Understanding Satan, (he’s really a nice guy!)

Acharya S says that:

“The word "devil" comes from the Sanskrit/Hindi word "deva," which refers to the good angels of the Hindu pantheon. The root of both "devil" and "deva" means "divine." It was only after Zoroaster and the Persians conquered Hindu territory that they felt compelled to make the Hindu gods into devils! Thus, the Hindu devas became the Persians devils. As Rev. George Cox says, in Mythology of the Aryan Nations (Longmans, 1870, pp. 355, 363):

"The Devas of the [Hindu] Veda are the bright gods who fight on the side of Indra; in the [Zoroastrian] Avesta the word has come to mean an evil spirit, and the Zoroastrian was bound to declare that he ceased to be a worshipper of the daevas...

"...the word devil passed into an immense number of forms, the Gothic tieval, diuval, diufal, the Icelandic djofull, Swedish djevful, all of them, together with the Italian, French, and Spanish forms carrying back the word diaboloV [diabolos] to the same root which furnished the Latin Divus, Djovis, and the Sanskrit deva.”

(Note here to Europeans, {I get this a lot}, language has been updated and changed quite a bit from the thousand years ago this word was changed, so the words will not still have the same renderings.)

"The exalted "Devil" (also the "other" secret Eye) by the formula of the Initiation of Horus elsewhere described in detail. This "Devil" is called Satan or Shaitan, and regarded with horror by people who are ignorant of his formula, and, imagining themselves to be evil, accuse Nature herself of their own phantasmal crime. Satan is Saturn, Set, Abrasax, Adad, Adonis, Attis, Adam, Adonai, etc. The most serious charge against him is that he is the Sun in the South. The Ancient Initiates, dwelling as they did in lands whose blood was the water of the Nile or the Euphrates, connected the South with life-withering heat, and cursed that quarter where the solar darts were deadliest.

Even in the legend of Hiram, it is at high noon that he is stricken down and slain. Capricornus is moreover the sign which the sun enters when he reaches his extreme Southern declination at the Winter Solstice, the season of the death of vegetation, for the folk of the Northern hemisphere. This gave them a second cause for cursing the south. A third; the tyranny of hot, dry, poisonous winds; the menace of deserts or oceans dreadful because mysterious and impassable; these also were connected in their minds with the South. But to us, aware of astronomical facts, this antagonism to the South is a silly superstition which the accidents of their local conditions suggested to our animistic ancestors. We see no enmity between Right and Left, Up and Down, and similar pairs of opposites. These antitheses are real only as a statement of relation; they are the conventions of an arbitrary device for representing our ideas in a pluralistic symbolism based on duality. 'Good' must be defined in terms of human ideals and instincts. 'East' has no meaning except with reference to the earth's internal affairs; as an absolute direction in space it changes a degree every four minutes. 'Up' is the same for no two men, unless one chance to be in the line joining the other with the centre of the earth. 'Hard' is the private opinion of our muscles.

'True' is an utterly unintelligible epithet which has proved refractory to the analysis of our ablest philosophers. We have therefore no scruple in restoring the 'devil-worship' of such ideas as those which the laws of sound, and the phenomena of speech and hearing, compel us to connect with the group of 'Gods' whose names are based upon Sht, or D, vocalized by the free breath A. For these Names imply the qualities of courage, frankness, energy, pride, power and triumph; they are the words which express the creative and paternal will.

Thus 'the Devil' is Capricornus, the Goat who leaps upon the loftiest mountains, the Godhead which, if it become manifest in man, makes him Aegipan, the All.

The Sun enters this sign when he turns to renew the year in the North. He is also the vowel O, proper to roar, to boom, and to command, being a forcible breath controlled by the firm circle of the mouth.

He is the Open Eye of the exalted Sun, before whom all shadows flee away: also that Secret Eye which makes an image of its God, the Light, and gives it power to utter oracles, enlightening the mind.

Thus, he is Man made God, exalted, eager; he has come consciously to his full stature, and so is ready to set out on his journey to redeem the world." [Source: Aleister Crowley, "Magick in Theory and Practice," Chapter V.]

