I have experienced something in my youth that may be this devil persona, i will not talk of it in detail, what is important is that it wreaked of evil, and no it did not have horns or a tail nor did it say anything, it was more frightening than any Hollywood demons or special affects - it was a presence so forceful that it would scare most to death. it is something i feel is not seen by many through out time nor can i say it WAS the devil - but be it demon - devil- or other it is not something i ever want to encounter ever again - and no I'm not a christian, just someone aware of spiritual things.

i believe Satan is just a symbol of man's true nature

Horned gods, with horns or antlers, appear in various cultures. The "Horned God" is a modern term for a syncretic god of late antiquity, the merging of Cernunnos, a horned god of the Celts, with the Greco-Roman Pan. This combination of gods produced a powerful deity, around which the pagani, those refusing to convert to Christianity, rallied. This deity provided the prototype for later Christian conceptions of the devil, and his worshippers were cast by the Church as witches. In Wicca, the Horned God and his counterpart the Triple Goddess are the main gods worshiped.

The "Horned God" is still worshiped by some modern Neopagans, particularly Wiccans, who have linked him with a wide variety of male nature gods from various mythologies, including the English Herne the Hunter, the Egyptian Ammon, the Hindu Pashupati and the Roman Faunus. All of these male deities are seen as having horns and an association with nature. A number of figures from British folklore, though normally depicted without horns, are nonetheless considered related: Puck, Robin Goodfellow and the Green Man.

The syncretic figure of a Horned God, central to a cult of witches, was first suggested by Jules Michelet in La Sorcière (1862); these ideas were expanded by Margaret Murray, in The Witch-cult in Western Europe (1921). Since then important aspects of Murray's thesis have been discredited, and the idea of a highly organized pagan underground resistance persisting into the early modern period is widely regarded as a fantasy. Despite widespread condemnation of her scholarship, certain intuitions of hers are now considered correct, and most witchcraft historians agree that beliefs and practices originating in paganism survived into the Early Modern Age, and that the conflict between these beliefs and Christianity helped precipitate the European witch-hunts.

hehe i like Cernunnos, god of fertility,forests

Personally, I see no reason to put any faith in a circular proof that contradicts my own experience and observations.

Yes I would like a straight answer to that myself. What the hell is a "generational sin"? Is that an affliction of some sort like alcoholism or epilepsy or a congenital condition? What are we in the middle ages here? And why would this god feel the need to impose sin on a family repeatedly and why condemn innocent children to this inevitable fate? That sounds like an invented premise by a bunch of judgmental fools.

While we're on the subject of favorite gods, I'm partial to Baccus myself. Wine, women and song all the way! (Or in the vernacular - Sex, Drugs and Rock'n'Roll.)

Yeah, me to. I like some of the descriptions of Roman deities before they were dulled down anyway. Very comical and human in a lot of respects.

Haven't done a alot of research into them, but I thought the idea of Zeus throwing a lightning bolt throwing part would be cool. Handing out lightning bolts as party favors for all the guests to throw around. Kinda like sparklers but with a bigger punch.

Zeus is Greek in origin and the Roman equivalent to Zeus would have been Jupiter I think. Pretty much they had gods/goddesses that were assigned various interests and tasks but they were constantly meddling in the lives of humans because they found it to be great sport. They would help them and harm them. No punishment could ever be undone but as soon as that god turned his back on the earth, another god or goddess could take pity on that injured human and give he or she something that would spare their agony or improve their situation so it made for some EXCELLENT story telling. They were very similar just with different names. Zeus and Jupiter both were considered the head honchos. Lord of the Sky, Gods/Goddesses, he also controlled the weather, thunder and lightning as you mentioned, and he was thought to create the clouds. Its like the proverbial "my god is better than your god thing". Or at least more of a bad ass.

absolutely correct

I remember being fascinatd by the Norse mythologies as a pre-adolescent. Once I had exhausted all the sources I could find for that, I tried going into the Roman mythologies, but they just seemed so dull! Looking back at it now I'm pretty sure I must have just been unlucky enough to have found a bad writer at the start of my foray into the Roman stuff. As I recall, some of the stories of conflicts between different gods were awfully petty. And included quite a bit of intrigue and power struggles.

To me, they very often come across as meddlesome and petty. They are easily angered and often go out of their way to "upstage" one another. Thats what I meant by one will inflict some sort of horrible punishment and then another god or goddess will wait patiently for Zeus or whomever it was to not be watching and relieve that particular human of this condemnation via some kind of attribute. They were also intended to teach morals in no uncertain terms. Medusa, the gorgon is a prime example of this.

“Vain and foolish girl,” Athena said angrily, “You think you are prettier than I am! I doubt it to be true, but even if it were, there is more to life than beauty alone. While others work and play and learn, you do little but boast and admire yourself.”

So most of the tales do in fact have something to impart, though they meant business and were quick to bring down the hammer. Im not as familiar with the Norse gods and goddesses. I know there was a definite transition that occurred within the Greco/Roman pantheon however.

Take the "d" off of devil and you have evil! The ancient indian tribe's descibed God as the great or good spirit, they described satan as the evil or sometimes dark spirit, the key here is they described both as spirit's! I think we should try to view things not of human flesh as what they might be instead of placing parameters around them for the sake of story telling! Oh well, just a thought!

To which "Indian tribes" are you referring? That is a very ambiguous statement. By the way, the bible is a book of stories.

ask tribo!

Im asking you because it is in response to your quote! Do you have no reply to offer? Why even bother to make the comment if you have no idea to whom or what you are addressing? Were you simply hoping that no one would question your assertions? No such luck I guess.

and personally I don't see any reason to not live by my faith as He has shown me many times......will never deny him now....ever ever.....and that my friend are my observations.....so you yours and mine to me....nuff said.