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Ashtaroth
Alternatively Astaroth, Astarot,
and Asteroth.
The male, medieval incarnation of
Ashtoreth.
A
demon, he was said to appear in the guise of an
horrendous angel, riding on a
dragon
and holding a viper in his left hand, and having revolting foul-smelling breath.
Some, however, say that his appearance was that of a handsome human male,
half-black, half-white. He is described by Johann Wier as a very
powerful grand duke in
Hell, where he held the office of great treasurer
and commanded forty infernal legions.
Astaroth was believed to know all
secrets and was summoned — usually Wednesdays, between the hours of ten and eleven at
night, for a successful summoning — to perform revelations of the past and the future.
In addition, he was said to teach mathematical sciences and handicrafts, make
men invisible and lead them to hidden treasures. He was also thought to give to
mortal beings the power over serpents.
Madame de Montespan,
Louis XVI of France mistress, was reputed to have made human
sacrifices to Astaroth on her attempts to obtain secret knowledge and magical influence
over the king. Astaroth is also mentioned as one of the seven princes of
Hell who visited Faust, emerging as a serpent with a colored tail, two small
feet, a chestnut neck, and spines similar to a hedgehog that grew up to a
finger's length.
See
Heptameron,
Demonology,
Demonomancy,
Grimoires,
Casting Black Magic Spells,
Commanding Spirits,
The Tarot Store and
Divination & Scrying Tools and
Supplies.
Sources: (1) Bailey, Nancy,
The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Spells and Magic,
Sterling; (2) Mathers, S. Liddell
MacGregor,
The Goetia, The Key of Solomon the
King, The Book Tree; (3) Wier, Johann,
'Pseudomonarchia
Daemonum'; (4) de Plancy,
Collin, Dictionnaire Infernal,
Editions.
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