What do you think?
Rate this book
The Secret History of Lucifer: Evil Angel or the Secret of Life Itself?
The author of Mary Magdalene offers a revisionist history of Satan, tracing his origins in the mythology of Pan and the ancient Lucifera, or "Light-bringer"--females goddesses who were revered by heretical Christians.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
102 people are currently reading
916 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
November 29, 2009
I would read this as entertainment because it sure ain't coherent history. It is part of a peculiar genre that mixes an author's ideological commitment to seeing the world in a different and subversive way with elaborate and largely unsustainable claims about history.
This is a shame because the subversive intent is not a bad idea. Unfortunately, the technique of piling up notes from entirely separate incidents in history into a narrative with a weak evidential basis merely discredits the intent. The book offers some catharsis for the powerless (especially women) and no doubt is moderately profitable for the author but it is no call for action and little to understanding.
The central early claim of this potboiler appears to be that power struggles within the very early Christian Church were lost, by a sexually open spiritual tradition, to the sexually repressed Pauline Church. The original practice of Christ was a form of sexual spirituality led by St. John the Baptist who was nothing like the picture presented by the Church in subsequent centuries.
The book then meanders into the highways and byways of history until it ends with praise of Lucifer and a condemnation of those who dabble with the Satanic. This, of course, refers to Lucifer the Light-Bringer, who must definitely not be confused with Satan, positioned as the positive force behind science, sexual freedom, tolerance and the Enlightenment.
The meandering takes us from ancient times through the usual tales of ancient spirituality, Cathar-Templar suffering, witch-burning, John Dee and Edward Kelley (why? we ask, as we are reading it), masonic lore, gobbets from the history of spiritualism and, of course, Crowley and LaVey to become yet another chapter in the attempt to create an alternative historical reality. There is certainly no necessary connection between one tale and the next - or even between components within each narrative.
As entertainment this is all is amusing enough but as a factual basis for understanding history, forget it. A cursory reading of the useful Wikipedia entries on the persecution of 'witches' and the Inquisition, studied alongside the relevant chapter in the book, will tell you that it is not wholly reliable. The book is riddled with polemic, selective facts, lots of 'mays' and 'could it be thats', odd etymologies, conflation of events from different times and circumstances and extremely doubtful 'evidence' (though we have no doubt this is due to weak judgement rather than malice aforethought).
The claims about the Johannite tradition in the West and the 'secret' messages in the art of a subversive Leonardo Da Vinci may excite Dan Brown enthusiasts - and may even be 'true' up to a point - but they are not adequately evidenced or contextualised here.
We, who do believe that 'resistance' to elites and prevailing culture has been much more widespread in the past than we have been allowed to believe, must, nevertheless, accept the fact that the victors write the history of past times. But, just because no evidence exists of our 'resistance proposition', this does not mean that we can make something up out of the gaps or make massive deductive leaps from what does exist.
The best approach is deep scepticism about all authorities' claims about the past rather than to make attempts to prove our own expectations. Better, perhaps we should decide not to make any claims for liberation in or on the past but just concentrate our demands on the present (our current condition) and on the future (how we believe we should be allowed to live our lives).
Yes, the book is footnoted. Yes, the authors have read widely. No, the sources are not considered contextually or critically. This is a shame because the passion in the polemic does hit its target sometimes.
The underlying message of the book is about the intrinsic evil of institutionalised religion in its effects on Western culture over nearly two thousand years (Picknett is not alone in this and a better book in this respect might be Reay Tannahill's 'Sex in History' also reviewed on this website). This proposition bears serious consideration in the year when the Church of Rome in Ireland finally was forced to admit not only that child abuse was rampant in its organisation but that successive prelates had covered it up deliberately in order to protect the reputation of their morally questionable institution.
There is a genuine and righteous anger in the book about how the human race can develop a collective will to malice, often manipulated by sick psychopaths under cover of religion. I like her for this. It makes her somewhat more worthy as passionate myth-spreader than the dry truth-telling academic who refuses to take a moral stand and who seeks to objectify us out of our anger by suggesting that 'that was then'. We must not look on past crimes as if they mean nothing in judging the conduct today of modern successor organisations, whether Crown or Church.
