N A M E S OF THE DAMNED
INTRODUCTION
This book had its genesis in a conversation with
Father Bob Bailey. Some of you might recognize
Father Bob from his appearances on the A&E tele­
vision series Paranormal State. Father Bob and I
were on a case together, and we had a little time
to chat over tea. We'd never really had a chance to
get to know one another, and this seemed as good
a time as any.
For some of my fans, the idea of me hanging
out in a hotel lobby with a Catholic priest might
seem pretty strange. Father Bob and I come from
very different worlds. He’s an ordained priest with
a parish in Rhode Island. He is also the co-founder
of a group of paranormal investigators called the
Paranormal Warriors of Saint Michael. I’m Pagan
clergy, and I study everything from the occult to
vampires. I’m the founder of a magickal society
called House Kheperu. You would think that we
would mix like oil and water, yet our shared inter­
est in the paranormal guarantees that we have at
least some common ground.
1
Because of the limits placed upon me as a psy­
chic for the show, we could not talk about anything
connected with the case. So, instead, we opted to
talk about our different experiences with ghosts and
spirits. Because Father Bob is often consulted on the
topic of exorcism, inevitably demons came up. Fa­
ther Bob was lamenting that there were no good re­
sources out there that listed the names of demons,
as names are seen as important in the process of de­
liverance. Although Father Bob cannot do full exor­
cisms without the sanction of the Catholic Church,
he does get called in to do house cleansings and to
perform blessings on people who feel that they are
being haunted by something much darker than a
simple human ghost.
In his line of work, the name of the demon is
important. In the Catholic rite of exorcism, known
as the Roman Ritual, this ties back to a story re­
corded in both the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel
of Luke. Here, when Jesus is confronted by a pos­
sessed man, he very specifically asks the name of
Introduction
the demon before driving it out. The passage im­
plies that the name has power over the demon. This
concept itself ties back to very ancient beliefs from
Babylon, Sumer, and Akkad—related cultures with
a very lively demonology. Interestingly, in the bib­
lical story, Jesus eventually drives out the demons
into a herd of swine. In ancient Sumer, thousands
of years before the Gospels were penned, one com­
m on m ethod of exorcism involved transferring a
possessing demon into an animal substitute—often
a goat or a pig. In these rites as well, a powerful
component was the demon’s true name.
I joked with Father Bob about how great it
would be if there were a real version of Tobin’s
Spirit Guide—the fictional book they used in the
movie Ghostbusters to find the names of all the
weird spirits that kept turning up in New York.
And then I thought about it for a minute or two.
Tobin’s Spirit Guide might be a convenient plot de­
vice used in a funny movie, but there really are
books out there that list the names of spirits—
demons, angels, and everything else in between.
They are called grimoires, and they are books of
ceremonial magick w ritten mainly betw een the
twelfth and seventeenth centuries in Western Eu­
rope. Although the grim oiric tradition was not
exclusive to Western Europe, they became a main­
stay of W estern European occultism throughout
the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
I’d long been collecting grimoires, and back in
2002 I’d even started a casual list of the names con­
tained in these sometimes infamous books. The list
of names was a personal reference for my creative
efforts. I collected baby-name books for the same
reason—I loved learning about the origin and mean­
ings of names. Sometimes a particularly interesting
or obscure name could inspire an entire tale. The
grimoires were a good source of highly unusual
2
names with extraordinary meanings—the sort you
just couldn’t find in your average baby-name book.
Why not take that personal reference and expand
upon it? My collection of names was already in a
spreadsheet format, so it wouldn’t be too hard to
separate out all the demons, then expand each of
them into full entries, like a dictionary . ..
As Father Bob and I sat sipping our tea in the
quiet hotel lobby, my brain starting churning. It
would be a lot of work to develop something de­
finitive from the skeletal resource I had on hand,
but since I knew where to look, it was a doable
project. Maybe a little insane considering the
am ount of work it would require, but definitely
doable.
"You want names to go with your demons?” I
asked after thinking about it for a while. "Give me
a little time, Padre. I might have a book for you.”
W H A T ’S IN A N A ME ?
Words had power in the ancient world, and few
words were viewed with more fear than those that
named the forces of evil. Among many ancient
peoples, the names of demons and devils were
thought to act as a kind of beacon, calling those
beings up from the depths whenever their names
were uttered. As a result, these names were often
approached with superstitious dread. Some people
in the m odern era are still reluctant to pronounce
the name of a demon out loud. In the Europe of
the Middle Ages, this fear gave rise to a num ber
of nicknames for Satan. Called Old Nick or Old
Scratch, it was a common folk belief that these
nicknames of the Devil had less power to draw his
influence directly into a person's life when uttered
out loud.

