How did Satan as a figure get into the Christian story? It stems from a schism in Semitic faiths, and the catholic or “universalist” agenda of early Christianity. This schism in Semitic faiths echoed even in Egyptian religion. This is why there was a conflict between them and the Egyptians. Set was a Semitic deity though at one time still acknowledged as divine.
It was the Persians who had much contact with the Hindu people, and the term Hindu comes from the magis reference to those who live south of the sindu river. The Persian influence was responsible for introducing the concept of there being a dark counterpart to the holy god, and there being a conflict between them. That that was even possible.
In the Koran, the Efreet were not angels. They were more like man and when Allah created man of the earth he told Iblis (Lord of the Efreet) that man was created higher than him. Iblis rejected this, not out of aspirations to Allah’s throne, but from refusing to humble himself and his kind to humanity. So again no defection from the angelic hierarchy. Iblis wasn’t an angel.
But to return to the root Semitic issue, the creator deity is a heavily debated figure and there are references to there being a split between him and the world in Judaism and the Yezidi faith as well as in Islam. Now strangely there is a reference to a being haven been given authority over the world. The debate is whether this being is legit or not, but the actual authority is not denied. So in fact there is the ‘Prince of the Air‘. The debate is whether there is war in heaven at all. My own insight says no.
What is the authority that is not debated? The Prince of the Air. The powers and the principalities referenced in the Bible, the book of Revelation, doesn’t deny the Prince of the Airs authority, but supposedly he will be required to bend knee or give obeisance to the demi urge that created the universe. Though it sort of runs contradictory to most of the text. Thus the book of Revelations predictions are of god undoing what he originally did. This whole process is heavily debatable.
Serpent imagery is wide spread as is a divinity of the air being a feathered serpent in Aztec culture. In all cultures this spirit is a liberator, and in the Yezidi faith being liberated from the authority of the demi urge was from compassion to man not from any corrupt motive. Many of the spirits that were demonized were just on the wrong side of the schism when the Roman Empire took up Christianity. They were demonized because Rome couldn’t have anything that would compromise Roman temporal and spiritual power. To date Catholicism is still referenced to the Holy Roman Dominion.
Hinduism doesn’t have the equivalent concept of Satan, being more like Judaism in that sense. There is no satanic divinity in Hinduism, though there are divinities that Christians eagerly demonize as they do with all cultures.
Judaism doesn’t have Satan in the Christian sense. Judaism has no fallen angel. The concept of a fallen spirit that hates humanity is from Islam, but even in that case it is not a fallen angel. Even Islam has seen the Kurds who still revere the Prince of the Air (male ta’us) as devil worshippers. These Kurds would in fact deny that. As Jews will refuse to talk about the Christian concept of the devil.
Catholicism explored a hybridised figure, and original faith had no Satan as it’s now defined either. When Jesus spoke against Satan in his retreat he spoke against the adversary, not the embodiment of sin. Sin was not present as a spirit, but as a human characteristic and the adversary was “judgement” or “doubt”. So he spoke against his capacity for doubt, self doubt.
Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.
Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~