Picknett is also trying to make an important point about the sexual oppression of women (as a sex-positive feminist, no doubt) - not by men in general (as less sex-positive feminists try to do) but by the institutions of men who oppress all equally. Here, she is pushing at an open door with this reader.
It is quite possible that she will drive many women to righteous anger not only at 'authority' but at a culture that denies full female sexual expression - but what a shame that this matter cannot be argued on its merits based on a considered assessment of the facts rather than through a mythic narrative that is no more reliable than the nonsense perpetrated by her opponents. A war of myths is not what we need at this time in our history.
But, unless you just want an entertainment from within this now widely published genre (and, why not, if it whiles away a train journey or two without lasting harm), don't bother ... just say to yourself that you don't need to be told how to run your life by anyone and, if you are one of those people who like to spiritualise your sexuality, don't get angry about how people were treated in the past, just go do it today.
This is a shame because the subversive intent is not a bad idea. Unfortunately, the technique of piling up notes from entirely separate incidents in history into a narrative with a weak evidential basis merely discredits the intent. The book offers some catharsis for the powerless (especially women) and no doubt is moderately profitable for the author but it is no call for action and little to understanding.
The central early claim of this potboiler appears to be that power struggles within the very early Christian Church were lost, by a sexually open spiritual tradition, to the sexually repressed Pauline Church. The original practice of Christ was a form of sexual spirituality led by St. John the Baptist who was nothing like the picture presented by the Church in subsequent centuries.
The book then meanders into the highways and byways of history until it ends with praise of Lucifer and a condemnation of those who dabble with the Satanic. This, of course, refers to Lucifer the Light-Bringer, who must definitely not be confused with Satan, positioned as the positive force behind science, sexual freedom, tolerance and the Enlightenment.
The meandering takes us from ancient times through the usual tales of ancient spirituality, Cathar-Templar suffering, witch-burning, John Dee and Edward Kelley (why? we ask, as we are reading it), masonic lore, gobbets from the history of spiritualism and, of course, Crowley and LaVey to become yet another chapter in the attempt to create an alternative historical reality. There is certainly no necessary connection between one tale and the next - or even between components within each narrative.
As entertainment this is all is amusing enough but as a factual basis for understanding history, forget it. A cursory reading of the useful Wikipedia entries on the persecution of 'witches' and the Inquisition, studied alongside the relevant chapter in the book, will tell you that it is not wholly reliable. The book is riddled with polemic, selective facts, lots of 'mays' and 'could it be thats', odd etymologies, conflation of events from different times and circumstances and extremely doubtful 'evidence' (though we have no doubt this is due to weak judgement rather than malice aforethought).
The claims about the Johannite tradition in the West and the 'secret' messages in the art of a subversive Leonardo Da Vinci may excite Dan Brown enthusiasts - and may even be 'true' up to a point - but they are not adequately evidenced or contextualised here.
We, who do believe that 'resistance' to elites and prevailing culture has been much more widespread in the past than we have been allowed to believe, must, nevertheless, accept the fact that the victors write the history of past times. But, just because no evidence exists of our 'resistance proposition', this does not mean that we can make something up out of the gaps or make massive deductive leaps from what does exist.
The best approach is deep scepticism about all authorities' claims about the past rather than to make attempts to prove our own expectations. Better, perhaps we should decide not to make any claims for liberation in or on the past but just concentrate our demands on the present (our current condition) and on the future (how we believe we should be allowed to live our lives).
Yes, the book is footnoted. Yes, the authors have read widely. No, the sources are not considered contextually or critically. This is a shame because the passion in the polemic does hit its target sometimes.
The underlying message of the book is about the intrinsic evil of institutionalised religion in its effects on Western culture over nearly two thousand years (Picknett is not alone in this and a better book in this respect might be Reay Tannahill's 'Sex in History' also reviewed on this website). This proposition bears serious consideration in the year when the Church of Rome in Ireland finally was forced to admit not only that child abuse was rampant in its organisation but that successive prelates had covered it up deliberately in order to protect the reputation of their morally questionable institution.
