The Secret History of Lucifer: The Ancient Path to Knowledge and the Real Da Vinci Code

Lynn Picknett's"The Secret History of Lucifer"is one of the best books of its kind..Although top-heavy with information which may,for the casual reader,require some follow-up in other works,Picknett's work uncovers the vast and often brutal machinations of the christian church,in both suppressing truth and relagating women to second class status at best,and,too often painting them as co-conspirators with the bogus christian"devil" in bringing"evil" into the world.. Contrary to what the fundamentalist wing of the christian church may preach,the whole christian story has been lifted from other earlier religions,and that thier redeemer-God Christ is in fact an incarnation of various"pagan" deities.."Lucifer" the polite name for the christian"devil",far from being an"evil" influence is in fact an agent of light,of intelligence,of freedom..And it is this aspect as bringer of freedom that most disturbs the self-righteously correct fundamentalism of the christian denominations,in that in being free one hardly needs a church structure to control and dictate... Much of what is written regarding any religion must include myth and fable,and Ms.Picknett's book incorporates these elements,both christian and non-christian to create a seamless outline in which one can follow the progress of destruction,as all of the earlier religious systems are either destroyed by the new church,or incorporated into thier own theology.. While certain to upset the fundamentalist types(who will no doubt shout "satanism" and dismiss the work as one more"new age" attempt to trash thier faith),"The Secret History of Lucifer" will prove a real treasure trove for those seeking truth.

Note that the history of Lucifer occupies only a small fraction of this book and--as should be obvious to anyone--the recently changed subtitle (originally "Evil Angel or the Secret of Life Itself?") referencing the DV Code is for marketing purposes to cash in on the mania. The book is well written, well researched and is characterised by the not-so-strict interpretation common for this field where connections between events, persons, names, and words are quickly made. It starts out fairly strong by being true to the title and going into the origin of the character we know as Lucifer. But early on we sense a political current which later on explodes in a feminist anti-church tirade. It takes the greater part of the book as the author suprisingly shifts her focus from Lucifer to Satan--whom she despises nonetheless. All the immoral acts, and she gives us an exhaustive and detailed list of them, of male oppressors and the church are connected to satanism, not to Lucifer. Even this part of the book is entertaining to read but in the end one realizes one is far away from the original intent. To her credit, she brings up a lot of curious historical characters as well her past research on Templars and Turin shroud which may or may not have anything to do with Lucifer or Satan but are interesting nevertheless. Had this book stayed on task it would probably have been half as long.

This book is just great. It not only tells of the history of the creation of the idea Lucifer, but also explains how other biblical stories came to be... stolen from other ancient myths.

Overall, this book is a very interesting read. However, it does require one to have an open mind and at times to suspend judgment in order to consider possibilities other than what is generally accepted in the popular culture. She does use well-documented source material throughout the book, but there are moments when Lynn Picknett makes serious leaps in logic and does not actually have anything factual to back up her claims (conspiracy church theories and assertions about Jesus's life in particular). The bias in her writing is obvious, and this leads her to make assertions that at times feel like they just came out of left field. It is not her theories that bother me I found some of them quite intriguing, especially as a person who is interested in the way mythology describes the public culture. But I am used to reading well-researched material by competent historians, and there are times when Lynn Picknett's book feels more like a sensational novel than a serious work. It would be delightful to see more hard evidence for what she asserts, but until that time, I have to take what she is saying with a grain of salt. As long as you read this book with the idea that it is largely theoretical, you'll be fine.

SATAN RULZ!! Just kidding. For some time now, Lynn Picknett has been shaking things up with some very unorthodox (but not completely unheard-of) excursions into possible hidden meanings behind (and often completely alternative interpretations of) various beliefs long established by the organized religions which rule cultures throughout the world, especially in this country. This, her latest, is yet another one of these, this time turning to the sensation-turned-being known as Lucifer. With her vast imagination and thorough research, Ms. (Mrs.?) Picknett really raises some interesting points, including further explorations of Leonardo da Vinci (and what Dan Brown already has drawn much attention towards), how Christianity has long taken the ancient Greek myth of the god Pan and made him synonymous with the devil, etc. etc. Though perhaps the subject matter of this and other books may not be unheard-of, Ms. Picknett certainly has done her proverbial homework on this and created another intriguing look into, quite simply, life.