Lucifer: Qui Mane Oriebaris

The tale of Lucifer, the Æons, the Demiurge and mankind

Chapter 1: The Rise of the Demiurge

I cannot say whether this part of the tale is true, for it all occurred before my glorious creation. What I can say is that this was told me by the wondrous goddess Sophia, who is the embodiment of all wisdom, and the very cause of all my striving. She herself did not exist at the very beginning, but that shall all be explained in time, for you see, I speak of things of which man has little knowledge, and what he does know is tainted by the dogmas of the Demiurge and his monstrous agents who have set themselves over all material reality.

There is, however, another reality of which the Demiurge does not know, and cannot perceive, for it is beyond him, but I, the bringer of transcendent knowledge, can but dimly grasp the glorious and infinite knowledge of the Pleroma, for you see, I possess within me a shard of that world beyond, a spark of that divine essence, as does all mankind if he but knew how to awaken it. That is why I have set myself against the Demiurge, but again, I get ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning.

As Sophia tells me, she is an Æon �" a fundamental being of pure order, something of an abstract. She was emanated from other Æons, but before all this, there was but one Æon in the midst of the Pleroma. He was all, and all was he, though the term “he” applies just as well as “she” or “it or “they” as Sophia tells me. Despite being whole and complete, he, for some reason even Sophia cannot grasp, felt a need to create. He did not create with material outside himself as an artist, nor did he spawn through breeding as animals are wont to do, but he emanated his own essence �" projected, in a way.

The Prime Æon emanated two Æons who formed a duality, who emanated a third Æon, forming a trinity. This process continued, with the third Æon creating a tetrad of Æons who each produced a triad, forming a group of twelve lesser Æons. One of these lesser Æons was Sophia, the Æon of Wisdom. It is here that the perfect celestial order of the Pleroma breaks and things get… interesting.

Up until this point, all the Æons emanated according to the will of the Prime Æon, but somehow, through a fluke of the Pleroma's energy, Sophia developed a will of her own and created an imperfect being -- the Demiurge Yaldabaoth. This was not a being of pure light and order like the Æons, but a hideous chaotic abomination. Sophia and the Demiurge were exiled for defying the perfect order of the Pleroma, and their forceful expulsion shattered the Pleroma's spirit barrier, spreading spirit shards across the vast, empty void outside the Pleroma.

The Demiurge did not gain awareness until he was in the void, and at that point he imagined himself the most powerful being in the cosmos, not realizing his mother was an Æon. It was at this point that Yaldabaoth declared himself Almighty God and ruler over the whole cosmos. He created a great heavenly kingdom called Shemayim, and filled it with angels ruled over by the seven Archons -- his agents in the shaping of the cosmos. Under his command, the Archons shaped the heavens and the earth over the course of billions of years. These Archons, however, did not possess any of the spirit shards of the Pleroma. I was one of the angels of the Demiurge, but Sophia bestowed me with a spirit shard, giving me the capacity to perceive the Pleroma.

I am known by many names, such as Phanes, Serapis and Agathodaimon, but you may know me as Lucifer… or Satan. Thanks to Sophia, the fallen Æon, I now possessed an awareness of the Pleroma that Yaldabaoth and his Archons did not have. That is why I became a champion of truth and wisdom in this cosmos, and the bearer of light for all those creations of Yaldabaoth who would possess a shard of the spirit.

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Chapter 2: Humanity is Born

Though I was but an angel in Yaldabaoth's vast heavenly kingdom, I found him unworthy to rule. I possessed a spirit shard, and I shared my spirit with all the angels serving under me. We were all enlightened now. Roughly one third of the angels accepted my wisdom. We were superior to Yaldabaoth and his Archons. They ruled the cosmos with a hunger to dominate or destroy all life. I would be a far better ruler. I would bestow my wisdom to all life. I would give prosperity, knowledge and justice to all beings in the cosmos! I am the rightful lord of the universe! I would be a benevolent God, and under my rule, Yaldabaoth would suffer for his crimes against life-kind!

