I overheard a conversation recently that exasperated me.  A young woman was telling an older gentleman about the challenges she was experiencing and her frustrations over why certain things keep occurring in her life.  The man’s responses predominantly referred to “The Devil” and how this evil Being was creating chaos in her life.  And his obvious solution was for her to run in fear from this devil and prostrate herself before Jesus Christ.  This was not the advice this woman needed.  Rather than helping her, he was fanning her fear and sense of helplessness.

This was not the first time I’ve heard someone blaming the devil.  However, I continue to be surprised that so many cling to this Medieval mindset of “God vs. the Devil”.  Over the years, people have asked my mom and me, “What is the Devil?”  And many of them have urgently, and sometimes hostilely, warned us that our religion promotes Satan rather than God.

For those of you with an open and inquiring mind, I’m going to set the record straight about the Devil.  Does it really exist?  Yes.  But not in the form you think.

What aggravates me when discussing religion with most fundamentalists is that they argue God is all-powerful, yet in the same breath they rant about the Devil and how he is responsible for all the evil in the world.  So how can God be all-powerful if there is a devil undermining his omnipotence?  In fact, many so-called Christians seem to be more obsessed with the Devil than practicing the teachings of Christ.  Who, then, are they really worshipping?  God, or the Devil?

The Christian devil was created by the Medieval church to frighten and disempower the people so that the Church would have complete power and influence in their lives.  In fact, they appropriated an early pagan horned god of the hunt named Herne or Cernunnos and twisted him into their demonic image, all for the purpose of scaring pagans to convert to Christianity.  So the Devil became an evil, horned being who spread darkness and chaos upon the earth.  In some Christain teachings he is a fallen angel who constantly challenges God’s power.  All fundamentalist religions contain some mythology about the Devil, Lucifer, or Satan.  The problem is that they take the myth literally rather than symbolically.

Myths are allegories which contain themes and archetypal images that must be interpreted to discern their meaning and how they apply to our lives.  They are not meant to be taken literally.

The Devil is an archetype, a symbol for the darkness in our own psyche.  We all have that part of us that hates, is judgmental and prejudiced; that’s immersed in fear, guilt, and shame; that causes us to act from our lower nature.  We often disown or deny that part of ourselves by projecting it outward into the world as a seeming force of evil—The Devil.  What Jesus meant by “Get thee behind me, Satan” was that he put his Shadow behind him rather than projecting it into the world.  He was taking responsibility.

The Devil has become a scapegoat for humanity’s disowned qualities.  Rather than take responsibility for themselves and how their own actions and choices have led them to certain consequences, it’s easier for people to blame The Devil or Satan.

In The Revealing Word, Charles Fillmore defined devil as “a state of consciousness adverse to the divine good.”  He went on to say “the devils we encounter are fear, anger, jealousy, and other negative traits, and they are in ourselves.”  The Devil is our own negative ego with it’s negative thoughts, beliefs, and emotions.  Satan is not a supernatural force outside ourselves, but our own lower nature which is adverse to the Higher Will of God.  Whenever Jesus mentioned “the devil” he was referring to man’s negative state of consciousness.  Jesus didn’t resist temptations from Satan, but from his own carnal mind.

Fundamentalist religions refer to an Armageddon when the angels of light and darkness do battle over the world and our souls.  All the Godly people will be saved and lifted into Heaven while the “bad” people will be destroyed on Earth.  The Armageddon myth represents the battle between our higher and lower natures which goes on within us every day.  Until we resolve this inner struggle, it will be projected outward from us and observed on the world stage as battles between countries, terrorism, destruction of the environment, and all manner of crime and violence.  It is we, ourselves, who are either angels of light or darkness as we choose between our Higher Self or the carnal mind.

So like the young woman I mentioned at the beginning, is the Devil responsible for our troubles?  Seeming bad things do happen in life, but they happen for one of the following reasons 1) Our own choices lead us to consequences.  The Devil didn’t do it to us.  We did it to ourselves.  2) Our negative beliefs, thoughts, and words we spoke created our reality.  Change our mind and words and we change our life. 3) Trying circumstances occur to build strength and prepare us for the next level in this Earth School.  They are an initiation.  The Devil doesn’t test us.  God doesn’t even test us.  We test ourselves.  4) Sometimes what seems “bad” at first is really a blessing in disguise and contributes to our higher good in the long run.  There is a Divine Order to the Universe and everything works together to bless us, not damn us.  We are not at the mercy of a Devil.  We are not at the mercy of God.  But as Children of God, we are co-creators with Him.

If you want to cast the devils our of your life, you must cleanse them out of your mind, heart, and consciousness.  Think positive thoughts.  Speak uplifting words.  Saturate your entire being in Love and Light.  Align yourself with Divine Good.  Only God is real.