Jonathan Pageau: The Real Meaning of Lucifer

so by the way spoiler right that is why you can sometimes hear in liturgy when they are singing that verse in the Catholic Church there's a a moment when they sing that verse uh it is referring to Jesus actually and so when you hear the pope praising Lucifer he is of course not praising Satan he is praising Jesus as Lucifer and so you'd say well how is it possible that we use the word Lucifer to talk about the devil but in the New Testament Lucifer the Morning Star the Bright Morning Star is referring to [Music] Jesus this is Jonathan Pedro welcome to the symbolic [Applause] World hello everyone so today we are going to talk about the symbolism of Lucifer and uh this video is prompted by something I saw a while ago where I saw certain Christians certain type of Christians freaking out because they found a video of the pope of Rome praising Lucifer and uh and so they were freaking out because here this proves you know that the Catholic church is a satanic thing uh and so I thought it was it was pretty funny and so it seemed like it could be an excuse to explain the symbolism of Lucifer because it is a good example of one of the aspects of symbolism that I talk about all the time which is that symbolism is structural it is positional and it it is not necessarily moral in itself that is the terms of symbolism occupy certain places in a hierarchy of being and therefore they can be used in multiple ways so Sy symbolism is polysemic that's a complicated word but what it means is that symbolism can mean many things but ultimately those meanings will nonetheless come together uh in a positional way once you understand it that way that that they refer to certain places in the structure of being you could say so that's what we're going to look at and look a little bit about at the origin of the notion of Lucifer and symbolism in the Christian tradition in the Bible um and see what it is that we come up with so before we start I just want to remind you that you know uh there is way there are ways that you can join us on the symbolic world if you go to the symbolic world.com you will find there's a uh Community Tab and you can join the symbolic World either with a free account to join in on our discussions in the community there or you can also support what we're doing uh by becoming a member a paying member where you get a a Q&A every month and also an extra video a month and different discounts on different things that we're doing and some of the things we're doing right now for example is we've got a class by John Veri coming up on the science of of uh the cognitive science of ritual but also a class by Martin Shaw which is on the uh the Christian Wonder Tales which I can't wait to see both of those and finally don't forget that our symbolic World Shop is open and we have a pre-sale for our new fairy tale Jack and the Fallen Giants as well as there are Snow White books and also God's dog books volume one volume two and all the extra stuff that comes with it and so having said all that here we go with the symbolism of Lucifer so in scripture there is a uh there's a text first of all the term Lucifer uh comes from this the appalation of the planet Venus in the sky as it appears uh in the morning and so often not always during the year the planet Venus will appear in the sky before the sunrise and will be very very bright right because the sun is shining on it uh before the sun comes and so it's the Dawn star the Morning Star the bringer of light uh in Greek it has several names phosphorus which means the lightbringer or heosphoros which means the dawnbringer and this is of course what Lucifer means Lucifer means the one who brings the light the lightbringer the light carrier and all of that because it refers to Venus uh in the morning right and so this has brought about uh uh a whole slew of symbolism in scripture but then also in the falling tradition and so of course many times especially in the modern world when we use the word Lucifer what we're referring to is the evil one right the Satan the opposer the opponent um the Challenger and uh and there are reasons why that's the case we'll look at those reasons as well um but Lucifer is also a designation for Christ himself in fact the only place in the New Testament where there is a reference to the Morning Star the Bright Morning Star the is in talking about Christ in in revelation 22 Christ says I am the root of The Offspring of David and the Bright Morning Star so by the way spoiler right that is why you can sometimes hear in liturgy when they are singing that song singing that verse in the Catholic Church there's a a moment when they s that verse uh it is referring to Jesus actually and so when you hear the pope praising Lucifer he is of course not praising Satan he is praising uh he is praising Jesus as Lucifer and so you'd say well how is it possible that we use the word Lucifer to talk about the devil but in the New Testament Lucifer the Morning Star the Bright Morning Star is referring to Jesus and so this of course comes from a text in the book of Isaiah Isaiah 14 where Isaiah is talking about a king of Babylon and is describing this hoty king of Babylon who will fall and so we'll read from it Isaiah 14 how you are fallen from Heaven oh Lucifer son of the morning how you are cut down to the ground you who weaken the Nations for you have said in your heart I will Ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will also sit on the Mount of the congregation on the farthest side of the north I will ascend above the heights of the clouds I will be like the most high yet you shall be brought down to Shale to death to the lowest depth of the pit ah so now you can see where this imagery