There is a genuine and righteous anger in the book about how the human race can develop a collective will to malice, often manipulated by sick psychopaths under cover of religion. I like her for this. It makes her somewhat more worthy as passionate myth-spreader than the dry truth-telling academic who refuses to take a moral stand and who seeks to objectify us out of our anger by suggesting that 'that was then'. We must not look on past crimes as if they mean nothing in judging the conduct today of modern successor organisations, whether Crown or Church.
Picknett is also trying to make an important point about the sexual oppression of women (as a sex-positive feminist, no doubt) - not by men in general (as less sex-positive feminists try to do) but by the institutions of men who oppress all equally. Here, she is pushing at an open door with this reader.
It is quite possible that she will drive many women to righteous anger not only at 'authority' but at a culture that denies full female sexual expression - but what a shame that this matter cannot be argued on its merits based on a considered assessment of the facts rather than through a mythic narrative that is no more reliable than the nonsense perpetrated by her opponents. A war of myths is not what we need at this time in our history.
But, unless you just want an entertainment from within this now widely published genre (and, why not, if it whiles away a train journey or two without lasting harm), don't bother ... just say to yourself that you don't need to be told how to run your life by anyone and, if you are one of those people who like to spiritualise your sexuality, don't get angry about how people were treated in the past, just go do it today.
September 3, 2013
I picked up this book at a time when I was caught off-guard after reading the transcripts of a series of lectures by Rudolf Steiner, feeling confused about the concepts of Satan, Lucifer and Ahriman. Trusting its title, I thought this book would help clarifying them.
On this count I was wrong, and though I´ve got to admit it was an interesting and entertaining read, when I put it down I still couldn´t tell the difference between any of the three fore-mentioned gentlemen… Lynn Picknett is not very helpful on that front, though she makes it clear Satan is the bad guy here, the sinister puppet-master behind the Catholic Church´s Holy Inquisition and the witchhunts, which during nearly five centuries tracked down, tortured and exterminated hundreds of thousands of innocent people, especially women, in the name of God. She doesn´t go as far as to openly saying that Lucifer is the good guy, but she implies it (she even sets the tone at the end of the book´s introduction, with the line: ‘Long live Lucifer, but to hell with Satan’). Fair enough, but the problem is, however, that she never really cares to explain who Lucifer is, therefore making the whole argument of the book quite confusing from the start.
The author, with the usual wit and extensive researching that characterize all her works, gives us a fluid, chronologic account of the dark, medievil times (pun intended) and the barbarities committed by the Church and the guardians of "morality", worldwide, to remain in power and in control of the masses. That´s the lion´s share of the book, introduced by some lenghty biblical considerations, debating the “official party line” about the fall of man, the story of Jesus and the Apostles, etc… It is then followed by a short mix of confused bits and pieces about freemasons, satanists, secret societies, black magicians and spiritists that don´t really hold together…
As I said, it is an interesting book but its claims of telling the ‘secret story of Lucifer’ are really misleading; indeed, it hardly brushes a description of the ‘Lightbearer’, so if that´s what you´re looking for, you´ll have to look elsewhere, I´m afraid...
On this count I was wrong, and though I´ve got to admit it was an interesting and entertaining read, when I put it down I still couldn´t tell the difference between any of the three fore-mentioned gentlemen… Lynn Picknett is not very helpful on that front, though she makes it clear Satan is the bad guy here, the sinister puppet-master behind the Catholic Church´s Holy Inquisition and the witchhunts, which during nearly five centuries tracked down, tortured and exterminated hundreds of thousands of innocent people, especially women, in the name of God. She doesn´t go as far as to openly saying that Lucifer is the good guy, but she implies it (she even sets the tone at the end of the book´s introduction, with the line: ‘Long live Lucifer, but to hell with Satan’). Fair enough, but the problem is, however, that she never really cares to explain who Lucifer is, therefore making the whole argument of the book quite confusing from the start.
