HELL
Hell has seven Lodges, matching the seven Levels of Heaven. Medieval scholars worked out the different kinds sinners allocated to each Lodge, and each sub-section of each Lodge. Satan, naturally, is at the very bottom.
Although many parts of Hell are ablaze with fire, Satan himself dwells in a frozen lake of ice — at least, according to the poet Dante.
Holy angels may also be found in Hell, dealing out punishments, controlling operations and keeping Satan and his minions in check. One such angel is Abaddon, known as the Angel of the Abyss, who keeps the keys of Hell.
SATAN
Satan in his original angelic form is sometimes equated with Samael, one of the highest-ranking archangels. The angel Samael is described as having twelve wings, and is associated with poison and death.
‘Lucifer’ was not Satan’s original angelic name.He was identified with ‘Lucifer’ only because early interpreters of the Bible misread and mistook the name as applying to Satan, when it was actually being applied to Nebuchadnezzar. The word in its ordinary sense means ‘the morning star’, i.e. Venus.
‘Satan’ itself actually means ‘adversary’. and ‘the satan’ who appears in the Old Testament is not like ‘Satan’ in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, ‘the satan’ serves God in the role of accusing angel and is more like a Counsel for the Prosecution.
When God created humankind, He required all angels to bow down before the new creation. Satan (or Eblis, in Islamic lore) refused to humble himself, and led his followers into rebellion.
The Order of Powers and the Order of Potentates supplied a large proportion of Satan’s followers.
The idea that Satan became – or controlled – the serpent that tempted Eve does not feature in the Bible. The identification was made by later theologians of the Middle Ages.
Although Satan is sometimes called Beelzebub and Mephistopheles, these names really belong to two of his chief lieutenants in Hell. Beelzebub was one of the cherubim before his fall. Other important figures in Hell include:
– Belphegor (originally from the Order of Principalities)
– Leviathan (originally a seraph), and
– Lilith (a kind of demon who was Adam’s first wife, before Eve)
According to St Jerome and several other early Church fathers, Satan will eventually repent. He will be pardoned and allowed back into Heaven to take up his old position again. (This prediction features in the background world for the Ferren Trilogy.)