The Dictionary of Demons, page 52
Rabat: A spirit called upon in an operation known as the Eye of Abraham, where the image of an eye is struck until a thief confesses their guilt. The spell appears in the last folio of the grimoire known as the Book of Oberon. See also BOOK OF OBERON.
Rabdos: A demon from the Testament of Solomon. His name reportedly means “staff.” Rabdos is said to appear in the form of a hound. He speaks with a loud voice. According to the Testament of Solomon, he knows the location of gems hidden within the earth and will reveal these if he is compelled. He is a dangerous demon to work with, however, for he has a bad habit of attacking people, seizing them by the throat and choking the life out of them. He is controlled by the angel Briens, who can put this demon to flight and end his attacks. See also SOLOMON.
Rabidmadar: A being whose name appears near the beginning of the seventeenth-century Venetian grimoire known as the Secrets of Solomon. Rabidmadar serves as secretary to Sigambach, an entity in charge of the specific characters or sigils used in forming demonic pacts. Although Sigambach (under the spelling Singambuth) also appears in this function in the Grimorium Verum, Rabidmadar is not directly named as the secretary. Instead, reference is made to methods for calling, conjuring, and constraining Rabidanadas, a clear derivation of Rabidmadar. Another variation of his name is Rabidinadap. See also GRIMORIUM VERUM, SECRETS OF SOLOMON, SIGAMBACH.
Rabiel: One of several chief dukes ruled by the demon Malgaras. In the Ars Theurgia, Rabiel is said to govern thirty lesser spirits who exist to carry out his commands. He serves this master in the court of the west during the hours of the day. Rabiel is also named as a night-demon in the court of the infernal king Maseriel. Here, he is loyal to the court of the south and has thirty ministering spirits beneath him. See also ARS THEURGIA, MALGARAS, MASERIEL, MISIEL.
Rabilon: An evil spirit said to be arrogant and deceitful. Rabilon is named in the Ars Theurgia, where he is said to serve Pamersiel, the first and chief spirit of the east under emperor Carnesiel. Rabilon is a mighty duke, and he can be called upon to drive away other evil spirits, particularly those that have chosen to haunt houses. See also ARS THEURGIA, CARNESIEL, PAMERSIEL.
Raboc: A demon in the court of king Malgaras, Raboc serves in the region of the west. He is named in the Ars Theurgia, where he is said to serve his infernal king during the hours of the night. He has thirty lesser spirits at his command. See also ARS THEURGIA, MALGARAS.
Rachiar: In the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, translator S. L. MacGregor Mathers occasionally gets a bit creative with his interpretations of demonic names. In the case of Rachiar, he suggests that the name means “sea breaking on rocks.” There is inadequate information to determine whether or not this demon’s name actually has anything to do with either rocks or the sea. However, the text is clear on the fact that Rachiar serves in the hierarchy beneath Oriens, Paimon, Ariton, and Amaimon—the four demonic princes connected with the cardinal directions. See also AMAIMON, ARITON, MATHERS, ORIENS, PAIMON.
Raderat: A demon ruled by the arch-fiend Beelzebub. Raderat appears in the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, where he is invocated as part of the Holy Guardian Angel working central to that text. See also BEELZEBUB, MATHERS.
Ragalim: A demonic servitor of Asmodeus and Astaroth, Ragalim’s name appears in the 1898 translation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage by occultist S. L. MacGregor Mathers. In another version of the Abramelin material kept at the Wolfenbüttel library in Germany, the name of this demon appears as Bagalon. See also ASTAROTH, ASMODEUS, MATHERS.
Ragaras: A demon whose name appears in an extensive list recorded in the Mathers translation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. According to this work, Ragaras serves Oriens, Paimon, Ariton, and Amaimon—the four infernal princes of the cardinal directions. See also AMAIMON, ARITON, MATHERS, ORIENS, PAIMON.
Ramael: A fallen angel listed in the apocryphal Book of Enoch, Ramael is named as one of the “chiefs of tens” of the Watcher Angels, or Grigori. In this capacity, he was responsible for commanding ten other angels tasked with watching over fledgling humanity. Ramael was one of two hundred Watchers who chose to abandon Heaven in order to couple with mortal women. Ramael’s name appears immediately after the name of the fallen angel Ramiel. It is possible that these two names are simply variations upon one another repeated through an error in the text. Later in the same text, the angel Rumael appears as one of the Watchers’ chiefs. This name is likely a variation on Ramael. See also WATCHER ANGELS.
