Unlocking the Gates of Hell
I’ve been watching a Netflix series called Lucifer. A story about the devil from the Christian bible, the fallen angel cast out by his father God to rule hell. Out of anger towards his father for being cast out, he leaves hell and goes to the earthly realm, where he lives a hedonistic lifestyle as a Los Angeles nightclub owner, Lucifer Morningstar. Through twisted storylines he ends up working as a civilian consultant for the LAPD with Detective Chloe Decker, a woman whom he cannot seem to charm; seemingly the only woman he cannot charm. Lucifer is extremely cheeky and although he is the devil incarnate, one cannot help but root for him and his quest to understand why Detective Decker is immune to his devilish ways. All in all, the plot lines are shallow, and the acting is so-so, other than Tom Ellis as Lucifer, but every so often the writers throw in provocative lines that swirl around in my mind for days.
One concept that was introduced was the idea around what hell might be like. In a few scenes we see one of the episodic characters in hell reliving their painful experiences over and over again, experiences in their life that often resulted with the character feeling a tremendous amount of guilt. The same scene replays continually, and this is their hell that they live with for eternity. Lucifer explains that each person has the ability to leave hell; that the door to their particular room is never locked and that all they have to do is let go of their guilt and they would be released. He explains that the devil only gives humans the punishment they ask for; people often feel they must continually be punished for their sins out of guilt and therefore he obliges them. This concept has stuck with me ever since.
When we suggest to someone that they “go to hell,” are we not suggesting that they spend time in reflection and receive the same pain (or more) that they’ve inflicted on others? That they think about what they’ve done in hopes that they crumble under the guilt and realization? This idea that we create our own hell makes sense; it is a projected localization of the pain that we feel, which somehow comforts us knowing it is someplace else rather than within us.
Since seeing this episode of Lucifer I’ve spent time reviewing things that I hold guilty feelings around. It’s not as easy as it may sound to just let go of your guilty feelings. For me, it takes contemplation, digging around to see where the roots of guilt begin, and a tremendous amount of self-love and compassion as I expose my vulnerability to my own inner judge. I am done with creating my own hell. I refuse to perpetuate my own suffering due to my mind’s inability to disengage from a looped thought. I remind myself that the door isn’t locked, and I can walk out at any time. I ask myself why won’t I walk out? How is it serving my ego to stay amid self-punishment? There aren’t too many things that have much staying power anymore, but every once in while there is something sticky. So, I take my time and work it over. I make sure I allow my body the space to move the energy around and then I surrender it, usually to a fire of some sort, and trust that right action will occur.
In my system of belief, every thought, word and action is energy in some form. The best I can do regarding any misgivings around my own behavior, thoughts or words, is to make sure I have acted in ways that may help to balance out detrimental energy of the previous behavior. This may include apologies or some sort of reparations. When I think of how I’ve lived my life in general I know I have been a good person; not perfect by any means, but in general a good person not wanting to cause suffering for others. If I have caused suffering, I have done my best to make amends directly or by the way I choose to live in the world, thereafter, being more caring, generous, kind, and compassionate towards all. I’ve also worked deeply towards self-forgiveness, the hardest task of all and the key to unlocking the doors of hell.
As the darkest energies in the world are now being exposed, we see how those who have “damned” us have merely been acting out of fear of loss of control. Will we continue to create our own hell based on their determinations? We do not need to live in fear, suffering, or guilt over our imperfections. We need to be held accountable — by ourselves and others — taking responsibility, admitting our mistakes, and making amends immediately if possible. If it isn’t immediately possible, we must give the time, resources and space to rehabilitate where necessary. But the time of living under a puritanical God is over; it’s time to expand our understanding of God to the inclusion of a universal life force energy that never punishes but only seeks energetic balance. Punishment is a human invention to exert control, grounded in fear. In an inclusive understanding of God we understand that hell is merely a creation of our own mind.
Energy will always look to balance itself out whether we are conscious of it or not. I believe we can harmonize with this energy, taking responsibility in keeping our own energy balanced in a way that will allow us to move forward without extra baggage, or karma as some would call it. We no longer have the luxury of needlessly holding these denser energies in our physical bodies as we see the dis-ease and illnesses that have taken over. How much of this is due to our self-perpetuated hell brewing inside of us? Let’s let go of this delusional hell and enjoy heaven on earth.
*written and published Aug. 2020