In the mental art of “scapegoating”, feelings of guilt, aggression, blame, and suffering; are transferred away from a person or group, so as to fulfill an unconscious drive to resolve or avoid such bad feelings. It’s a ego-defensive rationale vehicle, used to “shield” the person scapegoating. This is done by the displacement of responsibility and blame to another person, group, or in this case, “thing”, who serves as a target for blame both for the scapegoater and his supporters. The scapegoating process can be understood as an example of the Drama Triangle concept [Karpman, 1968].

(The Drama Triangle concept consists of the three sides of the triangle, which represent the dysfunctional family. It has the aggressor on one side, the victim on another, and the rescuer on the third. The rescuer can be divided into two different aspect--the negative part which encourages the aggressor silently, by not acting, or by enabling them, and the positive part, which tries to get help for the members of the family.)

The perpetrator's drive to displace and transfer responsibility away from him/herself may not be experienced with full consciousness, the key figure in this equation is their own self-deception and denial. The target's knowledge that he is being scapegoated builds slowly, and follows events. The scapegoater's target experiences exclusion, ostracism, or even expulsion.

In so far as the process is unconscious, it is more likely to be denied by the perpetrator. In such cases, any bad feelings, such as the perpetrator's own shame and guilt, are also likely to be denied. Scapegoating frees the perpetrator from some self-dissatisfaction and provides some narcissistic gratification to him/hwe. It enables the self-righteous discharge of aggression. Scapegoaters tend to have extra-punitive characteristics [Kraupl-Taylor, 1953].

Scapegoating also can be seen as the perpetrator's defense mechanism against unacceptable emotions such as hostility and guilt. In Kleinian terms, scapegoating is an example of projective identification, with the primitive intent of splitting: separating the good from the bad [Scheidlinger, 1982]. On another view, scapegoaters are insecure people driven to raise their own status by lowering the status of their target. [Carter, 1996].

To understand all these key psychodynamic processes, we must consider how we identify and perceive our enemies. A first step is marginalization, the processes whereby targeted individuals or groups are pictured (in the sense of being framed) as outside the circle of wholesome mainstream society. They are no longer as part of the “Acceptable group”, but are now the “outsiders” the “loners”. The next step is objectification or dehumanization, the process of negatively labeling a person or group of people so they become perceived more as objects rather than real people. Dehumanization often is associated with the belief that a particular group of people are inferior or threatening. The final step is demonization, the person or group is seen as totally malevolent, sinful, and evil. It is easier to rationalize stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, and even violence against those who are dehumanized or demonized. (The US has done this trick for a few hundred years in all our war time efforts. That’s why racial slurs get so popular during wars.)

Aho observes that our notions of the enemy "in our everyday life world," is that the "enemy's presence in our midst is a pathology of the social organism serious enough to require the most far-reaching remedies: quarantine, political excision, or, to use a particularly revealing, expression, liquidation and expulsion."

So, the basic conclusion is this. If you go around blaming the devil, and demons, and other little invisible things for all your problems, seek immediate psychiatric/psychological help.

(Sources:

A. Kohut, Angelologie uwd Ddmonologie in ihrer Abhdngigkeit vom Parsiamus, in Abhandlungen fiir die Kunde des Morpenlandes, iv., 1866;