Ramaratz: In Mathers’s edition of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, Ramaratz appears as a subject of the four infernal princes of the cardinal directions. As such, he can be summoned and compelled in the names of his infernal masters, Oriens, Paimon, Ariton, and Amaimon. See also AMAIMON, ARITON, MATHERS, ORIENS, PAIMON.
In the Old Testament, the Heavenly Hosts are often portrayed as a standing army. From an illustrated Bible, by Gustave Doré.
Ramblane: Also called Rombalence. He is a demon in the court of Paimon, named alongside other powerful demons in that court, including Belial and Basson. The Book of Oberon, where he appears, attributes him no formal title or powers. See also BOOK OF OBERON.
Ramiel: One of the “chiefs of tens” of the Watcher Angels named in the Book of Enoch. Before his fall, Ramiel was charged with looking after the human race. Like many of the Watcher Angels, or Grigori, he grew too close to his charges. Eventually he was seduced by the pleasures of the flesh and took a human woman as his wife. His name is listed directly before that of the Watcher Ramael and may in fact simply be a variant upon that name. Further in the Book of Enoch, an angel named Rumjal appears. This may be a variant spelling of Ramiel. In the Apocalypse of Baruch, Ramiel is identified as a member of the Heavenly Hosts. Here, he is the angel in charge of true visions. See also RAMAEL, WATCHER ANGELS.
Ramison: “The Creeper.” Ramison appears in the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage as translated by occultist S. L. MacGregor Mathers. He is governed by the infernal king Amaimon. In the version of the Abramelin material kept at the Dresden library in Germany, this name is spelled Ramyison. See also AMAIMON, MATHERS.
Ranciel: A demon in service to the infernal king Gediel. Ranciel himself holds the rank of duke and has twenty lesser spirits at his command. According to the Ars Theurgia, he serves his master during the hours of the day and is affiliated with the direction south. See also ARS THEURGIA, GEDIEL.
Raner: A demonic servitor of the arch-demons Asmodeus and Astaroth. Raner is named in the Mathers edition of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. See also ASTAROTH, ASMODEUS, MATHERS.
Raphan: A being named in the pseudepigraphal Testament of Solomon. According to this work, Raphan was worshipped by the Moabite people as a false god. He was venerated along with Moloch. See also MOLOCH, SOLOMON.
Rapsiel: According to Henson’s translation of the Ars Theurgia, Rapsiel serves in the hierarchy of the west, underneath the emperor Amenadiel. He holds the rank of duke and commands a total of three thousand eight hundred and eighty lesser spirits. See also AMENADIEL, ARS THEURGIA.
Rarnica: A chief duke under the demon Raysiel, a king in the hierarchy of the north. Because Rarnica holds a fair amount of rank, he has fifty lesser spirits beneath him to carry out his commands. According to the Ars Theurgia, he is tied to the hours of the day and will only appear between dawn and dusk. See also ARS THEURGIA, RAYSIEL.
Rasinet: A demon called upon to procure treasure. He is named in the Book of Oberon, an Elizabethan grimoire from England. The spell that invokes him is incredibly specific: it requests that Rasinet and his fellow demons Sylquam and Malcranis produce a total of 100,000 pounds of gold and silver in legal coin. If the demons fail to comply with this demand, their images are thrown into a fire along with cat turds and other foul-smelling substances. His name is also spelled Rasynet. See also BOOK OF OBERON, MALCRANIS, SYLQUAM.
Rath: In the Testament of Solomon, this demon is called the lion-bearer. He is said to come in the form of a great lion, but otherwise his shape is imperceptible to mortals. Like many of the beings named in the Testament of Solomon, Rath is a demon of disease. He brings weakness and enfeeblement, especially to those who are already suffering from disease. He commands many legions of spirits and can be called upon to cast out other demons—assuming anyone would want to call upon one demon to drive out another. Allegedly, King Solomon put this demon to work cutting wood and carrying it to the furnace. See also SOLOMON.
