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Comment by SoulStar on April 15, 2012 at 7:01pm

Comment by SoulStar on March 19, 2012 at 2:36pm

that's what I thought...... the rosicrucians have their interpretation of it too

Moderator Comment by John on March 19, 2012 at 12:09pm

Lucifer occurs once in the old testament - possibly referring Nebuchadnezzar. Lucifer is not an old testament word.

It is found in the New Testament twice (only twice I think). In Revelations it seems to apply to Christ.

They are very different terms. very different histories. Lucifer goes way back in Hermetic thought. Greek, etc. Morning light, Venus, Phosphor etc..

Actually - Joe Fulton had the best answer.

Comment by SoulStar on March 19, 2012 at 11:46am

yes, it is the theosophical Lucifer magazine that sparked my interest in the subject as well as the "Lucis" trust for the Alice Bailey works.....

Comment by Ferran Sanz Orriols on March 19, 2012 at 10:53am

 Hi, friends!!!

 I understand quite literally "Satan" as "adversary", so in practical terms "Satan" is anyone (or any effective force) who is against human freedom.

 I understand Lucifer as the light bearer, just like Christ descending into Hell (there is some reference about this in H P Blavatsky's writings and later in Alice A. Bailey's, too.) 

Comment by Kirk W Walker on March 19, 2012 at 9:33am

Let me add something else. In his early appearance, as in the Book of Job, Satan was not evil. His role was to test those who were supposed to be good to see if they really were. That's what Satan did with Job. But it is certainly true that the labels evolved over time and both Lucifer and Satan acquired new roles. A possible Theosophical strategy is to select the nexus of meaning that you intend and define your terms accordingly. The words carry baggage with them due to historical evolution, but its possible to express what you mean by being careful. Thus 'Lucifer' would be defined in the original sense as Light-bearer, while 'Satan' could be shunned for its having the present meaning of evil.

Comment by Kirk W Walker on March 19, 2012 at 9:22am

There was a Theosophy journal called Lucifer. That seems to suggest light bearer. But I've never heard of Theosophists identifying themselves with Satan. That's a small suggestion of them being distinct.

Comment by SoulStar on March 18, 2012 at 9:51pm

THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!

Moderator Comment by John on March 18, 2012 at 8:07pm

Joe is right.

I will throw in my 2 cents. (I think a good Kabbalist could help. I am not one)

The "current" usage we find in theosophical/hermetic/Christian theosophical literature etc. etc. is probably is what you are looking for. (18th, 19th centuary forward?)
I dug the below out, since it is pretty common. It almost all goes back to Levi (mid 1800s).
(Gnostic Christian is different from the below)

-------------------------
REFERENCE:  Levi, Eliphas [Alphonse Louis Constant]. The Hstory of Magic

Levi was the first (known) to connect the Tarot with the Kabbalah Tree of Life.
Albert Pike took most of his info from Levi in Morals and Dogma (on Satan and Lucifer).
The Golden Dawn took their stuff from Levi.

Below is mostly from Levi (Pikes translation, I believe)
Satan (True Name) -  HWHY  HE-VAU-HE-YOD  (YHWH backwards). Personification of Atheism or Idolatry. i.e. not a black god, but a negation of God.
In Hebrew Satan (the word) means "adversary".
Satan is a word existing in the Bible and Lucifer occurs once (?) and NOT the personage/synonym for Satan.
Satan is a Force not a person (Free Will. Goes both as Good or Evil

Lucifer: Does not occur in the Bible as a name, and definitely not for Satan. Lucifer is the Light Bearer (and Venus/planet). Often called Phosphor. Milton (poet - Paradise Lost etc.) basically sealed the name of Satan with Lucifer with apparently no good reason to make the identification.

my comments:
Levi had the Light Bearer (lucifer) as a blinder of light (and a deceiver due to brightness).
Lucifer is alchemical (Phosphor/Light) and probably has the meaning based in the Alchemical use of the word.
So - for Lucifer you probably need a Hermetic Alchemist.