The Devil (theology)

"Better to rule in Hell than serve in Heaven"

- Satan

"All these and more will be yours if you bow down and worship me."

- Satan

Satan is regarded by the Church and various religious groups as the supreme overlord of the hierarchy of Hell or alternatively as a living embodiment of evil whose power is second only to that of God and faith - although Satan is a Christian concept almost all orthodox religions have an evil godlike (or semi-godlike) figure that can be said to be connected to Satan in their mannerism and purpose.

To some Satan is almost all-powerful while others limit his power to only corrupting mankind - some religions do not regard Satan as pure evil and instead believe he is granted the ability to corrupt humanity in order to test faith - though in the popular mind Satan will always embody raw evil and demonic possession.

Origins of Satan
Satan was originally called Lucifer - which means light-bringer. He was a Seraphim (angel) in heaven. Eventually, he grew jealous of God's power and attempted to overthrow him, gathering up legions of followers and revolting against God. He was defeated by Michael the Archangel and cast into Hell as punishment... it is said that on the Day Of Judgement Satan shall rise to power again and lead another war against Heaven, this time he and his followers will be cast down by God himself and sent to a lake of burning fire (Hell) as an eternal punishment for their many sins.

In Islamic belief Satan is refered to as Iblis and did not rebel against God out of a jealousy of the Creator's power but rather out of contempt for mankind - who God created and had his other creations bow down to: Iblis refused to bow to mankind and was thus banished from Paradise and given only the power to corrupt humans until the day God would return to pass judgement on the world.

In the Old Testament, he is simply an angel referred to as ha-Satan, or the Adversary. It is important to note that he was viewed as the enemy of man, not God. He was one of God's closest angelic advisors. The Satan's job was to tempt man away from God's law. This was intended as a means of testing man's righteousness.

Description of Satan
A description of Satan is found in the Old Testament. Ezekial 28:12-19

"...You were the perfection of wisdom and beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone – red carnelian, chrysolite, white moonstone, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald – all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created. I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. Your great wealth filled you with violence, and you sinned. So I banished you from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire. Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings. You defiled your sanctuaries with your many sins and your dishonest trade. So I brought fire from within you, and it consumed you. I let it burn you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching. All who knew you are appalled at your fate. You have come to a terrible end, and you are no more."

In popular culture Satan is depicted as a red-skinned humanoid with the legs of a goat, similiar in many ways to the Roman god Pan, he varies from having bat-like wings or none at all and tends to have a long tail with a forked end - his weapon of choice tends to be a pitchfork and he is always seen tending to the fires of hell or tempting some poor soul: an adept shape-shifter Satan is said to take on any form he pleases in order to tempt people but the satyr form (known as a Devil) remains one of his most famous personas.

Satan is also frequently confused with Baphomet, a goat-headed demon strongly associated with black magic and due to this the two beings often merge - this is also the case of many of Satan's alter-egos, such as Beelzebub (lord the flies) or Baal - many of Satan's alter-egoes are based on ancient fertility gods or pagan deities that the early church viewed as evil and thus added into an infernal hierarchy of demons with Satan as their lord and master: over the centuries however demonology became less popular and the infernal hierarchy concept faded away (though some still believe in it).

Symbolism
Satan is the embodiment of pure evil. In the story of Adam and Eve, Satan is represented as a serpent. He tricks Eve into eating the forbidden fruit through deception and manipulation. It is said that sin is caused by temptation, which, in turn is caused by Satan. Thus, Satan was responsible for mankind's first sin.

Satan also embodies the darker parts of humanity that most civilised people frown upon: things such as violence, lust and a lack of faith - a reminder of the more animalistic (or savage) origins that humans may of had and the fear that without proper guidelines (such as the Biblical Commandments or modern law) we would return to such savage behaviour (a good example of this thought is seen in the story The Lord Of The Flies).

Role in Heaven
Before his fall, Satan held the position of Accuser, which was a position much like a prosecuter in modern human courts - he was also seen as one of God's most beloved angels in many texts yet became his most powerful and recurring opponent following his Fall.

Satanism
Throughout history, there have been many people who worshipped Satan. Long ago, a segment of the Catholic Church, called the Inquisition, searched for Witches, who they believed worshipped Satan. During this time, many people were falsely accused of witchcraft, leading them to be brutally tortured by the Inquisition. Nowadays, Satan worshippers are called Satanists.

(It is worth noting however that technically Satanism is not the actual worship of Satan - unless it is what is referred to as Theological Satanism, societies such as the Church of Satan are not practitioners of Theological Satanism and instead embrace a more humanistic (albeit selfish) philosophy that doesn't worship any external deity or demon, rather seeing individuals as their own gods - Theological Satanism is rare but does exist, though it is often confused with many other philosophies known as the Left-Hand Path)

Alternate Names
Satan, like the concept of evil he embodies, takes many forms and has also taken many names: most of Satan's alter-egoes can be traced either to ancient fertility-gods that were demonised by the early church or high-ranking demons that have gradually become interwinned with the legend of Satan and become more renown as a part of Satan himself, some of his more well-known names are:

Lucifer, Beelzebub, Prince Of Darkness, Lord Of Illusion, Prince Of Lies, the Serpent, Nicholas Scratch, the Devil, the Beast, Pazuzu, Moloch and Baal.

The Inferno
In Dante Alighieri's epic poem, The Inferno, Satan is trapped in Cocytus, the ninth and final circle of Hell; the circle reserved for the treacherous and traitorous. He is depicted with three heads, in a mockery of the Holy Trinity (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit), and each head is chewing on a dead soul. Within Satan's left and right mouths feet-first are Brutus and Cassius, the murderers of Julius Caesar. In the middle mouth head-first is Judas Iscariot, betrayer of Jesus Christ. He suffers the worst torment of all, having his head chewed and back raked by Satan's claws for all eternity.

Satan himself is trapped waist-deep in a sheet of ice. His wings beat in an eternal struggle to escape his frigid prison, yet the winds that his wings create only ensures that he is trapped further along with every other soul in Cocytus. Vergil and Dante escape Cocytus by climbing down Satan's fur through the center of the world, and reemerging at the mount of Purgatory.

In Popular Culture
Satan is the chief antagonist of innumerable television shows, movies, videogames and novels - though he is often renamed and his religious origins toned down out of the great controversy his very name can inspire in certain groups: however some people have deliberately played on Satan's ability to stir up controversy and added him into their work for that purpose: many Metal groups use Satanic imagery as a way of sparking controversy and seeming rebelious, though very few of them are truly Satanists and only play the part for their audiences.

Some notable films, novels and other media that has Satan as the chief antagonist are:


 * Devil's Advocate


 * Reaper


 * The Collector


 * The Exorcist (technically Pazuzu is the antagonist but Satan was referenced many times)


 * Dante's Inferno (not an antagonist perse but is described in detail along with his kingdom, Hell)


 * Rosemary's Baby


 * The Omen (technically the Antichrist.. but the two are similiar beings)


 * Bedazzled


 * The Robot Devil (or Beelzebot) from the popular animated series, Futurama.

In Folklore
the Devil is a popular figure in folklore and has appeared in countless legends around the world, a folk Devil is often more of a trickster than a malevolent embodiment of pure evil but at the same time is often seeking the souls of unfortunate mortals via trickery: many haunted places in the world are said to have connections with Satan or the Devil and some areas are even named after him - a famous example of Satan in folklore is the Jersey Devil (said to have been created when a woman yelled out "let it be the Devil!" when pregnant with a baby, to her surprise she got her wish).