Luciferians: Encyclopedia - Luciferians

Luciferians

Luciferians describes three quite separate heterodox tendencies in opposition to the Roman Catholic Church.

Luciferians - Spiritual Luciferianism

Created for the most part by an Internet-based group of people calling themselves Luciferians, the Luciferian philosophy has been created by the prophet, magician and remote viewer Aaron C. Donahue. Aaron, after travelling, searching and studying the occult, has dedicated his life and weekly Internet show to save the Earth and to assure permanance for humanity. Luciferianism shares common ground with spiritual Satanism, and teaches many of the same ideas. However, Luciferianism is different because it does not teach carnal desire, but agrees with the Satanist idea of self development, following your will, power through magic, and independance. Luciferianism teaches that there is no God outside of man. As a result, a Luciferian must reject all religions and look inward to find spiritual answers.

Luciferians - Followers of Lucifer Calaritanus

"Luciferians" described a schismatic group named after Lucifer Calaritanus, Bishop of Cagliari, Sardinia in the late 4th century. The movement was linked to the complex political machinations involving the emperor Constantius II and Pope Liberius. Lucifer was a staunch ultra-orthodox opponent of Arius, declared a heretic. The movement died out early in the following century. All that we know of Bishop Lucifer's views derive from the anti-Luciferian polemic of Jerome in the form of a dialogue, Altercatio Luciferiani et orthodoxi ("Altercation of the Luciferian and the orthodox").

Luciferians - Gnostic Luciferians

Various gnostic "Luciferian" sects that emphasize the dualism of the universe have also been associated with the image of Lucifer, in the root sense of the "bringer of light". The orthodox view has associated Lucifer with "Satan before the fall", though, as Bishop Lucifer's name attests, Lucifer was not yet associated with "Satan" in the 4th century. Some classically-educated Free-masons used "luciferian" in the scholarly, somewhat pedantic sense of "bringing enlightenment," invoking Prometheus who stole fire from the gods to bring to man. Pro-Catholic polemicists linked such Masonic usage with sects worshiping Lucifer, which have had persistent groups of followers since the Middle Ages.

See also

• Gnosticism
• Luciferianism

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Luciferians", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki