The Dictionary of Demons, page 23
Chremoas: In the Ars Theurgia, Chremoas is one of ten great dukes who serve the infernal prince Bidiel. Chremoas oversees no fewer than two thousand and four hundred inferior spirits. When he manifests, he is reputed to take a human shape that is beautiful and pleasant to look upon. See also ARS THEURGIA, BIDIEL.
Chronicles of Jerahmeel: An extensive collection of Jewish history and folklore edited and translated by Hebrew scholar Dr. Moses Gaster. This massive work was published in 1899 under the title The Chronicles of Jerahmeel or, the Hebrew Bible Historiale. The original compiler of the Chronicles gives his name as Eleasar ben Asher the Levite. According to Gaster, Eleasar lived in the fourteenth century and was not the original compiler of the work. That distinction Gaster gives to the enigmatic figure of Jerahmeel, referenced within portions of the book—hence his choice in titles. While some of the material in the Chronicles is as recent as the Crusades, the majority of the work deals with much older time periods, going back as far as the lives of biblical figures like Noah and Moses. The Chronicles are of particular interest to this work because they contain Hebrew and Aramaic variations on early books of the Bible, expanding on figures like Samael, Lilith, and the Watcher Angels. The Jewish legends surrounding these figures bled into the Christian tradition, and many concepts established in material like the Chronicles can be found in the depictions of these figures in both grimoiric magick and in Christian demonology. See also GASTER, LILITH, SAMAEL, WATCHER ANGELS.
The mournful King Hades guards the gate to Hell. To his left are the three-headed hound Cerebus and a figure that may be Proserpine. From an engraving by T. Stothard, 1792. Image courtesy of the Wellcome Collection, London.
Chrubas: A demon who serves in the hierarchy of the north. He holds the rank of duke, and his immediate superior is the demon-king Symiel, who rules in the north by east. According to the Ars Theurgia, Chrubas has a total of one hundred lesser spirits beneath him. These minister to their duke and carry out his commands. See also ARS THEURGIA, SYMIEL.
Chuba: According to the Ars Theurgia, Chuba is a demon who serves the infernal king Baruchas. Holding the rank of duke, Chuba oversees thousands of lesser spirits. He will manifest himself in a scrying glass or crystal but only during very specific hours and minutes of the day. If the day is divided into fifteen equal parts, then Chuba belongs to the twelfth portion of time. Through king Baruchas, Chuba is allied with the hierarchy of the north. See also ARS THEURGIA, BARUCHAS.
Churibal: A demon in the court of Demoriel, Emperor of the North. According to the Ars Theurgia, Churibal is a duke with one thousand one hundred and forty ministering spirits at his command. If the day is divided into twelve sections of two hours each, Churibal is said to appear only during the tenth set of two planetary hours. See also ARS THEURGIA, DEMORIEL.
Chuschi: In his translation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, Mathers suggests that this demon’s name is derived from a Hebrew word meaning “silent.” As the Silent One, Chuschi is summoned as part of the elaborate Holy Guardian Angel rite. He serves beneath all four of the demonic princes who oversee the cardinal directions: Oriens, Paimon, Ariton, and Amaimon. See also AMAIMON, ARITON, MATHERS, ORIENS, PAIMON.
Cimeries: In Wierus’s Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, Cimeries is said to be associated with parts of Africa. According to that text, this demon holds the rank of marquis. He rules over twenty legions of lesser spirits. He teaches grammar, logic, and rhetoric, and also has the power to reveal hidden things. In Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft, he is said to transform men into soldiers. His name also appears among the seventy-two demons of the Goetia, where it is sometimes rendered Cimeies. In the Goetia of Dr. Rudd, he is said to be governed by the angel Marakel. According to the Welsh Book of Incantations, he assumes the guise of a soldier riding a stalwart horse and he can make a man appear to be a soldier in his own likeness. In that text, his name is spelled Cimerjes. See also BOOK OF INCANTATIONS, GOETIA, RUDD, SCOTT, WIERUS.
Cirecas: A night-demon named in the Henson translation of the Ars Theurgia. According to this text, Cirecas is associated with the court of the south. His direct master is the demon-king Gediel, who ranks as the second spirit beneath the infernal Emperor of the South, Caspiel. Cirecas himself holds the rank of duke and has dominion over twenty lesser spirits of his own. See also ARS THEURGIA, GEDIEL.
Citgara: A servant of the demon Camuel. Through his allegiance to Camuel, Citgara is tied to the court of the east. In the Ars Theurgia, Citgara is said to hold the rank of duke and to have one hundred lesser spirits at his command. He is tied to the hours of the day but he is called forth by night. See also ARS THEURGIA, CAMUEL.
Claniel: One of twelve chief dukes who serve the wandering prince Macariel in the Ars Theurgia. Claniel can appear in any hour of the day or night and has four hundred lesser spirits to attend him. Although he can allegedly appear in a variety of forms, Claniel prefers to assume the shape of a many-headed dragon. See also ARS THEURGIA, MACARIEL.
Claunech: Named in Peterson’s Grimorium Verum, Claunech is ranked first in the hierarchy of demons serving under Duke Syrach. He is reputed to be greatly loved by Lucifer, and thus he has a great many powers, mostly concerning wealth. For the magician who works amicably with him, Claunech will reveal the location of hidden treasure and can also swiftly bring great riches to his master. In the Venetian Secrets of Solomon, his name is spelled Claunth. See also GRIMORIUM VERUM, LUCIFER, SECRETS OF SOLOMON, SYRACH.
Ends in -el
If you pay close attention to a number of names in this text, you’ll find that there is a traditional convention to the spelling of most angel names. Nearly all angel names end in either -iel or -ael. The Semitic root el means “Lord” or “God,” and in the case of angels, it is usually read as meaning “of God.” Thus, the name of the angel Raphael is taken to mean “healing of God,” as the root raph means “to heal.” This is generally interpreted as a demonstration of that angel’s devotion to the Creator. However, the name could also be taken to mean “god of healing”—a reading suggestive of the possibility that all the angels were once members of an ancient pantheon predating Jewish monotheism.
Lucifer’s minions crowd the skies of Hell, indistinguishable from the Heavenly Hosts. From Doré’s illustrations of Milton’s Paradise Lost.
Many demons began life as angels, and quite a few of them still retain their angelic-sounding names despite their fallen status. This of course raises problems with clearly discerning the fallen from the unfallen, as their names can be virtually identical. Even the magickal grimoires that endeavor to describe methods for calling up demons to make use of their skills acknowledge that these infernal beings are roguish and deceitful by nature and, unless properly bound and compelled, will seek to mislead people. The seventeenth-century scholar Dr. Thomas Rudd devised a solution: he outlined an extensive question-and-answer session intended to trick demons into revealing their infernal natures. It begins with getting the spirit’s name and ends by asking the spirit to agree that all the fallen have been justly condemned. The idea here is that a fallen angel will balk at this statement, and reveal itself by trying to argue the point.
Clavicula Salomonis: Also known as the Key of Solomon or the Clavicle of Solomon the King. It is not to be confused with the Lesser Key of Solomon, also known as the Lemegeton. The Clavicle of Solomon is mainly comprised of planetary correspondences, a variety of spells, and a series of talismanic images or pentacles associated with the seven celestial spheres. Multiple versions of the work exist. Many of these can be found in the Sloane and Harley collections at the British Museum, including Harley 3981 and Sloane 3091. These date to around the eighteenth century, but the origins of this work are older by far. Trithemius makes note of a copy of the Clavicula Salomonis in his list of necromantic books. This list, included in his Antipalus Maleficiorum, was compiled in the early 1500s. As a result, we know that at least some version of the Key of Solomon was written prior to 1500. The most widely read translation of the Key of Solomon was produced by occultist S. L. MacGregor Mathers in 1889. Mathers sources seven manuscripts for his translation, including Harley MS 3981, Sloane MSS 1307 and 3091, King’s MS 288, and two manuscripts from the Lansdowne collection, numbered 1202 and 1203. These were not necessarily the oldest nor were they the most accurate manuscripts, but Mathers’s work is still widely referenced by modern students of the occult.
Not all manuscripts bearing the title Clavicles of Solomon are derived from the same work. Among these is the British Museum’s Lansdowne MS 1203, entitled Les Véritables Clavicules de Salomon. It likely dates to the mid-eighteenth century and, aside from some pentacles included near the end, it is very different in content from the Clavicles sourced by Mathers. See also LEMEGETON, MATHERS.
