Luciferian Witchcraft
Luciferianism has its fingers in many pies; it has influenced Masonry, Christianity, Judaism, Hermeticism, Gnosticism, Zoroastrianism, Enochian magic, Wicca, as well as both ancient and modern witchcraft. Ties to Luciferianism can also be found in the largest ancient pagan religions – those of Greece, Egypt, and Assyria – and also to the religions of the Proto-Indo Europeans.
But what is Luciferian Witchcraft? I will start with what it is not. Luciferian Witchcraft is not “left-hand path” witchcraft, it is not dark Gothic witchcraft, and it is not Satanism or Goetia. Essentially it is the cult of Lucifer, which means “Light Bearer”, who is deity of intelligence, knowledge, wisdom, fire, and divine inspiration. Neither feminine nor masculine, but both at the same time with Lucifer being the masculine aspect and Lilith the feminine. Lucifer is synonymous with Venus, the “Morning Star”. He/she is the torch-bearer, the bringer of fire and therefore the bringer of knowledge; Prometheus who stole fire from Zeus to give it to mankind, Raven who stole the sun, Lucifer who betrayed god and gifted mankind with awareness and knowledge… Lucifer the creator, saviour, and father of mankind. Lucifer is not Satan and the two were not associated until the fear of eternal damnation in an imaginary hell was dreamed up by the Catholic church in the Middle Ages and they needed an adversary to rule it. Before then hell as a place of damnation did not exist, except perhaps in the ancient myths of Tartarus, but instead the belief in an underworld was held across cultures as the realm of the dead.
This is the god of Luciferian Witchcraft, although the deity is usually divided into the feminine and masculine, worshipping Lilith as Queen of the Underworld and Moon Goddess with her harpy features belonging to the creatures of the underworld and worshipping Lucifer as the Lord of Light and Cunning Father, as the crooked one with the blinding torch of illumination between his horns. They are the mother and father of the witch, granting their followers with the arcane knowledge of the moon and the fire of wisdom found within us – the spark, the spirit, the ancient soul.
The meetings and rituals of Luciferian Witchcraft are like the witches sabbaths of old – wild rituals in hidden groves of nature invoking the horned master of the witches – sometimes for a greater purpose than themselves, but sometimes just for worship and personal magics. Sometimes there is a black man to bring them together, and sometimes there is not. There may be hedonism and inhibition, but no sacrifices of goats, virgins or babies – no altars of naked women surrounded by candles. Instead, when the simplest but oldest of mysteries is understood, it is celebrated and reinacted, the gods of witches invoked.
How does one become a Luciferian Witch? Are there covens, groups, or organizations? The answer to the first is the simplest, anyone can choose to be a Luciferian Witch, you may have been one all along and not realized it. If the mysteries of Lucifer and Lilith consume your thoughts and beliefs, then you are a Luciferian Witch. To answer the second question, there are very few specifically Luciferian witchcraft groups, instead there are many Traditional Witchcraft traditions that incorporate aspects and beliefs of Luciferianism into their tradition. Robert Cochrane was one, Paul Huson and Andrew Chumbley others, and Victor Anderson did well before all the previous men (we shall not speak of Michael W. Ford).
Articles:
- Is Satan “Lucifer”? by Bert Thompson, Ph.D.
- John Dee’s Hieroglyphic Monad
- Lilith – Wikipedia
- Looking for Lilith by Eliezer Segal
- Lucifer and Satan
- Luciferianism
- Theistic Satanism
- Writings of Roy Bowers (Robert Cochrane)
Books:
- Aradia, or The Gospel of Witches by Charles G. Leland
- Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus
- History of the Devil: The Horned God of the West by R. Lowe Thompson
- Lilith – The First Eve by Siegmund Hurwitz
- Lilith Monographs by Joshua Seraphim
- Mastering Witchcraft by Paul Huson
- Melchizedek and the Mystery of Fire by Manly P. Hall
- Paradise Lost by John Milton
- Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus
- Question of Lucifer by Arthur Edward Waite
- Virgin of the World of Hermes Mercurius Trismagistus
Websites:
October 9, 2009 at 12:38 pm
Hey Sarah,
Very interrresting. I would be interrested to know how you treat the so called “devil” of the Tarot…I have often been torn between two understandings of the horned one being a Pan/Lucifer character (bringer of light, illuminator, creativity, primal phallic force and the traditonal Christian veiw of the devil symbolising over indulgence and bondage to ego or materialism. I suspect the two are related. I know an astrologer who speaks of two Devils; Arama (spelling?) who seeks to pull us to earth and away from Heaven (spiritual awareness), and Lucifer, who in her eyes, seeks to over spiritualise us, calling us away from our bodies, physicality and being grounded. with his model, i guess it is ours to walk a path of ballance between both extremes .