B. W. Baudissin, Studien zur semitischen Religionegeschichte, i. 110-146, Leipsic, 1876;

C. P. Scholtz, G6tzerulienat and Zauberwesen, pp. 133-137, Regensburg, 1877;

D. J. T. de Visser, De Daemonologie van hot O. T., pp. 80-83, Utrecht, 1880;

E. H. Schultz, O. T. Theology, London, 1892;

F. R. Stubs, Jiidi9ch-bmbylonische Zaubertexte, Halle, 1895;

G. W. R. Newbold, Demon Possession and Allied Themes, in New World, Sept,, 1897;

H. E. Stave, Ueber den Ein;duss des Paraismus auf das Judentum, pp. 235-280, Haarlem, 1898;

I. Smith, Rol. of Sem., pp. 119-120;

J. DB, i. 590-594; EB, i. 10691074; JE, iv. 514-521.

K. On Lilith consult: J. A. Eisenmenger, Entdecktes Judentum, ii. 413 sqq., Frankfort, 1700;

L. W. Gesenius, Jesaia, i. 916-920, Leipsic, 1821. On ethnic demonology consult: F. Lenormant, La Magie chez les Chaldeens, Paris, 1874; J. Wellhausen, Heiden^ tum, pp. 151 sqq.; J. L. Nevins, Demon Possession and Allied Themes, New York, 1895; E. B. Tylor, Primitive Culture, London, 1903.

A Dictionary of Angels, by Gustav Davidson, Copyright 1967 Gustav Davidson.

Scott Bidstrup’s Essay, “The Bible and Christianity - the Real Origins

New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. III: Chamier - Draendorf

William Tozier: “Demonology”

Julie Alvarex Professor Spaeth, “Ancient Daemonology and the Question of Evil”

Anshen, R. N. 1972. “Anatomy of Evil” Mt. Kisco, N.Y.

Brenk, F. 1986. "In the Light of the Moon: Demonology in the Early Imperial Period," ANRW 2.16.3: 2068-2145.

Brown, P. 1972. “Religion and Society in the Age of St. Augustine”. London.

Carus, P. 1900. “The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day” London.

Forsyth, N. 1987. “The Old Enemy: Satan and the Combat Myth.” Princeton.

Luck, G. 1985. “Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds.” Baltimore and London.

Neusner, J., Frerichs, E.S., and Flesher, P.V. 1989. “Religion, Science, and Magic: In Concert and In Conflict. New York and Oxford.”

Pagels, E. 1995. “The Origin of Satan” New York.

Papini, G. 1954. “The Devil” New York.

Rudwin, M. 1959. “The Devil in Legend and Literature”. La Salle, I.L.

Russell, J. B. 1977. “The Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity” Ithaca, N.Y.

- - -. 1984. Lucifer: “The Devil in the Middle Ages” Ithaca, N.Y.

- - -. 1986. Mephistopheles: “The Devil in the Modern World” Ithaca, N.Y.

- - -. 1988. “The Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History” Ithaca, N.Y.

Saggs, H.W.F. 1962. “The Greatness That Was Babylon” London.

Smith, J.Z. 1978. "Towards Interpreting Demonic Powers in Hellenistic and Roman Antiquity," ANRW 2.16.1: 425-39.

"The Anchor Bible Dictionary" Vol. 4 DoubleDay 1992

Cross, RM 1973 "Canaanite Myth and Hebrew Epic" Harvard University Press:

Cambridge, Massachusettes and London, England

Paul Haupt, "Der Name Jahweh," OLZ (1909), cols. 211-214

Albright, W.F. 1990 "Yahweh and the gods of Canaan," Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns

Emerton, J.A. (1958) "The Origin of the Son of Man Imagery," JThS.9

Gray, John "The Canaanites" Fredrick A. Praeger Publishers New York & Washington 1964)

Enos Benset’s essay

“The God Set” by Setnakt

Carter, C. A: Kenneth Burke and the Scapegoat Process. Norman, USA, 1996.

Collins, S: Step-parents and Their Children. London, 1988. p134+

Colman, A.D: Up from Scapegoating. Illinois, USA, 1995.

Douglas, T: Scapegoats: Transferring Blame. London 1995

Engle, P: Mimesis and the Scapegoat

Frazer, J.G: The Golden Bough [vol. 5]. London, 1913

Girard, R: The Scapegoat. USA, 1986

Karpman, S.B: Fairy Tales and Script Drama Analysis. In: Transactional Analysis Bulletin VII no.26, 1968. p39-43.

Kraupl-Taylor, F & Rey, T. H: The Scapegoat Motif [etc]. Int. J. Psychoanalysis 34, 1953. p253-264.

Lewis, D: Loving and Loathing. London, 1985. p23+

Perera, S.B: The Scapegoat Complex. Toronto, 1986