It is mankind which has become the "Serpent of Genesis," and thus causes daily and hourly the Fall and sin of the "Celestial Virgin" -- which thus becomes the Mother of gods and devils at one and the same time; for she is the ever-loving, beneficent deity to all those who stir her Soul and heart , instead of attracting to themselves her shadowy manifested essence, called by Eliphas Levi -- "the fatal light" which kills and destroys.
Humanity, in its units, can overpower and master its effects; but only by the holiness of their lives and by producing good causes.
It has power only on the manifested lower principles -- the shadow of the Unknown and Incognizable Deity in Space.
But in antiquity and reality , Lucifer, or Luciferus , is the name of the angelic Entity presiding over the light of truth as over the light of the day.
In the great Valentinian gospel Pistis Sophia (§ 361) it is taught that of the three Powers emanating from the Holy names of the Three [[ Tridunameis ]], that of Sophia (the Holy Ghost according to these gnostics -- the most cultured of all), resides in the planet Venus or Lucifer.
Thus to the profane, the Astral Light may be God and Devil at once -- [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * Says Johannes Tritheim, the Abbot of Spanheim, the greatest astrologer and Kabalist of his day: -- "The art of divine magic consists in the ability to perceive the essence of things in the light of nature (astral light), and by using the soul-powers of the spirit to produce material things from the unseen universe, and in such operations the Above and the Below must be brought together and made to act harmoniously.
The spirit of Nature (astral light) is a unity, creating and forming everything, and acting through the instrumentality of man it may produce wonderful things.
Such are accomplished, if you learn to know yourself.
You will know it by the power of the spirit that is in yourself, and accomplish it by mixing your spirit with the essence that comes out of yourself.
If you wish to succeed in such a work you must know how to separate Spirit and Life in Nature, and, moreover, to separate the astral soul in yourself and to make it tangible, and then the substance of the soul will appear visibly and tangibly rendered objective by the power of the spirit." -- (Quoted in Dr.
Hartman's "Paracelsus.") [[Vol.
2, Page]] 513 MIND, THE QUICKENING SPIRIT.
Demon est Deus inversus: that is to say, through every point of Infinite Space thrill the magnetic and electrical currents of animate Nature, the life-giving and death-giving waves, for death on earth becomes life on another plane.
Lucifer is divine and terrestrial light, the "Holy Ghost" and "Satan," at one and the same time, visible Space being truly filled with the differentiated Breath invisibly; and the Astral Light, the manifested effects of the two who are one, guided and attracted by ourselves, is the Karma of humanity, both a personal and impersonal entity: personal, because it is the mystic name given by St.
Martin to the Host of divine Creators, guides and rulers of this planet; impersonal, as the Cause and effect of universal Life and Death.
The Fall was the result of man's knowledge, for his "eyes were opened." Indeed, he was taught Wisdom and the hidden knowledge by the "Fallen Angel," for the latter had become from that day his Manas, Mind and Self-consciousness.
In each of us that golden thread of continuous life -- periodically broken into active and passive cycles of sensuous existence on Earth, and super-sensuous in Devachan -- is from the beginning of our appearance upon this earth.
It is the Sutratma, the luminous thread of immortal impersonal monadship, on which our earthly lives or evanescent Egos are strung as so many beads -- according to the beautiful expression of Vedantic philosophy.
And now it stands proven that Satan, or the Red Fiery Dragon, the "Lord of Phosphorus" (brimstone was a theological improvement), and Lucifer, or "Light-Bearer," is in us: it is our Mind -- our tempter and Redeemer, our intelligent liberator and Saviour from pure animalism.
Without this principle -- the emanation of the very essence of the pure divine principle Mahat (Intelligence), which radiates direct from the Divine mind -- we would be surely no better than animals.
The first man Adam was made only a living soul (nephesh), the last Adam was made a quickening Spirit*: -- says Paul, his words referring to the building or Creation of man.
Without this quickening spirit, or human Mind or soul, there would be no difference between man and beast; as there is none, in fact, between animals with respect to their actions.
