The Lesser Key of Solomon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Lemegeton)
Jump to: navigation, search

The Lesser Key of Solomon, also known as the Clavicula Salomonis Regis[note 1] or Lemegeton, is an anonymous grimoire (or spell book) focused on demonology. It was compiled in the mid-seventeenth century, mostly from materials a couple of centuries older.[1][2] It is divided into five books, the Ars Goetia, the Ars Theurgia-Goetia, the Ars Paulina, the Ars Almandel, and the Ars Notoria.[1][3]

Ars Goetia[edit]

The most obvious source for the Ars Goetia is Johann Weyer's Pseudomonarchia Daemonum in his De praestigiis daemonum. Weyer does not cite, and is unaware of, any other books in the Lemegeton, indicating that the Lemegeton was derived from his work, not the other way around.[1][4] The order of the spirits was changed between the two, four additional spirits were added to the later work, and one spirit (Pruflas) was omitted. The omission of Pruflas, a mistake that also occurs in an edition of Pseudomonarchia Daemonum cited Reginald Scot's The Discoverie of Witchcraft, indicates that the Ars Goetia could not have been compiled before 1570. Indeed, it appears that the Ars Goetia is more dependent upon Scot's translation of Weyer than Weyer's work in itself. Additionally, some material was used from Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy and the Heptameron by pseudo-Pietro d'Abano[note 2][1][5] and from the Magical Calender.[6]

Weyer's Officium Spirituum, which may be related to a 1583 manuscript titled "The Office of Spirits",[7] appears to have ultimately be an elaboration on a fifteenth century manuscript titled Le Livre des Esperitz (of which 30 of its 47 spirits are nearly identical to spirits in the Ars Goetia).[2][5]

In a slightly later copy made by Dr. Thomas Rudd, this portion was labelled "Liber Malorum Spirituum seu Goetia," and the seals and demons were paired with those of the seventy-two angels of the Shemhamphorasch,[3] who were intended to protect the conjurer and control the demons he summoned.[8] The angelic names and seals were derived from a manuscript by Blaise de Vigenère, whose papers were also used by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers in his works for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.[5] Rudd may have derived his copy of Liber Malorum Spirituum from now a lost work by Johannes Trithemius,[5] who taught Agrippa, who in turn taught Weyer.

This portion of the work was later translated by S.L. MacGregor Mathers and published by Aleister Crowley under the title The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King." Crowley added some additional invocations previously unrelated to the original work, as well as essays describing the rituals as psychological exploration instead of demon summoning.[9]

The Seventy-Two Demons[edit]



  1. King Bael
  2. Duke Agares
  3. Prince Vassago
  4. Marquis Samigina
  5. President Marbas
  6. Duke Valefor
  7. Marquis Amon
  8. Duke Barbatos
  9. King Paimon
  10. President Buer
  11. Duke Gusion
  12. Prince Sitri
  13. King Beleth
  14. Marquis Leraje
  15. Duke Eligos
  16. Duke Zepar
  17. Count/President Botis
  18. Duke Bathin
  19. Duke Sallos
  20. King Purson
  21. Count/President Marax
  22. Count/Prince Ipos
  23. Duke Aim
  24. Marquis Naberius
  25. Count/President Glasya-Labolas
  26. Duke Buné
  27. Marquis/Count Ronové
  28. Duke Berith
  29. Duke Astaroth
  30. Marquis Forneus
  31. President Foras
  32. King Asmoday
  33. Prince/President Gäap
  34. Count Furfur
  35. Marquis Marchosias
  36. Prince Stolas
  37. Marquis Phenex
  38. Count Halphas
  39. President Malphas
  40. Count Räum
  41. Duke Focalor
  42. Duke Vepar
  43. Marquis Sabnock
  44. Marquis Shax
  45. King/Count Viné
  46. Count Bifrons
  47. Duke Vual
  48. President Haagenti
  49. Duke Crocell
  50. Knight Furcas
  51. King Balam
  52. Duke Alloces
  53. President Caim
  54. Duke/Count Murmur
  55. Prince Orobas
  56. Duke Gremory
  57. President Ose
  58. President Amy
  59. Marquis Orias
  60. Duke Vapula
  61. King/President Zagan
  62. President Valac
  63. Marquis Andras
  64. Duke Haures
  65. Marquis Andrealphus
  66. Marquis Cimeies
  67. Duke Amdusias
  68. King Belial
  69. Marquis Decarabia
  70. Prince Seere
  71. Duke Dantalion
  72. Count Andromalius