Raum: A name alternately given as Raym in Wierus’s Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and as Raim in Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft. This demon reportedly manifests in the form of a crow. He can also take the shape of a man, and when he does so, he makes an excellent thief. Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft says that he can steal wonderfully from the house of the king and transport his pilfered goods wherever he is instructed. He can confer dignities and reconcile both friends and foes. The Welsh Book of Incantations agrees on these points. Raum is the fortieth of seventy-two demons named in the Goetia. Like most of the demons named in this work, he is also knowledgeable about matters concerning the past, present, and future. He has the power to destroy whole cities, though his preferred method of destruction is left unnamed. He formerly belonged to the Order of Thrones and now holds the title of earl among the hierarchies of Hell. Thirty legions of infernal spirits follow his command. In the Goetia of Dr. Rudd, he is said to be constrained by the angel Jejazel. See also BOOK OF INCANTATIONS, GOETIA, RUDD, SCOT, WIERUS.
Rax: The name of this demon is associated with the hierarchy of Astaroth in the Mathers translation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. The precise spelling of this demon’s name varies greatly between the surviving texts of the Abramelin material. It is given variously as Rak, Rah, and Pak. Mathers tries to relate it to the Greek word for “grapeseed.” See also ASTAROTH, MATHERS.
Rayma: This demon’s name appears in the Munich Handbook. He is called upon to discover the identity of a thief. He and his brethren, when properly summoned, have the ability to cause images to appear in human fingernails. See also MUNICH HANDBOOK.
Raysiel: According to the Ars Theurgia, Raysiel is a mighty king of the north who has one hundred chief dukes beneath him to do his bidding. He is the first spirit in rank directly beneath Demoriel, the Emperor of the North. Raysiel possesses an airy nature and he is not easily perceived with the naked eye. Rather, the Ars Theurgia suggests that anyone seeking to interact with Raysiel should summon him into a glass vessel or a scrying crystal. This operation is best carried out in a desolate and remote location, such as a wooded island or a hidden grove. Alternately, a private room of the house can be used for the operation, as long as this room can be kept secret and protected from anyone who might casually wander in to interrupt the work. Raysiel is also found in a list of demons from Johannes Trithemius’s Steganographia, written around 1499. See also ARS THEURGIA, DEMORIEL, TRITHEMIUS.
The so-called Triangle of Pacts, an image from the grimoire known as Le Dragon Rouge. From the collection of Grillot de Givry, courtesy of Dover Publications.
Reciel: A demon in the service of Gediel, an infernal king in the hierarchy of the south. Reciel is a duke in command of twenty ministering spirits. He serves his master Gediel during the hours of the night. Reciel’s name and the sigil that compels him both appear in the Ars Theurgia. See also ARS THEURGIA, GEDIEL.
Red Dragon Grimoire: Also known as Le Dragon Rouge and Le Veritable Dragon Rouge (the “True Red Dragon”). This book is almost certainly another version of the Grand Grimoire, published in Paris in the early 1800s, although the book itself claims to date back to 1522. The Red Dragon Grimoire and the Grand Grimoire contain several images in common, most notably a depiction of the demon of pacts known as Lucifuge Rofocale. Perhaps the most significant difference between the two books is their supposed composition. There are claims that the Grand Grimoire was written in Rome by Antonio Venitiana del Rabbina, as well as claims that the Red Dragon Grimoire was authored by Alibek the Egyptian and first published in Cairo. See also GRAND GRIMOIRE.
Reginon: Also spelled Regerion. This name appears in the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, where Mathers suggests that it comes from a Hebrew root meaning “vigorous ones.” Reginon is a servitor of the demon-king Ariton, one of four infernal rulers of the cardinal directions named in the Abramelin work. See also ARITON, MATHERS.
Remoron: “The Hinderer.” This demon is named in the Mathers translation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage. According to this text, he is governed by the infernal princes of the four cardinal directions. As their dutiful servant, he can be summoned and compelled in the names of Oriens, Paimon, Ariton, and Amaimon. See also AMAIMON, ARITON, MATHERS, ORIENS, PAIMON.
The Ranks of Infernal Spirits
In the vast majority of grimoires, demons are typically assigned a rank and royal title to indicate their position in the pecking order of Hell. In the Testament of Solomon, which dates to the first few centuries of the Common Era, the demons sometimes present themselves as princes and kings—positions largely in keeping with the concept of royalty that existed at the time. Medieval works, such as the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, expand the demonic hierarchy to include a variety of positions: princes and kings, dukes and earls, counts, presidents, and even knights—positions reflective of the feudal system at work throughout Europe during that time.
