Ethics, safety and mental health

Your goal in this lesson: to set up a practice, or a study, that keeps you safe, free and well.

When the name carries fear

Many people come to Lucifer after leaving a church, or while still inside one. Some grew up hearing that the Devil was close, watching and ready to take anyone who strayed, or that doubts, music or friendships were Satanic. If that is your history, the name may set off a deep, bodily fear even if you no longer believe what you were taught. That is normal. Go slowly, and consider talking with a counselor who understands religious backgrounds.

Others come because the name promises power. That risk is real too. A practice that inflates you, cuts you off from people or makes you feel above ordinary rules is not giving you light.

Why I do not teach pacts

Online you will find instructions for pacts with Lucifer: written contracts, sometimes signed in blood, promising loyalty in exchange for power, money, love or success. Some are modern. Some are drawn from the Grand Grimoire, a French grimoire whose surviving editions are usually dated from the eighteenth to the early nineteenth century. I do not teach them, for two reasons.

• They are not ancient. The pact is a product of medieval and early modern Christian demonology and witch-trial fantasy, as you saw in lesson 4.
• They promise what no one can deliver. No ritual can truthfully guarantee wealth, love or power. A practice framed as a deal sets you up to feel either cheated or bound.

Never cut yourself or use blood in any practice.

Signs to stop

Stop practicing and talk to someone if:

• you are not sleeping, or your sleep is full of frightening dreams that do not ease;
• you feel watched, followed or persecuted;
• you hear voices or see things others do not, especially if they frighten or command you;
• you feel more isolated, angry or hopeless than before you began;
• you feel pressure to harm yourself or others;
• your practice is taking money, time or energy you need for daily life.

An ethics of autonomy

Modern Modern Luciferians often speak of light, knowledge and autonomy. A mature ethics of autonomy includes:

• Responsibility. If you make your own choices, you own their results.
• Consent. Other people have the same right to self-rule you do. You do not manipulate them.
• Honesty with yourself. You cannot rule a self you refuse to see.
• Commitment. Freedom includes the freedom to keep promises.
• Humility. Autonomy includes knowing when to ask for help.

These ideas fit well with the wider witchcraft ethics on this site.

Try this

Today’s exercise: write down three things you would want from a Lucifer practice, and three limits you will keep no matter what. Put the page somewhere you will see it.

Quick recap

• Religious fear around the name is common and deserves care.
• Pacts come from early modern demonology and promise the impossible.
• Stop and seek support if practice brings fear, voices or isolation.
• Autonomy means responsibility, consent, honesty, commitment and humility.

Keep going

Press “Mark as done” and continue with the last lesson, Lucifer as symbol.

Need a refresher? Go back to Occultism and modern Luciferianism or see the whole course.

Sources

• The Grand Grimoire (French, editions usually dated eighteenth to early nineteenth century).
• Ruben van Luijk, Children of Lucifer: The Origins of Modern Religious Satanism (Oxford University Press, 2016).
• Plato, Republic, book 7.

Go deeper: the Lucifer pages on this site

Mark as done