The Devil: Real or Imagined?

As a child, I went to Sunday school to learn about the love and grace of God and the first thing I was taught was about the evil and power of the devil. Wow-!! Talk about a scary concept! The visual and conceptual idea of the devil can have a huge impact on a persons mind, especially if you are a child. I truly believed in all that I was told by the great ordained ministers who stood at the alter and spoke with divine authority. Orating on how Heaven and Hell represents our eternal salvation or damnation. Speaking on how God and the devil is the ultimate parable of our battle between good and evil.

Each of these spiritual entities are constantly fighting over possession of our souls to claim us in their own separate versions of eternity; Heaven and Hell. During my religious instruction I was led to believe that just as God is always with us in our hearts, the devil was also constantly around us trying to lead us astray. That we have to remain vigilant and aware at all times and that life would be a never ending battle of resisting the temptations that the dark side of life has to offer. For that is the lure of the devil and the road to sin.

I vividly remember the Sunday school classes we had on this subject and recall the story I was told of how the devil came into being. According to my Sunday school teacher, the devil was originally an angel in Gods personal army, named Lucifer. Now more commonly known as the “fallen angel”. As the story goes, over time Lucifer became increasingly consumed by his jealousy of God and lusted after His great power and total control. Eventually the situation came to a head and a great war ensued in Heaven and (now here is where I was taught two different versions depending on the church I attended) the fight for control of the ultimate power of Heaven was fought between Lucifer and archangel Michael, OR Lucifer and God. Either way, the battle was on and as the church teaches us, the good and pure of heart always prevails over evil in the end. So, of course God’s side won. Was there ever any doubt?

As a result of the defeat, the saga continues that Lucifer was then cast from Heaven down to earth. Banished from Gods perfect realm of existence for all eternity. In some versions I was told he was tossed out alone and in others I was told he had a legion of angels cast out with him ~ his supporters. Thus creating earth as the new battle ground for the ultimate struggle of good versus evil.

As I got older (and wiser) I decided to research the history of the devil and find out what the real version of the story should be. What I discovered was far more shocking then I ever could have imagined and it changed my views forever. The phrase that began my quest for the truth was; The devil was cast down to earth. Therefore re-enforcing that Earth must be hell. It does not say he was not cast to a different realm, vibration or level such as Heaven exists on, he was cast to earth. When you think about it, hell on earth, that is what life is like here. Especially with this thick fog of negativity that blankets our atmosphere like the foreboding mushroom cloud of an atom bomb. How could a place like this not be hell for the enlightened spiritual souls that we really are? How can we possibly find love and beauty in a place like this? Unless… that is the test.

I searched through the bible to find any reference to the devil and found a biblical version I had never heard in church. In the King James version of the bible, Revelations 12: 5 a description of the devil is written:

Rev 12:5 And there appeared another wonder in Heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads.

Revelations 12: 7-9, describes the war fought between the Devil and archangel Michael:

Rev 12:7 And there was a war in Heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.

Rev 12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found anymore in Heaven

Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

This was a far different version then I had ever heard before. I’m sure I would have remembered a seven headed dragon if I was told about one. No where else in the bible could I find any other reference to the story of the devil. Of course then I had to wonder, if this was the only reference to the devil and the bible states that the devil was a seven headed dragon, why was I led to believe he was almost human in qualities? We all know what the image of the devil is suppose to look like. A man-beast with cloven hooves, long pointed tail, horns growing from his head, walks upright and carries a trident with a somewhat sunburnt complexion, so what happened here? How, why and when did he change in appearance?

Through further research I learned that the persona of the devil was altered for a very specific reason. He was given an added human essence because mankind could be more easily manipulated, tempted, confused, and corrupted by a human-like image that we can more easily relate too ~ rather than a beastly one we fear. As for who altered the image, all I can say is that it is the church who is responsible for telling us these stories. But why? Why would they do this? Unfortunately the reason has nothing what so ever to do with God or the truth. It has to do with the greatest downfall of man ~ corruption and the pitiful human qualities that desires greed, power, and control.