comes from of course this text is talking about a king of Babylon but you can understand how it's a structural text and you know because of the text in Revelation which describes the Great Dragon that brought that that with its tail gathered all the these stars from heaven and then uh you know Made Them Fall Down to Earth and that rebelled against God by taking these stars and when we talk about stars of course you understand in the symbolic world that the stars are of course the stars in the heaven but they're also images of the Angels or the gods or the the bright beings that are in the heavens that you know that rule over the world and so in the Book of Revelation when it talks about the dragon that gathers these stars and makes them fall into the Earth you you can understand how the church fathers uh you know very early talian origin you know some of the very early uh fathers and then later Augustine um and you know it just became basic tradition to understand that this text in the book of Isaiah referring in collaboration with the book the text in the Book of Revelation is referring to Satan or the evil one as well so it's referring of course to the king of Babylon but it Al also is an image of the satanic the satanic trope right where a being that is important and has Authority will rise try to take the Authority for himself you know and so this is what is being described in the text in Isaiah so you can understand now let's say an aspect of the Morning Star a negative aspect of the Morning Star which is the star comes up in the morning and it appears very very bright in the sky and so it it is a it is something that announces the sun right it is a messenger for the sun because when you see the Morning Star up in the sky you know that the sun is coming so it's a smaller light which is a vessel or a vehicle or a messenger for a larger light you could say that all authority is meant to play that role right and so any Authority in the world at every single level is always there shining brightly right because they are a messenger they are derivative of a higher light that is above them you know that is giving them their light and so without the the general right the Corporal has nothing but the Corporal does shine with a certain amount of light and has a certain amount of authority and power but that Authority and power is derived from the higher power so you can understand that this description of Lucifer is structural but now it can happen that a someone who has Authority someone who has power will try to take that power for themselves and not only take the power for themselves but will try to cause a revolution in the heavens will try to cause a revolution in the hierarchy where they will try to supplant the power from which they get their Authority supplant The Authority from which they get theirs this is of course the Revolutionary Trope it's imaged in so many ways in mythology you know where there is the idea of um of Saturn castrating his father uh Heaven uranos coronos castrating his father but it is also this image of the Dragon of course that opposes heaven and now tries to take the principalities for them so you can imagine now the Morning Star becoming arrogant and thinking that this the the light that it has is only its light and that it has all the light you know and is stronger than the Sun but then it's a form of hub is because of course once the Sun appears Venus disappears right once the Sun appears in the heaven the Morning Star vanishes you can't see it anymore because the sun is too bright and so you can understand how this is also an image of how you know without how can I say this that if a secondary Authority if any being tries to take the authority they have or the power they have for themselves then ultimately they are eclipsed by the thing that causes them right um and so that is of course the negative aspect of the Morning Star but you know there is of course a very positive aspect to the symbolism of Lucifer and of the Morning Star which is this idea of a hierarchy and a kind of fractal participation in the light and so the sun gives its light to the star and now the star shines forth in the name of that light so you can imagine when Christ says something like I do not do my own will but I do the will of the father this is an example of the proper manifestation of Lucifer there is all the light that the son has he receives from the Father the Divinity is received from the father and then is not taken for something in which to raise himself up but is ultimately given out right and is given up to God and is is seen as uh let's say not something that that belongs to him but because of that then he is raised up right and so this is of course again now the image of Lucifer in a positive way because Lucifer because this the star that comes before the dawn uh if it gives its Authority back to the sun if it understands that it is derivative of the sun then what will happen is that it has all its might it has all its Glory it's beautiful because here's this bright bright star in the morning that announces the the Sun and so this is of course why Jesus is described as Lucifer in the Bible because he plays that role because he is he doesn't take his authority for himself on the earth he receives it from the father and is willing to give it up you know uh in order to serve him and so you can see now that the the symbolism of Lucifer is structural where the star appears in the sky very bright and you can see it as you know let's say a der derived Authority but that derived Authority can be good or bad you know I've talked about this before where a good example of this is of course um Aaron in scripture where God chooses Moses and then Moses says I need