The world, and reality as it is, is more complicated, nuanced, and layered, than just light and darkness, good and evil, or “God” and “Satan.” There are those metaphysical principles and realities of good and evil, but there is an entire range of impure, admixed, spiritual forces; and with regard to human beings, more often there are states of admixture, rather than being fully righteous or fully wicked, fully good or fully evil.

In Gnostic Scriptures, the impure, the admixed, spiritual forces and influences are called the demiurge, ‘half-maker,’ and archons, ‘rulers.’

In the Holy Kabbalah the principle of great admixture is called klippah nogah – the ‘glowing husk’; and it is said that all other klippot – husks of impurity and darkness – arise from it. It is an admixture of holiness and unholiness, light and darkness, good and evil, but is itself not complete darkness and evil. The same is true of the demiurge in Gnostic Scriptures.

I share this with you, my friends, because I see and hear many people these days teach that the “Demiurge is the Gnostic name for Satan.” But that is a misreading and misunderstanding of Gnostic cosmology; just as if someone not well versed in the Kabbalah were to say that klippah nogah means “Satan,” or “Samael.” It does not, though it does speak of what gives rise to such great darkness and evil; that would be true to say. Just as it could be said, that Satan is the ‘shadow of the demiurge.’

Whether in the teachings of  Gnosticism or the Kabbalah the meaning of the words runs much deeper, and allude to more nuanced, subtle and sublime secret mysteries.