The key to the control of the demons listed in the Goetia is summed up in just one word ‘Shemhamphorash’. This word was written large at the front of some of the manuscripts of the Goetia, and was duly transcribed by Mathers/Crowley at the front of their edition, without any explanation. Its presence has not been fully explained hitherto in any printed copy of this grimoire, but it is the single most important key to using this grimoire.

To draw a simple parallel, it is like printing ‘Penicillin’ at the front of a list of bacteria, for the Shem ha-Mephorash (to transliterate it in a more rational fashion) is the key to controlling the 72 demons and ensuring their compliance with the commands of the magician.

The Shem ha-Mephorash is literally a name of God embedded in three verses in Exodus. From it Kabbalists generated the names of 72 angels, which have been a highly significant list of angels for a long time. There is precisely one angel for each demon, and that angel is the ‘antidote’ that enables you to control that demon. There is a one-to-one correspondence angel to demon, a specific demon being controlled by a specific angel.

Angels versus Demons

In all early grimoires, the texts are careful to say who or what controls a particular demon. It is not enough for the karcist to simply assert his personal power, and to claim that he is ‘Paphro Osorronophris’ and therefore entitled to order around these spiritual creatures. For example in the Book of Tobit the demon Asmodeus is controlled by the angel Raphael – a very clear example of an adversarial angel, and furthermore Asmodeus is banished by burning a specific substance – in that case the entrails of a specific fish.

Anyone who thinks they can order around demons, just on their own say so, without the reinforcement and support of a higher authority, is just kidding themselves. They would have as much chance of taming a wild horse without a bridle. Even Solomon had the benefit of angelic backup of the highest order, and a Ring especially given him by the archangel Michael, or so the story goes.

The procedure utilised in this manuscript is to first invoke the angel, and then using its authority, bind the spirit or demon.

Were Angels always a part of the Goetic Tradition?

You might ask, “can you be sure that the techniques such as the use of the Shem ha-Mephorash angels were always part of the Goetic tradition?” We can trace the specific use of the seals of these angels over the last five centuries, and the use of angels to control demons since the third century CE. Given the extent of borrowing of Goetic elements by scholar-magicians for use in angelic invocations, there has long been an awareness of the close relationship between angels and demons. Examples of such borrowings include the borrowing of the ‘Seal of Aemeth’ by Dr John Dee from the grimoire Liber Juratus, or his use of a ‘Tables of Practice’ also borrowed from the same grimoire tradition.

Blaise Vigenère (1523-1595) recorded the 72 Shem ha-Mephorash angelic seals used by Rudd in the Goetia. Mathers once referred to Vigenère as “the Great Magician Blaise Vigenère” (a rare compliment indeed coming from Mathers) when he copied out Vigenère’s angelic seals for a Golden Dawn Adeptus Minor side paper. These angelic seals were also used by Ebenezer Sibley (1752-99). We have included a few examples of seals taken from Sibley’s manuscript of the Goetia in Appendix 6, to demonstrate the continuity of this practice. Vigenère (end sixteenth century), Rudd (seventeenth century), Sibley (end eighteenth century) and Mathers (end nineteenth century) all understood the application of these angelic invocations and seals in the context of an ongoing Goetia tradition.

Further evidence occurs in the form of contemporary engravings such as that shown in the accompanying picture, where a carefully executed engraving by Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) clearly shows an angel in control of a demon, or if you prefer, in control of one of their fallen former angelic companions. This particular drawing shows an angel controlling a demon that is climbing out of the Pit, on a chain leash and collar. The usual interpretation of this engraving is that the angel is imprisoning the demon or casting her into the Pit. If that were the correct interpretation the angel would be forcing the demon into the hatch, rather than standing back and allowing her to step out, as she is doing. Furthermore the angel holds an iron chain in his left hand which is attached to an iron neck collar on the demon, very clearly illustrating the fact that the angel literally holds the key to controlling the demon.

The invocation of angels has long been associated with the evocation of their fallen counterparts. If we go back to the third century CE, it is also clear from the Testament of Solomon, that specific angels have long been set over specific demons to control them.

The 72 Angels of the Shem ha-Mephorash

The names of these angels were obtained by combining the letters of three verses from the book of Exodus 14:19-21. These three verses in Exodus each contain 72 letters. By writing down the first verse right to left (in normal Hebrew style), and underneath this the next verse backward (i.e. left to right), and under this again the last verse written again right to left, you have three lines written boustrophedon (as the Greeks would call it, named after the direction oxen travel when ploughing a field). These three lines should then be viewed as 72 columns of three letters. These are then read downwards, three letters at a time, to make 72 three-letter roots.

To each of these roots is added either the termination la- "-el" or the termination hi- "-iah" according to their sex. Bearing in mind that before modern times the letters I=Y=J you should of course recognise the two great names of god, El and Yah in the angel name endings. Thus are formed the 72 great Shem ha-Mephorash angel names.

These angels can be called in their own right, but for our purposes, are each matched up to a corresponding demon name. How this match is done is shown by Rudd, for each demon of the Goetia he links the seal of that demon with its corresponding angelic seal.