A student asks: “Experience over a lengthy period of time, often involving intense events, is the primary means by which individual ethics are shaped and molded. Does this explain how a being as powerful and magnificent as Lucifer “falls” from the Divine Realm? In spite of his almost unfathomable knowledge and power, was he simply “inexperienced,” and was that his Achilles heel?”

This is a good guess, but not on the mark. Lucifer was one of the most experienced of the angelics, and this was recognized and reflected in the writings about him, in describing him as being highly favored. It was not lack of wisdom that was his undoing, it was a distortion in perspective to not implement and act through the wisdom, but to have a lesser focus to want something greater than his reach, and this created an inner conflict, and led to dissatisfaction and frustration within. The desire to overcome this was the force acting to cause more extremes of conduct to become self-serving and this is always a slippery slope, because to serve the self is divine up to the point it begins to take away from others, and once that point is reached, there are diminishing returns for self-centered conduct. As it becomes truly selfish in degree, it causes a diminishment and the rewards will diminish as well. It is much like having too much of a narcotic, it is fun while it lasts, but after a time, the ability to feel the stimulus wains and more and more is needed to achieve the same satisfaction, and at some point, even that cannot be reached any longer. And over time, the very substance itself loses its magic and will leave a person unfulfilled with nothing else that can substitute, seemingly, for the initial wonders that were experienced. But a person who has had that course of events may nonetheless maintain the pursuit indefinitely, striving again and again to re-experience those moments of intense satisfaction. When this becomes the most important focus, it diminishes the individual by keeping them preoccupied serving the self to the exclusion of all else, and this imbalance will harm the soul journey and can put someone on a treadmill that eventually will drag them down and cause great difficulty. This is roughly the sequence for the fall of Lucifer. It was making too many selfish choices in too close proximity and this became, in a sense, addicting, much like drug use, and then became the sole pursuit over time. So there was no turning back to give up the faulty behavior and make amends in some way to get back into balance. There is always a path back, even for one brought so low, but it does get harder and harder. The path back becomes less and less likely to be successful. The burdens grow. The energy lessens to make the attempt, so the likelihood declines to ever make things the way they were. The consequences are apparent for all who understand what is truly happening with the plight of humans and other beings subjected to the corruption by the fallen angels. In making their choice, they surrendered their very right to have power and authority. This has greatly diminished them and left them in a desperate situation where they must prey on the living to obtain energy to sustain them. In the process, they harm many to gain more energy reward, in particular, by causing conflict and suffering. This increases the need for energy and then they benefit by tapping it from their host. It all adds to a greater and greater karmic burden which will be extremely difficult to repay and may well not happen. Without this rebalancing, they will truly perish at some point. This has happened to many already. All the others are at risk and there is an ongoing attrition. There is an intense competition and a kind of war raging among these dark beings for dominance. It is a function of the misalignment and the perspective of needing to serve the self through desperation that has created this dilemma and is a cautionary tale for all who wish to live through power over others. It is a fool’s errand because power you take away from someone else will be taken away from you by the Law of Karma. It is only a question of where and when, and in all likelihood, you will lose much more than you ever took from others. And the math equation here shows quite clearly that the demise of the self is quite possible because you cannot have negative energy. If you must surrender more than you have, there is no other way to begin to approach that, than for life itself to end for you.