The Order Of Phosphorus And The Church Of Adversarial Light

In my spiritual studies, I've stumbled upon an organization that deeply interests me. They are The Order of Phosphorus and the affiliated Church of Adversarial Light. I can definitely see some aspects of this organization that deeply appeal to me and my current spiritual "vibe."

The Order and Church call themselves "Luciferian." They chose that name as it has some tradition behind it as a religious and magical practice devoted to Lucifer as the bringer of light to humanity, a Promethean figure, the Serpent in the Garden, giving mankind wisdom and knowledge against the orders of an unjust God. They identify with all such figures in the history of religion, whether it is Satan, Lilith, Set, Tiamat, Azazel, Ahriman, the list goes on.  Hence the Church being of the "Adversarial Light." The Adversary throughout religious history is their inspiration, being seen as the being or force inside humanity that drives mankind towards individuality, wisdom, rebelliousness against orthodoxy. It uses many Luciferian or Satanic symbols but calls people to learn about other religions and mythologies to gain insight into the Adversarial Light in all its guises. They believe also that this light can sometimes come cloaked in darkness, something I have experienced personally many many times.

The Order contains both atheists and theists. It does not direct you to believe in any God or Goddess as real or not, it lets you make up your own mind. I personally believe there is some kind of divine energy in the universe, in the Void I speak of, somewhere within us as well. But the Order is all about self-empowerment, whether you believe in a deity or not. The use of magic, frequently chaos styled magic (which suits me perfectly) is performed in the quest for this self-empowerment. I have not read much on their magical practices so I can't comment in depth on how I see that fitting into my own spiritual practices. You are charged with finding the divine within, the divine adversary, the divine non-conformist, the divine you that we all contain.

As this path is about improving the self and about being unrestricted by the moral codes of any God, it is considered a Left Hand Path. As opposed to a Right Hand Path, which generally thinks a great deal about doing good for others and frequently pays a great deal of heed to moral codes. I believe, however, that Left Hand Paths are mostly in agreement that one should not take the directive to focus on self-improvement as being a directive to be a jerk to your loved ones or treat people like garbage for no reason or act arrogant beyond one's abilities to back it up. It's more about self-confidence, building a better self. And a better self will better help your loved ones. And, since we're all inter-connected anyway, it will probably help other people as well.

It seems blasphemous or ridiculous to most people in Western Civilization to consider oneself on the path to becoming a God or Goddess.  Either they believe that there is a divine order in this universe and that we are subservient to it or they believe there is no divine order including within humans. A Luciferian would view it differently. While not believing in the exact details of the Judeo-Christian Creation story, they give some credence to the words of the serpent who promised that eating of the fruit of the tree would make one like to God Himself. And they believe that this adversarial spirit has kept this promise and given us all something of the Godly within and that it is our prerogative, actually, our DUTY, to discover this and grow it to its maximum potential. The atheistic in the Order still believe that they are themselves Earthly Gods and Goddesses. And the theists believe they are the equals of any Gods, Goddesses or Spirits they may believe in. There is no groveling before a Supreme Being. There is no threat of punishment. There is only freedom and living as yourself and the quest to gain more insight.

The Adversarial Light. I've felt it my whole life. It was with me when I was a child and had unlimited imagination and creativity. It was with me later when I began to doubt Christianity and every other form of major religion. Why so many rules? Why the demands for faith? Why the need to impress upon us a fear of suffering after this life unless we obeyed? The Serpent has long been hissing in my ear. I may not join The Order or the Church, but I will investigate further and I think it can only help me in the long run to becoming The Entity I wish to be.