9/7/2019 Astaroth - Wikipedia

Astaroth
Astaroth (also Ashtaroth, Astarot and Asteroth), in demonology , is the Great Duke of Hell in the first hierarchy with Beelzebub and Lucifer; he is part of the ev il trinity . He is a male figure most
likely named after the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar.

Contents
Background
Appearances in literature
See also
References
Sources

Astaroth illustration from the

Background Dictionnaire Infernal (1818)

The name Astaroth was ultimately deriv ed from that of 2nd millennium BCE Phoenician goddess Astarte, [1 ] an equiv alent of the Baby lonian 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 v ersions 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 CE, 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 c. 1458, and recurred in most occult grimoires of the following centuries. Astaroth also
features as an archdemon associated with the qliphoth (adv erse forces) according to later Kabbalistic texts.

Dutch demonologist Johann Wey er also described Astaroth in his Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (157 7 ) thus: "Astaroth is a great and a strong duke, coming forth in the shape of a foul angel, sitting
Astaroth's seal (according to The
upon an infernal dragon, and carry ing on his right hand a v iper", who also claimed to rule 40 legions, and had to be approached by the conjurer with a magical ring on account of his stinking breath. [2 ]
Lesser Key of Solomon)
He is similarly referred to in the 17 th-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, self-doubt, and rationalized philosophies. His adv ersary is St. Bartholomew, who can protect against him for he has resisted Astaroth's temptations. To others, he teaches mathematical sciences
and handicrafts, can make men inv isible and lead them to hidden treasures, and answers ev ery question formulated to him. He was also said to giv e to mortal beings the power ov er 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.

He is named in the 197 6 Hammer horror film To the Devil a Daughter.

A box bearing his name is present during the trial scene of John Fowles's The Magus.

He appears as a minor antagonist in the anime adaptation of the manga series Blue Exorcist. He is mentioned by name in the original manga.

In the 1920 silent horror film The Golem: How He Came into the World, the Jewish Rabbi Loew and his assistant summon Astaroth to animate the Golem resulting in deadly and destructiv e results.

He is rev ealed to be one of the antagonists pulling the strings in the PS3 and PC game Catherine. He is nev er seen but has a child-like v oice and asks personality -test sty le questions of the main character, and taunts him when the play er loses the
game.

In the Bible, the book of Judges, God disciplines the Israelites for losing their focus on Him: Reading 1 Jgs 2:11-19 The children of Israel offended the LORD by serv ing the Baals. Abandoning the LORD, the God of their fathers, who led them
out of the land of Egy pt, they followed the other gods of the v arious nations around them, and by their worship of these gods prov oked the LORD. Because they had thus abandoned him and serv ed Baal and the Ashtaroth, the anger of the LORD
flared up against Israel, and he deliv ered them ov er to plunderers who despoiled them.

See also
Astaroth in popular culture
Ishtar
Astarte
Asherah

References
1. Lon Milo DuQuette and Christopher S. Hyatt. Aleister Crowley's Illustrated Goetia (1992). New Falcon: Temple, AZ, USA, p. 52.
2. "Johann Weyer, Pseudomonarchia Daemonum" (http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/weyer.htm#par28). esotericarchives.com.

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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