And yet, as far as the ancients were concerned,
the names of devils and demons could do more
than simply attract their attention. The names of
spirits were thought also to compel them, control
them, bind them, and banish them. In Jewish de­
monology, the many names of the night-demon Li­
lith were inscribed upon protective amulets because
those names were thought to have power over her.
Properly applied, they didn't attract her—they could
drive her away. In the Testament of Solomon, King
Solomon demands the names of a series of demons
so he can then put them to work building the Tem­
ple of Jerusalem. By surrendering their names, one
after the other, they acknowledge Solomon's power
over them.
The Testament of Solomon and its related tradi­
tion had a trem endous impact on the European
concept of demons. It helped to establish the be­
lief that demons could be compelled and bound
using the names of angels as well as magickal
names of God. It presented dem ons as a very
real—albeit largely invisible—force in the world,
tormenting humanity with death, disaster, and dis­
ease. These concepts were already widely present
in the demonology of other ancient cultures, from
the Sumerians to the Egyptians to the Greeks, but
with King Solomon in the story, the material be­
came relevant to Christians, Jews, and Muslims
alike. The book also helped to prom ote an idea
that many demons were either fallen angels or the
misbegotten progeny sired by those angels once
they had come to earth—a concept that tied into
even older traditions present in Jewish legends and
hinted at within the first few books of Genesis.
W ritten some time in the first few centuries
after the start of the Common Era, the Testament
of Solomon likely started off as a Jewish text but it
3 Introduction
shows evidence of Christian redaction—changes
and insertions that better reflect Christian be­
liefs. It is a pseudepigraphal text, which is to say
that it was not written by King Solomon himself,
although it bears his name. It is named after him
because it tells his story and it is told from his per­
spective to lend that story more weight. This was a
common practice in the time period during which
the Testament was written, although it was equally
common in that time (and for centuries afterward)
to assume that the pseudepigraphal author really
was the author of the text.
The Testament of Solomon is, by far, not the
only extra-biblical tale that depicts King Solomon
as a controller of demons. The legends that grew
up around this Old Testament monarch are many
and varied, from his escapades with the demonic
Queen of Sheba, to the mystery of King Solomon's
mines, to the years wherein the demon Asmodeus
allegedly stole his throne. King Solomon’s prowess
as a wise man and magician also influenced Mus­
lim legends: the stories of genies trapped in bottles
like those found in the One Thousand and One Ara­
bian Nights all tie back to the Solomonic tradition.
In order to understand the tradition influenced
by this work, it’s not necessary to believe that King
Solomon somehow had demonic assistance in the
construction of the Temple of Jerusalem, nor even
that he had power over demons at all. The impor­
tant thing to understand is that a great many peo­
ple in the both the ancient world and in Europe
up through the Renaissance believed these things.
And belief in Solomon’s power was at least partly
responsible for a complicated system of magick
that revolved around spirit evocation. Names were
a fundamental part of that system.
Introduction 4

THE GRI MOI RI C TRADI TI ON T ertiu ć adifehora&TfcT

гстгшгппттетшх
jcŁsffl&.^benignap
The grimoires of medieval and Renaissance Eu­ osctrcm sci? accifti at
vdifpefitio. Itatp du tot* f ' LVX
obrifoiet corpfci? cjfi
ftaemnt rfemeopfaslir// о EVs I gnis
rope are the direct inheritors of the Solomonic h folk? er faacsei?uclut f]
Kcuftoiomtr panter SC •IsypdR ,
tradition as it appears in the Testament of Solomon. I fulgunsjet oculi ci9 ut fj
(busbentgnepuidet . f t \ Ц щ ИЦс
cju пирата diipew crtscaideti's.Etde agelc
They get their name from an Old French word, apparutt muferib?! uif
ifubdeocura^u/deaatp
grammaire, which means “relating to letters.” Let­ sfiep uidetfaaejjns nnC Adicfta forma fex ettri
net aituen'rascgm cell's ra ignisppetates cotict
ters, names, and the very process of writing are all fua anagoge fduftas. in
Q ya ob cam dinacio ,
integral to the grimoiric tradition. Some of these a dcfaipdonep oi&9 f In om.i ^
fhratep dcu pyramt'dis
rcMiorar tiidet. E x mbus со ucrfoiy fumu occupai
magickal books were viewed as possessing so gnotcibilts .yL cumejqdfumaluxl
prtofcugloria dt /уа omnia pute
much power in their words alone that if a passage bar.EtiHibcs ma Ц abitfupmudanasf
2
petmeansab ’
this iaohesrSC oronibqsejiMp flatias mediu py
were mistakenly read by someone not properly ini­ /У wsttxidiliimus,"
lci/cuituciusr t, infeiptooccaltqs b midis lumolufo:
tiated into the mysteries, a master who understood ledio eius ffi mancie St ignotus * ,.
