Astaroth
Astaroth, great duke of the Ars Goetia
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+2Levant(Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine)
Origins and Demonization of Astaroth
Astaroth is the demonization, within the Judeo-Christian and grimoiric imagination, of the Canaanite and Phoenician deity Astarte (Ashtoreth), goddess of love, fertility and war worshipped in the ancient Levant. In condemning pagan cults, Christian theology transformed the female deity into a male demon: the Hebrew plural «Ashtaroth», which designated the idols of Astarte, became fixed as the proper name of an infernal spirit. It is fitting to clearly distinguish the goddess from the demon, for this is not a literal mythical metamorphosis but a cultural reinterpretation (a variant) by which an ancient numen of fertility was reassigned to the pantheon of evil. As such he figures in Renaissance demonology, and not as a biblical character bearing that name.
Goetic Rank and Powers
In the Ars Goetia, the first part of the Lemegeton or Lesser Key of Solomon, Astaroth is the twenty-ninth spirit, a grand duke of hell who governs forty legions of demons; in Johann Weyer's Pseudomonarchia Daemonum he appears as the twenty-eighth, with the title of duke. Questioned by the operator, he answers truthfully about things past, present and future, discovers secrets and hidden treasures, and teaches masterfully all the liberal sciences (the arts of the trivium and the quadrivium). A singular trait of his tradition is that he willingly answers whoever asks him how the rebel spirits fell and what was the reason for his own fall, a matter on which other demons rarely elaborate.
Iconography and Invocation
The grimoires describe him as a hurtful or «ugly» angel who rides an infernal beast resembling a dragon (or a wolf) and holds a viper in his hand. Collin de Plancy, in the Dictionnaire Infernal, portrays him as a repugnant and crowned angel. His breath is foul and pestilential, so the exorcist must not let him approach too closely: he must hold the magical ring near his face to protect himself from the stench. Tradition also requires bearing his seal or sigil before invoking him, for otherwise the spirit will not obey. Medieval demonology likewise associated him with sloth and counted him among the princes of hell.
Also known as
Relics
Symbology
Element
Fire and Seduction
Number
40
Color
Infernal Red
Animals
Dragon, Serpent
Sigils:
Traits
Powers
Weaknesses
Behavioral
Resistances
Relations with other beings
In the Atlas
Travel the beings’ world of origin and the cosmos of their dimensions.
Mythologies
The Abrahamic religions comprise Judaism, Christianity and Islam, three monotheistic traditions that share a common origin in the figure of Abraham, regarded as patriarch in all three. Originating in the ancient Near East, Judaism developed among the Hebrews during the second millennium BCE, Christianity arose in the 1st century CE in the context of Second Temple Judaism and Islam appeared in the 7th century on the Arabian Peninsula. Each is based on divine revelations transmitted through prophets and sacred scriptures, such as the Torah, the Bible and the Qur'an, and upholds the belief in a single creator and judge God.
Sources
Pseudomonarchia Daemonum
Johann Weyer · 1577
Catalogue of sixty-nine demons included by Johann Weyer in his work "De praestigiis daemonum" (1577). It describes the infernal hierarchy, its ranks and offices, and is the direct precedent of the Ars Goetia and later Western demonology.
Dictionnaire Infernal
Collin de Plancy · 1818
Demonological dictionary by Collin de Plancy (1818), famous for the illustrations by Louis Le Breton in its 1863 edition. It catalogues demons, superstitions and infernal beings, and popularized the visual image of many entities of goetia.
Ars Goetia
Anonymous · 1650
First section of the Lemegeton or Lesser Key of Solomon enumerating seventy-two demons.
Frequently asked questions
Is Astaroth the same as Astarte?
No. It is the demonisation of her name, not the goddess in another costume. The Hebrew plural Ashtaroth, which designated the idols of Astarte, was fixed in the grimoires as the proper name of a spirit, and changed sex along the way: the Levantine goddess of love and war became a male duke of hell. Same root, different figures.
What does Astaroth do in the Ars Goetia?
He is the twenty-ninth spirit, a great duke ruling forty legions. He answers truly of things past, present and to come, discovers secrets and hidden treasures, and teaches all the liberal sciences. Neither love nor war is attributed to him: those are the domains of the goddess whose name was taken, not of the duke.
Why is he asked about the fall of the angels?
Because he is the one who answers willingly. The grimoires note as his particular trait that he replies without reluctance about how the rebel spirits fell and what the cause of his own fall was, a matter on which the rest of the Goetic catalogue scarcely dwells. It is what sets his entry apart.
How do the grimoires describe him?
As a hurtful angel riding an infernal beast like a dragon and carrying a viper in his right hand. His breath is pestilent, so the operator must keep him at a distance and hold the magic ring near his face to guard against the stench. He carries no sceptre: that is not in the Goetia.
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