#28 · Duke

Berith

The 28th of the seventy-two, a duke. Gives true answers. In the language of this path, Berith is a shadow pole — worked only with its angel, Seheiah.

What the grimoires say

In the 1904 Goetia, Berith is a Duke governing 26 legions. Gives true answers; turns metals to gold (must be constrained to truth).

The 1904 Goetia and the 1863 Le Breton engraving both show him as a soldier in red, crowned in gold, riding a red horse. A mighty Duke reached with a magical ring; turns metals to gold but is called a great liar. Commands 26 legions.

“Berith. He is a Mighty, Great, and Terrible Duke. He hath two other names given unto him by some: Beal, and Bofry or Bolfry. He appeareth in the form of a Soldier with red clothing, riding upon a Red Horse, and having a Crown of Gold upon his head. He can turn all metals into Gold. He giveth true answers of Past, Present, and to Come. He is a Great Liar, and not to be trusted. He governeth 26 Legions of Spirits.”— Mathers & Crowley, The Goetia (1904), public domain

The shadow it carries

Stripped to the bone, Berith's traditional office turns on alchemical transformation and material success ('turning metals to gold'). 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 Seheiah; met together, behind protection, Berith 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:

“Hoath redar ganabal Berith”

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 Berith with career advancement, promotions and confirming dignities, true answers about past, present and future. 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.

“Everything he offers glitters. Ask twice whether it is gold or only bright.”