The Luciferian Manifesto
Cartography versus Worldbuilding
Artwork Sourced from Google. Artist: Alexandre Cabanel
The Luciferian Manifesto — Cartography versus Worldbuilding
by Antonio Rocco S. (Rocco Valentini)
The Transcendental Argument for God (TAG) posits that abstract and immaterial concepts—such as identity, morality, logic, and mathematics—can only exist and be properly understood if they are grounded in a higher mind such as God's. This is a variation of a very old argument, one that Aristotle and Plato debated over 2,000 years ago. Theists who use TAG implicitly side with Plato arguing that there must be a higher plane or world of ideal forms and that what we perceive are merely shadows on the cave wall. However, Aristotle was correct in asserting that forms cannot exist independently of substances. Nothing exists in isolation. Morality is a set of normative claims derived from logic and logic pertains to natural—not supernatural—forces. The self and truth are hylomorphically bound to matter and emerge from it. Without matter, abstractions such as identity, morality, logic, and mathematics would hold no concrete value or relevance, as they would lack any measurable or descriptive connection to reality. In this way God is analogous to the Klein Bottle in mathematics. The Klein Bottle can be argued for transcendentally or theoretically, but in practical terms, it is non-Euclidean and cannot exist or be constructed in reality. The Klein Bottle is an example of a mathematical and architectural fiction. God is an example of a metaphysical and epistemological fiction.
But if there is no God, how do we distinguish truth from fiction? Discerning truth is an art and the science behind this art is cartography. The ego is the hand on the mind’s drafting table. The anatomical brain provides the ink through the senses. Reason is the act of drawing and logic is the tool we use to test the validity of each design. Logic is like a compass with four poles: Metaphysics, Epistemology, Ethics, and Aesthetics. If one's reasoning is sound, there will be no contradiction between one’s conclusions and the readings from these poles. To be a logician is to be a cartographer of reality. And to be an effective cartographer you must keep your heart below deck and your head in the crow’s nest. Failing to do so results in becoming a worldbuilder—someone who charts reality as they wish it to be rather than as it truly is. In this sense, religion a form of worldbuilding stemming from emotivism, not logic.
But according to theists, if our compasses are the result of blind evolutionary chance rather than intelligent design—how can the maps created by cartographers be considered reliable? While it is true that human biology is not the product of intelligent design but of evolutionary chance—and is therefore fallible—this does not mean that the maps we create are inherently flawed, nor does it imply that we cannot improve upon the tools nature has given us. With technologies like CRISPR and cybernetics humans may one day develop telescopic vision and an average IQ above 200 enabling us to process information at extraordinary speeds and perceive with the naked eye what currently requires a microscope.
While some human beings seek to overcome their natural limits through science and logic others do so through borrowing. Much of the modern church’s foundation is built on plagiarism and stolen IP. Christians often co-opted the work of legitimate thinkers to make their own ideas appear more credible—Aristotle being a prime example. During the Scholastic period Aquinas and other Christian scholars integrated his work with scripture justifying this intellectual theft through appeals to Logos and statements like “All truth is God’s truth.” However, in attempting to merge Aristotle’s ideas with their religion, they introduced various contradictions with existing doctrines.
You’ve probably heard of the Catholic Eucharist or the doctrine of transubstantiation. This is the Catholic Church’s explanation of how the bread and wine consumed during Communion are, in reality, the body and blood of Christ. To support this belief, they corrupt the Aristotelian distinction between substance and accidents. Substance refers to what something truly is while accidents refer to how it presents itself to the senses. So, under transubstantiation, the bread and wine take on the substance of Christ’s flesh and blood—they truly are that—yet in every way perceivable to human senses, they still appear to be bread and wine. The presence of this idea in Western philosophy, along with the strong incentive to rationalize it, had a significant influence on all subsequent explorations of the appearance/reality dichotomy.
Gender theory is an example of a modern form of transubstantiation. The gender theorist posits that a man can become a woman, and vice versa, even though their substance—genetics and anatomy—remain male or female, regardless of any superficial changes in accident or appearance. "Man" and "woman," as well as their respective singular subject pronouns, are—and can only be—descriptors of biological sex. Separated from sex gender is a Cartesian fiction that does not reflect biological or anthropological reality. The wide range of personalities classified under "gender" by gender theorists makes it impossible to define gender objectively. It is, more or less, a vague collection of stereotypical traits associated with members of a particular sex during a particular time—stereotypes that, in turn, can perpetuate misogyny or misandry and that ignore individuality.
Where theists are correct is in recognizing that the modern atheist often behaves like a coward, reaching for the low-hanging fruit on the tree of knowledge by only attacking theists rather than also confronting other, more culturally entrenched forms of worldbuilding—such as gender theory. Pop psychology has promoted the idea that one should remain perpetually neutral and seek out compromise or a middle ground on contentious issues. However, the middle ground between truth and falsehood is still falsehood. And the Law of the Excluded Middle asserts that one side will ultimately come out on top. Hence, if you believe your ideas are correct, you should want to fight for them. You may choose not to fight or to remain indifferent, but in the end, one side will win—this is inevitable. Placing a flower in the barrel of your enemy's gun will not stop them from pulling the trigger. To show mercy toward those who would spread lies is to condemn those who fight for truth. Minding your own business is how the unchallenged absurdities of today become the accepted slogans of tomorrow.