A witch I may be, but as i value and work within my Christian heritage, I find the lable “Lucifer” difficult to warm up to, though get the essential spirit behind the name. In my own
October 9, 2009 at 12:51 pm
oooops…had’nt finished. as i was saying, in my own practice, which is fairly shamanic, my craft is known to me by my dirrect experience of the plants, trees, stones, rivers and entities i encounter arround me. I have borrowed techneiques, methods of working and ideas from many traditions, and i am quite happy to acknowledge their origins, be they Luciferian, Wiccan, Druidic, new age or Christian…if it serves me and resonates with me, I can work with it. My experience of different tradtions are that they are largley different ways of seeing and acheiving the same thing. Or at least, each person and path may offer a slightly different view of the “big picture”. well…you’ve got me thinking now lol.
Blessings
Anthony
October 9, 2009 at 1:09 pm
The idea of a good and evil “devil” can be found within Zoroastrianism in Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. They also worship the primal elements of water and fire, the sun and the moon – sound familiar? The same relationship can be found in the old Slavic tradition stemming from the beliefs of the Proto-Indo Europeans between the gods Perun and Veles. And don’t forget Thor and his adversary Loki, Zeus and Prometheus…
“My experience of different tradtions are that they are largley different ways of seeing and acheiving the same thing. Or at least, each person and path may offer a slightly different view of the “big picture”. well…you’ve got me thinking now lol.”
I think you’re on to something there Anthony
October 9, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Very nice page Sarah, you handled big Louie quite nicely. While I work with the Germanic pantheon, I know you have seen me mention the “master”, many times across the web. You captured what he is all about in just a few paragraphs, good job buddy.
October 9, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Wow, this was very informative. Thanks for writing about this.
October 10, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Excellent! Something all witches should read
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January 24, 2010 at 1:02 pm
An excellent post. I am curious, is this perspective of Craftwork on the rise, holding steady, or in decline? I know there are no firm numbers to rely on, but what does your gut tell you?
January 24, 2010 at 1:10 pm
I would say it has held steady over the centuries, but is not on the rise. Fake Luciferian witchcraft is on the rise, but it won’t last long once people realize it’s hollow Goth darkness just for the sake of being dark.
January 24, 2010 at 2:06 pm
So would you say that the rise in pop culture of things magical has helped or harmed the magical community?
January 24, 2010 at 7:39 pm
I believe it has helped generate public interest and acceptance, but it has also dumbed down Paganism in general. As long as practicing witches and pagans remember they don’t have to mainstream everything for a wider audience I think no lasting harm will be done.
February 9, 2010 at 8:23 pm
This is exactly what I do…I just don’t use Lucifer and Lilith…hmmm…I will have to research this more so.
February 16, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Yeah, I think Michael W. Ford is pretty ridiculous. I don’t know where he got his information from, but it is definitely not a “left hand path”.
May 16, 2010 at 5:10 am
Sarah, this is YOUR artwork? Incredibly beautiful imagery. Are prints available for purchase?
May 16, 2010 at 8:07 pm
Hi Hanz, no that is not my art – I can only wish I was as talented as Johfra Bosschart! You can find a bio and a collection of his artworks here: http://visionaryrevue.com/webtext2/jofworks1.html
May 18, 2010 at 10:03 am
Thanks Sarah for the link. Always nice to find a “new” artist to admire. And thanks for your Luciferian Witchcraft article too, by the way! I’ve been a solitary Luciferian witch for years, (I actually prefer the term “warlock”, because of plausible Scandinavian origins for the word, and because for centuries it’s meant only “male witch”.) and appreciate finding sane information on the web.
Hans