Devil

 

As I can see, you enjoy topics of this kind. No surprise in Kali yuga. So I will write something about the Devil. Let’s analyze ancient names and texts, just to recall what’s happened in the last 7000 years.

 
Wiki says that the Devil (Greek: διάβολος or diábolos = ‘slanderer’ or ‘accuser’) is believed in many religions and cultures to be a powerful, supernatural entity that is the personification of evil and the enemy of God and humankind. The Devil is commonly associated with heretics, infidels, and other unbelievers. The Abrahamitic religions have variously regarded the Devil as a rebellious fallen angel or demon that tempts humans to sin or commit evil deeds. Judaism sees the Devil as an adversary and an accuser whose role is assigned rather than assumed. Others regard the Devil as an allegory that represents a crisis of faith, individualism, free will, wisdom and enlightenment. 

In mainstream Christianity, God and the Devil are usually portrayed as fighting over the souls of humans, with the Devil seeking to lure people away from God and into Hell. The Devil commands a force of evil angels, commonly known as demons. The Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament) describes the Adversary (Ha-satan) as an angel who instigates tests upon humankind. Many other religions have a trickster or tempter figure that is similar to the Devil. Modern conceptions of the Devil include the concept that it symbolizes humans’ own lower nature or sinfulness.

Etimology

Devil is a synonym for Satan / Ha-Satan, which descends from the Middle English devel, from Old English dēofol, that in turn represents an early Germanic borrowing of Latin diabolus (also the source of “diabolical” – di = two - ). This in turn was borrowed from Ancient Greek diábolos (διάβολος), “slanderer”, from diaballein “to slander”: dia- “across, through” + ballein “to hurl”  - to throw – to sacrifice -. In the New Testament, “Satan” occurs more than 30 times in passages alongside diábolos (Ancient Greek for “the devil”), referring to the same person or thing as Satan.  So, from a cabalistic and meta magic point of view we shall translate this word as follows di = two parts  then “ballein” = sacrifice = to sacrifice ( probably using a knife, cutting something ).

Judaism

In mainstream Judaism there is no concept of a devil like in mainstream Christianity or Islam. In Hebrew, the biblical word ha-satan (השָׂטָן) means “the adversary” or the obstacle, or even “the prosecutor” (recognizing that God is viewed as the ultimate Judge).

For the Chasidic Jews of the eighteenth century, Ha-satan was Baal Davar. The Book of Enoch contains references to Satariel, thought also to be Sataniel and Satan’el (etymology dating back to Babylonian origins). The similar spellings mirror that of his angelic brethren Michael, Raphael, Uriel and Gabriel, previous to his expulsion from Heaven.

In Islam the Devil is referred to as Iblis (Arabic: Shaitan, a word referring to evil devil-like beings). According to the Qur’an, God created Iblis out of “smokeless fire” (along with all of the other jinn) and created man out of clay. The primary characteristic of the Devil, besides hubris, is that he has no power other than the power to cast evil suggestions into the heart of men and women.

According to Muslim theology, Iblis was expelled from the grace of God when he disobeyed God by choosing not to pay homage to Adam, the father of all mankind. He claimed to be superior to Adam, on the grounds that man was created of earth unlike himself. As for the angels, they prostrated before Adam to show their homage and obedience to God. However, Iblis, adamant in his view that man is inferior, and unlike angels was given the ability to choose, made a choice of not obeying God. This caused him to be expelled by God, a fact that Iblis blamed on humanity. Initially, the Devil was successful in deceiving Adam, but once his intentions became clear, Adam and Eve repented to God and were freed from their misdeeds and forgiven. God gave them a strong warning about Iblis and the fires of Hell and asked them and their children (humankind) to stay away from the deceptions of their senses caused by the Devil.

According to the verses of the Qur’an, the Devil’s mission until the Qiyamah or Resurrection Day (yaum-ul-qiyama) is to deceive Adam’s children (mankind). After that, he will be put into the fires of Hell along with those whom he has deceived. The Devil is also referred to as one of the jinns, as they are all created from the smokeless fire. The Qur’an does not depict Iblis as the enemy of God, as God is supreme over all his creations and Iblis is just one of his creations. Iblis’s single enemy is humanity. He intends to discourage humans from obeying God. Thus, humankind is warned to struggle (jihad) against the mischiefs of the Satan and temptations he puts them in. The ones who succeed in this are rewarded with Paradise (jannath ul firdaus), attainable only by righteous conduct.