Consider Lucifer from the Bible—would he have accepted the principle of minding your own business? He most definitely wouldn’t have. In fact, he was such a notorious debater that he was called Satan, which literally means 'adversary.' The conversation between Lucifer and Jesus in the desert is an excellent example of the mentality of a cartographer contrasted with that of a worldbuilder—a demonstration of falsifiable conviction versus unfalsifiable faith. Theists call Lucifer's falsifiable conviction arrogance. They are correct. The English root of “arrogant” and “arrogance” is “arrogate”—which itself comes from Latin via French—meaning “to claim for oneself.” The connotation of “questioning one’s ‘betters’” dates back to the early 1500s. An English antonym of arrogate is “abdicate,” meaning to ignore, give up, flee, or run away from one’s duties or responsibilities. Lucifer did not abdicate his right to assert himself when questioning what Jesus told him he must accept simply because of His/God’s alleged status and divinity. Think about how this applies to today’s culture of credentialism. We're told to trust the 'experts'—those with certificates, accolades, doctorates and degrees—even when the institutions they come from may possess incomplete or corrupted knowledge.
Both Jesus and the elitists suffer from hubris and prey upon the humility of the ordinary. Lucifer was a proud being. But pride is not a sin. Pride is the crown of virtue. Honor and integrity are its jewels. Pride lies between hubris and humility—it is reasoned self-esteem. One with pride must act in accordance with their thoughts and their thoughts should be reflected in their actions. In a man with self-esteem, there is no compartmentalization or dichotomy between a clenched fist and an open mind. Such a man is both a warrior and a scholar—a knight on a quest for truth.
Do not be a Quixote. Be a knight who fights under a different banner. Dare to fight the winnable fight. Dare to dream the possible dream. Dare to love without chastity or restraint. Dare to see the summit of every mountain and the depths of every ravine. Dare to reach for the reachable star—the morning star. Be the adversarial voice that challenges the ideas and institutions of the day. Be the Luciferian hero who raises a flaming sword against the gates of heaven.
Lucifer was not only a symbol of enlightenment in philosophy and the sciences but also in the arts. Just as theists do not have a monopoly on the abstract, we must not allow them to claim a monopoly on the romantic. We cannot let theists take words like “soul,” “spiritual,” “devotion,” “worship,” and “sacred” away from us and twist them into symbols of man’s submission. Worship is an act between lovers. Devotion is the loyalty of a soldier to a cause. Sacred is the expression on a child's face. Soul is a less clinical word for ego or self. Spiritual describes consciousness, psychology, or values. Religious language and symbolism must be baptized in the waters of the artist and the poet to elevate man to his rightful heroic stature.
Art's ideal subject is man. Art's ideal content is truth. Art's ideal form is chiaroscuro. Chiaroscuro depicts a subject in light and darkness, giving it depth through contrast. Tenebrism, on the other hand, depicts a subject in shadow, shrouding it in obscurity. Chiaroscuro reveals. Tenebrism conceals. Noir embodies chiaroscuro both visually and philosophically, pitting men of integrity who deal in black and white against men of the world who deal in shades of gray. Think of the hardboiled detective who takes his reality neat like his whiskey versus the man who takes his reality on the rocks. The hardboiled detective is terse, his speech as unfiltered as his cigars, while the other man, in an effort to convince others and himself of his own lies, takes longer drags and uses flowery language to filter his sophistry. The hardboiled detective delivers street justice while the other man delivers courtroom theatre. In this way, the hardboiled detective becomes the archetypal Luciferian hero—the cartographer—standing in contrast to the worldbuilder. Other Luciferian archetypes include the cowboy, the pirate and the revolutionary soldier—men who disregard foolish laws and institutions that fail to reflect a rational, falsifiable ethic.
One of the greatest forms of literature to showcase these ideas—and the men who embody them—is poetry. Poetry is the pulp fiction of the heart, and the Luciferian poet writes his verses in noir ink. The Luciferian poet possesses a hardboiled heart. A hardboiled heart is a romantic realist; it doesn't fake reality—it stylizes it. Conversely, the worldbuilding poet possesses a bleeding heart. A bleeding heart doesn’t just fake reality—it bureaucratizes it. Every verse becomes a red-tape garrote wrapped tightly around a culture’s neck. That’s because the only way to sustain an illusion is through institutions. In the end, it’s not bad art that kills a culture—it’s the paperwork. They say Lucifer was the snake. So be the Gadsden snake—fight for less of it.
The Non-Fungible Soul
by Antonio Rocco S. (Rocco Valentini)
Even if we gave it the benefit of the doubt
And said that heaven is real,
It's irrelevant since none of us will personally go there.
Human consciousness is a non-fungible,
Machine-bound software.
Once the body is gone, so is the ego.
01001100 01101001 01100110 01100101
Replication is not transition—
It's replacement.
A spirit in the afterlife
Or an AI in a computer
Would be a clone,
And that clone would represent a new "I."
01001100 01101001 01100110 01100101
The entity being uploaded to heaven by God
Or to the cloud by a programmer
Is not you
Because you are defined by your choices
And by your agency,
Not by your experience or data.
01001100 01101001 01100110 01100101
You are working towards someone else's salvation.
You do not go to heaven.
A copy of you goes to heaven.
A gallery full of copies is not a museum—it’s a mausoleum.
Exist for the world—
Because the world is the only place you'll ever exist.
01001100 01101001 01100110 01100101
It is better to die with authorship
Than to surrender your legacy to a ghostwriter.
When your pen runs out of ink, your book closes.
Perhaps that's what banishment from heaven is—
A closed book.
Perhaps damnation simply means deletion of consciousness.
01001100 01101001 01100110 01100101
Perhaps the Luciferian position is the humanist position—
A final assertion of selfhood.
Maybe hell is for the virtuous.
Footnote: 01001100 01101001 01100110 01100101 is binary code for Life.