5/5/2015

Astaroth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Astaroth

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Astaroth (also Ashtaroth, Astarot and Asteroth), in demonology,

is a Crowned Prince of Hell. He is a male figure named after the
Canaanite goddess Ashtoreth.

Contents
1 Background
2 Appearances in literature
3 See also
4 References
5 Sources

Background

Astaroth illustration from the

Dictionnaire Infernal (1818)

The name Astaroth was ultimately derived from that of 2nd

millennium BC Phoenician goddess Astarte,[1] an equivalent of the Babylonian Ishtar, and the earlier
Sumerian Inanna. She is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in the forms Ashtoreth (singular) and Ashtaroth
(plural, in reference to multiple statues of her). This latter form was directly transliterated in the early Greek
and Latin versions of the Bible, where it was less apparent that it had been a plural feminine in Hebrew.
The pseudepigraphal work Testament of Solomon, attributed to King Solomon of Israel, but thought to date
to the early centuries AD, mentions "Asteraoth" (in Greek) as an angel, who is opposed to the demon of
power. (cf. 1 Kings 11:4-5)

Appearances in literature
The name "Astaroth" as a male demon is first known from The Book of Abramelin, purportedly written in
Hebrew ca. 1458, and recurred in most occult grimoires of the following centuries. Astaroth also features as
an arch-demon associated with the qliphoth (adverse forces) according to later Kabbalistic texts.
Dutch demonologist Johann Weyer also described Astaroth in his Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (1577)
thus: Astaroth is a great and a strong duke, coming forth in the shape of a foul angel, sitting upon an
infernal dragon, and carrying on his right hand a viper, who also claimed to rule 40 legions, and had to be
approached by the conjuror with a magical ring on account of his stinking breath.[2] He is similarly referred
to in the 17th-century work The Lesser Key of Solomon.
According to some demonologists of the 16th century, August is the month during which this demon's
attacks against man are stronger. According to Sebastien Michaelis, he is a demon of the First Hierarchy,
who seduces by means of laziness, vanity, and rationalized philosophies. His adversary is St. Bartholomew,

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Astaroth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

who can protect against him for he has resisted Astaroth's temptations. To others, he teaches mathematical
sciences and handicrafts, can make men invisible and lead them to hidden treasures, and answers every
question formulated to him. He was also said to give to mortal beings the power over serpents.
According to Francis Barrett (c. 1801), Astaroth is the prince of accusers and inquisitors. In art, in the
Dictionnaire Infernal (1818), Astaroth is depicted as a nude man
with feathered wings, wearing a crown, holding a serpent in one
hand, and riding a beast with dragon-like wings and a serpent-like
tail.

See also
Astaroth in popular culture
Ishtar

References
Astaroth's seal (according to The
Lesser Key of Solomon)

1. Lon Milo DuQuette and Christopher S. Hyatt. Aleister Crowley's Illustrated

Goetia (1992). New Falcon: Temple, AZ, USA, p. 52.
2. Astaroth in Weyer
(http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/weyer.htm#par28)

Sources
S. L. MacGregor Mathers, A. Crowley, The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King (1904).
1995 reprint: ISBN 0-87728-847-X.
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Categories: Goetic demons Qliphoth Demons in Judaism
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