Lucifer & Ahriman

In continuing our exploration into the integration of conflicting influences let us look into the work of the great mystic Rudolf Steiner and his ideas on the Incarnations of Lucifer and Ahriman. According to Steiner, in order to to achieve Christ Consciousness we must hold in balance the energies of Lucifer and Ahriman, which are opposing forces that work towards destruction symbolized by Sorat or The Antichrist. It’s a renewal of the ancient teachings of “The Golden Mean” or The Middle Way between opposing extremes. The diagram below is an illustration of the diamond/cross pattern of these influences.

Supposedly, Lucifer was a powerful spiritual entity that incarnated into human form 3000 years Before Christ. Lucifer is known as the Light Bringer. He is responsible for teaching humanity meditation and the power of plant medicine. His incarnation lead to a revolution of consciousness. It brought about the wisdom of Pagan culture that saw the human being as part of the flow of nature and inspired individuals toward Gnosis. Although he is not evil, Lucifer’s goal is to take man out of his body into the ethereal, into the realm of Spirit. This was an essential teaching for mankind at the time but only spread through the Mystery Schools and was largely hidden from the majority of the people.

Then, as a correction to Lucifer’s tendency toward strictly mystical experiences, Christ was introduced on the physical plane through the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. This was seen as a balance but it would not have been understood without the Luciferic principle. At present, humanity is being prepared for the incarnation of Ahriman. A swing towards the opposing pole. In contrast to Lucifer, Ahriman is only interested in the physical plane of existence. Whereas Lucifer draws human beings away from earthly embodiment, Ahriman drives the spirit out of the vessel, hardening the human organism into material existence. We see this in the modern Materialist Scientific paradigm, where only what can be measured with the five senses is considered and anything “spiritual” or “metaphysical”, for lack of better terms, is ignored.

Of course, it’s not necessary to believe that these are actual Spiritual Entities that are taking human form. I am of the opinion that no belief in anything should be taken on until a direct experience can prove it as a personal truth and even then we may realize that even greater levels of understanding are possible that challenge or expand upon our previously held beliefs. The importance should always be placed on ascertaining spiritual truths on the experiential level and never through belief in what someone else says. We may glean truths in someone’s words or philosophy but we should always strive towards direct experience and away from blind faith. In terms of Lucifer and Ahriman, we can look at these energies as metaphor that point us towards specific epochs of human spiritual evolution and cognitive development. It’s possible that these “ages” maybe programmed physical manifestations that are beyond our control and are in place as a test. Almost as if existence is part of a much grander scheme of spiritual unfoldment through its interaction with the world of form.

So while Lucifer is flighty and warm, it’s an unstable influence that inspires human fanaticism and false mysticism. We can see this in the egoic spirituality that is all too pervasive in this day and age. It’s apparent in the tendency to want to leave the material realm in search of hallucinatory pleasures. There are many spiritual seekers who become addicted to the experience of the astral realms that are possible through many of the plant medicines out there. This is not a condemnation of these teacher plants because great healing can occur in communion with them, but stepping into those realms too often and without proper protection and guidance is not without peril and can drain you. People who have journeyed into this territory often find that the plants themselves will tell you that you must stop coming to them for answers. That’s why meditation is such a key component to spiritual development and wisdom. It’s the slow and methodical way to gain discernment. By focused, disciplined concentration one can experience what the Buddhists refer to as the jhanas, or The Formless Dimensions. Without proper insight, these dimensions can be confusing, potentially hazardous, and a hindrance to spiritual growth. In the plant medicine experience, we are often launched naked into the jhanas and encounter many fantastic and otherworldly fascinations without the proper context or wisdom. Learned shamans can help to guide the experience but without a daily spiritual practice these experiences can leave one scrambled or worse. Their spirituality can become part of their ego and used to strengthen their sense of self, which is a phenomenon that we’re seeing today where anyone who takes Ayahuasca is suddenly a “light worker” or healer. There’s nothing wrong with being called in that direction but if the ego has not been properly transcended the Luciferic energy can become unbalanced and lead to destructive impulses.

In contrast, Ahriman is cold hard and mechanical. He’s rigid and materialistic. The effect is to reject Spirit in place of the physical, to silence the living principle within in favor of the world of fixed forms. Ahriman promotes the illusory concept that matter is the basic reality. The only reality in fact. It’s Ahriman’s wish that humanity stay asleep and he works on the unconscious population in many ways, one of which is through technological innovation on the material plane. He’s in direct opposition to increased consciousness but vigorously promotes hard intelligence and science. Much of the scientific thought of today is generated toward crushing anything that questions the idea that consciousness is a by product of human evolution instead of the other way around. Ahriman also works in the political sphere as fervent nationalism and identity politics, hardening everyone into boxes that only strengthen the ego’s sense of self and look at any challenge to it as an affront to their survival. I don’t think we need any examples of how this is playing out in today’s culture and political landscape. Ahriman is also interested in promoting the blind acceptance of statistical analysis and this is evident in the explosion of algorithms and reduction of human behavior to the realm of cold data and numbers. The destruction of the Earth as a result of the compulsion towards growth in capitalist dogma is an Ahrimanic impulse as well. In essence, it’s the reduction of human beings to a mechanical cog and the control of all life through microchips and technological manipulation. This is a danger that should be taken seriously because at its core is a fundamental error, which suggests that matter is the ultimate reality devoid of the Creative Principle that animates it.

