus. Luciferianism can be seen as more of a philosophy rather than a religion, belief system, or practice. Luciferians are primarily focused on humanitarian goals of enlightenment, independence, liberty, and progress. There are some Luciferians who see Lucifer and Satan as being two different beings entirely, while those who do see them as being one in the same see Satan as being the lower nature which they should rise above, and Lucifer as the higher self that they should strive towards being.

One major characteristic that both Satanists and Luciferians share is that both schools of thought are Left-hand Path philosophies, meaning that both see themselves as being Gods and not being subservient to any forms of authority or higher power. The atheistic branches go without saying this is true for them, but even the theistic branches see Satan or Lucifer as simply being a teacher or partner rather than a being that they worship because they are his servant or slave. Also as I mentioned earlier, most do not wish harm or hostility towards the general innocent populace. Since the nature of Luciferianism, Satanism, and the Left-hand Path is individualistic as a whole, individuals who do illegal or immoral acts in the name of Satan or Lucifer can not be seen as representing the majority in these schools of thought, as there is no true central authority or dogma. While Satanists and Luciferians may be hostile towards the religion of Christianity, they are not hostile towards Christians themselves as they see Christians as being victims to their own religion.

Peace, Love, & Balance

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