Ars Theurgia Goetia[edit]

The Ars Theurgia Goetia mostly derives from Trithemius's Steganographia, though the seals and order for the spirits are different due to corrupted transmission via manuscript.[10][5] Rituals not found in Steganographia were added, in some ways conflicting with similar rituals found in the Ars Goetia and Ars Paulina. Most of the spirits summoned are tied to points on a compass, four Emperors tied to the cardinal points, sixteen Dukes tied to cardinal points, inter-cardinal points, additional directions between those. There are an additional eleven Wandering Princes, totaling thirty one spirit leaders who each rule several to a few dozen spirits.[11]

Ars Paulina[edit]

Derived from book two of Trithemius's Steganographia and from portions of the Heptameron, but purportedly delivered by Paul the Apostle instead of (as claimed by Trithemius) Raziel. Elements from The Magical Calendar, astrological seals by Robert Turner's 1656 translation of Paracelsus's Archidoxes of Magic, and repeated mentions of guns and the year 1641 indicate that this portion was written in the later half of the seventeenth century.[12][13] Traditions of Paul communicating with heavenly powers are almost as old as Christianity itself, as seen in some interpretations of 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 and the apocryphal Apocalypse of Paul. The Ars Paulina is in turn divided into two books of its own, the first detailing twenty four angels aligned with the twenty four hours of the day, the second (derived more from the Heptameron) detailing the three hundred sixty spirits of the degrees of the zodiac.[14]

Ars Almandel[edit]

Mentioned by Trithemius and Weyer, the latter of whom claimed an Arabic origin for the work. A fifteenth century copy is attested to by Robert Turner, and Hebrew copies were discovered in the twentieth century. The Ars Almandel instructs the magician on how to create a wax tablet with specific designs intended to contact angels via scrying.[15][16]

Ars Notoria[edit]


Editions and Translations[edit]

  • Arthur Edward Waite, The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts, (1898). Later republished as "The Secret Tradition in Goetia," includes large portions of the Lemegeton, particularly the Goetia.[9]
  • Shah, Idries, The Secret Lore of Magic, (1970). Contains portions of Ars Almandel and split sections the Ars Goetia, missing large portions of the the rituals involved.[9]
  • Peterson, Joseph H. The Lesser Key of Solomon: Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis (2001), ISBN 978-1-57863-220-6. Considered "the definitive version"[21] and "the standard edition."[22]




  4. ^ a b The Book of Ceremonial Magic, part I, chapter III, section 2: "The Lesser Key of Solomon"; Arthur Edward Waite; London, 1913; available online at The Internet Sacred Text Archive, (direct link to section).
  5. ^ a b c d e Rudd, Ed. Skinner & Rankine; p.31-43
  10. ^ Peterson, p.xv.
  11. ^ Rudd, ed. Skinner & Rankine; p.53-57
  12. ^ Peterson, p. xv-xvi
  13. ^ Rudd, ed. Skinner & Rankine; p.57-59
  14. ^ Rudd, ed. Skinner & Rankine; p.57-59
  15. ^ Peterson, p. xvi
  16. ^ Rudd, ed. Skinner & Rankine; p.59-60
  17. ^ Peterson, p. xvii
  18. ^ Rudd, ed. Skinner & Rankine; p.60-63.

External Links[edit]