someone to represent me like I need someone who is in some ways derivative of me who's going to help me manifest myself in the world so God gives Moses Aaron and Aaron is a good example of Lucifer which is that he has the light to some extent because he's the mouthpiece of Aaron in the Scripture it even says God says I will be your God Moses and you will be Aaron's God you know like this hierarchy of of authority and so now uh Aaron is able to speak but the problem with that is that you know when he is SE separated from Moses he's in danger of thinking that he has access to that Authority himself and then that is a it's a it's a beautiful symbolism when Aaron makes a golden calf because on the one hand he seems to forget that he is you know derivative of Moses that he receives his authority from Moses and then through through Moses by from God and so he he kind of revolts against Moses in some ways and tries to take the Authority for himself but then simultaneously what he does is he creates an idol which is a cosmic version of what he's doing himself in regards to Moses and so this is of course the reality of Lucifer the reality of the Morning Star which is that anything that tries to capture Authority for itself anything that tries to have a an existence on its own that's not derivative of a higher participation is in danger of becoming an idol is in danger of becoming an opponent and so so now the derivative Authority the person that is uh you know a derivative of of a higher power now turns its arrogance against the power from which it comes and then becomes an opponent and in that case in the case of Aaron when he makes the golden calf this is what happens to him he becomes an opponent and so and so the the symbolism is structural and you can understand that the symbolism is structural so much that if you notice if you know a little bit about Orthodox hymnography for example you will see that now that we understand this structural thing then we can apply the symbolism of Lucifer to different beings so we can apply the symbolism of Lucifer of course to the opponent to the to the Fallen one because that this is now the case of the Arrogant you know messenger the one who takes it for himself but you can apply it to other people as being the positive messenger the ones who who step forth and shine brightly but pointing to the light uh and so that is why for example we use the term Morning Star to talk about St John the Baptist so St John the Baptist who comes before Christ who announces the coming of the Messiah who announces the coming Christ is called in his athus for example we say rejoice start illumining the path that leadth to unto Christ re Rejoice Morning Star of the never Setting Sun Rejoice worthy lamp of the never waning light Rejoice thou who prepares the way for the approaching Christ Rejoice thou who appears as both Angel and man Rejoice great John Prophet Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord and so you can see right the multiple ways that the image is used is to help us understand because St John walked out in front of Christ you know paved the way for him opened up the doors so that Christ could walk you know could be recognized in the world and was pointing to Christ therefore he is Lucifer he is Lucifer in the right way he is Lucifer in in a way that is not subversive at all but is actually a normal derivation of participation but it's not of course only St John that we've called Lucifer but the mother of Christ herself the thecus is also called Lucifer again in in her aathy we say to the mother of God we say rejoice for you carry him who carries all Rejoice Morning Star who brings forth the sun Rejoice womb of the Divine Incarnation so here again because she is the one who let's say causes the dawn in a not in a Divine way but in a material way she's the one who appears before the dawn and has the sun coming up behind her right and coming uh through her you know like kind of the idea of a rooster that announces the sunrise you know and so now she's also called Lucifer because she is the one who points to Christ and so this is a you know used very well in an image called the deasis where you see Christ on the throne in the center and then to his right you see Mary you see the thecus to his left you see St John the Baptist St John The Foreigner and both of them are pointing to Christ so this is their role both of them playing the role of Lucifer playing the role of a light that points to the true light and so this is of course something that we can use to understand everything about the world everything about reality which is first of all that in symbolism things are structural and so we always have to be careful when someone tells you when someone tells you things like you know the pentagram is evil or the hexagram is evil or you know an upside down cross is evil and the truth is that these symbols have multiple manifestations and if you understand them in the right context then they are positive and then sometimes they are negative and I'm not saying that the term Lucifer is not one which refers to the opponent or the Fallen one of course it is and and know and and in common parlance because it has become um How can I I say this usual to refer to him in that term I think it would be dangerous to just casually you know uh refer to Christ or to the mother of God or to St John as Lucifer because it would cause confusion that's not necessary but when we look at it deeper we need to understand how structural symbolism works and and and how we need to always have the right uh you know we have to be able to discern things properly in order to not be confused and to not be mixed up and also to not say silly stupid things like the pope is worshiping