The author, with the usual wit and extensive researching that characterize all her works, gives us a fluid, chronologic account of the dark, medievil times (pun intended) and the barbarities committed by the Church and the guardians of "morality", worldwide, to remain in power and in control of the masses. That´s the lion´s share of the book, introduced by some lenghty biblical considerations, debating the “official party line” about the fall of man, the story of Jesus and the Apostles, etc… It is then followed by a short mix of confused bits and pieces about freemasons, satanists, secret societies, black magicians and spiritists that don´t really hold together…
As I said, it is an interesting book but its claims of telling the ‘secret story of Lucifer’ are really misleading; indeed, it hardly brushes a description of the ‘Lightbearer’, so if that´s what you´re looking for, you´ll have to look elsewhere, I´m afraid...
October 8, 2011
Perfectly tedious...and badly researched...and, oh yes, indifferently executed. I come to these oddities to be taken away from reality not for pseudo-academics. Grrrr. -_-
July 7, 2014
As coherent history, look elsewhere, but as a reminder of the evil that lurks within man (without any help from the devil) and the need we have for a Promethean hero/deity, read on. Asking questions never hurts; unquestioning acceptance is the path to Hell.
October 30, 2017
I didn't realize that both books I selected from a second-hand bookshop in London were written by the same author (Lynn Picknett) until I finished "Mary Magdalene" and turn my attention to "Lucifer" - nothing against Picknett, but her books basically cover very much the same territory and she can't help but often going back to books she wrote previously, for example going into details of Da Vinci/Shroud of Turin mystery no matter does it have anything to do with the subject or not.
Its a pity publishers felt it was necessary to add bombastic "Meaning of the true Da Vinci code" below her title because it has nothing to do with the whole Dan Brown issue. Pickett is fun and she does cover lot of "mysteries" but here also lies a biggest fault in her writing - too often she simply meanders, jumping from one subject to another without explaining how and why these chapters are connected at all. At the very beginning she connects Lucifer with ancient pagan Gods like Pan,Satyrs and such (and occasionally she got me thinking there lies a grain of truth in all this) but before going any deeper, off she would go into another century and speeding like pinball ball here, there and anywhere. Yes it is entertaining read but not very deep or should I say, serious. She crammed brazilian spiritualists, witch hunt, John the Baptist, Leonardo Da Vinci and Aleister Crowley in one big mix that somehow feels unfinished, unsorted and unedited. Picknett sounds very likable as a person and no doubt she might be very nice dinner guest, but her writing is unfocused.
Its a pity publishers felt it was necessary to add bombastic "Meaning of the true Da Vinci code" below her title because it has nothing to do with the whole Dan Brown issue. Pickett is fun and she does cover lot of "mysteries" but here also lies a biggest fault in her writing - too often she simply meanders, jumping from one subject to another without explaining how and why these chapters are connected at all. At the very beginning she connects Lucifer with ancient pagan Gods like Pan,Satyrs and such (and occasionally she got me thinking there lies a grain of truth in all this) but before going any deeper, off she would go into another century and speeding like pinball ball here, there and anywhere. Yes it is entertaining read but not very deep or should I say, serious. She crammed brazilian spiritualists, witch hunt, John the Baptist, Leonardo Da Vinci and Aleister Crowley in one big mix that somehow feels unfinished, unsorted and unedited. Picknett sounds very likable as a person and no doubt she might be very nice dinner guest, but her writing is unfocused.
October 30, 2009
Teaches the history of the concept of Lucifer as enlightenment and spiritual evolution and how it was later perverted to be synonymous with Satan/devil by and for the benefit of established organized religions for control purposes. What/who we now think of as Lucifer was never defined that way historically until it was used to crush independent, exploratory thought and non-mainstream spiritual progression by way of instilling fear and confusion among laypeople.
November 4, 2010
I put this down after the author mentioned Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code numerous times through out the book. I thought I was going to read a book about Satan and the connection with the sacred feminine. I ended up reading a bunch of boring blather and fangirling over a book that wasn't all that compelling for me anyway.
July 4, 2023
How can the Angel whose name means “light-bringer” be the villain when Yahweh is the actual source of the calamities and tortures in the Old Testament/Torah?
