That's right . . . I'm back! :thud:
I see this forum is practically dead . . . I read through almost everything in this thread and although I agree with much of what Doors of Perception has written, please allow me to state a few things that reiterate what was said and hopefully adds to everyone's understanding of Lucifer and Luciferianism.
Lucifer has no place in the Christian paradigm, he is not the Abrahamic Satan and/or Devil. The word Lucifer is found in only one place in the Christian bible ‑‑ Isaiah 14:12 ‑‑ but only in the King James and related versions: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning?"
The King James Version is based on the Vulgate, the Latin translation of Jerome. Jerome translated the Hebrew helel (bright or brilliant one) as "Lucifer," which was a reasonable Latin equivalent.
The association is clearly in regards to the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar and is in reference to the Morning Star which is a title that Jesus uses for himself as well.
Revelation 22:16: "I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star."
Lucifer is a pre‑Christian deity of ancient Roman and Greek mythology. He is mentioned in Publius Ovidius Naso's "Metamorphoses", which was written in 8 B.C.E. and Roman poet Virgil mentions him as far back as 29 B.C.E.
In Greek mythology, Hesperus, the Evening Star is the son of the dawn goddess Eos (Roman equivalent: Aurora) and the brother of Eosphorus the Morning Star (Eosphoros "dawn‑bearer").
Hesperus is the personification of the "evening star", the planet Venus in the evening. His name is sometimes conflated with the names for his brother the personification of the planet as the "morning star" Eosphorus (Greek "bearer of dawn") or Phosorus (Ancient Greek:"bearer of light", often translated as "Lucifer" in Latin) . . . all these names are personifications of the same planet Venus.
Let's go to Sumer!
The earliest reference to a Morning Star is in the Phoenician/Canaan cosmology and is pictured as the god Attar who unsuccessfully tried to dethrone Baal as god of the Underworld. In another Mesopotamian myth the god Helel tries to overthrow the great god El. Eventually, these myths became the Sumerian story of Ishtar and Inanna's descent into the Underworld. Here Inanna is directly associated with the planet Venus.
Babylonian myth has the very first association to the concept of a 'fallen' deity due to Pride and its association with the " brilliancy of the morning star, which eclipses all other stars, but is not seen during the night". Ethana is driven by his pride to strive for the highest seat among the star‑gods on the northern mountain of the gods ... but was hurled down by the supreme ruler of the Babylonian Olympus.
These myths set the stage for the later associations between a fallen deity (Lucifer) and the Morning Star. We can thank Milton's "Paradise Lost" for solidifying this misinterpretation.
And what is wrong with being a Second degree Adept? 