About Satan...

Satan, שָׂטָן, in Hebrew means: the Accuser, the Adversary.
In Judaism it is thought that the Accuser is a member of the Divine Council that looks after Humanity by following its activities closely with the sole purpose of searching for men’s sins, flaws, the rot within their souls and accuse them. This is the explanation behind his nickname “Divine Prosecutor” (the one that analyses human iniquities).
The evidence of his being a member of God’s High Court rests in the book of Job, when the sons of God along with the Accuser came to present themselves before the Lord, Who told Satan to behold His loyal servant, Job. The Accuser suggested God that He would allow him to take Job’s wealth away from him, to see if he would continue to be as loyal as he appeared to be. Of course Job passed the severe tests and in the end he was reward a hundredfold.
The most interesting part about the Jewish viewpoint is that it depicts a powerless Satan; it shows how little autonomy he has (since to test Job he had the need for God’s permission, which he couldn’t, nor can’t, ever transgress).

In Christianity, on the other hand, Satan is a totally independent creature, with high powers to practice evil, allegedly acting without needing God’s authorization.
Let’s take a glance at Lucifer (from the Latin word Lucifer, fera, ferum: bright, a light, that brings light): he was the most beautiful and brightest of God’s Angels, but his vanity made him believe that he could be, and do, more than his Creator. This petulance caused the Devil to be expelled from God’s presence and released onto the world. The day will come when he will be locked for eternity.
Some New-Born and Evangelical groups mention Satan as much as Jesus: if they become sick it’s Satan’s fault; if they make a bad decision which will result in a negative event, it’s the Devil’s fault; if they lose their job or money, Lucifer is the one to blame; if a calamity occurs Satan is coming to destroy the world; if a kid is a spoiled brat he must be possessed by the Devil…in summa, these people many times use Lucifer as a form of unaccountability for their own actions.
Christians often mistake Satan for evil spirits, which are two completely different things.

Mystics believe there are evil forces that seek to negatively influence those who are empty of any sort of spirituality; but they reject the Christian idea of Satan.
Notwithstanding they have the concept of Devil, which is:

This Major Arcana Tarot card represents “Capricorn; procreative energy; new vitality; humour; sensuality, sexuality; creative energy; individuality” [1].
The Devil is in the form of a white mountain goat with twisted horns, and along with the phallic column behind it, it represents creative energy in its most material and male aspects. The goat has an open third eye indicating his extensive abilities in the realm of extra-sensory perception: he sees beyond the obvious, going deeper into the essence of what he observes. The latter is the reason why he bears and expression of humorous satisfaction.
This card invites us primarily to cultivate our sense of humour for “only the ignorant are deadly serious and fully identified with their thoughts and actions” [1].

I rather see Satan as “The Accuser” (at the service of God’s celestial court) than perceiving him as a powerful and autonomous entity that feeds itself of human’s spiritual void. How about you?


I’m extremely curious about Livingsword’s views on this subject…come with me!


[1] in Tarot: Mirror of the Soul, Handbook for the Aleister Crowley Tarot by Gerd Ziegler.