;j — tas fenfibilia
— —— ш
Ли. i.dc me __teneti non uaiens m J! bafe renerem
the proper use of the book had to read a passage A uifibms omnia tapeias
i.hsccratui ^ : cunda qqibasinfederit in
nitudisimult
of equal length to negate the unwanted effects.1 rresi medio (uutrafiktens habitu oibus - cis idigeti*
iledor ignis Cefpjgasmouans oiaoibos perieme tc
Although no written line of descent currently /Hu£tDsinc6pi*h£lus.imixtus
oia ditanens imutabiiis.ioma bras. Itac
exists to show us how concepts about demonic igntve petts acuwsaigiliśtelet iublimis trcsmuc
incogi bills, temper mobilisiempet
evocation recorded in the first few centuries of the 6C \ \ code room uigcns. tnouens alia curt
tcllic u
V
Christian era survived to re-emerge in the 1100s fia copltdcns. manes maftcmgibtUs F
fulli” cgćs. ciafemetipm paitb iuiuti» '\N
teb* futacdii idrus. emcawpoics cuft-i s i' \
and beyond, the connection is unmistakable. King mfibmter pte.ncglett’ hand apparóŁĆfituS j
citoericas citptglupates (шс dsttuMicoSat
Solomon's name comes up again and again, and icipiom mb’ Wicas.
many of the grimoires are directly attributed to
him. These are of course as pseudepigraphal as the
Testament of Solomon itself, but that did not stop ' <
d.
medieval writers and copyists from putting the old mud us
king’s name on these forbidden tomes. Perhaps fgm't a aialta \ %/ у ScnCbiiij, mini's SC
ca.i.Edimilirti tr? tnudus
the two most famous are the Clavicula Salomonis— «afpeftusco^q neb ncbraęr.prm
known as the Key of Solomon— and the Lemegeton, uignisardentiu& dr mudPUelJigibi
iflffi ■ Г-.l, :,..ll..ei, 1л1|Уa Or
also known as the Lesser Key of Solomon.
Detail from an early sixteenth-century edition of the Celes­
The grim oires do not deal exclusively with tial Hierarchy showing the seven planetary spheres in the
demons. Many of the spirits in the grimoires are scheme of Creation. Courtesy of the Merticus Collection.
described as angels, elemental spirits, and beings
cated by the rituals recorded in the grimoires, it
known as Olympian spirits—intelligences tied
can sometimes be difficult to tell what exactly is
to the seven planets and thus the seven celestial
intended to be a demon. Certainly, the line sepa­
spheres. Given all the good spirits, bad spirits, and
rating demons from angels can get fuzzy in these
in-between spirits that were believed to be invo-1
works, particularly because many demons are pre­
1. Richard Kieckhefer, Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer’s Manual sented as fallen angels, and they retain the tradi­
of the Fifteenth Century (University Park, PA: Penn State
University Press, 1997), p. 8.

tional nomenclature of angels, with names ending
in -ael or -id.
However, as hazy as the identification of some
of these spirits may at times be, there are also clear
cases where the beings enum erated in the gri-
moires are described specifically as demons. Even
then, these beings are not necessarily presented
as entities to be avoided. Instead, following in the
tradition set down by the Testament of Solomon, the
writers of these magickal texts seek to abjure, con­
trol, and otherwise coerce these demons into ser­
vitude by commanding them in the name of God
and his angels.
This is probably one of the most striking things
about the grimoiric tradition, and it often comes
as a shock to both Christians and non-Christians
who approach these books as forbidden bastions
of black magick. The magickal system outlined in
the grimoires is highly religious. Furthermore, this
system is predicated on the existence of a supreme
being, and that supreme being is very clearly the
God of the Bible. There is no avoiding the influ­
ence of Yahweh or the Bible in these works. Even
though many of the grimoires are devoted to the
sum m oning and com m anding o f demons, the
spells contained in these tomes frequently read like
priestly orations uttered in a high Latin mass.
In part, this is because the magickal system in
the grimoires was practiced mainly by members
of the clergy. In the Middle Ages, priests and lay-
brothers were some of the only individuals who
had the literary expertise to write, read, and copy
these texts. Professor Richard Kieckhefer typifies the
demonic magick of the grimoires as "the underside
of the tapestry of late medieval culture.”2 This is,
of course, interesting because at the same time that
2. Richard Kieckhefer, Forbidden Rites, p. 13.
5 Introduction
priests and lay-brothers were experimenting with
demonic magick, most of W estern Europe was
swept up in a mania focused on witchcraft, sorcery,
and pacts with the Devil. Folk beliefs about witch­
craft and the very real tradition of the grimoires ex­
isted side by side and, in some instances, may have
even fed into one another. However, even though it
invoked demonic spirits, the magickal system of the
grimoires was perceived as being distinctly different
from the “Satanic” practices of witches—at least
by its practitioners. This was primarily because of
the ritual elements and invocations to God woven
throughout the grimoires.
