The literal Satan? No. Satan is the "devil", the anthropomorphized "source of evil" (d-evil). Evil and good are externalized as the characters of the "Devil"/"Satan" and "God". Just as there is no literal "evil" in and of itself, there is no "Satan" in and of itself. Evil and Satan are symbols that reference expressions of our consciousness and what they create, generate or manifest into the world.
Satan is the oppositional and adversarial force within us, as I will explain. But first some understanding on why this matters and what is there to be opposed.
Increase Awareness
Consciousness can increase in awareness of various truths about reality, existence, or the universe. Quality truths that can improve the quality and condition of our lives is more valuable for its utility. Moral truth is of the utmost utility for improving the quality and condition of our lives through reciprocal cooperation to optimize survival, no matter what the technological condition is.
This increase of awareness is an expansion of consciousness. Truth cared for, sought after, and continually attained will produce greater alignment with how reality is and how we can make our world and way of life better. This expansion of consciousness towards greater quality knowledge and ways of living can be looked at as the expansive force of love, contrasted to the constrictive force of fear. Love not as an emotion, but as the force of care for truth that expands and embraces more of accepting what currently 'is' -- both the beauty and horror, the right and wrong, in one sense -- along with what could or 'ought' to be -- the better, truer, higher and realer ways of living that we can create.
Contradiction
Learning what is true from false is required to form non-contradictory understanding. Non-contradiction with reality as we expand our awareness is also a unity or harmony with reality as we don't deny things as they are, or the wrong that exists that should not be and can be made better through our actions in alignment with principles of moral truth. Being in opposition to the truths in reality can have consequences, as we are in conflict and disequilibrium between our perception of reality and what actually is there.
We can also be non-contradictory and united within our expressions of consciousness, so that we think, feel and act in unison, not in conflict or opposition. What we do -- our actions and behaviors -- is an external expression of consciousness from our internal expressions within -- the "heart" (emotions) and "mind" (thoughts) of consciousness.
When we know what's right (think) and care to do what's right (feel), but instead act in opposition against that, then we are not unified within but in internal conflict. This puts us in disharmony with our thoughts, emotions and actions. Sometimes that cognitive dissonance results is negotiating with reality, where instead of aligning our perceptions with reality, we create a false perception of reality so that we believe the current reality is whatever we want to believe it to be (conformity, rosy-colored glasses).
Authentic Authority
We can author our lives in the authenticity of having the authority of truth by our side, integrated and united with various truths about existence, and the moral truth about how to live. But we can also be in opposition as an adversary to reality or even ourselves. Many have apathy, ignorance, cowardice or laziness to care for, seek out or accept truth and moral truth, being in a more restrictive force of fear that doesn't care or love to expand awareness of quality truth in life. This can even bring fear of facing truths, where many don't want their illusions destroyed by truth.
Satan
This brings us back to Satan, the opposer and adversary. This oppositional force within has been described in two ways: 1) Non-unity within ourselves (with thought, emotion and action conflicting). 2) Non-unity with truths in reality and true, good, right, and moral ways of living.
Opposition to the Good
The various opposition we put up against reality and against ourselves, works against the better potential reality and our way of living we can create if we had the awareness of how or why to do so. This is the force of Satan we battle in life. We are the force of good ("God") or evil ("Devil"/"Satan"), from our consciousness.
The gods and goddesses of old were created by human consciousness in attempt to externalize and objectify knowledge about ourselves and reality. Abstract thinking and representation came with later more philosophical thinking that was more precise and clear than the older mythopoetic analogical form of thinking with metaphors, parables and symbolism that could have veiled or hidden primary esoteric meaning conveyed through an exoteric narrative cover layer. I have elaborated on this in older posts.
Biblical Roots
Satan or “S-t-n” is a Hebrew word with Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance number 7854.
From H7853; an opponent; especially (with the article prefixed) Satan, the arch enemy of good: - adversary, Satan, withstand.
H7853 (be an) adversary, resist.
This word means adversary, one who opposes, an opponent, and also the “arch enemy of good” and therefore “God”, ourselves -- our higher order consciousness capacity to seek and actualize greater good, right and truth into our lives.
We Are Our Own Worst Enemies
We are our own worst enemies when you understand what Satan really is. We judge, offend and insult ourselves all by our own actions and behavior. This applies for each individual, and as a collective species as we are creating problems and negative outcomes for ourselves as as species and others on this planet.
Satan is a force that divides us from within. We resist and withstand advancement towards what's better; into self-improvement, betterment, transformation, change and evolution towards what is right, good and true, and prevent our potential actualization of a truer, realer, higher self.
It's also a part of our being when we are internally divided through the non-unity, internal duality and contradiction between our thoughts, emotions and the resulting actions we take. We act against ourselves, in opposition to what we know and feel to be true, right and good. It's a sin against the "spirit" ("soul"-psyche-consciousness-self), a betrayal of our own higher, truer, realer potential selves where we take actions that are justified in violation to what we know to be right, good or true. We betray ourselves in essence, because the essence and nature of our being is prevented from evolving towards more of "the good". The potential is not actualized, but resisted and denied, keeping us in a more restricted condition or level of consciousness.
Lie and Insult Ourselves
It is ultimately an insult and offense we carry out against ourselves and attempt to justify so that we can lie to ourselves into accepting what we are doing, and keep doing it as well. In our defense of the falsity we are attached to, when someone else brings the truth of a condition to our attention and sheds light on this darkness, we instead attempt to dismiss, deflect and deny what we are doing by claiming they are insulting or offensive towards us, when in truth we are the ones insulting and offending ourselves.
