Serpent Of Eden - Blog Posts
Yep, I don't say this often (never in fact), but this is one of my proudest pieces. Done during useless lessons detail by detail.
Eve Lockscreens
“Eve’s ingestion of the forbidden fruit becomes a heroic act of rebellion against the tyranny of God and Adam. This closely parallels how socialists like Mikhail Bakunin (1814–1876) used Satan’s battle with God as a symbol of their fight against a capitalist and monarchist society (God being the ultimate monarch).”
— “Satanic Feminism: Lucifer as the Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture” by Per Faxneld (via luciferianbuddhism)
Pantaleon Szyndler (Polish, 1846-1905) Eve (Temptation), 1889 National Museum in Warsaw
Lightrising
Luciferian Winter Holidays
Celebrating the stories of the Heavenly Rebellion and of the Garden of Eden, Lightrising - the renewal of light at the Winter Solstice - is perhaps the most important festival in my developing liturgical calendar. This year will be the first time I'm celebrating it, so it will be a kind of experimental celebration, but I decided to share my ideas here.
EDIT: to make things clear, the holiday is created by me.
[Image description: the post begins with four black and white drawings, illustrations of Paradise Lost:
The rebel angels falling, Michael commanding the triumphing angels loyal to God
Lucifer speaking to the Fallen, raising his spear belligerently
Lucifer flying to land on Earth, a sphere among the stars
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Eve giving the fruit to Adam
All pictures by Gustave Doré.]
The holiday lasts seven days, each dedicated to an event or motif from Luciferian mythos:
The Day of the Rebellion
Start: the dusk two nights before the Solstice Night
End: the next dusk
Theme: Rebellion in Heaven, the struggle for justice and liberation.
Celebration ideas:
Bless and light a Lightrising Candle. Any candle big enough to not burn out too soon will do. Let it burn for a while to symbolize the fires of rebellion. Remember fire safety. Before, you can have some fun decorating your candle!
If your practice involves acts of transgression and reversal (for example an ex-Catholic saying Credo in reverse), now is a good time for that. While such things can be helpful for those with religious trauma, make sure to be gentle with yourself and don't overdo it in a way that would hurt you.
Seeking out ways to help someone disadvantaged by the toxic system we live in (though remember it's always a good time for that!)
The Day of the Fall
Start: the dusk one night before the Solstice Night
End: the next dusk
Theme: the Fall
Celebration ideas:
Instead of lighting the Lighrising Candle, cover it with a dark cloth until the Lightrising Dawn.
Shadow work and cathartic activities.
You can wear something to signify mourning.
Lightrising
Start: the dusk of the Solstice Night
End: the next dusk
Theme: the Fallen rising again. Survival, persistence, hope, and renewal - even in face of Hell.
Celebration ideas:
If possible, the Lightrising night is a good time to hold a vigil.
At dawn you can again light the candle you lit on the Night of Rebellion and let it burn for a while. If you were not holding a vigil, you can just do that when you wake up.
Magic for healing and regeneration.
The Day of Pandemonium
Start: the dusk one night after the Solstice Night
End: the next dusk
Theme: fallen angels becoming demons and making Hell their own. The story of the building of Pandemonium.
Celebration ideas:
Making offerings and giving thanks to the demons in your life. Taking time to spend with them and appreciate them.
A shared meal with them.
DIY and upcycling.
The Day of the Serpent
Start: the dusk two nights after the Solstice Night
End: the next dusk
Theme: Lucifer as the Serpent and the bringer of knowledge to humanity.
Celebration ideas:
Did you know that in the Christian tradition, the Christmas tree was often associated with the tree of Eden? You can easily subvert and adapt it for your practice, and even make your own decorations!
Decorating and blessing fruit to be offered and eaten on the two following days.
Studying philosophy (or other things!)
The Day of Eve
Start: the dusk three nights after the Solstice Night
End: the next dusk
Theme: Eve as the mother of humanity, and her decision to take the fruit of knowledge and share it with Adam.
Celebration ideas:
Sharing a meal with Eve, Adam, and the Serpent. Eating the fruits you blessed the day before.
Discussing or, if alone, just reflecting on what you learned yesterday.
Sharing knowledge with others. For example, if celebrating in a group you can do short talks about things each of you is knowledgable about, or if solitary you can make a post on Tumblr!
The Day of the Earth
Start: the dusk four nights after the Solstice Night
End: the next dusk
Theme: humanity leaving Paradise. But it's not a sad holiday. As the Day of Pandemonium is dedicated to the demons of Hell, this day celebrates being human on Earth.
Celebration ideas:
It is a great time to spend time with your beloved people and do things that bring you joy. If you celebrate with others, you can incorporate the tradition of exchanging gifts on that day.