As curious as it may sound, given the frequent
references to Christ and the Holy Trinity that ap­
pear in some of the grimoires, a lot of the priestly
and ritual aspects of these books of magick were
inspired by Jewish esotericism. The Jewish tradi­
tion known as the Qabbalah is a mystical path,
but it also has practical magickal applications.
Much of Qabbalistic magick revolves around the
Tree of Life. This is a kind of mystic ladder that
is seen as a map of reality. The Tree of Life con­
tains ten Sephiroth—a word derived from a Hebrew
term meaning "sapphire” or “jewel.” These jewels
are placed along pathways that move up the Tree
of Life from Malkuth, at the bottom , which rep­
resents the physical world, to Keter (also spelled
Kether), at the top, which is the crown ju st be­
neath the Throne of God. In Qabbalistic magick,
a trained individual seeks to ascend the ladder of
the Tree of Life through rigorous practices that
involve meditation, fasting, and ceremonial ritual.
Encounters with demons and angels are a part of
this mystic journey. The ultimate goal is a vision of
the Throne of God, an experience believed to be
powerfully transformational.
Introduction
Tree of Life
The grimoiric tradition borrows a lot from this
Jewish mystical tradition. The ceremonial quality
of Qabbalistic practice is adopted almost whole­
sale into the magick of the grimoires, as is the sig­
nificance of Hebrew names—especially the secret
names of God. There are several Jewish magickal
texts—most notably, the Sepher Razaelis, or Book
6
of the Angel Raziel—that have a long-reaching in­
fluence in later Christian grimoires. Another ex­
ample of uniquely Jewish magick appears in the
Book of Abramelin, also known as the Sacred Magic
of Abramelin the Mage. Despite being written by
a fourteenth-century Jewish scholar, this book
had a significant impact on Christian ceremonial
magick. In the m odern era it remains one of the
most influential texts in this tradition. Most of the
Christian grimoires contain abjurations of the spir­
its that include a litany of names, many of which
are titles of God in garbled Hebrew. They are not
always accurately spelled and their true meanings
don t always seem to be clearly understood by the
Christian writers borrowing them, but their im­
portance was recognized and retained within the
system, albeit often by rote.
It would be possible to write another book en­
tirely on the crossover between Jewish and Chris­
tian magick in the grimoiric tradition. The impor­
tant point to be made for the purpose of this work
is that the influence of Jewish magick ensured that
the spells contained in European grimoires very
closely resembled religious ceremonies. Hebrew
names, and specifically Hebrew names of God,
play a significant role, and the predom inantly
Christian authors of the grimoires then added
Christian elements, such as references to Christ,
the Trinity, and even the Virgin Mary. The result
evolved into its own system, but it is clearly a sys­
tem that stems from medieval Jewish magick as
well as the Solomonic tradition, with roots stretch­
ing as far back as the hermetic magick practiced
in the ancient Hellenic world. Demons and an­
gels both play significant roles in this system, and
rather than being controlled through black arts,
demons were thought to be controlled only by
those individuals holy enough and pure enough to
 7 Introduction

be able to convincingly command them with the had originally sourced spirits named in the Secret
many sacred names of God. Grimoire of Turiel, but in the end I cut them all, be­
cause they were more properly Olympian spirits—
COMPI LI NG THE N A M E S intelligences believed to the tied to the seven plan­
etary spheres—rather than fallen angels. In a few
W hen I developed the concept for this book, the
instances, when the grimoire itself does not make
focus was on names. I knew it was possible to
a clear distinction, I had to judge a spirit’s status
write an entire text on the practice o f demonic
based on context. If the spirit is associated with
magick as it appears in the grimoires, but that was
malevolent magick or if its name appears in asso­
not my goal. I simply wanted to create a resource
ciation with other known demonic spirits, and no
of proper names attributed to demonic spirits, and
effort is made to distinguish it from the demons, I
the grimoiric tradition was the best place to start.
have included that spirit’s name in this book. Sev­
As it turned out, I never had to stray far from the
eral spirits from the Grimoire of Armadel fall into
grimoires to produce an extensive list of names. In­
this class.
stead, I found that I had to set strict limitations for
As a result of these criteria for selection, you
what would and would not be included in order to
will find that I have sourced mainly the grimoires
keep this book at a manageable length.