Those who speak the truth are not often welcome. The light can be blinding for those who are in darkness. Satan is not an actual being in the religious notion, but it is a state or condition of being in consciousness where we ourselves are in adversity, opposition, contradiction, conflict, non-integrated, non-coherent, non-consistent, non-unified, dual and divided within ourselves or with reality/truth and moral truth.
Unity
Few people are completely united beings that take action in accordance and harmony with how they think and feel because it requires tremendous courage. The system has many constructs to make us go against our better judgment with an endless supply of justifications ready for not doing the correct moral thing in life.
Unity consciousness within ourselves and aligned with reality and moral truth, is the internal expression of consciousness called dominion or sovereignty of the self. Other terms include self-control, self-governance, self-rulership, self-ownership, self-reign, and internal monarch. This has also been referred to as self-love, self-mastery, enlightenment, balance, harmony, internal peace, or other names in various cultures and languages. This is the dominion of the kingdom of self, being a King of Queen of our own kingdom within. We don't support any external rulership, control, or governance of some people being rulers or masters over other, -- but internal governance and control over one’s own thoughts, emotions and actions. If we all operated this way and didn't violate moral principles, we would be truly free and living in peace with all.
Self-Control
There is no one "out there" controlling our destinies, fates, fortunes or futures. We are the ones, collectively in the aggregate, that create the overall conditions on this planet. Learning how to learn and learning how to think are important to get people to not believe in false or unverified things that are drives for their actions in life. Bad (falsity) or low quality (entertainment) information siphons our time and attention and prevents us from expanding our awareness of greater quality information that can affect a positive change for the better.
This is how there is evil in the world, because it's being created consciously, unconsciously, or being supported. When there is a lack of self-control towards moral alignment in a society, there is more external control applied towards others in the form of a centralized authority. Even if we aren't doing wrong consciously, we may be doing it unconsciously without knowing it, or may be supporting it.
Much of our way of life supports the wrongdoings of a centralized authority, like taxation and other extortions. We are funding illegitimate wars and supporting other policies like the "war on drugs" sham. The more aware we become, the more realize there is a lot of work to do for us to truly be united in our way or life, in our ability to actualize greater truth, good, right and morality into the world.
Thank you for your time and attention. Peace.
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I definitely live with too much constrictive force in my life. I've been watching lectures from Dr. Jordan Peterson lately. You both share a similar message.
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Everyone needs to watch Peterson. He also needs to come to steemit.
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Thanks. Yeah, we talk about similar things in different ways. He's academically educated while I'm not. I've learned from others as well, reading, etc., and from observing things myself, despite not validating it through academia or in studies, etc. We can all learn from others who learned from the reality they observed, and we can all learn from that same reality as well without having learned from them first. Thanks for the feedback.
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We can find answers to all questions if we look within us - the light and the dark, the good and the bad, the God and the devil. Uniting with oneself is the most difficult path, but most enlightening too. Hats off to those who are already there or are on the path to being there!
Good post @ krnel.
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Thanks ;)
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well thought out, thouggt provoking article. Enjoyed reading. We humands advanced so much in technology, but have we really advanced internally? Thanks
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Indeed, that's something we need to look at. Keeping our moral progress up with technological progress.
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Yeah, that one. I remember instances where I tried to convince myself to act in a certain way, just to regret it afterwards. In my head I use arguments like "Others would do the same" or "This is clearly not my responsibility"...
To counter that I nowadays often ask myself "Would I be proud or ashamed telling the story of what happened?" Of course that does not work all the time, but it helps.
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Yeah, hehe, the ol' "others are doing it" or "if I don't someone else will". The shady things we do lol.
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Nice Content.
We are our problems.
Our thoughts of what will they say or what will my religious head say is what is destroying us.
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So Deep. Well done. Every single one of us... the devil inside
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INXS - Devil Inside
Is that what you were referencing, the line in the song?
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Most definitely!!! LOVE INXS
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This post was a little hard to get through but I really enjoyed it. Good and evil is more like harmony and disharmony. Good and bad/evil are a human way of processing these two forces based on our collective self interests.
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In ancient Judaism Satan was NOT seen as apposing God, but rather those that did not follow God's law. In Job Satan is one of God's messengers, he goes about and watches the people for God. Just to be clear.
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That is not clear at all. You have also contradicted yourself.
Does that mean that breaking the law is not opposing the law?
Nonsense - it seems that you've missed what Job is all about.
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Thought provoking for sure. I think you're right to recognize a counter-force inside of us, stirring up fears, creating doubt, voicing negative words... And it seems healthy to give this energy a name, so that it can be illuminated with clarity, whatever it is. And maybe this way we can resist that destructive part of ourselves by recognizing and choosing the more constructive part that is perhaps truer to our nature.
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"Resist the devil and the devil will flee from you." Or I wonder if the resistance gives even more energy to the thing we're trying to resist. Any thoughts on that?
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Yeah, resist the resistor of truth and good ;)
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Great philosophical research. Sometimes the truth hurts hard an you nailed it. Religion has blinded and limited us for so many centuries and it's time we break out of that mindset and release ourselves from these horrible enslavement, brainwashing and mind control of Globalist and Communist that we have as world leaders. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post.
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Great post @krnel, I upvoted. But the real (Physical) Gods (Aliens) could be existing, and controlling us. It could be that, we don't know them cuz our science and technology is still far behind theirs. wow much good post such big too.
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Yeah true there could be aliens, I believe that is more likely than a literal "god".
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Djin, Nephalim, Reptilians are all among us. They are in the Whitehouse playing games with the children of the Most High. Fight on and Open the Eyes of your heart peoples. YoursTruly
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Good post
Followed,resteemed,upvoted
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