Clavis Inferni: Published as the Grimoire of St. Cyprian by occult researchers Stephen Skinner and David Rankine, this is a transcription of the manuscript stored as Wellcome MS 2000 in London’s Wellcome Library. It is credited to M: L: Cypriani, likely a reference to Saint Cyprian of Antioch, who lived during the third and fourth centuries of the Common Era. Before his conversion, Saint Cyprian had a widespread reputation as a powerful magician, and as a result, many grimoires were credited to him, particularly in Scandinavia. A Cyprian tradition is also extant in Spanish and Portuguese books of magick, but this text is distinct from those. The provenance of this particular Cyprian grimoire is currently uncertain, aside from being broadly Western European. The manuscript, written on vellum and comprising a slim twenty-one pages, is dated “MCCCCCCLLXVII,” possibly intended to read “1717.” Rankine and Skinner suggest a date of 1757. It is the opinion of the library that the script places the creation of the book closer to the latter half of that century. (It was not uncommon for decades and even centuries to be subtracted from the actual publication date of grimoires, and so the error is probably intentional.) The grimoire’s full title is Clavis Inferni sive magia alba et nigra approbata Metratona, or The Key of Hell with White and Black Magic Proven by Metatron.42 It is concerned primarily with the demon-kings of the four directions (in this case, Maymon, Egyn, Urieus, and Paymon), and it provides numerous elaborate color illustrations of the spirits, their sigils, and the figures necessary for safe summoning. The text is in Latin, with Greek and Hebrew, all of it obscured through a simple code that alters the position of words in each sentence.
Cleraca: Mathers suggests that the name of this demon means “the clerk.” Cleraca is said to serve the demon-kings Amaimon and Ariton. This spelling of the demon’s name appears in the 1898 Mathers translation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. In other versions of the Abramelin material, the name is spelled variously as Kloracha and Klorecha. See also AMAIMON, ARITON, MATHERS.
Clisthert: This demon, named in Peterson’s Grimorium Verum, is the eighth demon who serves beneath Duke Syrach. At the command of the magician, he will change night to day or day to night, instantly. See also GRIMORIUM VERUM, SYRACH.
Clyssan: A mighty duke ruled by the demon-prince Cabariel. Clyssan is one of a hundred such dukes. Fifty serve by day and fifty serve by night. Clyssan holds his office by day, preferring to manifest during the daylight hours. He is reputed to be good-natured and obedient and has fifty lesser spirits who serve beneath him. Through Cabariel, he is associated with the direction west. Clyssan and his compatriots appear in the second book of the Lesser Key of Solomon, known as the Ars Theurgia. See also ARS THEURGIA, CABARIEL.
Coap: A grand prince with power over women. He treats them as chattel and can make them go anywhere. He can even change their appearance to something exotic, if such is preferred. He oversees twenty-seven legions of lesser spirits. His name appears in the Livre des esperitz, a sixteenth-century French grimoire. His name is a variation of the Goetic demon Gaap, sometimes also spelled Goap. See also GAAP, LIVRE DES ESPERITZ.
A magician conjures a woman from his mirror. A disturbing number of spells were aimed at coercing women into having sex. Soft ground etching by F. Rops. 19th century. Image courtesy of the Wellcome Collection, London.
Cobel: The name of this demon appears twice in the fifteenth-century French manuscript sourced by Mathers for his translation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. The name is given as both Cobel and Sobel. Abramelin scholar Georg Dehn has suggested that Mathers’s source material was inherently flawed, and this certainly seems to be the case with this demon. In all other surviving versions of the Abramelin text, the name is spelled Lobel. Regardless of spelling, this demon is said to serve the infernal ruler Magoth. See also MAGOTH, MATHERS.
Cobusiel: A demon who serves in the court of Soleviel, a wandering prince of the air described in the Ars Theurgia. Cobusiel holds the rank of duke and oversees one thousand eight hundred and forty lesser spirits. He switches year by year with another duke in Soleviel’s court, only serving his infernal master one year out of every two. See also ARS THEURGIA, SOLEVIEL.