that stem from the Christian tradition of West­
First, in order to be included in this book, the
ern Europe. Christian clergy were hardly the only
name had to be presented in the text as the proper
people producing tomes of demonic and spiritual
name of a demon. It could not be a general name
magick in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, but
for a class of demon, like an incubus or a succu-
they were certainly the ones who were most in­
bus. Aside from one lone exception, all of the
clined to define certain spirits as demonic.
names collected in this book were presented in
As we have seen already, these books had their
their sources as the proper names of demons. The
genesis in Jewish mysticism, and there was a rich
one exception is an entry on the Watcher Angels,
grimoiric tradition among Muslim writers as well.
a class of fallen angels. The belief in these beings
Some of these texts, like the Arabic Picatrix at­
had a significant if subtle influence on the demon­
tributed to Al-Madjiriti, were excluded at the out­
ology that underpins the grimoires, and I felt that
set because they did not meet the most basic cri­
this would best be covered in a separate entry that
terion for this work. The Picatrix has more to do
stands in addition to all of the individual entries on
with alchemy and astral magick—magick tied to
specific Watchers.
the movement of the stars and planets—than with
Second, the spirit being named had to be in­
infernal spirits. Likewise, even certain tomes asso­
fernal. This m eant that w ithin its source text,
ciated with the Christian grimoiric tradition were
the name was defined as one of the following: a
excluded because they did not contain named spir­
demon, a fallen angel, or an evil angel. (A number
its specifically described as demons or evil angels.
of Jewish sources, such as the Sword of Moses, use
An excellent example of this exclusion is the
the terms wicked angel or evil angel rather than fallen
Heptameron, traditionally credited to Peter de
angel.) In some cases, the designation was hazy. I
Abano. This text, first published in Venice in 1496
Introduction
The demon Belial at the gates of Hell. From the 1473
work Das Buch Belial by Jacobus de Teramo.
but believed to have been written as many as two
hundred years earlier, includes a section of seven
groups of spirits with kings, ministers, and rul­
ing intelligences. A num ber of these names are
extremely similar to names that also appear in
the Sworn Book of Honorius, a grimoire that is in­
cluded in the bibliography of this book. In both
texts, the spirits are associated with the seven plan­
etary spheres. Their ranks and organization are
nearly identical—but in the Heptameron, the spir­
its are specifically identified as angels. As a result,
even though it is obvious that the Sworn Book was
influenced by the Heptameron, I only included the
versions of these names that appeared defined as
demons in editions of the Sworn Book.
Although my primary aim was to source only
proper names of spirits defined intratextually as
infernal, I had another reason for sticking with the
grimoires primarily associated with the Christian
tradition of Western Europe: convenience. Works
like the Clavicula Salomonis and the Lemegeton are
some of the most widely available in the English
language. Others, like the Pseudomonarchia Daemo-
num (a collection of names that actually appears as
an appendix to a larger work by sixteenth-century
8
scholar Johannes Wierus), are in Latin. I have a tol­
erable enough command of both Latin and French
to understand the grimoires and contem porary
works w ritten in these languages. As a result, I
can source these prim ary materials or compare
them with m odern English translations in order
to achieve a more accurate reading of the demon
names and functions. Although I have a decent
grasp on Romance languages, I have little familiar­
ity with Hebrew and even less with Arabic. This
inability on my part to compare current transla­
tions against their source texts automatically ruled
out a num ber of the more traditional Jewish and
Muslim works of magick. In the case of several
Hebrew names of Lilith, I reached out to Clifford
Hartleigh Low of Necronomi.com. His command
of the Hebrew language allowed me to transliter­
ate these names for this book.
Multi-text referencing was necessary for a num ­
ber of the names contained within this book. This
was largely due to the very nature of the grimoires
themselves. Many of these books were w ritten
prior to the invention of the printing press. This
m eant that they were handwritten manuscripts,
copied from person to person, often furtively and
in poor lighting. This m ethod of transmission did
not lend itself to accuracy—and in many of the
grimoires, names are significantly different from
one edition to the next. Even once the printing
press came into the picture in the 1400s, only some
of these magickal books made it into formal print.
Others continued in manuscript form, hand-copied
and hidden away for fear that their very presence
in a scholar's library might be call for the Inquisi­
tors to come knocking at the door.
Modern translators have not helped to m ain­
tain consistency with these texts either. In some
cases, a book by two different translators is hardly

recognizable as the same text. In most cases, when
names vary from edition to edition, I have simply
compiled them into one entry, with notes on the
variations and their sources. However, in the case
of the Sworn Book of Honońns as translated by Jo­
seph H. Peterson in 1998, and the edition of the
Sworn Book produced by Daniel Driscoll in 1977,
the differences in the names, functions, and de­
scriptions of the spirits are so vast that I have cho­
sen to give them all separate entries.