Animals count as earthly loved ones too! If you live with an animal friend, maybe give them a special treat?
The Day of the Earth is also a good time for ancestor veneration, and to make offerings to your local land spirits - including local folk devils.
[image description: a divider with the sigil of Lucifer made by @peculiar-666]
If you want to take inspiration from this, feel free to do so, as well as to share what you're doing and tag me so I can see!
“The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.“
Dr. Aschenasy, a Hebrew scholar said: “In Hebrew, beguiled does not mean “tricked” or “deceived”, as commonly thought. Rather, the Hebrew word is a rare verb that indicates an intense experience evoking great emotional, psychological, and/or spiritual trauma. It is likely that Eve’s intense, multilevel experience, this “beguiling” by the serpent, was the catalyst that caused Eve to ponder and evaluate what her role in the Garden really was.“
Satan’s [deceptive efforts] were not enough to deceive Eve into blindly eating the fruit. What it DID do was beguile her: made her question, made her doubt, and sent her on a soul-searching journey.
Have you ever interacted with Lucifer's dragon aspect ? Can't find a lot about it or in the end since snakes and dragons get mixed togheter it is the same as his snake aspect ?
I wouldn't really say it's the same aspect, as they are rooted in different stories, though the Dragon is also described as the Old Serpent so the connection is here.
The snake originally comes from the Serpent of Eden, the dragon comes from the apocalyptic Dragon in the Revelations, both of which were identified with Lucifer or Satan in Christian tradition, though only the Dragon was described as Satan in the Bible. Their imagery and associations are not identical though.
While I have written about Lucifer as the Serpent, I don't have experience with the Dragon, so I can only wish you good luck.
Faces of Lucifer #4
The Serpent
As the Serpent of Eden, Lucifer is the bringer of knowledge and liberation. He is not an evil deceiver but a Lightbringer who shares his flame with human beings.
In the story of the Garden, the first human sin was seeking knowledge. No wonder the fruit was forbidden! After all, one who can see and think for themselves can also disobey.
The symbolism of the fruit is complex, interpretations are many and not necessarily mutually exclusive. Knowledge - intellectual and spiritual. Conscience and free will. Liberation. Responsibility and hardship that come with all of that. Sometimes even sexuality, too, and more than that.
The Serpent’s gift has a certain danger to it. Ignorance can be easy. Freedom is certainly not. But Eve took her chance and shared it with the one she loved.
The story of Eden is not a historical event - but it is more than that. Over the ages, Lucifer continues to offer his gift to human beings. But will you take it? What will you do with it? That is completely up to you.
Luciferian Journal Prompts
Make a mind map of your personal symbolism of the fruit.
How does the story of Eden relate to your relationship with Lucifer?
Reflect on the figure of Eve. What is the meaning of her story for you?
Ritual acts
Eating fruit and sharing with Lucifer.
Meditating on the story of Eden or art pieces illustrating it.
Lighting a candle for Lucifer and studying philosophy in his presence.
Offering ideas
Snake imagery.
Apples, pomegranates and other fruit.
Donations to snake conservation - snakes are crucial parts of many ecosystems, but are so vilified many don’t care about their survival.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider reblogging - this is the only way others can actually see it.
The Fruit of Knowledge
The story of Eden is important to most Satanists. A lot hinges on the fruit of knowledge and on what that signified. For many of us, you could call it our central mystery.
Different Satanist tendencies can often be classified based on how they interpret that fruit.
Luciferians tend to be very focused on intellectual and spiritual knowledge. That’s nice. I have a lot of history with that tendency and I still relate to it. I’ve even joked that “Luciferian” is a five syllable word for “bookworm” or “nerd.”
But of course, in the Bible, “to know” has a lot of connotations. Famously, it stands for “carnal” knowledge– we’ve all know what it means to know someone in a “Biblical sense.” (It means you fucked them.) Certain strains of Satanism place a lot of focus on carnal knowledge. That’s cool too. I do that as well.
But I think it’s a mistake to forget that the fruit stands for all knowledge. It has many dimensions of meaning. Remember, it was said to give knowledge of good and evil. That’s pretty broad– and also implies a type of knowledge a lot of Satanists don’t seem to think about much, which is to say conscience, ethical knowledge.
It’s OK to follow your heart and focus on whatever you like, but I think it’s a mistake to focus on just one type of knowledge and knowing. Gnosis doesn’t have to come from just reading a ton of books, or just from meditating a bunch, or just from hedonistic indulgence. If you tend to be particularly cerebral, or particularly carnal, it may be profitable to balance your approach. You might be missing out.