Demons of the Ars Goetia and My Left Hand Path
by Ravemore
This is going to serve as an introduction of sorts to approximately 72 posts, along with a couple more to lay some groundwork, which will be uploaded in fairly close succession over an unknown period of time. These posts will expand upon each individual demon in the Ars Goetia. There will probably be other miscellaneous writings dropped here or there while this venture is underway, but for the most part I’d like to keep this project both on track and in a fairly cohesive presentation. In my Left Hand Path demons are referred to as “Lesser Powers” only because they are not the Gods I have chosen to worship. It is in no way a reflection of their ability, stature, or actual power to manifest and affect change in our world. Some border on godhood in ability, and are worshiped by many practitioners of the darker paths as such.
The first question an aspiring adept will probably field is: “What value do demons have to me?” This is not an easy question to answer. Summoning demons and interacting with them can be very dangerous and trying, but through adversity, danger, and pushing the envelope in our self-development we are able to obtain tools and knowledge we would otherwise be deprived of. Through pacts with these lesser powers we are able to exchange services and grow in power and understanding while also facilitating allies who have a peculiar interest in our world and the human race.
The next likely question is probably: Why the demons of the Ars Goetia specifically? This answer is more simple and straightforward. These specific demons have been conjured, worked with, and have for the most part been parties to productive pacts for centuries. They are more of a “known factor.” This does not make them safe though. They are akin to a bladed weapon in that they are just as likely to cut you as they are to cut an enemy if you do not respect them and interact with them in a cautious manner. Demons can possess living creatures, both human and animal, therefore it is unwise to open a gate and summon anything willing to step through it. The known danger is much preferred to the unknown.
In my presentations you are going to see that I am going to attempt to strip out a lot of the Christian garbage that has been attributed to them over the centuries. The old medieval titles are going to be missing as they are not relevant and merely a way to classify these beings in a way that fit within the paradigms of the period in which the grimoires were compiled. The rituals will be adapted to my Left Hand Path. It will have more of an ancient Greek feel to it, as the hellfire and brimstone will be noticeably absent, and they will be regarded as they truly are.
Ravemore's Notes 
This sounds fantastic! I look forward to reading and learning from your future posts.
@ Rachel Izabella, I’m happy you’re excited, hopefully you will find some value in them…
Camille Paglia has survived both Christianity and secular humanism. The former hasn’t redeemed her. The latter hasn’t deracinated her. She remains an Italian Pagan in her blood. Here’s a quote from her book “Sexual Personae”. It’s from the very first chapter titled “Sex and Violence or Nature and Art”.
“Sex is daemonic. This term, current in Romantic studies of the past twenty-five years, derives from the Greek daimon, meaning a spirit of lower divinity than the Olympian gods…The word came to mean a man’s guardian shadow. Christianity turned the daemonic into the demonic. The Greek daemons were not evil–or rather they were both good and evil, like nature itself, in which they dwelled.”
This might clarify your own attenuated sense of the demonic, which “will have more of an ancient Greek feel to it.” It’s a subtle subject.
I recently talked to a shrink and equated the daimonic to Freud’s id. However, I stipulated that the amoral id had a strictly biological root in psychiatry while the amoral daimon had a spiritual twist in Greek Paganism. Such is the line of scrimmage between the modern world and the ancient world. However, we know that the ancient world is really the timeless world regardless of how many malls, gyms and McDonalds are built upon it. The hyper-materialistic Modern World is a flash in the pan. It’s gonna burn out.
Excellent post. Excuse me for pissing in your cauldron. Obviously, I find your writing useful. It helps with my own synthethesis of many high and low, internal and external, passing and timeless things.
@ J.J. PRZYBYLSKI, Although I would have to disagree with the word “attenuated”, your point of view and appreciation for the value of the post is well taken.