We are entering this New Ahrimanic Age now and it is coincident with the coming Jupiter/Saturn conjunction on December 21st 2020, also known as a Great Conjunction. It occurs at 0 Degrees of Aquarius, which is highly significant and I believe signals the true beginning of the Age of Aquarius. Aquarius is the sign of the collective but it is also the sign of the future and technology. While Saturn’s passage through here is evident in the social distancing protocols we’re seeing currently, it will be joined by Jupiter, and this combination will expand technological innovation and initiate the Age of the Robots. Mechanical beings, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality will explode during this time and we must stay vigilant so as not to get sucked into the false mysticism of digital transcendence or the hardening of the human vessel into a cyborg. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. We can calculate these epochs of human spiritual evolution through the approximately 2160 year transitions through the signs of the Zodiac. For instance, in the Age of Taurus there were cults that worshiped the bull deity Apis, and when Moses came down with the 10 Commandments he witnessed some of his followers worshipping a golden bull. He instructed his people that these worshippers should be executed and in doing so sacrificed the Bull. This act effectively ended the Age of Taurus and ushered in the Age of Aries, which is why Moses is often depicted as blowing the Rams horn and many other references to this symbolism. Next was the sacrifice of Jesus, the “Fisher of Men”, signaling the change from Aries into Pisces, the two fish. A deeper understanding of the crucifixion and it’s symbolism is needed in order to uncover it’s greater meaning through the context of Astrology and Pagan symbolism, especially as we’re set to enter the Age of Aquarius. The Water Bearer can be the pouring of spiritual waters into every human being for a great Awakening or the Great Flood that sends all the fish out onto the land without the ability to breathe. It could be Chaos and Collapse or Transcendence and Evolution or quite possibly both.

In the Christ impulse we are being shown the Middle Way. The path towards spiritual transcendence lies in holding these conflicting energies of Lucifer and Ahriman in balance, in awakening Spirit through the body, through the world of form. If we look at the symbolism of Christianity, it is clear that most of the mythology has been lifted from previous incarnations of Solar Deities. The Virgin Birth, 12 disciples, and Crucifixion are all in line with nearly 13 previous World Teachers throughout the ages including Zoroaster, Ra, and Buddha. Much of this mythology was appropriated and attributed to Jesus by the Roman Empire in an attempt to fold the remaining Pagan’s into the Roman Catholic doctrine as a way of increasing hegemonic control of the population. In doing so, the true meaning of much of this Pagan Wisdom was lost and a good portion of knowledge pertaining to astrological cycles and the rhythm of nature along with it. If looked at through a different lens, the entire mythology is ripe with astrological significance. It’s been well documented that the historical Jesus was born in April. The reason Christmas is celebrated on December 25th is because that is the day that the Sun “rises again” after being “dead for three days” to move towards ever increasingly light when the days get longer as Spring approaches. The 12 disciples that the Sun travels around with represent the signs of the zodiac. The Three Kings following the Northern Star towards Bethlehem can be seen every year at this time as the stars that make up Orion’s belt, also known as the Three Kings, form a line with Sirius and point to the exact area on the Earth where the Sun will rise on December 25th after it’s descent into darkness. This is not to say that there isn’t Spiritual Wisdom encoded in the mythology but they are shrouded and we shouldn’t confuse it by worshipping human sacrifice.

The cross of the crucifixion can be viewed as the zodiac through which every human being must pass on it’s journey into the physical plane. The image of the tortured Christ is symbolic of the suffering that one must endure by incarnating into the world of form but it also represents the spiritual transcendence that’s possible for every human being through the recognition of the Vertical dimension of Spirit through the Horizontal portal of Time. The Transfiguration of Spirit through the vessel of the Body. This is part of the key to unlocking the Mystery of Golgotha.

The path towards this goal is the destiny of each and every human being and in order to achieve this objective we must learn to hold the energies of Lucifer and Ahriman in equipoise. These influences can be viewed in simpler terms, where Christ Consciousness is simply Awakening to Spirit, and the mishandling and imbalance of Lucifer and Ahriman lead to Sorat, or egoic unconsciousness. In the face of the coming incarnation of Ahriman on the physical plane we must adopt a more objective stance concerning our impulses and a far more subjective one where the external world is concerned. It’s about gaining an understanding of the world of Spirit through the lens of Science. Not giving ourselves up completely to mystical experiences but instead noticing the unfolding of the mystical through the physical. This is essential to our survival as a species on this Earth. It is the pathway toward Gnosis. It’s the doorway into true Spiritual Transcendence.