This is a question I always asked myself after learning this in Sunday School as a young child. This book is an excellent essay that takes up this question, but is more about the ways humans have created their own evils by demonizing anyone or anything outside of their knowing or understanding as entities that worship the devil than it is about actual devil worship. Picknett makes a compelling case showing how humans have used religion to oppress and destroy anyone or anything that sought to undermine its doctrines that kept people in servitude by creating enemies from those who would question its proclamations. From The Crusades to the Inquisition and Witch Trials, the author makes the case that claims of devil worship and witchcraft have been used to repress and punish scientific curiosity, sexual desires, and any who oppose religious authority, pointing out that women were especially scapegoated.
This is a question I always asked myself after learning this in Sunday School as a young child. This book is an excellent essay that takes up this question, but is more about the ways humans have created their own evils by demonizing anyone or anything outside of their knowing or understanding as entities that worship the devil than it is about actual devil worship. Picknett makes a compelling case showing how humans have used religion to oppress and destroy anyone or anything that sought to undermine its doctrines that kept people in servitude by creating enemies from those who would question its proclamations. From The Crusades to the Inquisition and Witch Trials, the author makes the case that claims of devil worship and witchcraft have been used to repress and punish scientific curiosity, sexual desires, and any who oppose religious authority, pointing out that women were especially scapegoated.
February 3, 2017
Great Book
I saw the author on one of those "secret history" shows and was intrigued by the title of this book. It wasn't what I expected, which was something of a biography, through the times of Lucifer. It wasn't this but what it was , was much more. A telling of how women and the sacred feminine has been crushed by the church since even before there was such a thing. There are other essays on "taboo" principles throughout time. I came away with an educated view on the true story of historical events. I would recommend this book to almost anyone who is interested in self enlightenment through historical education or can just be a fun read if you like against the norm stuff. Thanks Ms Picknett, I will definitely be reading other works by you
I saw the author on one of those "secret history" shows and was intrigued by the title of this book. It wasn't what I expected, which was something of a biography, through the times of Lucifer. It wasn't this but what it was , was much more. A telling of how women and the sacred feminine has been crushed by the church since even before there was such a thing. There are other essays on "taboo" principles throughout time. I came away with an educated view on the true story of historical events. I would recommend this book to almost anyone who is interested in self enlightenment through historical education or can just be a fun read if you like against the norm stuff. Thanks Ms Picknett, I will definitely be reading other works by you
June 3, 2009
what a waste of time! I didn't even finish it.
April 30, 2019
Hace un tiempo publiqué en Facebook una actividad que me pareció muy bonita. La idea era hacer llegar a desconocidos libros y así fue cómo este libro llegó a mí (también envié un libro que me gstaba mucho).
No soy religioso por lo que el título y el tema no me parecen escandalosos, sin embargo, esperaba algo diferente de este libro. La autora menciona que Lucifer y Satanás son figuras diferentes y la iglesia católica se ha encargado de unificar a estos dos personajes creando confusión.
Lucifer (Lucero del alba) que en la biblia se menciona como el ángel desterrado del cielo, tiene su representación en otras culturas, además aclara que es una representación de la curiosidad y el interés por aprender, una especie de Prometeo que le entrega el fuego a los seres humanos y es castigado por ello. Luego la autora empieza a mencionar datos que coinciden con la mitología de ciertas culturas y la religión católica.
Una parte del libro toca el papel de la mujer en una iglesia machista y misógina. Se habla de ciertos evangelios apócrifos en los que se menciona a Magdalena como una sacerdotisa que le enseñó a Jesus, rituales sexuales y de la que otros apóstoles sentían envidia por su trato. Personalmente estos sucesos de la vida de Jesus con Magdalena y con Juan Bautista me parecieron muy poco interesantes, sin embargo, cuando empieza a hablar de la cacería de brujas y la inquisición, el libro se me hace aterradoramente interesante porque habla de la persecución a las mujeres que buscaban el conocimiento y tenían el poder.
Se habla de Leonardo Davinci y otros personajes a los que se les atribuye un acercamiento al mundo de la magia y de lo desconocido, bien podría ser verdad pero me pareció muy poco interesante, en especifico porque se dejó el tema de lado, Lucifer, para mencionar que todos estos personajes, sacerdotisas, científicos, magos, brujas y médiums eran luciferinos porque buscaban la verdad y el conocimiento.
