Azazel One of the first manifestations

One of the first manifestations of Satan, the Christian Devil, in Judaic thought was
Azazel, a Horned God of the Hebrews who was associated with darkness and the
desert wilderness. It was believed by the Second Temple Era Jews that Azazel was
the one who had taught human beings the various arts of civilization, including
weaponry, cosmetics, the sciences, the liberal arts and “witchcraft.” It was Azazel,
also known as Samael (“Venomous God”), who tempted Adam and Eve with the
Fruit of Knowledge in the form of a serpent. He was also the one who inspired the
people of Babel to make the technological feat of building their Tower. It was by
teaching these various forbidden arts and by inspiring humanity to “reach for the
stars” and take control of their environments that Azazel had fallen out of favor with
the Abrahamic deity, and it was for teaching human beings these “sinful” activities
that Azazel was chained to a rock in the desert wilderness, much like Prometheus was
chained to a mountain in Greek mythology. In fact, Azazel is very much like a
combination of Prometheus and the Arcadian Pan: a dark and wild Horned God who
is also paradoxically a bringer of light and civilization.
Azazel was primarily associated with the goat, representing worldly wisdom and
stubborness. His association with this particular animal comes from the Jewish
Ritual of Atonement in which lots were cast for two goats, one who was to be
sacrificed to Yahweh as a “sin offering,

” and the other who was to be driven into the
wilderness, alone, as an offering for Azazel. The purpose of sending the goat out into
the wild rather than killing it was to banish or drive away the “sins” of the tribe.
Azazel, having taught man the forbidden arts of philosophy, science, civilization and
magic, was blamed for “tempting men away” from their meek subordination to the
tyrannical Yahweh, thereby introducing “sin” into the human world. It is from the
Ritual of Atonement that we get our modern day term “scapegoat,

” and it is also
from this that the Devil really gets His horns and hooves, not from the Greek Pan as
so many neopagans like to believe.
Azazel is also associated with the serpent and the peacock. As Samael, the venomous
one, it was believed by the Jews that Azazel had taken the form of the serpent that
tempted Adam and Eve. The story of the serpent and the fruit is symbolic of Azazel’s
encouragement of the human ability to think independantly about morality and
religion, rather than be blindly submissive to whatever one is taught to believe from
birth. In a more primitive context, the serpent also represents sexuality (because it
was after the serpent tempted Adam and Eve with the fruit that they had become
aware of their nakedness) and regeneration (because the serpent sheds its old skin to
reveal a new one). The significance of the peacock, with which Azazel is associated in
the Arabic culture, is that the peacock is a beautiful and prideful bird, representing
Azazel’s own sense of beauty and pride before the Abrahamic deity.
The colors that are most immediately representative of Azazel’s spirit are black
(representing the night and darkness) and red (representing blood, carnality and the
desert). Azazel was also known to the Jews by a variety of names: as Samael, He is a
god of destructive and revolutionary power; as Belial, He is a god of the earth and of

carnal, animal life; and as Satan, He is the Supreme Adversary of Yahweh (who is a
self-proclaimed “jealous” desert god that desires to become the only god worshiped
upon the earth). As Yahweh’s arch-nemesis, Azazel is a spirit who inspires and
encourages the human followers of Yahweh (as well as people who are not his
followers, but who live in societies that are influenced by the Abrahamic religions and
their respective cultures) to question and challenge the rules and dictations of this
god and his dogmas. In a more general context, Azazel inspires and encourages the
questioning of all dogmas and fixed ideologies for the sake of furthering the
intellectual power of humans. It would seem that, whereas Yahweh demands all
human attention and worship, Azazel is not so much interested in being glorified by
humanity as He is in simply prodding human beings to think for themselves. After
all, only one person in the entire Bible was ever invited to worship the Devil, and that
was Jesus Christ himself.
Originally, the word “satan,

” which means “adversary” or “opposer” in Hebrew, was
not a proper name but only a descriptive noun which was used to describe anything
that was adversarial in nature, including Yahweh himself at times. It was specifically
used to refer to a type of angel called Ha-satan that, although malicious and
malevolent to human beings, was completely obedient to the will of the Abrahamic
god, and that committed malicious acts upon human beings at Yahweh’s command.
The difference between Ha-satan and Azazel-Satan is that Ha-satan is a being that
works malice against humankind, but completely in accordance with the will of the
Old Testament god. Azazel-Satan, on the other hand, is the instigator of all rebellion
and obstruction against Jehovah, and who is typically depicted in mythology as
befriending humanity (e.g., when He tempts Adam and Eve with the Fruit of
Knowledge, when He teaches humans the various “forbidden” arts of civilization in
Enoch, and even when He tempts Jesus with all the kingdoms of the world in
exchange for worship in the New Testament).
The word “satan” was later attached to Azazel and spelled with a capital “S” shortly
before the time of Yeshua ben Yosef (i.e.,

“Jesus Christ”), signifying some of the
Jews’ belief that He had become the Supreme Adversary of Yahweh. This belief
would not survive among the mainstream sects of Judaism, but it would continue to
propagate within the new Christian religion. Azazel has been most popularly and
generally known as “Satan” ever since. The word “Devil” also means “adversary” or
“opposer,

” as it comes from the Greek “diabolos,

” which is equivalent to the Hebrew

“satan.”
In medieval times, Azazel was also given the name Lucifer. Meaning “Light-bearer”
in Latin, the word Lucifer was originally used by the Romans as a name for the
Morning Star, which was actually the planet Venus. It was wrongfully associated
with Him due to a misinterpretation of a certain passage in the biblical book of Isaiah
which refers to a character named Heylel ben Shahar, or “Daystar, son of Morning.”
In Isaiah, Heylel is quoted as saying,

“I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north; I will
ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.”
Thinking that Heylel ben Shahar was really the Devil, the Christian Church
translated his name to “Lucifer” when the Bible was translated to Latin, and Lucifer

has since become a popular name for Azazel in Western culture. But it has since been
proven that the story of Heylel ben Shahar does not actually concern Azazel, but
instead refers to a certain Babylonian king who thought himself to be divine.
Therefore, the name Lucifer became associated with Azazel due to a
misinterpretation of Isaiah, but it can still be considered an appropriate name for the
Devil due to the fact that the word means “Light-Bearer” and Azazel Himself acts as
a “Bringer of Light” in Hebrew mythology, teaching humankind the various arts of
civilization.
In Islam,

“Azazel” is still a name that is popularly used for the Devil. Other Islamic
names for the Devil include Iblis (which means “Doubt” in Arabic) and Shaitan (the
Arabic equivalent to “Satan,

” meaning “adversary”). Among the Yezidi Kurds,
Azazel is worshiped and revered as Melek Ta’us (variously translated as either
“Peacock King” or “Angel King,

” due to the fact that the word “ta’us” means both
“peacock” and “angel” in Kurdish). The Yezidis also recognize Azazel as being the
all-powerful Lord of this World.
Azazel has also become generally known in Western society as the Prince of
Darkness. This term was originally intended by Christians to signify their belief in
Him as the commander of all evil forces, but it can also be used to refer to Him as a
noble being whose power and presence belong to the dark side of Nature.