Historical Pagan Deities as Satanic Archetypes Pt3
Aten
Ishtar
Lilith
Samael
Pan
Leviathan
Tiamat
Nammu
Enki
Prometheus
Aten
The worship of Aten, for example, in Ancient Egypt approximately 3500 years ago, is regarded as one of the first monotheistic religions. It was short lived, and fizzled out, on account of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Akhenaten's obsession with demonstrative sacrifices of food, and insistance on having his people build a new city, resulting in starvation and ill health of his city. Whilst monotheistic, he elevated his and his wife's status as near God-like, and the human representatives of Aten on earth. Having forced Eyptians to break with tradition and worship this particular deity, and caused huge suffering as part of his religious revolution, they tried to erase him from history after his death. It is claimed by some that Psalm 104: 20-30 is actually based on a poem by Akhenaten to Aten, a declaration of love for his God, but was appropriated by Christians and used in a Christian context.
It could be argued that Aten was not the 'Devil' as such, but just one of the pagan Gods that the ancient Egyptians worshipped, that happened to be the enforced flavour of the month for a while in Egypt.
The Sun God has been worshipped in various forms throughout history and pre-history, and the exact practices and beliefs of course vary slightly.
Ishtar
Ishtar is the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate northwest Semitic goddess Astarte. Anunit, Atarsamain and Esther are alternative names for Ishtar. Ishtar is a goddess of fertility, love, and war. In the Babylonian pantheon, she 'was the divine personification of the planet Venus' (the planet often associated with Lucifer). Ishtar a Goddess worshipped by Wiccans and other neo-pagans, and is said to represent Mother Earth, as all ancient 'Goddesses' are said to be aspects of the Goddess (i.e. Mother Earth). The detail of the Ishtar-Gate : a lion, symbol of the goddess Ishtar - is shown above.
Joseph Campbell, a more recent popularizer of mythology, equates Ishtar, Inanna, and Aphrodite, and he draws a parallel between the violent yet loving Hindu goddess Kali, the Egyptian goddess Isis who nurses Horus, and the Babylonian goddess Ishtar who nurses the god Tammuz.'
The deity pairs is a concept that is common to both Babylonian mythology (Marduk slaying Tiamat into two pieces, creating both heaven and earth), and Egyptian mythology and the Ogdoad.
This concept is also seen in the Aeons of Gnosticism.
Diane Vera discusses the symbolosim of Ishtar on her Theistic Satanism web site.
Ishtar/Astarte is also revered by many modern Theistic Satanists, probably because 'Astaroth' is a high-ranking demon according to various well-known grimoires. Ishtar is not revered as the white-light (Luciferian) Goddess of the white magic Wiccans, but as the more multi-faceted Goddess revered by the other Wiccans, the Goddess of natural forces here on Earth, 'Mother Nature' in all Her aspects, both beautiful and fierce. Ishtar's symbolism is that of light bringer, in some ways similar to Lucifer.Lilith
Above is the painting Lilith (1892), by John Collier.
Lilith is a mythological female Mesopotamian storm demon associated with wind and was thought to be a bearer of disease, illness, and death. The figure of Lilith first appeared in a class of wind and storm demons or spirits as Lilitu, in Sumer, circa 3000 BC. Many scholars place the origin of the phonetic name 'Lilith' at somewhere around 700 BC. In medieval Jewish demonology, Lilith was considered to be the a night demon, the Queen of the demons, the wife of Satan/Samael, and the mother of succubi. and as a screech owl in the KJV. She is also apocryphally the first wife of Adam.
Since the 1970s, Lilith has attracted many worshippers, including both Theistic Satanists, Neo-Pagans and even ethnically Jewish feminists, often now being associated with vampires (very fashionable these days for some reason!)
The vast majority of Lilith's worshippers are not Satanists. Yet they celebrate a medieval myth of Lilith that is remarkably similar to the Islamic myth of Satan/Iblis. Lilith and the Islamic Satan were both said to have disobeyed God in the exact same way, namely by refusing to bow down before Adam. Today, Lilith is seen by many as a feminist role model. Her worshippers today also associate Her with sexuality and sexual freedom, especially nonreproductive sex and various traditionally forbidden forms of sexuality. Diane Vera writes about the representation of Lilith as Satan on her web site.
The Church of Satan incorporates Lilith in her kabbalistic (also qabalistic) Zohar role as the wife of Samael (Satan). Here, she is featured in the symbol of the church, the Baphomet sigil. This pentagram was first published by Stanislas de Guaita in La Clef de la Magie Noire in 1897.
Samael
In some Gnostic texts, Samael is the name used to described Demiurge, the 'blind one', the Gnostic view of the creator god Jehovah.
Pan
Above is a 2nd Century Roman copy (found in Pompei) of a 100BC Greek statue (attributed to Heliodorus) of Pan teaching his eromenos, the shepherd Daphnis, to play the panpipes.