Si bien es un libro interesante, la parte mística hizo que no pudiera disfrutar el libro, además que la historia secreta de Lucifer se cuenta en la primera parte del libro.
No soy religioso por lo que el título y el tema no me parecen escandalosos, sin embargo, esperaba algo diferente de este libro. La autora menciona que Lucifer y Satanás son figuras diferentes y la iglesia católica se ha encargado de unificar a estos dos personajes creando confusión.
Lucifer (Lucero del alba) que en la biblia se menciona como el ángel desterrado del cielo, tiene su representación en otras culturas, además aclara que es una representación de la curiosidad y el interés por aprender, una especie de Prometeo que le entrega el fuego a los seres humanos y es castigado por ello. Luego la autora empieza a mencionar datos que coinciden con la mitología de ciertas culturas y la religión católica.
Una parte del libro toca el papel de la mujer en una iglesia machista y misógina. Se habla de ciertos evangelios apócrifos en los que se menciona a Magdalena como una sacerdotisa que le enseñó a Jesus, rituales sexuales y de la que otros apóstoles sentían envidia por su trato. Personalmente estos sucesos de la vida de Jesus con Magdalena y con Juan Bautista me parecieron muy poco interesantes, sin embargo, cuando empieza a hablar de la cacería de brujas y la inquisición, el libro se me hace aterradoramente interesante porque habla de la persecución a las mujeres que buscaban el conocimiento y tenían el poder.
Se habla de Leonardo Davinci y otros personajes a los que se les atribuye un acercamiento al mundo de la magia y de lo desconocido, bien podría ser verdad pero me pareció muy poco interesante, en especifico porque se dejó el tema de lado, Lucifer, para mencionar que todos estos personajes, sacerdotisas, científicos, magos, brujas y médiums eran luciferinos porque buscaban la verdad y el conocimiento.
Si bien es un libro interesante, la parte mística hizo que no pudiera disfrutar el libro, además que la historia secreta de Lucifer se cuenta en la primera parte del libro.
August 25, 2022
Venus the second planet from the sun. It rises in our morning skies and descend In our evening sky. The ancients thought it was two different stars and the Canaanites viewed it as two different gods. The Greeks called the goddess Venus. But the morning star is recognized as Lucifer. So the Goddess was transformed from her original form into a devil. This happened to many deities. The Goetia is filled with them. The demons used to be pagan deities.
The Devil has several names among them Lucifer and Satan. Lucifer is the light bringer and Satan is the opposer. Two names are not the same being necessarily. Lucifer is a light bringer the enlightener, he is the one who educates mankind and brings them knowledge. He is the snake in the Garden of Eden who tells Adam and Eve to eat the tree of knowledge. Now they are like God knowing good and evil. They are growing up. God wanted us infantile and Lucifer wanted us to grow up.
Luciferian figure appear in all religions. Enki was the one who saved mankind and taught them the sciences. Prometheus gave mankind fire and taught them to use energy. He paid the price for it in tararus. Yet even after the snake or Lucifer was demonized his veneration continued.
Starting with biblical times when Jesus was about it should be known that he was not the only candidate for messiah. Apparently John the Baptist was a contender and was in direct competition to Jesus. The new testament washes over this and makes it like they were allies. Both John and Simon the Magus may have followed the feminine teaching and sacred sex rites that were practiced at the time. Of course we know who won out and the persecution would soon commence.
This gives rise to Gnosticism where In the belief is that an evil deity created this world to trap souls in a material prison. The good god of the universe sent various emissaries to redeem humanity. Amy say it was Jesus there are others who would say Lucifer was sent.
The Cathars were one such group that believed in the gnostic truth. They were persecuted and killed much like a holocaust. Things would then morph into witch hunts. Once again the feminine divine is being persecuted and so is the one who bring us knowledge. Various luciferian lived in Europe and America.
The list goes on to the likes of Leonardo Davinci who was an inventor that had to hide his inventions for fear of the inquisition. He played the biggest joke on the Catholic Church with the Shroud of Turin. Other Luciferians would include occultist like Aleister Crowley and John Dee. Each of these has exciting stories in their own right which will be fun to read up on.
