Luciferianism – What is it?

Luciferianism is a system of belief which involves black magic (or magick) in its worship of Lucifer, and often other so-called deities, in pursuit of deeper understanding, power, and connection with the true self, or "enlightenment." A person who adheres to Luciferianism is to think like the gods and goddesses he or she applies to for understanding and power. It is not a particularly prescriptive system of belief, but rather a general direction of ideology and goals combined with certain ritual practices. Luciferianism may include any number of combinations of beliefs tending more toward a New Age type of spirituality or occultic spirit worship and manipulation, atheism, or a monotheistic belief in Lucifer as God.

Those who hold to Luciferianism in any of its forms all hold that Lucifer is not the same as the Satan of the Bible – in a particular way, anyhow. They believe they are worshipping the Lucifer mentioned in the King James Version translation of Isaiah 14:12 ("Day Star," as it is translated in most other translations, is a literal translation; but the words so translated were also the proper name "Lucifer," which some translations use instead). This fallen Archangel is elsewhere identified as Satan, the Serpent, the Devil, and other epithets identifying him as greatest of all evil beings. The name Lucifer is believed to have been Satan's name before his fall, when he was an Archangel. Luciferians believe that the being they worship is the "good" version of this being, and do not believe the being they call Lucifer has any of the negative attributes that the Bible describes. So, while they claim they are not worshiping "Satan," they do believe they are worshiping the being Christians call Satan, but that our Bible describes him wrong. It is because of this that Luciferians differentiate themselves from the occult, which makes no pretense to worship anything other than the evil being called Satan in the Bible.

There are serious issues with this entire system on every level. A few that we will focus on here are the hermeneutical interpretation of Lucifer, the danger and wrongness of trying to communicate with spirit beings, the belief in any being as the ultimate power in the universe beside God Himself, and the inability for this system to provide any kind of salvation.

Hermeneutically, the Bible cannot be made to say that the being Isaiah referred to as the Day Star or Lucifer is now anything but the purest, basest evil in existence ever. In the Old Testament, the Devil is presented over and over again causing God's people to sin and do heinous things, from tempting King David in 1 Chronicles 21:1 to accusing and then afflicting Job and others (Job 1-2; Zechariah 3:1). In fact, this is what his very name means, for when used as a verb, Satan can mean to act as an adversary or accuser, or to be hostile (Genesis 27:41; 49:23; 50:15; Zechariah 3:1). As a side note, this alternate meaning is where the term "Adversarial Magick" came from, essentially meaning Satanic Magick. The New Testament applies even greater emphasis on the evil character of Satan, where he is mentioned over 35 times. He is referred to as "tempter" (Matthew 4:3), "ruler of demons" (Matthew 9:34; 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15), the "evil one" (Matthew 13:38), and "the father of lies" (John 8:44) – and those are just in the gospels.

The use of magick, sorcery, or divination of any kind is repeatedly spoken against whether in the Mosaic Law (Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 19:26; 20:6; 20:27; Deuteronomy 18:9-22), historical accounts (2 Kings 9:22; 17:17-18; 21:1-7; 2 Chronicles 33:6), or prophetic writings (Isaiah 2:6; 3:1-3; 44:25; 47:9, 12-15; Jeremiah 27:9; 29:8; Zechariah 10:1-2). In the New Testament, Paul brought the Gospel to many Greek cities whose social structures depended on the magick and sorcery used in relation to idol worship, which made it a serious concern, while the power of the Holy Spirit was tempting to many practitioners of magick. A sorcerer who desired to buy access to the Holy Spirit's power was severely rebuked by Peter (Acts 8:9-24). Paul and Silas freed a fortune-telling slave girl from the demonic possession which enabled her owners' trade (Acts 16:16-26). Witchcraft is directly condemned in Galatians 5:20. Allowing Satan or any of his demons to give you power, information, or protection, or to even communicate with them beyond ordering them to desist or remove themselves from a particular place as part of spiritual warfare through the Holy Spirit is both sinful and unwise.

Particularly applicable to those Luciferians who believe in Satan as a mono-theistic ultimate ruler, or even as one of a pantheon of gods and goddesses, is the reality that God is a jealous God who will not, in the end, share His glory with anyone. To worship anyone or anything other than the true and living God is not only incorrect, but worthy of eternal damnation. To worship the being who has committed such an extensive rebellion against God and done so much evil in this world is only worse.

The worship of any other spirit being or the pursuit of knowledge through the spirit world does not provide lasting hope or salvation from what we know in our hearts. The church in Ephesus, a city particularly known for its practice of magick and worship of demonic spirits, had many former sorcerers in its midst. They were determined, as is appropriate, to completely dedicate their lives to God, and to do so they had to completely sever themselves from their involvement with other spirits. The book of Acts records that, "a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver" (Acts 19:19). They sacrificed power, prestige, and a great deal of money, all for the sake of attaining a relationship with the only true God and the love of their Savior, Jesus Christ.


Related Truth:

Who is Satan?

When was the fall of Satan, and how did it happen?

Why did God allow Satan and the demons to sin?

What is the full armor of God?

How can I be saved?


Return to:
Truth about Religion


Subscribe to the CompellingTruth.org Newsletter:









Preferred Bible Version:








CompellingTruth.org is part of Got Questions Ministries

For answers to your Bible questions, please visit