I think this is both an interesting and important discussion, I know it certainly is to me personally. Plus I can't sleep! I think the question "are Set and Satan the same?" is a bit misleading in its own right. Even where there are direct correlations like Set to Typhon, you would not say they are the "same". By their very name they are obviously different entities. This does not mean that the two do not share (an extreme number of) characteristics.
Set was a god of ancient Egypt.
Ha-Satan was a servant of God according to Judaism, and became Public Enemy #1 according to Christianity (after butchering the concept).
There is no relation. Nothing left to discuss.
On the skin of it, sure. But when it comes to human beings creating mythologies, as well as human beings sharing similar experiences, things need not be identical in order to be closely related. For example, the vast majority of religions have a Sun god, and they are different gods in each culture. Does this somehow mean they do not reference the same thing? Not at all.
Saturn is also called Black Sun, and Black is both Saturn´s color and Satan’s color..
A "Black Sun" is a contradiction in terms and the logical interpretation and explanation of this archetypical symbol should be "some kind of a light ind the dark".
The Ancient Myths represents IMO real astronomical/cosmological facts and "a ligt in the dark" must be connected to a real celestial observation which can fit to the mythical telling of the archetype in question.
The largest light which can be observed in the dark night, is the light contours of the Milky Way which can be imagined as a human looking figure in the Sky. See more here -
Man and Animal. Monsters and fabulous Creatures - where the Milky Way figure on the northern hemisphere is compared to the Norse god Frej as a Rock Carving image aside with the image of the the Egyptian god Set who is similar to the Roman god Saturnus.
If so, this celestial white figure in the dark of course has nothing to do with "a devil" but it is just the mythical and astronomical telling which is connected to the creation of the Milky Way everyting in this galaxy.
Saturnus (and the Egyptian god Seth) fits very well to the Story of Creation as a fertility deity. There is nothing evil in this but this mythical/religious light figure in the dark has been connected with all evil in the dualistic interpretation.
Celestial observance definitely plays an important role in understanding mythology, as well as life experience literally all humans share, and the similar, subconscious thought processes and evolutionary traits we are inclined towards (such as aggression).
Isn't Set an Egyptian deity?
Set is the culturally ancient Egyptian interpretation of certain aspects of the universe, yes.
Satan, Hades, Ahriman, Samyaza, Enki, and Melek Taus could be seen as sharing archetypal roles such as:
1) Ruler of hell/Underworld
I would consider pretty much all Sumerian afterlife to be "the underworld" haha, those guys were seriously pessimistic. Melek Taus is explicitly NOT associated with the underworld or hell, but he is a symbol of light and salvation. Remember, LaVey and those he took from were incorrect in their association of Melek Taus with the christian devil. He is actually the head of the archons/angels.
2) Bringer of the Promethean Fire
I'm not sure what you mean here, because this references one very specific story in history relating to the Greek gods. Ahriman, Melek Taus, Satan, nor Enki are seen in this light, bringing some sort of enlightening gift to mankind. Ahriman is simply the darkness, it does not bring about anything in mythology but abominations (and a peacock, interestingly the symbol of Melek Taus), Enki was part of a Zeus like uprising against the older gods, such as the mother Tiamat. If you are referencing the stories where Enki is said to have been the creator of mankind, it must be remembered that mankind were made as slaves. The only real correlation between Satan actually possibly doing such a thing within christian and jewish mythology is the serpent in the garden. Of course both the religions, this is in no way understood as some sort of light-bringing experience, but an act of evil.
This is kind of the same as above, but without direct ties to Greek myth. See above.
This doesn't really do anything, because all sorts of Gods have been considered rulers. Basically where henotheism exists there was a "slightly better" god for each group.
Ahriman does not actually do or accomplish anything like this, Ahriman simply is what it is. Melek Taus is very much associated with the heavenly and holy, being the first who will be welcomed into heaven at the end of time. Melek Taus is actually a very demanding and controlling deity based on what we know from interpretations like the Al Jilwah (sp?). Enki is a rebel in what would be seen, from a LHP perspective, the wrong direction. Simply rebelling does not make one fit into this archetype, there are bad rebellions (like IS?...). Enki was part of an uprising meant to bring about a heavenly/holy order, which then led to him creating mankind as SLAVES. This is certainly not the same archetype.
6) Teacher of Magic/Mystery or Art
Literally tons of people in the bible, godly and evil, use magic and taught it. Hell what else do you call the miracles of Jesus? I'm not exactly sure how Melek Taus would fit here, certainly not Ahriman.
Set's archetypal roles:
1) Ruler of the desert
2) Ruler of foreign nations
3) Storm God
Yes, though these are not really "archetypal" takes, but rather literal ones. Archetypes and the literally things they represent are different. Plus things like the night sky, the northern and southern starts, etc.
4) Defender of the cycle of the day (Ra's Boat), battling Apep (Chaos)
In a way, though it is clear that Set does this for his own benefit, and eventually even gets in trouble for this. Not only does Set defend the boat, he is the only one who CAN, and this is why he takes advantage of the Gods in return for defending the boat.
5) Minor role in the entire Osiris rebirth story
This is simply incorrect. Set was extremely important to Osiris, who himself was always a passive god. Set not only initiates Osiris into death, but also carried Osiris into the Duat in the form of a Bull (a consistent and ancient form of Set). The adze tool, critical to the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony, was based off of the thigh of the bull, the big dipper, and directly tied to Set.
6) Rival of Horus, God of the fertile plain (Set was a nature deity..)
In part yes, but even more importantly was the association with light and dark. It seems true based on all this that Set does not correlate to Melek Taus, Enki, or Arhiman, but certainly seems to correlate to Satan. Both represent things outside the paradigm, both associated with the "dark," both opposed to the static, holy, heaven like paradigms, etc and so on.
Never once except in the late period was Set seen as maligned and that was because of the Aten cults. The "Devil" of Egyptian mythology was Apep not Set. If anything, Set is a pretty minor character on the whole. None of his "archetypes" or roles line up with these other fellows.
This is completely, entirely inaccurate. Set was demonized a few times, only to rise in popularity again. In fact Set experienced one of his greatest periods with the Ramses dynasty, which came AFTER the Armana period (when Aten rose up and inevitably died out). The main cause for the demonization of Set was foreign rulers in the intermediate and late periods. As they were associated with Set, which you yourself acknowledged above, Set went down with the people's dislike of the rulers. Apep is actually much more comparable to Arhiman, because it was so far removed from the universe and isolated. It was something that simply existed and did what it did, the remaining threat from the pre-ordered primordial chaos.
