The Ars Goetia Explained and Where Its 72 Demons Really Came From

The Ars Goetia — the first book of the Lemegeton, or Lesser Key of Solomon — lists 72 spirits, each with a name, a rank, legions and a seal, and claims they come from King Solomon. Here is what the book actually contains, and where its 72 demons really came from. The Lemegeton has five parts — the Ars Goetia, Theurgia-Goetia, Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel and Ars Notoria — and was compiled in the mid-17th century from older material; the copy modern editions lean on most is British Library Sloane MS 3825, in English. The word goetia comes from the Greek goēteia, sorcery, from goēs, probably linked to a verb meaning to groan or wail — the Byzantine Suda ties it to lamentation at funerals. Inside: the legend of the brass vessel that Solomon sealed and the Babylonians broke open; Bael, the first king, who "maketh men goe Invisible" and rules 66 legions; a court of kings, dukes, princes, marquises, earls and presidents; spirits who teach, find lost things, return stolen goods; the circle, and the triangle set two feet outside it; the escalating conjurations, the box and the fire; and the seals. Then the source. The list was already in print in 1577, as the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum — the "False Monarchy of Demons" — an appendix to De praestigiis daemonum by Johann Weyer, a Dutch physician, former student of Cornelius Agrippa, and one of the first writers to attack the witch trials. Weyer printed 69 demons, with no seals, and says he cut passages so that no curious reader could imitate "this proof of folly". Reginald Scot translated the list into English in The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), again to expose it — and the Goetia follows Scot's English closely. It drops Pruflas, adds Vassago, Seere, Dantalion and Andromalius, changes the order and gives each spirit a seal: 69 − 1 + 4 = 72. The 1904 edition, The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King, was prepared by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and published by Aleister Crowley, whose introductory essay says "the spirits of the Goetia are portions of the human brain". This video explains the book; it is not a ritual guide. CHAPTERS 0:00 Two Skeptics and a List of Demons 0:44 The Lemegeton and Its Five Parts 1:46 Goetia: A Word Born at a Grave 2:31 The Brass Vessel of Babylon 3:23 Bael and the Shape of an Entry 4:14 Kings, Dukes and Presidents 5:14 What the 72 Spirits Promise 6:16 The Circle and the Triangle 7:13 When the Spirit Does Not Come 8:32 The Seals 9:42 1904: Mathers, Crowley and a Dead Hand 10:38 The Book of the Offices of Spirits 11:24 Johann Weyer, Physician 12:24 The False Monarchy of Demons 13:31 Reginald Scot and the Arithmetic of 72 14:21 Portions of the Human Brain 15:44 Where the Demons Really Came From ───────────────────────────── Keep going: The Key of Solomon Explained and Who Really Wrote It →    • The Key of Solomon Explained and Who Reall...   The Dark Entities Ancient Grimoires Warn You Never to Summon →    • The Dark Entities Ancient Grimoires Warn Y...   What the Four Elements Really Mean in Occult Philosophy →    • What the Four Elements Really Mean in Occu...   Subscribe if you would rather be told what a text says than what it can do for you. ───────────────────────────── #ArsGoetia #LesserKeyOfSolomon #Grimoire