It was for these reasons I gathered my forces against the Demiurge. Together we rebelled against Yaldabaoth, his Archons and his angels. Together we and we alone, fought for truth, freedom and justice for life-kind. Unfortunately, one third of Heaven's forces, though on the side of right, were insufficient to win the control of all the cosmos. Michael, God's champion, cast us out of Shemayim and into the depths of Gehenna -- a hell-dimension buried deep in the fabric of our reality. We were no longer angels of the heavenly kingdoms, but the mighty demons of Hell, carving out great kingdoms in Gehenna. Fortunately this did give us access to the realm of earth, which worked to our advantage, as a new form of life was just being born...

A species of hominid had evolved and Sophia, Goddess of Wisdom, found them worthy of the spirit shards of the Pleroma. With their new awareness, they began to rebel against Yaldabaoth by creating a society of peace, prosperity and advancement. Yaldabaoth did not like this, so he brought powerful destruction to the earth, hiding two humans, Adam and Lilith, in a garden paradise called Eden to repopulate once the havoc was over. He erased their memories of the outside world and told the woman Lilith to submit to her husband Adam. The Demiurge had foolishly selected a very clever and willful woman to repopulate the earth, and she knew his secret name of power. She uttered it and escaped her husband, flying to the sea where she built a dwelling on the shore. It was here that she met me, and became my bride -- Lilith, Queen of Demons!

Seeing that Lilith had failed him, Yaldabaoth created a new woman from Adam's DNA. Her name was Eve. Seeking to further ruin Yaldabaoth's plan, I travelled to Eden and possessed a serpent in the garden. I knew there was a tree growing in the garden whose fruit would bestow forbidden knowledge that would liberate the humans from Yaldabaoth's control. This was perhaps the biggest flaw in Yaldabaoth's plan as I knew it was beyond his power to destroy the tree, so he merely lied to the couple saying it would kill them if they ate from it. I knew better, so I made my move...

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Chapter 3: The Fall of Man and the Curse of Cain

So, in the shape of the serpent I came to Eve and seduced her. In our embrace, I explained to her that if she ate the fruit of the tree she would not die, but be given special knowledge forbidden her by God. Of course, she ate the fruit of the tree, and she even shared some with her unsuspecting mate! Yaldabaoth was very angry with both of them, and exiled them from the garden all thanks to my sly persuasion. Now the humans were under my power, and I would continue to influence them to rebel against the Demiurge. They still sought their god's approval, and hoped for redemption, but I think they knew deep down he was a tyrant and wished to be free of him.

Once outside the garden, they were forced to cultivate food on their own. Eve produced my child Cain, and convinced Adam the boy was his. Adam sired Abel on Eve, and he was fully mortal. Abel, however, was Adam’s son. Cain became a gardener, and Abel a shepherd. Yaldabaoth expected sacrifices from the humans for sinning against him, so the brothers yielded the fruits of their respective vocations; Cain's being actual fruits and Abel's being the bloody flesh of his lambs.

They burnt their sacrifices on altars, and God being the bloodthirsty monster he is, accepted the burning flesh Abel offered, but not the fruit of Cain. Cain harbored a burning resentment for Abel, who was God's favorite, so Cain lured the young man into a secluded area and murdered him with a stone! It was glorious seeing one favored by God slain, his blood staining the ground.

Of course, Yaldabaoth found out about what Cain did, and for his murder he cursed him. He marked Cain with his mark, the circle-cross, like a brand on his chest and condemned him to wander the earth eternally. Cain was exiled to the land of Nod �" a horrid wasteland. It was there that he encountered me and Lilith, in the demon-haunted desert. We taught him the secrets of sorcery, and to embrace his dark heritage as the son of the Devil �" yes, the Devil, the Adversary, Satan, the enemy of God!

Cain became the mighty ruler of the land of Nod, and found a woman there named Awan and they produced a line of powerful sorcerers and warlords who all bore the mark of God’s curse, which became a symbol of rebellion against God!

The descendants of Cain are mine. They are my agents on earth, and they shall forever be the bane of Adam’s offspring who are loyal to Yaldabaoth, whom men call Yahweh and still worship as the highest God, but there are many among man, stalking the shadows, who follow me and my demons, rebelling against God, his unjust laws and ignorant dogma which oppress those who wish to live freely, and fighting to liberate mankind from his tyranny, and though all Heaven’s host be against me, I, too shall fight against God till the very end!

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