Luciferian and enlightening ideas were spread throughout Europe via the Templars and the Masons. The Templars brought back Gnostic ideas from the Middle East, and though they were falsely accused of devil worship. Yet some of what they were accused of were rituals of Middle Eastern Gnostics many of whom revered John the Baptist. That meant spitting on the cross have and renouncing Christ.
It is the Luciferian principle that keeps us advancing and learning. The Churchianity we know of wants us to stay infantile.
The Devil has several names among them Lucifer and Satan. Lucifer is the light bringer and Satan is the opposer. Two names are not the same being necessarily. Lucifer is a light bringer the enlightener, he is the one who educates mankind and brings them knowledge. He is the snake in the Garden of Eden who tells Adam and Eve to eat the tree of knowledge. Now they are like God knowing good and evil. They are growing up. God wanted us infantile and Lucifer wanted us to grow up.
Luciferian figure appear in all religions. Enki was the one who saved mankind and taught them the sciences. Prometheus gave mankind fire and taught them to use energy. He paid the price for it in tararus. Yet even after the snake or Lucifer was demonized his veneration continued.
Starting with biblical times when Jesus was about it should be known that he was not the only candidate for messiah. Apparently John the Baptist was a contender and was in direct competition to Jesus. The new testament washes over this and makes it like they were allies. Both John and Simon the Magus may have followed the feminine teaching and sacred sex rites that were practiced at the time. Of course we know who won out and the persecution would soon commence.
This gives rise to Gnosticism where In the belief is that an evil deity created this world to trap souls in a material prison. The good god of the universe sent various emissaries to redeem humanity. Amy say it was Jesus there are others who would say Lucifer was sent.
The Cathars were one such group that believed in the gnostic truth. They were persecuted and killed much like a holocaust. Things would then morph into witch hunts. Once again the feminine divine is being persecuted and so is the one who bring us knowledge. Various luciferian lived in Europe and America.
The list goes on to the likes of Leonardo Davinci who was an inventor that had to hide his inventions for fear of the inquisition. He played the biggest joke on the Catholic Church with the Shroud of Turin. Other Luciferians would include occultist like Aleister Crowley and John Dee. Each of these has exciting stories in their own right which will be fun to read up on.
Luciferian and enlightening ideas were spread throughout Europe via the Templars and the Masons. The Templars brought back Gnostic ideas from the Middle East, and though they were falsely accused of devil worship. Yet some of what they were accused of were rituals of Middle Eastern Gnostics many of whom revered John the Baptist. That meant spitting on the cross have and renouncing Christ.
It is the Luciferian principle that keeps us advancing and learning. The Churchianity we know of wants us to stay infantile.
December 15, 2021
Este libro lo compré en mi etapa más filomásonico y filoocultista. En aquel entonces me hubiera entusiasmado y posiblemente me habría vuelto un luciferino. Más de una década después mi juicio es más mesurado. El libro, a falta de pruebas muestra indicios y revuelve movimientos y ocurrencias tan negligentemente que es difícil seguirle el paso. "La historia secreta de Lucifer" se pierde en un maremágnum de citas y de referencias a sectas heterogéneas que parece que nos encontramos en un indigesto alegato "ocultista" en pro de las libertades inglesas. No vi realmente la congruencia entre los diversos hechos históricos aludidos, las interpretaciones que manejó Picknett para entenderlos y las conclusiones (¿Hubo tales?) a las que arribó.
Es un texto indigesto, que sólo cautivará a los cándidos.
Es un texto indigesto, que sólo cautivará a los cándidos.
Read
October 8, 2010Fallen angels are more fun to think about than to seriously study.
April 16, 2020
BS. Did not finish it.
April 17, 2019
Solo una tercera parte o una cuarta parte del libro se refiere a la figura o concepto o arquetipo de Lucifer, el resto son historias de diferente hechos y enigmas religiosos. El más interesante y elaborado relato/investigación es el posible culto a Juan el Bautista como verdadero Mesías (algo así como un mandeísmo occidental) que habría perdurado por siglos bajo la máscara del esoterismo y gnosticismo cristiano.
Entretenido pero no profundiza en el problema que pretende abordar.
Entretenido pero no profundiza en el problema que pretende abordar.