Pan is a Greek deity, originally worshipped in the Arcadia area of ancient Greece. Pan is the half-goat 'herdsman' deity, often associated with playing the flute, and is the God of fertility and shepherds, as well as music; and also representing fear and dread to an extent. Pan no doubt influenced the concept of the oldest of Roman deities, Faunus, the di indigetes, who was a good spirit of the forest, plains, and fields. It is likely that the demonized images of the incubus, and the goat's head, horns and cloven hooves of Satan, depicted in much Christian literature and art, were taken from the images of the Pan. The Witches' Hammer no doubt took its inspiration from Pan when describing Satan.
The painting Pan, by Mikhail Vrubel (1900) is shown below.
The modern version of Pan worshipped by Wiccans is not really the same deity as the Greek Pan. The neo-pagan Pan is the Lord of the Woods, the Horned God, representative of the wild (animals and forests) and is probably an amalgamation of qualities of several ancient Gods. Wiccans in general tend to chiefly worship the Goddess, or mother nature, whilst also worshipping the Horned God as her counterpart, in a balanced 'yin and yang' manner (Dianic Wica diverging from this balance). Other deities, representing other qualities, are also worshipped, but probably to a slightly lesser extent.
Theistic Satans acknowledge that many of the qualities of the neo-pagan Pan are synonymous with Satan, they also credit other qualities to Satan such as science, technology and the human 'will'.
Pan is discussed as a representation of Satan on Diane Vera's web site.
Leviathan
Above is the painting Ungeheuer Leviathan, Behemoth und Ziz Bibelillustration by Ulm, 1238.
Above is a drawing of Leviathan, often found in Grimoires.
Above is the painting "Destruction of Leviathan" from 1865, engraving by Gustave Doré.
The Christian interpretation of Leviathan is often considered to be a demon or monster associated with Satan or the Devil, and is regarded by some to be the same as the monster Rahab (Isaiah 51:9). Leviathan is a Biblical sea monster referred to in the Old Testament (Psalm 74:13-14; Job 41; Isaiah 27:1). The word leviathan has become synonymous with any large sea monster or creature. In the novel Moby-Dick it refers to great whales, and in Modern Hebrew, it means simply "whale".
The Christian interpretation of Leviathan is often considered to be a demon or monster associated with Satan or the Devil, and is regarded by some to be the same as the monster Rahab (Isaiah 51:9).
The Gnostic Luciferian (but in actuality Polytheistic Satanic) Order of Phosphorus regards Leviathan as the coiling Dragon or crooked serpent, which is the dreaming mind.
Tiamat
Marduk slaying Tiamat is pictured in the above.
Tiamat is often regarded as an 'evil' deity, with Marduk being the 'good' Babylonian deity counterpart. Perhaps in this role, Tiamat represents a Christian interpretation of the Devil. The cult of Marduk existed from approximately 1500 BC. Marduk was associated by the Romans with the planet Jupiter.
Nammu
Worship of Tiamat may have begun with the Cult of Nammu (Sumerian cult).'In Sumerian mythology, Nammu (more properly Namma) is the Sumerian creation goddess. If the Babylonian creation myth Enûma Elish is based on a Sumerian myth, which seems likely, Nammu is the Sumerian goddess of the primeval sea that gave birth to An (heaven) and Ki (earth) and the first gods. She was probably the first personification of the constellation which the Babylonians later called Tiamat and the Greeks called Cetus and represented the Apsu, the fresh water ocean which the Sumerians believed lay beneath the earth, the source of life-giving water and fertility in a country with almost no rainfall. She is attended by seven minor goddesses. Nammu bore An a son, Enki. She and her Enki created mankind as assistants for the gods. She moulded clay collected and brought it to life, thus creating mankind.'
Enki
Enki, the son of Nammu, is the Sumeran deity whose name literally means Lord of the Earth. Enki was later known as Ea in Babylonian mythology. Enki was originally chief god of the city of Eridu. He was the deity of crafts, water, intelligence and creation. He is the champion of mankind. Perhaps there are parallels to the concept of Prometheus or (non-Biblical view of) Satan. Enki is shown above, wearing the horned crown. Some forms of Gnostic Luciferianism, such as Bestian Gnosticism, regards Enki as a Lucifer, but does not worship him. Many Theistic Satanists today worship Enki, including the now largely Neo-Nazi Satanist group Joy of Satan Ministries.
Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus (in Ancient Greek meaning "forethought") is a Titan known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals for their use. His myth has been treated by a number of ancient sources, in which Prometheus is credited with (or blamed for) playing a pivotal role in the early history of humankind. Prometheus is associated with technology and science, embodying some qualities of the Theistic Satan. However, Prometheus is not generally worshipping by Theistic Satanists or pagans, but is worshipped by some modern Gnostic Luciferians.
Diane Vera discusses Prometheus on her Theistic Satanism web site.
Prometheus is regarded by most Gnostic Luciferians as a Lucifer or Aeon, and there are some parallels to the (non-Biblical) concept of Satanic intelligence.