One of my secondary goals with this work was
to present names that are new to people, or at least
names that are rarely included in more standard
reference works. Since the focus is on the proper
names of demons connected with a largely Judeo-
Christian system, however, I had to retread some
familiar territory beyond the grim oires them ­
selves. You will find all the old familiar names of
demons from the Bible, primarily because these
names are foundational to the demonology of me­
dieval Christian Europe. As such, these names, or
variations on them, appear in the grimoires over
and over again.
I also felt it wise to branch out to several ex­
tra-biblical texts that contributed significantly to
the medieval concepts o f infernal beings. Jewish
legends of demons like Lilith, Samael, and Azazel
played their own roles in shaping medieval Chris­
tian demonology, and apocryphal texts cut from
the early canon of the Bible, such as the Book of
Enoch and the Book of Tobit, were also too influ­
ential to leave out. The focus remains on the gri-
moiric tradition, but names and themes from these
related traditions are woven like threads through­
out many of the European magickal books.
To summarize the criteria for the names in­
cluded in this book:
9 Introduction
• The names in this book are proper names of
demons
• Names are clearly identified as belonging to
demons, fallen angels, or evil angels in their
source texts
• The names are drawn prim arily from the
Christian grim oiric tradition o f W estern
Europe
• Some influential Jewish, biblical, and extra-
biblical works are also sourced
The grimoires sourced in this book were w rit­
ten mainly during the Middle Ages and Renais­
sance. There are several works included that were
written after this time, but they are either direct
descendants of the grimoires or they became en­
tangled with that tradition during the occult re­
vival of the nineteenth century. The two main
texts that might seem a little out of place based on
the criteria outlined above are Charles Berbiguier's
Les Farfadets and Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire
Infernal. These nineteenth-century French works
are largely included because of an edition of the
Grand Grimoire translated by A. E. Waite in his
Book of Black Magic and Pacts and later reprinted by
Darcy Kuntz. Waite gets material from both Ber-
biguier and de Plancy mixed up with the writing
of Johannes Wierus. It was necessary to cite both
French writers in order to put that information in
context and to clarify its true origins.
Finally, it should be noted that this book, al­
though extensive, is by no means an exhaustive col­
lection of the demon names that appear in the gri­
moiric tradition. I have made a considerable effort to
track down as many texts that fit my criteria as pos­
sible, but within the scope of this book it was neither
feasible nor necessary to source every existing gri­
moire. There are simply too many different versions
Introduction 10

materials by cutting up old manuscripts to include in

the binding or covers of later editions.
Any attem pt to track down all of these books
and study the information contained within would
be the work o f a lifetime, and perhaps several
lifetimes. The variations on the demons named
within these texts would be infinite, but perhaps
that is simply the nature of demons.
In his nineteenth-century opus Demonology
and Devil-Lore, Moncure Daniel Conway starts out
with a story. Three friars have snuck out to the
German m ountains to witness the gathering of
devils rum ored to occur on Walpurgisnacht. One
of the demons attending this event discovers them
in the process of attempting to count the frolick­
ing hordes of Hell. The demon behaves in a rather
sympathetic fashion to the three fellows, suggest­
ing that they leave off their counting and instead
head to safety. For, he tells them, ". . . our army is
such that if all the Alps, their rocks and glaciers,
were equally divided among us, none would have a
pound's weight."3
After having danced with the demons named in
this book for quite some time, I know exactly how
Conway felt when he quoted this tale.
Fifteenth-century image of Satan and his demons. Early
depictions of demons hardly compare to the modern
image of a red-skinned man with a goatee. Courtesy of ABOUT THI S BOOK
Dover Publications.
This book is not intended to be a how-to book on
of the grimoires scattered throughout the libraries
grimoiric magick, although if you read this book
of Europe and far too many variations upon the
all the way to the end, you should come away with
names within those books. There are copies of cop­
a basic knowledge of what grimoiric magick is and
ies of copies, each deviating slightly from a lost origi­
what it is not. This book is also not intended to
nal. There are heretofore unknown versions of these
be a definitive dictionary of the grimoires them ­
books still lying unidentified in libraries and private
selves. That is a subject that is far too vast, espe­
collections. And there are grimoires that have been
cially given the many different editions of each
lost forever, either buried, burned, or partitioned into
other books; it was common in the Middle Ages and
3. Moncure Daniel Conway, Demonology and Devil-Lore, vol. 1
even in the Renaissance to conserve book-making (New York: H enry Holt and Company, 1879), p. v.

grimoire—not to mention the amount of scribal
error that twists and taints many of the texts. This
is also not a book on types or species of demons.