Codriel: One of twelve dukes in the court of the demon Amenadiel whose names and seals appear in the Ars Theurgia. Through his service to Amenadiel, Codriel is connected with the west. He holds the rank of duke and is said to govern no fewer than three thousand eight hundred and eighty lesser spirits. See also AMENADIEL, ARS THEURGIA.
Coelen: One of many demons named in the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, Coelen is summoned as a part of the extensive Holy Guardian Angel rite. Mathers suggests that the name of this demon is related to the Latin word for “heaven,” and may mean “from the heavens.” Given his identification as a demon who serves the four infernal princes of the cardinal directions, this would seem to suggest that Coelen was originally an angel who later fell. See also MATHERS.
Coliel: A demon governed by the infernal king Gediel. Coliel serves his master by day and has twenty servants to help him carry out his duties. He holds the rank of duke and, through his service to Gediel, is associated with the hierarchy of the south that is established within the Ars Theurgia. See also ARS THEURGIA, GEDIEL.
Colvam: Mathers takes this demon’s name to mean “shame.” In the Mathers translation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, Colvam is said to serve under the joint leadership of Magoth and Kore. Variations on his name include Kobhan and Kofan. See also KORE, MAGOTH, MATHERS.
Coolor: A demon named in the Book of Oberon. According to this text, he holds the rank of prince, with thirteen legions of lesser spirits that serve him. His main power is to find hidden treasure. When summoned, he appears as a winged child riding a two-headed dragon. His wings are like those of a goshawk, making him identical in appearance, if not in name, to the fiftieth demon of the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, Volac. See also BOOK OF OBERON, VOLAC.
Corcaron: A demon in service to the infernal rulers Asmodeus and Astaroth. Corcaron appears in the Mathers translation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. See also ASMODEUS, ASTAROTH, MATHERS.
Corilon: A demon ruled by the infernal prince Beelzebub. Corilon is named in the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage as translated by occultist S. L. MacGregor Mathers. See also BEELZEBUB, MATHERS.
Cormes: A demon with the power to help reveal the identity of thieves. Cormes is one of several such demons invoked in a spell that appears in the fifteenth-century Munich Handbook. He is also associated with scrying and divination. See also MUNICH HANDBOOK.
Cornyx: A demon with power over birds. His name appears in the Book of Oberon, where he is alleged to gather birds all in one place and snatch them, presumably to then give them to his summoner. Described as a captain, he is served by seven legions of lesser spirits. See also BOOK OF OBERON.
Corocon: In the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, Corocon is a demon said to serve the arch-fiend Magoth. In the fifteenth-century French manuscript sourced by Mathers for his translation of this work, the name of the demon is spelled Corodon, and he is said also to serve the infernal ruler Kore. See also KORE, MAGOTH, MATHERS.
Corsone: A demon whose preferred form is that of a lion-faced man. He is crowned with a diadem and carries a viper. According to the Book of Oberon, where this version of his name appears, he has an earthly body, which means he is powerful enough to fully manifest as a physical being. Although the text does not clearly position Corsone in any demonic court, his “earthly” body may indicate an affiliation with the element of earth, thus placing him beneath the king of the north. The only power attributed to him in the Book of Oberon is the ability to reveal buried treasure. Corsone holds the rank of either count or earl (the text gives both) and holds power over six legions of lesser spirits. His name is very similar to one of the Goetic demons first encountered in Wierus’s Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, Curson. See also BOOK OF OBERON, CURSON, WIERUS.
Crowley, Aleister: An author, poet, mountaineer, and possible spy, Crowley was one of the most controversial figures associated with magick and the occult to have lived in the twentieth century. Born Edward Alexander Crowley in Warwickshire, England, in 1875, he eventually changed his name to Aleister, the Gaelic form of Alexander. The child of a preacher, Crowley took an interest in the occult starting in December 1896. He sought membership in the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, where he studied alongside the Irish poet William Butler Yeats and occultist A. E. Waite. Crowley grew close with S. L. MacGregor Mathers, one of the founding members of the Golden Dawn. Eventually, however, he and Mathers had a bitter falling-out, and Crowley decided to found his own magickal system. He got involved with a German-based group known as the Ordo Templi Orientis and ultimately founded his own tradition, known as Thelema. He also founded an order, known as the A. A., which is generally said to stand for the Argenteum Astrum, or Silver Star.