Bahá’í Faith

In the Bahá’í Faith, a malevolent, superhuman entity such as a devil or satan is not believed to exist.  These terms do, however, appear in the Bahá’í writings, where they are used as metaphors for the base nature of man. Human beings are seen to have free will, and are thus able to turn towards God and develop spiritual qualities or turn away from God and become immersed in their self-centered desires. Individuals who follow the temptations of the self and do not develop spiritual virtues are often described in the Bahá’í writings with the word satanic. The Bahá’í writings also state that the devil is a metaphor for the “insistent self” or “lower self” which is a self-serving inclination within each individual. Those who follow their lower nature are also described as followers of “the Evil One”.

Yazidism

An alternate name for the main deity in the tentatively Indo-European pantheon of the Yazidi, Malek Taus, is Shaitan. Rather than Satanic, however, Yazidism is better understood as a remnant of a pre-Islamic Middle Eastern religion, and/or a ghulat Sufi movement founded by Shaykh Adi. The connection with Satan, originally made by Muslim outsiders, attracted the interest of 19th-century European travelers and esoteric writers.

In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian Avesta, believed to have been composed by Zoroaster himself, the poet does not mention a manifest adversary. Ahura Mazda’s Creation is “truth”, asha. The “lie” (druj) ( a cousin word of sound “two” ) is manifest only as decay or chaos, not an entity.

Later, in Zurvanism (Zurvanite Zoroastrianism), Ahura Mazda and the principle of evil, Angra Mainyu, are the “twin” offspring of Zurvan, ‘Time’. No trace of Zurvanism exists after the 10th century. ( again dualism, twin-zurv-zrvu-two )

Today, the Parsis of India largely accept the 19th century interpretation that Angra Mainyu is the ‘Destructive Emanation’ of Ahura Mazda. Instead of struggling against Mazda himself, Angra Mainyu battles Spenta Mainyu, Mazda’s ‘Creative Emanation.’

Hinduism ( read attentively )

In contrast to Christianity and Islam, Hinduism does not recognize any central evil force or entity such as the Devil opposing God and man. Hinduism does recognize that different beings (e.g., asuras) and entities can perform evil acts, under the temporary dominance of the guna of tamas, and cause worldly sufferings. The Rajasic and Tamasic Gunas of Maya are considered especially close to the Abrahamic concept, the hellish parts of the Ultimate Delusion called “Prakriti”. An embodiment of this is the concept of Advaita (non-dualism) where there is no good or evil but simply different levels of realization.

“Non dualism, so we have different levels of realization, from ignorance to understanding”.  A part, ( half of it ) has not the value if the whole, so this is called ultimate delusion. ( maya = to illusion, delusion ).

On the other hand in Hinduism, which provides plenty of room for counterpoint, there is also the notion of dvaita (dualism) ( see again dva = two ) where there is interplay between good and evil tendencies.  A prominent asura is Rahu whose characteristics are similar to those of the Devil. However, Hindus, and Vaishnavites in particular, believe that an avatar of Vishnu incarnates to defeat evil when evil reaches its greatest strength. The concept of Guna and Karma also explain evil to a degree, rather than the influence of a devil.

To be more specific, Hindu philosophy defines that the only existing thing (Truth) is the Almighty God. So, all the asuric tendencies are inferior and mostly exist as illusions in the mind. Asuras are also different people in whom bad motivations and intentions (tamas) have temporarily outweighed the good ones (Sattva). Different beings like siddha, gandharva, yaksha etc. are considered beings unlike mankind, and in some ways superior to men.