2000 years ago when Christianity was still in its infancy, organized religion and the governing powers were partners in control that walked hand in hand with one another. The religion that was popular and accepted was the one the governing rulers chose to believe at the time. The people were often given little choice but to comply and conform to the state religion of choice. Eventually Christianity had its turn and the leaders of the church were waiting for their rise to power. They knew the best way to control the masses, otherwise known as their congregations, was through fear and to this day fear is the motivating factor behind Christianity. We are told to fear God, fear the devil, fear hell… we are told to fear all the time.

Not only was the devil introduced to make the people too afraid to leave the church for fear of retribution, but his personal powers were leveled up as well. Although Lucifer was said to be defeated by Michael, and would have absolutely no chance against God himself, he still seems to have been given powers of equal or greater strength then Gods. For just as God created Heaven and earth, they say the devil created hell. Just as God can hear all of our thoughts and know each one of us individually, they say the devil can too. Just as God can have power and influence over our mortal and spiritual selves, so can the devil. Or at least, so the would have us believe.

It has come to be my opinion that beyond the vast and active imagination of man, demons and the devil simply do not exist as actual viable entities. However, demons are very real to us and it is because we think they are real that we make them real. They definitely do live and exist in the corners of our minds ~ one of the darkest and scariest place of all. And although there is no actual, physical devil, evil undeniably does abound on this earth. Not to claim our souls, but to teach us lessons.

This evil that dwells on earth comes to us in the form of Black souls. To be perfectly clear up front; a black soul has absolutely nothing to do with a persons skin color. It refers directly to the color of their souls which are black, completely void of light and they truly are dark, vile, evil people with no sense of love, compassion or remorse. Yes, they can and do make your life a living nightmare if you let them ~ hell on earth ~ so to speak, but they can never ever change the color of your soul. Always remember; “A soul with no light can never extinguish yours”.

Another disturbing question I had concerning the story of Lucifer derived from the theory that a battle or war could feasibly be fought in Heaven over power. Heaven, or as I like to call it, the Other Side, is a perfect atmosphere of love, peace and harmony. Something, we as humans can not completely grasp the reality of. An existence of no negativity? Hard to imagine isn’t it? When the simple fact of the matter is, understand it or not, the negative side of the human experience simply does not exist on the Other Side in any way, shape or form. To imply that such divine entities like God and angels could possibly be capable of embracing such negative qualities is simply irrational and unreasonable. These divine beings are too spiritually evolved and perfected in Gods image. Far beyond the comprehension of mans limited mind. Divine spiritual beings cannot be humanized in any way no matter how hard we may try.

Negativity is exclusively an earthly experience only human beings must endure and learn to overcome. It is the main reason we are born on earth in the first place, for the experience of it and the lessons we can learn from life. If we could learn about negativity on the Other Side, why would we even choose to come here at all? For me, life on earth is hell and with the exception of the black souls (who eternally immediately reincarnate back into life after each death without ever seeing the Other Side at all) we are all accepted back Home with open arms when we return again. What we take with us from life’s journey is the education we received in our mortal life and the big question will be; did we accomplish what we came here to learn?

Don’t let the human fear of the devil stand between you and your God. Realize that an all loving God would never let any of His children down despite what they may or may not believe. That is the purpose of our gift of free will ~ given to us by God ~ to make our own choices that suit our individual spiritual needs.

Now, please try to keep an open mind and use reasonable and rational thinking when you process this information. Then decide for yourself, research for yourself, and believe what you heart tells you is right for you. For I have to tell you that once I came to realize that the devil is not real, my relationship with God has changed forever. I realized that God was and is all loving and NOT to be feared. I realized the answers we seek may not always be found where we expect to find them I learned there is no retribution or punishment for going our own way to find our personal connection to God. And through these non-restrictions of fear, I found the peace and comfort of the pure unconditional white light of love God has for us all. I pray you find it too.