the devil because here he is you know uh singing a himy to Lucifer um and so in the same way this can help us of course understand that everything in the world can be Lucifer right everything that you encounter in the world can be a small light which points you to a higher light either a higher light that's not even God itself God himself right away which is just a higher good that you participate in something that that uh you know makes that thing shine right I've talked about this before right a steering wheel for example is a little Lucifer of a car and so a steering wheel on its own is just a ridiculous object but if it's integrated and it's pointing to the higher light that it's participating in then it can be a small Lucifer for a car and the same thing for the car so a car in itself you know what is it unless it serves a higher good if it helps you bring your child to the hospital if it helps carry you to work or carry you to church or help you see your friends then it can be a a Lucifer for a higher good a higher participation and so this is of course you know a good way to understand how symbolism works but then also even how the symbolism of the morning star and the bright star which points to or precedes the higher light or the bigger light uh is actually an image of symbolism itself and uh and as we move forward we can of course course can help us to not be naive and to not say silly things when we talk about symbolism and so I hope this has been useful and just to help you see one of the biggest Lucifers let's say in scripture in the New Testament and one which is related to the double symbolism of both the messenger or the the one who's derivative of a higher power but then can also become an opponent is of course the symbolism of St Peter and uh and then we'll look at that the double symbolism of St Peter in uh in my next uh interpretation of symbolism there's also another mystery about this whole image of the morning star or Lucifer of Venus rising up in the sky and this is related to the fact that in fact Venus is sometimes during the year the Morning Star but then sometimes during the year is the evening star and there is also a movement of Venus in the heavens uh in which it it it retrogrades right which is that it it moves in a certain direction you know and then at some point during the year it starts to move in the opposite direction and uh you know this is related to the symbolism of Lucifer very much so you can understand that when Venus is the evening star it shines brightly After the Sunset and so you see it appearing shining brightly After the Sunset and when Venus is the Morning Star you see it shining brightly before the Sunset so this is of course a good example of understanding the relationship between Venus and the Sun and also the relationship of different authorities and so this I take from someone named Tom Bri which you can look up if you're interested he is someone who's quite good at architectural symbolism and and Cosmic symbolism as well uh but he gave me this Insight which is that so you can understand the Venus the morning star and evening star as both one that comes up before the sun or one that comes down you know in the evening comes down after the Sun and so these two aspects of Venus and uh going up and going down right so you could understand it for example as rising up into heaven or then falling down into the underworld right so these would be the two aspects of this star where on the one hand it rises up and on the other hand it goes down and you know his Insight which was wonderful is that when you think of of the opponent or the evil one and you think of Christ what you see are are the same symbolism but in the opposite uh direction that is or flipped one flips the symbolism of the other which is that Christ is the one that is willing to descend into hell descend into death willfully right give up in that way and because he's willing to do that then he is actually raised up and made the highest right and becomes the the the the highest thing and that's how it's described in gospel and in St Paul right that because he gave up and because he was able willing to empty himself therefore it's it's fine that he is now raised up because he's not in danger of becoming a becoming a kind of Luci an opponent character right he he is the son of the father in every way and does the will of his father but the devil right the the opponent the Satan the the uh the evil one you know he does the opposite move which is that he raises himself up and because he raises himself up he's cast down into hell and into Hades right if you look at the mythology of the devil right he's thrown down into Hades and so it's really interesting because you can apply that of course again to any form of authority you know that is that if you are humble and you you play your role in the best way you can and you you give up you know the authority to the to the reason why you're there in the first place then you will be raised up but if you raise yourself up then you'll be cast down Christ says that all the time right he says when you go somewhere sit in the back you know and then if you're willing to sit in the back then you'll be recognized if you're if you're good like if if you're someone who's actually shining then you'll be recognized by the people and you'll be asked to come to the front but if you come and you boast and you and you you try to take it all on yourself then you are in constant danger of fall and of being thrown back into the back uh and so that's another example of how the symbolism of the morning star and the symbolism of Venus is very complex and subtle so thank you everybody for your time thank you for your support and talk to you very soon