In Ayyavazhi, officially an offshoot of Hinduism prominent in Tamil Nadu (a southern state in India with Dravidian heritage), followers, unlike most other branches of Hinduism, believes in a Satan-like figure, Kroni. Kroni, according to Ayyavazhi is the primordial manifestation of evil and manifests in various forms of evil, i.e., Ravana, Duryodhana, etc., in different ages or yugas. In response to such manifestation of evil, believers, in Ayya-Vazhi religion believe that God, as Vishnu manifests in His Avatars such as Rama and Krishna to defeat evil. Eventually, the Ekam with the spirit (the spirit taken by Narayana only for incarnating in the world) of Narayana incarnates in the world as Ayya Vaikundar to destroy the final manifestaion of Kroni, Kaliyan.

Kroni, the spirit of Kali Yuga is said to be omnipresent in this age and that is one reason followers of Ayya Vazhi, like most Hindus, believe that the current yuga, Kali Yuga is so degraded.

Buddhism

A devil-like figure in Buddhism is Mara. He is a tempter, who also tempted Gautama Buddha by trying to seduce him with the vision of beautiful women who, in various legends, are often said to be Mara’s daughters. Mara personifies unskillfulness, the “death” of the spiritual life. He tries to distract humans from practicing the spiritual life by making the mundane alluring or the negative seem positive. Another interpretation of Mara is that he is the desires that are present in ones own mind preventing the person from seeing the truth. So in a sense Mara is not an independent being but a part of one’s own being that has to be defeated. In daily life of the Buddha the role of devil has been given to Devadatta.

Demons

In some religions and traditions, these titles are separate demons; others identify these names as guises of The Devil. Even when thought of as individual demons, some are often thought of being under the Devil’s direct control. This identifies only those thought of as the Devil; List of demons has a more general listing.

Azazel, Asael (Hebrew): King of Devils

Baphomet, a demon supposedly worshiped by the Knights Templar

Beelzebub, ba’al zevuv בעל זבוב (Hebrew): Master of the flies or Lord of the Flies (Matthew 10:25)

Belial, Beliar, Bheliar (Hebrew): without master, despicableness of the earth, Lord of Pride (2 Corinthians 6:15)

Mastema, a devil in the Book of Jubilees

Sammael, Samiel, Sammael (Hebrew): “Poison of God”

                                  Titles

These are titles that almost always refer to the Devil.

Angra Mainyu, Ahriman: “malign spirit”, “unholy spirit”

Diabolus, Diabolos (Greek: Διάβολος): “cutting through” cut in two parts = to division = break = non unity

Iblis, the devil in Islam   iblis = I bis = to “I two” = in two parts, truth and lie = division = non unity

Lucifer / The Morning Star (Greek and Roman): bringer of light, illuminator   half of it

Mephistopheles, he who avoids the light (φῶς)    half again

Prince of Darkness / Air     one half of it

Satan / The Adversary, Accuser, Prosecutor     Shaitan, an Arabic name for Satan

Kölski (Iceland)      Voland (medieval France)

So every time we talk about the devil, we are talking about dualism. Division and sacrifice, ignorance etc… Separation, something wasted, thrown away, bis, non unity, desires that are running after something we haven’t got, lack of and ultimately, illusions. Unskillfulness, rather than able skillfulness, which is the translation of harmony. Suggestions, that are made of words and thoughts that are pure projections, illusions and ways to make someone behave the way evil entities want. The lettes V itself is an angle created by two vectors that depart from a center point in two directions.

What goes against “The principle of unity” must be dual, to be compared, to say it’s better than, and make a difference.

Once all this has been cleared out, we shall consider all that we know as functional to existence, and try to harmonize every action and decision we do or take. The more we understand and realize that we are ignorant, the better we should behave, taking care not to produce any sufferance, and accepting the fact that through union all beings meet in love, stop being jealous, and enjoy happiness, whether this time it is there for us or for someone else. So, as 2 does not make 1, and 1 that contains 2 could be a lie, we should concentrate on beauty, the creative principles and joy. Nothing compares to you, is the only thing we can say and we feel when we love someone. Nothing divides me from you, because I love you. Understand the principle of love, and you will be the force. 

I touch you with my finger softly between you eyes.
See, feel, understand and enjoy life. 

by Amonakur / Jedi Simon