Firstly, let’s acknowledge that we live in a dual reality. Light and dark. Good and bad. Love and hate.

Although certain religions have depicted Satan as a horned being which serves the purpose of taunting, tempting and ultimately owning your soul – this is the religionist fear mongering version of the teaching that is SO misunderstood. The way the religious leaders have perpetuated this concept is a tactic of control and slavery. To keep you in fear until you die and are ultimately “judged”. Does any of this really and logically sound like something an all love God would submit his children to? Of course not.

Firstly, Lucifer and Satan are two SEPARATE concepts. Satan is actually a title (not a name) and represents the adversary. The Hebrew word śāṭān (שָׂטָן) translates to “adversary” or “accuser” in English. It’s used in the Bible to refer to both human and supernatural opponents of spirit or consciousness.

In Judaism, Satan is primarily understood as an “adversary”, essentially a metaphorical representation of the “evil inclination” (yetzer hara) within a person, acting as a force that tempts humans away from righteousness. It is also known in Judaism as “sinful impulse”.

But here’s WHY.

Humans are dual beings. We are spirit (consciousness) incarnated INTO an animal body. The animal body is inherently endowed with instincts/egos. When these instincts or egos become the driver of your person, instead of spirit/conscience, it creates harm in the world.

There is a correlation between human animal instinct and congenital sin as described by Christianity. For example:

Fear/wrath = I must survive
Lust = My genes must survive
Greed = I will take to ensure my survival
Gluttony = I will hoard to ensure my survival
Sloth = I will survive off the labor of others
Etc.

See, “sin” is describing what the human intellectual animal is capable of doing when they are not living in spirit or through consciousness.

Romans 8 speaks in great detail on the difference between the flesh and spirit.

In this context, the “adversary” is “built in” to the human. It is not some entity “out there” that is tempting you. It is your very own mechanical nature which tempts you. It is your very own instincts and drives.

Now, kept in check, these instincts may not do harm and we CAN live in harmony with our animal urges. It is only when these instincts become conflated that they result in sin.

Demons, also depicted as external entities, are actually a metaphor for your individual egos or instincts that can wreak havok in the world of not subdued.

See, a lion doesn’t rationalize killing a gazelle. Yet, a human will kill another human and then rationalize and justify it through reason.

See the adversary is not some entity. The adversary is ANYTHING that violates Gods objective moral Laws.

As humans, and as animals, we are prone to live subjectively by nature itself. But upon becoming conscious or activating conscience, we become aware that we have another choice – we have a choice to live in spirit. And this is characterized by ALWAYS choosing the objectively right action in everything we do.

However, animals is general, usually choose the path of least resistance or the path that has the most reward. So choosing what is right over what is most beneficial is sometimes EXTREMELY difficult to do.

So you see, none of this is outside of you. All of these stories and allegory are to show you what you are and how you can transcend it. The Bible is literally a physiological manual for escaping human animal mechanicity.

The concept of lucifer is actually more in alignment with the esoteric teaching. In that, lucifer represents the darkness that we MUST encounter in order to know the light. The challenges we MUST face to learn from our mistakes. In this context, lucifer is not some scary being, but a necessary adversary that we must face to know ourselves. It is the dark on the spectrum of light. It is the negative polarization of this duality. It is not some entity to avoid or fear – it is a necessary component to your growth and spiritual evolution that you MUST confront.

This is why the Latin and Greek word “Lucifer” means “light bearer” or “bringer of light”. Because it is through lucifer that you will learn the light by being exposed to the adversary.

If you never became aware of your own instincts to lie, cheat, steal, betray etc., then you could never know virtue. People lie to avoid consequences of action. Cheat and steal to get ahead. Betray for some personal benefit. Don’t you see? All these transgressions are done for the SELF that wants to survive, no matter what. And that means protecting yourself mentally, emotionally and physically – even if it means you harm another. That’s animal survival folks. And it’s also the number 2 reason our humanity is degrading and continues to do so at lightning speed.

The first is ignorance of this knowledge in the first place.

In some teachings they use lucifer and satan as opposing forces. Like in the kabbalah tree of life, you have lucifer as the left pillar and satan (sometimes named ahriman) as the right pillar. Luciferic is associated with the spiritual, while satan or ahrimanic is associated with materialism. And the middle pillar is christ balancing both sides, staying grounded (materialism) yet also engaged with the spiritual. Like a “be in the world, but not of the world” sort of thing.