Meaning of Lucifer (What is it, Concept and Definition)

What is Lucifer:

Lucifer literally means 'light bearer'. 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 in 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 lucero, referring to the first flash of the planet Venus at dawn.

Lucifer in 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 stories 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 the Christian interpretation, from that moment 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 Phosphorus, Heósforo or Eósforo, which also translates as 'dawn light'. Sometimes this god is usually identified with his brother Hesperus, 'evening light', because both are personifications of the planet Venus.

This duality of names comes from the fact that formerly the morning and sunset stars were 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 is added to another of the representative images of the cultural intersection that occurred in Latin America.

 

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