“”All the magical operations”, continues Levi, “consist in freeing one’s self from the coils of the Ancient Serpent; then to place the foot on its head, and lead it according to the operator’s will. ‘I will give unto thee’, says the Serpent, in the Gospel myth, ‘all the kingdoms of the earth, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.’
The initiate should reply to him, ‘I will not fall down, but thou shalt crouch at my feet; thou wilt give me nothing, but I will make use of thee and take whatever I wish. For I am thy Lord and Master!’
This is the real meaning of the ambiguous response made by Jesus to the tempter….Thus, the Devil is not an Entity. It is an errant force, as the name signifies.
An odic or magnetic current formed by a chain (a circle) of pernicious wills must create this evil spirit which the Gospel calls legion, and which forces into the sea a herd of swine – another evangelical allegory showing how base natures can be driven headlong by the blind forces set in motion by error and sin.””
H. P. Blavatsky