There are books like that elsewhere, and they have
been done well by other researchers.
This is a reference book of names, first and
foremost. However, it contains much more than
simply the names of demons. It also contains
ranks, affiliations, and powers traditionally asso­
ciated with these entities. A rich tradition of de­
m onology is woven within and throughout the
European grimoires. Within this tradition, there
is a pecking order in the infernal hierarchy. This
pecking order is a dark reflection of the feudal so­
ciety present in Europe at the time that many of
the grimoires were first composed. Demons have
titles and ranks like prince and king, duke and earl.
Many of them serve superior spirits, and most also
oversee whole retinues of their own. The spirits
beneath each major demon arrange themselves
in legions—a convention possibly influenced by
the biblical passage recorded in Luke and Mark, in
which a demon utters the phrase, "Our name is le­
gion, for we are many.”4
In addition to this, many demons have plan­
etary and elemental associations. Some of these
associations are likely the result of the influence
of works on astral magick, like the Picatrix. There
are grimoires that assign a demon or an angel to
every planetary hour and every day of the week.
Demons are also associated with the cardinal direc­
tions, and in at least one work, known as the Ars
Theurgia, the demons enumerated within the text
are tied to every conceivable point of the compass.
Demons are also assigned various functions, of­
fices, and powers. The Gonia, a collection of sev­
4. The Bible, Mark 5:9. See also Luke 8:30.
11 Introduction
enty-two infernal entities traditionally included in
the larger work known as the Lemegeton, has some
of the m ost elaborate descriptions. It portrays
demons who teach language, demons who build
castles and fortifications, and demons who reveal
secrets about the past, present, and future. Other
works, such as the Testament of Solomon, not only
enum erate the powers that certain demons pos­
sess, but they also describe how to frustrate these
powers. Typically, such texts include the names of
angels believed to control and constrain the de­
mons in question. A few of the grimoires include
symbols, signs, and secret names of God that have
power over the demons.
W henever it is offered, I have included this in­
formation in each entry. If a demon’s name is de­
fined, that is also included in the entry. In several
cases, the name is clearly derived from an existing
word or even from the name of another demon;
in these instances, the entry includes commentary
on the likely origins and meaning of the name.
Variations on the name, typically drawn from re­
lated texts, are included in the entry with a note on
where these variations appear.
Nearly all of the fifteen hundred-plus entries in
this book are the proper names of demons. There
are a few exceptions. There are also entries for the
most frequently sourced works. The books that
have entries in this dictionary are by no means the
only works cited throughout this work, but they
are the most significant to an overall understand­
ing of the tradition from which these names are
drawn. In addition to entries on specific books,
you will also find some entries on individuals.
Most of these individuals are directly related to
the significant sources cited throughout this work.
Their entries also exist to give context to grimoiric
magick and the related tradition of demonology
Introduction
that influenced concepts about both angels and de­
mons in Western Europe.
Throughout this book, you will also find a
number of impact articles. These are short entries
separate from the rest of the text that help to paint
a broader picture about the beliefs, practices, and
events in Western Europe that impacted religion,
demonology, and the tradition of the grimoires. It
is my hope that these extra articles will help pro­
vide context for the practice of demonic magick
represented in the material in this book.
At the back of this book, I have collected lists
of correspondences. These are from a spreadsheet
I kept side by side w ith the entries in this text.
These lists contain the names of the demons as­
sociated with a specific quality or power. The lists
are alphabetized for easy reference. I have not in­
cluded every single power, association, or ability
connected with the demons in this text. Instead, I
focused on the qualities I felt would be most useful
to know. Use these for easy reference when you are
looking for a demon specifically associated with
topics like death, poison, or disease. Not all of the
qualities are negative, because in the grimoiric tra­
dition even spirits defined as demons could still be
forced to be helpful.
12
Of course, the big question is: what on earth
do you use a big book of demons for? This book
is predicated on the idea that names have power.
Many people still believe that even to say the name
of a demon out loud is to summon that entity into
their life. A great deal of fear surrounds the subject
of demons, and I prefer to fight fear with knowl­
edge. I think it is important to learn how the people
who worked to summon demons actually believed
they could be called up and compelled.
I also think it is important to understand that
these infernal entities were not viewed as all-pow­
erful. Although they were certainly presented as in­
timidating, the message of the entire Solomonic tra­
dition underpinning the grimoires is that faith has
power. Demons—whatever you think demons re­
ally are—are not invincible, and the best way to con­
trol and to combat them is by knowing their names.
The book you now hold in your hands con­
tains over fifteen hundred names of power. Do
not fear that power. Learn what it means and use
it responsibly.