The tiger and the donkey, the hawk and the dove, are each one as pure and as innocent as the other, because irresponsible.
Each follows its instinct, the tiger and the hawk killing with the same unconcern as the donkey eats a thistle, or the dove pecks at a grain of corn.
If the Fall had the significance given to it by theology; if that [[Footnote(s)]] ------------------------------------------------- * The real original text of I Corinthians, rendered Kabalistically and esoterically would read ( in Chap.
xv ., verses 44 and 45): "It is sown a soul body (not 'natural' body), it is raised a spirit body." St.
Paul was an Initiate, and his words have quite a different meaning when read esoterically.
The body "is sown in weakness (passivity); it is raised in power" (43) -- or in spirituality and intellect.
[[Vol.
2, Page]] 514 THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
fall occurred as a result of an act never intended by nature, -- a sin, how about the animals?
If we are told that they procreate their species in consequence of that same "original sin," for which God cursed the earth -- hence everything living on it -- we will put another question.
We are told by theology, as by Science, that the animal was on earth far earlier than man?
We ask the former: How did it procreate its species, before the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, of the Good and the Evil, had been plucked off?
The universal fluid or medium of occult philosophy — Lévi's Great Magical Agent — that transmits will, thought, and magical influence between minds and matter, and preserves the impress of all forms and actions as a book of consciences; cognate with akasha and the anima mundi. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (a doctrine of hidden affinity) in being a substantival medium that can be charged, directed, and abused.
The Astral Light is the central subject of the passage, discussed as both God and Devil, as Lévi's 'fatal light,' as the medium of divine magic, and as the Karma of humanity.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The passage explicitly presents an esoteric reinterpretation of St. Paul's words in I Corinthians, stating they 'have quite a different meaning when read esoterically' and offering a Kabalistic rendering of the original text.
The deeper aspect of the individual's own consciousness aligned with divine or spiritual truth, distinct from the ego or everyday personality — a locus of guidance and identity that can speak with its own recognisable 'voice' in moments of crisis, carrying memory or knowledge the ordinary self lacks. Distinct from inner_light (a static luminous quality or spark, not an alternate seat of identity and agency) and kingdom_within (the claim that the divine realm generally is present inside the individual, not this specific personal higher consciousness).
Lucifer is identified as 'our Mind — our tempter and Redeemer, our intelligent liberator and Saviour from pure animalism,' a deeper aspect of consciousness aligned with divine truth.
The divine spark or luminous quality residing within the human person, potentially recognisable through introspection.
The passage identifies the divine principle Mahat (Intelligence) as radiating within each person as Mind, the 'quickening Spirit' that distinguishes man from beast.
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The passage explicitly references 'the luminous thread of immortal impersonal monadship' as the underlying unity on which earthly lives are strung as beads.
The Hermetic doctrine that apparent opposites are identical in nature but differ in degree — two extremes of the same scale (hot/cold, love/hate) — such that one pole can be shifted toward its opposite by a change of degree ('mental transmutation'). Distinct from opposites_transcended (a completion-state marking the path's end, not this doctrine's active technique) and magical_equilibrium (balance held BETWEEN two forces, not identity-by-degree of what looks like two forces).
The passage's core thesis is that apparent opposites (God/Devil, life/death, Holy Ghost/Satan, Lucifer as both tempter and Redeemer) are identical in nature, expressed as 'the two who are one.'
The Hermetic doctrine of a measured swing or pendulum motion between poles — action and reaction, flow and outflow, rise and fall — operating in mental, physical, and cosmic-historical registers alike. Distinct from apocatastasis (cosmic-scale eschatological restoration after vast cycles) in naming a constant, ever-present oscillation rather than a singular restorative event.
The passage describes the 'golden thread of continuous life' as 'periodically broken into active and passive cycles of sensuous existence on Earth, and super-sensuous in Devachan.'
The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.
Tritheim's quote states 'if you learn to know yourself' as the key to accomplishing divine magic, and the passage identifies Lucifer as the inner Mind that liberates from animalism.