The ranks attributed to the infernal legions may tell us more about the time period in which the various books of magick were penned than they do about the actual hierarchy of Hell, but a deeper meaning may also be at work. The Pseudomonarchia and later related texts attribute a total of seven titles to the ranks of the infernal spirits. Seven was a number of great significance in medieval and Renaissance Europe. Attributed with magickal potency, it was the number of planets in the sky as well as the number of spheres thought to make up the landscape of the heavens. The Lesser Key of Solomon assigns a planet to each of the demonic ranks, and that planet determines the metal, or mixture of metals, that must go into the magickal seal of the spirit. These correspondences have been retained to this day, repeated faithfully in the works of modern occultists such as S. L. MacGregor Mathers and his student Aleister Crowley. Below is a list of the Latin titles that appear in the Pseudomonarchia, their English translations as given by Reginald Scot in his 1584 text The Discoverie of Witchcraft, as well as the planets and metals associated with each rank in the Lesser Key of Solomon:
Latin title English equivalent Planet Metal
Rex King Sun Gold
Princeps Prince Jupiter Tin
Praeses President Mercury Mercury
Dux Duke Venus Copper
Comes Earl Mars Copper & Silver
Marchio Marquis Moon Silver
Miles (soldier) Knight Saturn Lead
Resbiroth: A demon named in the Secrets of Solomon, a seventeenth-century book of magick seized during the Venetian Inquisition. According to this text, Resbiroth serves alongside his fellow demon Serphgathana in the court of Elestor, Count of Hell. Both Resbiroth and his compatriot are recognized as dukes. See also ELESTOR, SECRETS OF SOLOMON, SERPHGATHANA.
Resochin: Also known as Resochim, this demon is said to have power over affairs of state. He can give or take away the means for knowing how to proceed in any given situation. This politically minded demon appears in the True Keys of Solomon, where he is said to serve beneath chief Sirachi in the hierarchy of Lucifer. Under the name of Reschin, he appears in the Venetian Secrets of Solomon. Here he is one of eighteen demons reputedly in the service of Duke Syrach, a direct subordinate of Lucifer. If properly approached, he will disclose political secrets for a price. See also LUCIFER, SECRETS OF SOLOMON, SIRACHI, SYRACH, TRUE KEYS.
Rewboo: A demon who bestows gold and silver. Rewboo appears in the Book of Oberon, an Elizabethan magickal text. In rank, he is a great prince with twenty-nine legions under him. When summoned, he takes the form of a knight. See also BOOK OF OBERON.
Rewsyn: A curious demon who seems to participate in an unexpected form of demonic possession. According to the Book of Oberon, Rewsyn manifests as a beautiful woman who can speak of past, present, and future. When she is bidden to depart from the world, one of Rewsyn’s ministering spirits may enter the body in which she was summoned. Once the former body is thus possessed, the new spirit may hold discourse. Ranked a duke in the demonic hierarchies, Rewsyn has ten legions of lesser spirits that serve him. See also BOOK OF OBERON.
Richel: A demon of the night that holds the rank of duke. One hundred and twenty lesser spirits attend to his needs. Richel serves beneath the demon Symiel, king of the north by east. According to the Ars Theurgia, Richel is reputed to be a troublesome and obstinate spirit. See also ARS THEURGIA, SYMIEL.
Rigios: Mathers suggests that the name of this demon is derived from a Greek root meaning “terrible.” In his 1898 translation of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, he identified Rigios as a servitor of the demon Astaroth. His name is given as Kigios in other versions of the Abramelin material. See also ASTAROTH, MATHERS.
Rigolen: A demon governed by the infernal rulers Amaimon and Ariton. In the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, Rigolen is summoned and forced to swear allegiance to the magician as a part of the Holy Guardian Angel rite central to this text. In the Mathers translation of this work, Rigolen’s name is connected to a Hebrew root meaning alternately “foot” and “to drag down.” See also AMAIMON, ARITON, MATHERS.
Rimmon: Hell’s duly appointed ambassador to Russia, if the early-nineteenth-century French demonologist Charles Berbiguier is to be believed. Rimmon is accorded this curious position in de Plancy’s Dictionnaire Infernal and Waite’s Book of Black Magic and Pacts as well. See also BERBIGUIER, DE PLANCY, WAITE.
