Last week, I aimed to create small, relatable images that help anyone interested in esoteric self-knowledge understand how Lucifer and Ahriman influence daily life. These examples are intended to show, in a simplified manner, only one side of a life situation. They are designed this way to make the representation clear and to make the distinction between the two more straightforward. As I have demonstrated many times in my articles, Lucifer and Ahriman work together; wherever Lucifer appears prominently in a situation, Ahriman is right behind him, and vice versa. So, each of these examples also has the complementary aspect manifesting in the background. Since we are only beginning our exploration, we will not focus on the complementary for now, but only on what is prominent. Later in this series, when a bigger picture is constructed, I can introduce the complementary work of Lucifer and Ahriman in the human being and what the composites are. For now, we will look at distinct examples of one or the other.

I chose today’s examples from the modern work environment that most of us are familiar with. This week, I will provide examples of two employee types, and next week, two manager/supervisor types that we have most likely encountered in our professional lives.

The workplace is a space where we can not be entirely ourselves. Being professional means each of us must craft a specific persona that takes the lead during working hours or whenever we find ourselves in a professional setting. This construction begins in school and ends at retirement, or whenever the individual chooses to let it go. Sometimes, aspects of this persona are carried into personal life or other environments where they no longer seem appropriate, such as wearing a suit to a painting class. Therefore, the workplace is usually where we present an artificial state of being shaped by rules of courtesy and social conventions. The good news is that building and maintaining this persona fosters awareness because one must be very careful when shaping it, as it is linked to one’s finances and survival. Hence, the ‘I’ must be present at work, not just the physical body. The bad news is that sustaining this construction for long hours each day can be tiring, and often, negative influences, Luciferic and Ahrimanic, emerge uninvited, like wild animals. When they break free, we call it “unprofessional.” When they are contained within our professional persona and align with our chosen self-image, we call it “professional.”

Since this is not a business class, my goal here is to observe Lucifer and Ahriman beyond roles and professional personas. Please note that I can only present certain aspects; none of these characterisations will ever be complete. We build the puzzle as we go.

Luciferic case no. 1. The gossipy and sloppy Suzie.

Suzie is a secretary. She is friendly, humorous, gossipy, and always present at cigarette breaks and company outings. She isn’t particularly good at her job; she’s more or less mediocre. She sometimes misplaces documents and mixes up appointments, but never quite enough to get dismissed. Employees like Suzie survive in the company by telling their boss everything they know about colleagues and, when in trouble, shifting the blame or attention onto others: “But Alexandra also did it…” or “Look, Karen did this, and she wasn’t supposed to…” The most important trait of the Suzie type is that they will always betray others, sometimes without even an obvious reason and with the risk of appearing immature. Susan doesn’t care that she is viewed as immature because this makes her feel younger. Being joyous and forever young is one of Suzie’s life goals.

Why is the Suzie type preponderantly Luciferic? Luciferic beings are very social, so social that many times they hide behind the collective; for instance, people who like to say “we” instead of “I.” In a lecture dated 21 September 1918 (GA184), Rudolf Steiner gives, as a side note, the following indication with multiple implications:

“It is better to say ‘Luciferic spirits’ and ‘Ahriman’, for although there are hosts in the following of Ahriman, Ahriman stands out as a unity, because he strives for unity, and the Luciferic element shows itself as plurality, because it strives for plurality.”

In the Bible, the Luciferic spirits say, ‘We are Legion,’ which means ‘We are Lucifer’. This also suggests that the Luciferic spirits avoid taking individual responsibility for their actions and encourage humans to diffuse responsibility onto the collective or shift it onto others. Consequently, the careless Suzies will only take responsibility at the very end, after they have exhausted all their diversion tactics and none have succeeded.

In the beginning, the Luciferic beings have betrayed the progressive spiritual world by refusing to reveal themselves in the outer world, thus retaining their being. This instigated in themselves an instinct of independence, which inspired what we recognise in ourselves as egotism. Every single Luciferic act is derived from the original act of cosmic egotism, of refusing the self-revelation, the offering of their being.

