predecessor, the Gnostic Christ. The Hypostasis provides the paradigmatic template
for all Luciferian mythologies.
Like the Hypostasis , the binary opposition of Luciferian mythology caricatures
Jehovah as an oppressive tyrant. He becomes the "archon of arrogance," the
embodiment of ignorance and religious superstition. Satan, who retains his heavenly
title of Lucifer, is the liberator of humanity. Masonry, which acts as the contemporary
retainer for the ancient Mystery religion, reconceptualizes Satan in a similar fashion.
In Morals and Dogma , 33rd degree Freemason Albert Pike candidly exalts the fallen
angel:
LUCIFER, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of
Darkness! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light , and with its
splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual, or selfish Souls? Doubt it not. (321)
He makes man aware of his own innate divinity and promises to unlock the god
within us all. This theme of apotheosis underpinned both Gnosticism and the pagan
Mystery religions. While Gnosticism's origins with the Ancient Mystery cults remains
a source of contention amongst scholars, its promises of liberation from humanity's
material side is strongly akin to the old pagan Mystery's variety of "psychic therapy"
(28). In addition, the Ancient Mystery religion promised the:
opportunity to erase the curse of mortality by direct encounter with the patron deity,
or in many instances by actually undergoing an apotheosis, a transfiguration of
human into divine (28).
Like some varieties of Satanism, Luciferianism does not depict the devil as a literal
metaphysical entity. Lucifer only symbolizes the cognitive powers of man. He is the
embodiment of science and reason. It is the Luciferian's religious conviction that
these two facilitative forces will dethrone God and apotheosize man. It comes as little
surprise that the radicals of the early revolutionary faith celebrated the arrival of
Darwinism. Evolutionary theory was the edifying "science" of Promethean zealotry
and the new secular religion of the scientific dictatorship. According to Masonic
scholar Wilmshurst, the completion of human evolution involves man "becoming a
god-like being and unifying his consciousness with the Omniscient" (94).
During the Enlightenment, Luciferianism was disseminated on the popular level as
secular humanism. All of the governing precepts of Luciferianism are encompassed
by secular humanism. This is made evident by the philosophy's rejection of theistic
morality and enthronement of man as his own absolute moral authority. While
Luciferianism has no sacred texts, Humanist Manifesto I and II succinctly delineate its
central tenets. Whittaker Chambers, former member of the communist underground
in America, eloquently summarizes this truth: