From Horned God to Lucifer - the Origin of Satan

When I was young, I heard many stories about Satan in church, at the Catholic school that I attended, and from well-meaning relatives. Satan was the root of all evil, and Hell was a very real place replete with numerous pitchforks and a blazing inferno to boot. Many years later, I questioned both the notion and the existence of Satan and found that I was right to have done so.

The existence of a horned god doesn't originate from Christianity. Long before the Bible had ever been written, cavemen were carving sketches of horned gods into cave walls. The oldest known carving dates back to the Paleolithic era, which extends from 2.5 million years ago to 10,000 BC, and was found in the Caverne des Trois Freres at Ariege, France. The dating of this particular horned god is from 13,000 BC and the depiction that is carved into stone is that of a stag or a goat that is standing on its hind legs. This was not odd in the least as our ancient ancestors used to don animal clothes in rituals to help them in their efforts to secure game and this carving would have been most relevant in that day and age.

There have been many examples of horned figures and gods throughout our history, such as the famed Cernunnous, the horned god of the Celts. The name Cernunnous actually means "horned," and this popular god symbolized both the hunt and fertility. The earliest depiction of him that we know of has been found at Val Camonica in Italy and dates back to the 4th century BC. Cernunnous was worshipped in Gaul and the Southern coast of England and was known as the lord of life and death. To Celtic Pagans, he was also known as the guardian of the portal leading to the underworld.

Pan, the Greek god of shepherds, flocks, hunting and music, was another such horned god. He was very much like Lucy's faun in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with the hindquarters, legs and horns of a goat. Pan was first worshipped in the mountain district of Arcadia and came to represent many things, including the love of music.

Far from being plotting, gloating and evil entities, these horned gods of yesteryear were actually associated with nature. Horned gods were part and parcel of an ancient pagan and polytheistic belief system that never included evil gods. After all, what could possibly be evil about nature?

Trouble began when Christianity swept through Europe. For a brief period of time, Christianity co-existed peacefully alongside paganism and a live and let live attitude prevailed. But, after awhile, all of that changed.

When it became clear that pagans were not going to change their way of life, nor stop practicing their beliefs through their rituals, Pope Innocent IV decided to put a stop to things once and for all. In 1248 AD, Pope Innocent founded The Holy Office, which paved the way for the dreaded Inquisition. This was sure to stamp out any existing pagan beliefs, the Pope and many Christians felt.

Inquisitors took to task those pagans that either publicly or privately held pagan rituals. The Inquisitors and other Christians believed that the various horned gods that were worshipped were demonic in nature. It was pointed out to pagans that their horned god was, surprise surprise, remarkably similar to Christianity's Satan when it came to appearance. Even though Christians had taken a god that had been used for thousands upon thousands of years and changed him completely in order to represent something evil, for some pagans, this was enough to sway them to the side of Christianity. After all, if their horned god was really the evil fallen angel Lucifer, did they want to be associated with him? Yet many pagans simply didn't buy the stories that they were being told. To this end, two individuals by the name of Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger sprang to action.

Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, two monks, decided that in order to test pagans about their worship of Lucifer, a manual would have to be developed. This manual spoke in excruciating detail about how to extract confessions from pagans who were called witches. This manual was published in 1486 under the name The Malleus Maleficarum or "Hammer of the Witches." It should be noted that there were many Christian scholars who questioned the existence of witches and believed everything in this book to be mere superstition. However, it was considered heresy to question the tactics of those Christians who were in charge, and, as such, many pagans lost their lives due to nothing but the worship of a very, very old and mythical horned god.

Sources: wikipedia, www.malleusmaleficarum.org