The Suzies of our souls are: friendly – but not devoted or loyal -, superficial, gossipy, sloppy, somewhat spacey – but not when it comes to their own interest, because in that case they become very focused -, untrustworthy and ultimately egotistic. In appearance, Suzies are pleasant, charismatic, and always strive to look young and fresh.

Michael works against the Suzie tendencies of the soul by reconnecting us with the nobility and chivalry of our being. It stops us from betraying and envying our brothers and sisters. Therefore, whenever we feel Suzie, we can say:

‘Spirit triumphant!
Flame through the impotence of faltering, fainthearted souls!
Burn up egotism
Kindle compassion
So that selflessness, the life stream of humanity
May flow as the wellspring of spiritual rebirth!’
Rudolf Steiner

Ahrimanic case no. 1. The quiet and shy Steve.

Unlike Suzie, Steve, the programmer, is very diligent, organised, and pedantic, often staying late at work. He has no family because he has always been shy and lacking confidence around women. Typically seen as an average nerd, sometimes even creepy, he whispers when speaking and wears glasses. He finds it hard to laugh in social settings and struggles to understand jokes, so he sometimes smiles or laughs at the wrong times. Despite this, Steve meticulously documents all his work activities, including emails, memos, reports, and evaluation records. He regularly backs up folders and databases and always prepares legal protections for himself against the company, anticipating difficult times ahead.

Let’s analyse Steve’s Ahrimanic tendencies. Ahrimanic beings are dry, cold, calculated, and robotically intellectual. Long before Claude AI or ChatGPT, there was Steve, our IT colleague. Steve always seemed unemotional when someone spoke, as if he could never perceive the heart behind one’s words. Ahriman cares less about human souls; he cares more about their life forces. Ahriman searches human souls only to find the ones suitable for his purpose: creating a robotised society of living automatons. Ahrimanically inspired professionals are skilled engineers, programmers, accountants, military careerists, spies, and politicians.

Ahriman is antisocial and anxious. When it comes to love, Lucifer loves himself, enjoying his own voluptuousness; Ahriman only loves matter. We can say that Ahriman’s only ‘love’ is already compacted in matter. Ahriman loves no one; all his work is in matter.

Ahriman doesn’t understand humour; he only understands and uses mockery and humiliation. When Ahriman laughs, everyone else suffers in excruciating cold pain. This is why it is always better that they don’t know when to laugh.

Ahrimanic doubles fear of death. When a person gets close to the Guardian that stands at the Gate of Death, the Ahrimanic double leaves in fear. The fear of death is the only good thing that preserves us in earthly existence. Still, it can become a burden when one gets closer to Initiation, as the Ahrimanic double starts working covertly against death, pulling one back from the Threshold. In everyday life, this fear of death might take the appearance of covering oneself up, preparing against a potential lawsuit, calamity, accident, etc. Here, we have acts of excessive documentation, safe rooms, first aid kits, insurance, prenuptial contracts, vaccines – in general, everything that ‘prevents’ something bad that ‘might’ take place. All little fears are rooted in the big fear of death. Even esotericists, who know death is just a stage, fear death, but they fear the death of the spirit more.

Whenever Ahriman plays with our minds and Steve, the diligent and preventive secret-service programmer, pops in, the healing image is Christ before Pilate. We can remember the principle of life itself standing in a human body before a mediocre authority. We can then represent how Christ gradually diminished His spirit over the three years on Earth, so much that, when He stood before Pilate, He had already extinguished Himself totally in Nathan Jesus. The Spirit extinguished Himself in the Man. We will see then Nathan Jesus, left alone before a not-cold, not-warm political figure, who washed his hands before the sentence—no human or cosmic defence or prevention. The more our power of vision, of imagination, unveils Christ’s sentence, the more the fear in our soul leaves us. Accepting suffering and death is the only way to transformation and rebirth.

(to be continued with Helen and Jake, their supervisors)

Let me know in the comments your feedback and questions about these articles, and what you would like to read next in this series.

I recognise you
I AM
Alexandra Vasilache