—Michelle Belanger, January 2010
Aariel: A demon granted the title of duke. Aariel of the Abyss.” In Crowley's edition of the Goetia,
serves in the court of the infernal king Asyriel. Ac­ Abaddon is again mentioned, not as a being, but
cording to the Ars Theurgia, Aariel manifests only as a place mentioned in a binding. See also APOL­
during the hours of the day. He is connected with LYON, GOETIA.
the direction of the south and has twenty minister­
ing spirits to serve him. See also ARS THEURGIA,
ASYRIEL.
Abaddon: In the Book of Job and in Proverbs,
Abaddon is mentioned as a place of destruction,
possibly equivalent in concept with the m odern
notion of Hell. However, in Revelation 9:11, Abad­
don is no longer the Abyss itself but is instead per­
sonified as the angel in charge of that Abyss. The
name is translated in Greek to Apollyon, meaning
“The Destroyer.” Both Abaddon and Apollyon
were integrated into dem onology as powerful
princes of Hell. In Francis B arrett’s The Magus,
Abaddon is associated with the seventh mansion
of the furies, and he is said to govern destruction
and wasting. Gustav Davidson, in his classic Dic­ An angel with the keys to Hell binds the Devil. From a
twelfth-century miniature, courtesy of Dover Publications.
tionary of Angels, describes Abaddon as the “angel

13
Abadir
Abadir: Mathers suggests that the name of this
demon means "scattered.” Abadir appears in his
1898 translation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin
the Mage, where he is said to serve the infernal lord
Asmodeus. The name is also spelled Abachir. See
also ASMODEUS, MATHERS.
Abael: One of several demons who serve in the
court of Dorochiel. Abael holds the rank of chief
duke with four hundred lesser spirits at his com­
mand. According to the Ars Theurgia, he serves in
the second half of the night, between midnight and
dawn. See also ARS THEURGIA, DOROCHIEL.
Abahin: In the 1898 Mathers translation of the Sa­
cred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, the name of this
demon appears in a list of infernal servants to the
arch-fiends Astaroth and Asmodeus. Mathers sug­
gests that the name of this demon means "the
Terrible One,” from a root word in Hebrew. In
another version of the Abramelin material, origi­
nally w ritten in code and currently kept at the
Wolfenbiittel library (the Herzog August Biblio-
thek), in Wolfenbiittel, Germany, the name of this
demon is spelled Ahabhon. See also ASMODEUS,
ASTAROTH, MATHERS.
Abalam: According to W ierus’s Pseudomonarchia
Daemonum, if the dem on Paimon is summ oned
and given a sacrifice or other offering, this demon,
along with his companion Beball, will also appear.
Both Abalam and Beball are demonic kings who
serve the Goetic demon Paimon. In the Goetia,
their names appear as Labal and Abali. See also BE­
BALL, PAIMON, WIERUS.
Abariel: A demon in the hierarchy of the infernal
prince Usiel. The Ars Theurgia describes Abariel
as a chief duke who belongs to the hours of day­
light. He has forty ministering spirits beneath him.
Abariel has the power to conceal hidden treasure
14
so that it may not be discovered or stolen. He can
also reveal things that have been hidden, especially
those items obscured through magick or enchant­
ments. See also ARS THEURGIA, USIEL.
Abas: In the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage,
Abas is listed as a demon of lies and trickery. He
can be called upon to assist the magician in m at­
ters dealing with illusion as well as spells of invis­
ibility. This demon also appears in the Mathers
translation o f the Clavicula Salomonis w ith the
same associations. According to Driscoll's edition
of the Sworn Book, Abas is the king of the regions
below the earth. His province includes the riches
of the earth, and he is said to be able to locate and
provide all manner of costly metals, including sil­
ver and gold. Additionally, he seems to be able to
cause earthquakes, for it is said that he can pull
down buildings and other structures and cause
them to be destroyed. Finally, Abas and his min­
ions can teach knowledge of the mixture of the el­
ements, a possible reference to alchemy, although
alchemical workings are not specifically described
w ithin the text. In the Clavicula Salomonis, the
name of this demon is spelled Abac. See also CLA­
VICULA SALOMONIS, MATHERS, SWORN BOOK.
Abbnthada: Described as an agreeable, if some­
what jealous demon, Abbnthada appears in the hi­
erarchy of Harthan, an infernal king who rules the
element of water. According to the Driscoll edi­
tion of the Sworn Book, Abbnthada can be enticed
to appear with the aid o f appropriate perfumes.
W hen he manifests, his body is large and has a
mottled complexion. He has the power to swiftly
move things from place to place, and he can pro­
vide darkness when it is required of him. He can
also bestow strength in resolution, helping others
to avenge wrongs. See also HARTHAN, SWORN
BOOK.