Lucifer meaning (what is it, concept and definition)

What is Lucifer:

Lucifer literally means 'he who bears the light'. This word is formed from the Latin words lux , which means 'light', and fero , which means 'to carry'.

In the Old Testament it is the name given to the most beautiful and intelligent angel of the heavenly court before rebelling against God and becoming a fallen angel.

In another meaning of less widespread use, but older, the word lucifer is synonymous with the term star , referring to the first flash of the planet Venus at dawn.

Lucifer in the Judeo-Christian culture

Normally, the current use of the word corresponds to the name of the angel Lucifer, who is considered the prince of the rebel angels.

According to the accounts of the Old Testament, Lucifer was a beautiful, brilliant and intelligent angel who, overcome by pride, decided to compete against God and become like him, which was the cause of his fall and degradation.

In Christian interpretation, from that moment on Lucifer became Satan, a word that means 'adversary'. However, in Judaism Lucifer and Satan are considered to be two different entities.

Lucifer in Greco-Roman mythology

In Greco-Roman mythology, Lucifer corresponds to the god Phosphor, Heosphorus or Eosphorus, which is also translated as 'light of dawn'. Sometimes this god is usually identified with his brother Héspero, 'evening light', because both are personifications of the Venus pose.

This duality of names stems from the fact that the dawn and dusk stars were formerly attributed to two different celestial bodies. When the ancients discovered that both stars were produced by the same planet, the names began to be used almost interchangeably.

Lucifer in voodoo

The figure of Lucifer as a fallen angel was also assimilated into the syncretic pantheon of the voodoo religion . Thus, it joins another of the representative images of the cultural intersection that occurred in Latin America.