#29 · Duke

Astaroth

The 29th of the seventy-two, a duke. Gives true answers of past/present/future. In the language of this path, Astaroth is a shadow pole — worked only with its angel, Reiyel.

What the grimoires say

In the 1904 Goetia, Astaroth is a Duke governing 40 legions. Gives true answers of past/present/future; reveals secrets.

The 1904 Goetia shows him as a hurtful angel riding an infernal dragon-like beast, holding a viper in his right hand, with a foul breath — the magician is told to keep a ring near the face for protection. The 1863 Le Breton engraving matches this, showing a winged figure astride a beast with a serpent. A mighty Duke commanding 40 legions.

“Astaroth. He is a Mighty, Strong Duke, and appeareth in the form of an hurtful Angel riding on an Infernal Beast like a Dragon, and carrying in his right hand a Viper. Thou must in no wise let him approach too near unto thee, lest he do thee damage by his Noisome Breath; wherefore the Magician must hold the Magical Ring near his face, and that will defend him. He giveth true answers of things Past, Present, and to Come, and can discover all Secrets. He governeth 40 Legions of Spirits.”— Mathers & Crowley, The Goetia (1904), public domain

The shadow it carries

Stripped to the bone, Astaroth's traditional office turns on uncovering secrets and hidden knowledge. Read plainly, that is a real human force; in the language of this path its raw, unowned form is a shadow pole. Its shadow is what that force does when it runs you from the dark; its gold is the same force — seen, owned, governed.

You never reach for it alone. Its light pole is the angel Reiyel; met together, behind protection, Astaroth becomes a disowned part of yourself approached while the light is already in the room.

Correspondences

A word of honesty first: almost none of the table below is from the old grimoires. The rank, legions, direction and office are traditional; the planet, day, colour, tarot, incense and the Enn are modern attributions (mostly 20th–21st-century Demonolatry and correspondence compilations), and the sources openly disagree. Use them as a working frame, not as law.

Its modern Enn — a chant from the Demonolatry current, not found in any grimoire:

“Tasa Alora Foren Astaroth”

Making a connection

Gathered from what practitioners report, put plainly — a starting point, not a rule:

• Sit with the seal above as the first meeting-place: trace it, hold it in the mind’s eye, and let impressions arrive without grabbing at them.
• Set a gentle frame. Keep it simple — a green candle, a friday, a little incense, a moment of quiet. If you work the Demonolatry current, chant the Enn softly — more like settling than commanding.
• Bring the real theme. Practitioners associate Astaroth with true answers about past, present and future, self-knowledge and confronting one's own history (the grimoire adds he explains 'how the spirits fell'). Name what you actually want, and ask — don’t demand.
• Journal before and after, and treat everything as your own experience, not fixed doctrine.

Rank, legions, direction and office are from the public-domain grimoires (Weyer 1577; Mathers & Crowley, The Goetia, 1904). Images are public domain: the 1904 seal and Louis Le Breton’s Dictionnaire Infernal engraving (1863). The Enn and the planet/day/colour/tarot correspondences are modern attributions (Demonolatry and compilations), flagged as such; sources disagree, and no copyrighted description or artwork is reproduced. Angel pairing per the Rudd tradition. Take the technique, never the tribe.

“The secret you are chasing is usually the one about yourself.”