ANGELS, WATCHERS, AND DEMONS: A THEISTIC SATANIST’S VIEW

 ANGELS, WATCHERS, AND DEMONS: A THEISTIC SATANIST’S VIEW

From a Theistic Satanist perspective, angels, Watchers, and demons were never meant to be separated into strict categories of good and evil. That division came later through Christianity. When you look at their origins in older cultures, these beings are part of a shared spiritual world with different roles, not moral opposites. Understanding this older view helps explain why some Satanists feel comfortable working with beings that Christianity labels as angels, fallen angels, or demons.

Long before Christianity, angels were nothing like the soft, peaceful figures people imagine today. They were powerful and often frightening forces that acted as messengers or agents of the divine. In early Jewish and Middle Eastern traditions, angels appeared as blazing beings of fire, creatures with multiple faces, and cosmic powers that carried out specific tasks. They were not moral police, but part of a huge spiritual structure that managed the universe. Only later, after Judaism encountered ideas from Zoroastrianism, did angels begin to form complicated hierarchies that eventually carried over into Christian thought.

The Watchers, also called the Grigori, are a key example of how these beings originally existed without Christian moral labels attached to them. Their story is best known from the Book of Enoch, where they begin as angels assigned to watch over humanity. Instead of staying distant, they chose to interact with humans and share knowledge that changed civilization. They taught metalwork, writing, magic, herbal healing, and the understanding of the stars. Their punishment came not because they harmed humanity, but because they broke a divine rule by teaching humanity what had been forbidden. From a Theistic Satanist point of view, the Watchers represent beings who stood against a controlling power and chose to uplift humanity. Many Satanists see them as part of the same liberating current associated with figures like Lucifer and Azazel.

The word demon originally had no connection to evil. In ancient Greece, a daimon was simply a spirit, sometimes helpful, sometimes challenging, but never automatically wicked. In Mesopotamia, Egypt, and other ancient cultures, spirits later labeled as demons by Christianity were once protectors, guardians, or neutral forces of nature. In early Jewish writings, demons slowly became associated with chaos or misfortune, influenced by Persian ideas of cosmic struggle. Even then, they were not uniformly evil. It was Christianity that fully turned demons into the enemy. Pagan gods, nature spirits, rebellious angels, and ancestral beings were all reclassified as demons for the sake of a single religious worldview.

As a Theistic Satanist, I do not accept this divide. Demons are not evil forces but ancient beings with their own histories, personalities, and strengths. They are teachers, guides, and powerful allies. Their supposed “evil” is simply the interpretation of a religion that sought to control spiritual access. Similarly, the Watchers are not corrupt angels. They are initiators who chose human freedom over blind obedience. Even angels themselves are not confined to Christian definitions. Many Satanists work with angels such as Lucifer in his original light-bearing form, Samael as the challenger, Azrael as the guide through death, or Uriel as the illuminator. These angels function as cosmic forces rather than servants of one deity.

There is no philosophical conflict in a Theistic Satanist working with angels, Watchers, and demons together. The conflict only exists if someone accepts the Christian worldview, which divides these beings into sides in a spiritual war. Once that worldview is rejected, the beings themselves can be seen as they were in older traditions: part of a vast spiritual ecosystem with different roles and energies. Angels can rebel. Demons can teach. Watchers can uplift. Each being stands on its own, not as a member of a moral faction, but as an individual power that can be approached, understood, and respected.

To a Theistic Satanist, the strict separation between angels and demons is a historical invention, not a spiritual truth. The older, more complex world of spirits is far more useful and far more honest. When we return to that original understanding, we see that these beings share deeper connections than Christianity ever allowed.

Suggested Sources for Further Research

The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch), translated by R. H. Charles or George Nickelsburg.
The Dead Sea Scrolls, especially the apocalyptic and Enochic fragments.
The Dictionary of Angels by Gustav Davidson.
The Origins of Demons in Early Jewish Thought by Archie T. Wright.
Demons and Spirits in Ancient Mesopotamia by Tzvi Abusch and W. Farber.
Angels: A History by David Albert Jones.
The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament.
The Avesta for Zoroastrian angelic influences.
The Testament of Solomon for early demonological traditions.
Kabbalistic texts such as the Zohar and Sefer HaRazim for insight into angels, demons, and intermediary beings.