Qliphoth

The only Qlipha with two rulers — and this is not a coincidence but a definition. Thaumiel means «doubles of God»: where Keter is the inconceivable unity, Thaumiel is irreconcilable duality. Satan (שָׂטָן — «adversary», «accuser») is the principle of opposition as an autonomous force. Moloch (מֹלֶךְ, «King») is the principle of devouring demand: the god who needs sacrifices, who takes children and does not return them. Together they form no unity — they form an eternal conflict without resolution, and this is Thaumiel: a crown split in two and unable to become whole.

In the wider tradition, Satan is regarded not as an evil being but as a function — the «accuser» in the heavenly court, the one who points out imperfections. In the context of Thaumiel this function is taken to the absolute: accusation becomes a self-sufficient reality, requiring neither trial nor verdict.

Baal-Zebub (בַּעַל זְבוּב) — literally «lord of flies» — is one of the central images of Semitic demonology, mentioned as early as the Book of Kings. In the Western occult tradition Beelzebub becomes the archon of Ghagiel, the dark double of Chokmah — wisdom as the first emanation. If Chokmah is the flash of primal knowledge descending from Keter, Ghagiel is the same flash that is deflected and rots. Flies are an image of decomposition, of swarming, of the loss of wholeness in countless separate motions. Beelzebub embodies wisdom that has fallen into fragments and lost its direction.

In the hierarchy of the Lemegeton, Beelzebub is one of the three highest demonic princes, commanding legions. In the context of the Qliphoth, his rank matches the position of Chokmah — the second-highest position on the Tree.

The name «Lucifuge» comes from the Latin lucem fugiens — «fleeing the light». He is the ruler of Sathariel, the dark double of Binah — the great Mother, understanding, the form-giving force. If Binah is what organises the chaotic energy of Chokmah into structure and form, Sathariel is the same force turned toward concealment: understanding that hides rather than reveals. Lucifuge literally flees every source of light — this is the principle of hiding as method.

In the Grand Grimoire (18th c.) Lucifuge is described as Lucifer's first minister, in charge of the riches of the earth — everything hidden in its depths. The link with Binah is no accident: Binah governs time and death; Sathariel — what remains when understanding turns its back on the light.

Astaroth — the demonic version of Astarte / Ishtar, the Near Eastern goddess of love, war and fertility. In the Lemegeton she is described as the Great Duke of Hell, commanding forty legions. The ruler of Ga'agsheblah — the dark double of Chesed, unbounded mercy. Astaroth embodies love and attraction without banks: what was Chesed — generosity, expansion, kindness — becomes a formless all-consuming. Attraction without structure, which builds no relation but dissolves it.

In iconography Astaroth is depicted riding a dragon with a viper in the right hand — an image joining the feminine principle with the chthonic forces of the earth. Some sources connect her with Hephzibah, mother of Manasseh, embedding the demonology in the biblical narrative.

Asmodeus — one of the most ancient demons of the Semitic tradition, mentioned in the Book of Tobit. His name is derived either from the Avestan Aeshma-daeva (demon of wrath) or from an Old Hebrew root «to destroy». The ruler of Golachab — the dark double of Gevurah, force and severity. If Gevurah is disciplined force, justice, necessary destruction, then Golachab is that same energy become fire without aim. Asmodeus embodies destruction that serves neither justice nor necessity — destruction as a self-sufficient principle.

In the Lemegeton Asmodeus is a king, one of the highest demonic ranks. Traditionally linked with lust and wrath — two impulses that destroy through excess. In the context of Golachab, wrath matters more: not righteous, but consuming.

Belphegor — a demon whose name comes from Baal-Peor, the Moabite god of fertility, worshipped on Mount Peor. In Western demonology Belphegor became the archon of sloth, inventions, and seduction through lazy enjoyment. The ruler of Thagirion — the dark double of Tiferet, the centre and harmony. If Tiferet is the point at which opposites are reconciled and light is organised into beauty, Thagirion is a centre that does not reconcile but holds in endless waiting without resolution.

Belphegor seduces in two ways: through inert bliss (which kills the will) and through false inventions (which promise a solution without giving one). It is a centre suspended between the poles and incapable either of synthesis or of an honest admission of the rift.

Baal — «lord», «master» — a common Semitic term for local gods, turned in the Old Testament into the name of Yahweh's chief rival. In Western demonology Baal becomes one of the three highest ranks of Hell. The ruler of Harab Serapel — «the ravens of dispersion» — the dark double of Netzach, the sphere of victory, beauty, passion and creative will. If Netzach is the force that gathers and drives toward a goal, Harab Serapel is that same force scattering at the moment of application.

The very name of the Qlipha — «The Ravens of Dispersion» — indicates the character of Baal in this context: not a great god, but a destroyer of forms, one whose force does not create and is not victorious, but scatters. In the Lemegeton Baal is described as giving wisdom and invisibility — both qualities being disappearance, not manifestation.

Adramelech is mentioned in 2 Kings as an Assyrian deity to whom the people of Sepharvaim sacrificed children. In Western demonology — Great Chancellor of Hell, keeper of Satan's wardrobe. The ruler of Samael — the dark double of Hod, the sphere of intellect, language, quicksilver and precision. If Hod is thought as the instrument of understanding, Samael is the same intellect turned to poison: knowledge that accuses, language that destroys, an argument whose aim is not truth but victory.

Adramelech in this context is the demon of vanity and administrative evil: evil that hides behind procedure, frames destruction as order, uses precision as a weapon. Hod itself governs Mercurial qualities — dexterity, speech, exchange; Adramelech is those same qualities without conscience.

Lilith — one of the central images of Jewish demonology, whose story runs from the Sumerian Lilu through the Book of Isaiah (34:14) to the Alphabet of Ben Sira (9th–10th c.), where she first appears as Adam's first wife, fashioned from the same earth, who refused to submit and went to the Red Sea. The ruler of Gamaliel — the dark double of Yesod, the lunar sphere, the channel of the unconscious and the foundation of the manifest world. If Yesod is the pure channel through which light is transmitted into Malkuth, Gamaliel is the same channel through which the impure passes.

Lilith in the context of Gamaliel is the force of the dark moon: eroticism without reproduction, desire without fulfilment, night without dawn. She kills infants and seduces men — both acts are interruptions of continuation, refusals of productive transmission. In the Typhonian tradition of Grant, Lilith is linked with Netzach and Yesod at the same time and is a key figure in lunar work with Gamaliel.

Naamah — one of the most archaic female demons of the Jewish tradition. In the Zohar she is described as Lilith's sister and one of the four «mothers of demons» together with Lilith, Agrat and Eisheth. Her name means «the pleasant», «the gentle» — which makes her danger principally different from Lilith's: Naamah seduces through beauty and softness, not through open desire. The ruler of Nehemoth — the dark double of Malkuth, the Kingdom, the lowest Sephirah, the earthly world.

If Malkuth is the point at which everything from above receives concrete material embodiment, Nehemoth is the same point at which matter turns out to be a trap, a surface without depth, a pleasant face concealing emptiness. Naamah rules the lowest layer — not because she is the weakest, but because the lowest is the nearest: she is here, in the fabric of the ordinary.