September 14, 2018
Un libro molto intrigante.
La figura del diavolo analizzato non come "mostro e nemico" ma con il significato che dovrebbe avere. Lucifero, "portatore di luce" diventa poi "Satana". Il libro spiega come è accaduta questa metamorfosi.
La figura del diavolo analizzato non come "mostro e nemico" ma con il significato che dovrebbe avere. Lucifero, "portatore di luce" diventa poi "Satana". Il libro spiega come è accaduta questa metamorfosi.
July 17, 2020
Bravo!
Picked this up to read by the pool. Hardly went in the water. I enjoy learning about how and why we as 2020 adult human beings are the way we are. This book really put the rubber into road for me. Straight forward, concise and unapologetic. I loved it.
Picked this up to read by the pool. Hardly went in the water. I enjoy learning about how and why we as 2020 adult human beings are the way we are. This book really put the rubber into road for me. Straight forward, concise and unapologetic. I loved it.
June 15, 2023
An interesting work for a collated data ushers throughout epochs and believes just to once more prove a notion which is "Don't make yourself an idol".
Personally, I acquired a lot of information from.
Personally, I acquired a lot of information from.
July 14, 2024
Interesting, but too much small talk... Also some parts of the book have nothing to do with Lucifer. Anyway, it's a nice book to read...
June 9, 2021
Preso anni ed anni orsono.
Ne iniziai la lettura ma poi non la proseguii oltre e ora a distanza di anni mi dico che non mi sono persa tantissimo.
Acclamato e invidiato da un sacco di amici sul genere speravo io, e loro soprattutto, che appunto parlasse della figura di Lucifero, ma il suo contenuto lo accenna qua e la soffermandosi su tutta una serie di argomentazioni che trattano la religione e le loro similitudini nel mondo sull'argomento luciferino ma non parlano di Lucifero in quanto tale.
Una lettura soggettiva. Carina e interessantissima da affrontare e che grossomodo consiglio se avete come me continui dubbi e incertezze su diversi aspetti della religione cristiana in quanto tale.
Apprezzabile come libro e come considerazione lavorativa affrontata dagli autori ma il cui titolo è TOTALMENTE fuorviante.
Ne iniziai la lettura ma poi non la proseguii oltre e ora a distanza di anni mi dico che non mi sono persa tantissimo.
Acclamato e invidiato da un sacco di amici sul genere speravo io, e loro soprattutto, che appunto parlasse della figura di Lucifero, ma il suo contenuto lo accenna qua e la soffermandosi su tutta una serie di argomentazioni che trattano la religione e le loro similitudini nel mondo sull'argomento luciferino ma non parlano di Lucifero in quanto tale.
Una lettura soggettiva. Carina e interessantissima da affrontare e che grossomodo consiglio se avete come me continui dubbi e incertezze su diversi aspetti della religione cristiana in quanto tale.
Apprezzabile come libro e come considerazione lavorativa affrontata dagli autori ma il cui titolo è TOTALMENTE fuorviante.
June 4, 2016
I'm not sure if I didn't like this book very much because it told me lots of information that I already knew or whether it was because it seemed like it was just an advert for all the other books she had written. It started off okay but there seemed to be no real thread linking all the chapters together or if there was a real link it was very vague. I expected much more from this book as I have read many of her other books. Very disappointed.
January 30, 2011
Hmm, my version of the book didn't have anything about the "True Da Vinci" code which is just as well as I would have found that fairly non-intriguing. The book is pretty interesting but jumps around from point to barley connected point at an incredible rate. It's more of an introductory read than a thorough read. And yes, Lucifer is not evil. And neither are we.
November 21, 2008
Lynn Picknet is still a little steamed at the sexest practices of the Vatican, but the book is still an excellent history of the oppression of ruling religions.
June 27, 2010
The meaning of the true Da Vinci Code ...
August 6, 2011
good read, a bit wordy about 2/3s in, but the collections of ancient text excerpts and stories of the inquisition really put into context the fanatacism of the time.
December 23, 2013
let there be light
September 7, 2016
Informative, fresh perspective on a subject tainted by a lot of misconceptions. Easy to follow. Lynn did a good job accumulating the book together.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews