Devils, Demons, and Ghosts, in the Hebrew Tradition: Romancing the Sitra Achra - Baal Kadmon 2019
Dedication
I dedicate this book to my patroness Lilith and to my patron St. Expedite.
Introduction
When we conjure up the devil and the demonic hordes in our mind, we often think in the context of how Christianity has portrayed them. The devil and his supposed horns; the Exorcist’s battle with the demon possessed; the inverted cross; the Osculum infame (The Infamous kiss) or the Black Mass in which a young woman is sacrificed to Satan. All these are influenced by Christian ideas. The prominence of Christianity in the study of demonology cannot be denied.
There is, however, a lesser-known branch of demonology, one that has not been Christianized. Yet, Christians are informed by it. It is far older than Christianity; it traces its roots back to the dawn of humanity. It is a demonology that is little-known, yet invaluable for those of us in the Occult. It is the demonological ideas found within the Hebrew and Jewish traditions.
The Hebrew demonic tradition is not as popular ONLY, because no one has brought all the pieces together, nor do they have the ability to translate the source material from Aramaic and Hebrew into English. Most reiterate what has already been written and said, but with no foundational knowledge. In this book, I look forward to remedying that. This is not a boast, I am simply stating the facts.
The Hebrew tradition has a rich and powerful demonological tradition that is often not spoken of, even among Kabbalists in fear that the demons and their minions will taint them or bring them bad luck. Even unto this day, many Jews believe demons are the cause of socially disruptive events to occur like impotence and bareness because they want to prevent more Jews from coming into the world. And of course, there is the fear that demons will kill the offspring they have. It is for this reason certain Jewish groups inundate their homes with magical Talismans warding off the evil eye, the demoness Lilith and even the great demon Ashmadai (Asmodeus).
In this book, I will take you through an academic and Magickal journey through the Sitra Achra; the other side of the light as it is understood in the Hebrew tradition. You will not only learn, but you will experience.
Please note, this is not a book on the history of Hebrew or Jewish Magick, although it will contain Magick. This is an elucidation of how the Hebrew traditions view demons and ghosts.
In this book, you will learn:
How the demonic idea developed, starting with the Old Testament.
We will learn of the demonic in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
We will examine several demons and ghostly figures and their natures as told and
experienced by the Great Rabbinic sages of the Talmud, Kabbalah and other texts.
You will learn the varying classes of demons and malignant spirits.
We all know Lilith, but there are other female demonesses we will encounter on this journey; some you may have never heard of before.
I will explain how the concept of the Sitra Achra unfolded at the moment of creation.
You will learn how the Klippot came to be and their true nature. They are the husks of the Sitra Achra, the shards of the Sefirot.
I will guide you through the various Hebrew and Aramaic texts that have been a stumbling block for most when approaching this topic.
Finally, I will present five meditations and rituals you can use to romance the forces of the Sitra Achra.
Let us begin.
Source Material
Before I jump into this topic, I would like to discuss the main source material I used in this book. Many of the texts I used may not be familiar to all readers, and so I will just give a quick summary of the texts used. This will not serve as the official bibliography; that will be at the end of the book.
The Old Testament: This is more commonly known as the Hebrew Bible. Here you find the first five books of Moses or the Torah. They are the books of Genesis through Deuteronomy. It also contains books of a prophetic nature, such as the books of Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah, etc. Philosophical or Wisdom teachings such as the Psalms, Proverbs, etc.
The Talmud: This set of texts serves several purposes. It elucidates many of the laws and concepts found in the Old Testament with a countless number of digressions. The entire text is divided into Tractates. When I mention a passage from “Eruvin," “Shabbat," “Sanhedrin” and the like; those are Tractates within the Talmud. Each Tractate specializes in a specific topic with many side topics being discussed. I won’t discuss every Tractate since it is much larger than this book. Please refer to my book The Talmud: An Occultist Introduction for more information.
The Apocrypha: These are extracanonical texts that did not make it into the biblical canon. Often, they give the back story of many of the narratives in the Bible. These books include, The Book of Jubilees, the Books of Enoch, The Alphabet of ben Sirach, etc.
Targumim: This set of texts are Aramaic translations of the Old Testament; they also clarify biblical verses.
Midrash Rabbah: These are homiletic and exegetical texts that elucidate the Old Testament.
The Zohar: This body of texts is the backbone of the Kabbalah and serves to explain and interpret concepts that are found in the Old Testament, especially that of the first five books of Moses. Unlike the other exegetical texts, this series of texts gives more of a mystical understanding of the Bible.
Dead Sea Scrolls: This is a body of texts found in a Cave called Qumran, right off the Dead Sea. It comprises many biblical texts and additional ones that are not present in the canon. They are a glimpse of what early first-century Judaism looked like for specific sects; mainly that of the Essenes. They are a wonderful source of extrabiblical material.
There are a few other texts I have used, but they are not as referred to as the ones above. For a complete list of texts, please see the bibliography at the end of the book.
Moving on.
PART 1 - THE FOUNDATIONS
The Vocabulary of Demons and Ghosts
The study of demons, demonology and other entities in the Jewish tradition is not as clear-cut as that of the Christian variety. Unlike the Christian counterparts, there is no systematic approach to this topic. Therefore, there is no organized repository of knowledge that one can pull from to make the daunting, AND, taunting task of studying such topics easier to undertake. All sources of information are scattered in often obscure texts that no one even bothers to read anymore. Well, except for me.
What you are about to read is not just a product of many years of research, but also decades of experience working with many of the spirits discussed in this book. Before I take you on this journey, I would like to get a few preliminaries out of the way first. I will start with the terminology used as it pertains to demons and ghosts in the Hebrew tradition.
Please note, I will use the terms “Jewish tradition” and “Hebrew Tradition” interchangeably going forward. For all intents and purposes, they are intimately related, and unless otherwise stated, I will treat them uniformly. Sometimes this distinction is important to note; I will do so as needed. I would also like to mention that when I discuss Jewish traditions, I won’t be distinguishing between Jewish Traditions in Europe, the Middle East or elsewhere. I will treat Judaism as a whole. In saying that, I will only make distinctions IF the particular concept I am discussing requires it. For example, I may discuss Aramaic incantation bowls that are only found in the Middle East, and therefore, I will distinguish between the European Jewish tradition and the Middle Eastern ones in that case.
Since I will deal with a topic that derives from sources that are not originally in English, I feel it is of the utmost importance to be as clear as possible when explaining and translating from the original Hebrew and Aramaic texts. A good place to start is to discuss some key terms, terms I will use throughout the book.
Several words and terms exist for the word demon/demons and ghosts in the Jewish tradition. There are also many terms for people who call upon demons, ghosts and spirits. I will use this chapter to itemize the main ones. I will go into greater depth on many of these later in the book. We will also meet many more demon and demon classes as we progress.
I guess you could say this chapter is a kind of abridged glossary of sorts.
Types of Spirits:
SHEDIM O'TW: This is the most common word for demons. If you approach any Hebrew speaker today and ask them what Shed (Singular) or Shedim (Plural) is/are, they will tell you it means demon/demons. We will use this word often in this text. As a side note, in Aramaic this word is pronounced SHEDIN. It has an N at the end, instead of an M.
SEIRIM O'I'UW: This is a “class” of demon. The name means “The hairy ones” or “hairy beings” but can also mean “Billy-Goat.” I have seen translations use the term “Satyrs.” It appears Satyrs is the consensus among Jewish translations. A Satyr is a nature spirit with the ears, tail and legs of a horse and in some depictions, an erection. These were demons whom the ancient Israelites once worshiped.
MAZIKIN - |'pTft: This is a “class” of demon. Unlike the above two, this word is in Aramaic. The name means “Those who harm or bother." This term for demons is mainly used in Rabbinic texts.
BISHIN - 1'^'3: This is a “class” of demon. This too is a word in Aramaic. The name means “Those who cause disease or bad things." This term for demons is mainly used in Rabbinic texts.
RUCHIN-]’ni“l: This is a “class” of demon but can also be considered ghostly figures. This too is a word in Aramaic. The name means “Spirits." The root word is Ruach, which means “spirit” and “wind.” The word “Ruach” is often used when describing certain classes of demons. For example, Ruach Kezarit or “Spirits of Nightmares.”
RUACH REFAIM-Q'KD“I nTI: This isn’t technically a term for demons; this is the most common term for “ghosts."
OHV-31K: This is another word for ghosts.
YEEDONI-'W^P: This word is generally used to describe a “familiar spirit.” It can also be a description of those who call upon these spirits.
RUCHOT RAOT-flWI PIHII: This means “evil spirits.”
LILIN-|'^'^: This is a “class” of demon. This class is said to be the class of demons from
which Lilith emerges from. Although the term here is derived from the Mesopotamian
demonological tradition, it was also used in the Hebrew one. The word Lilin comes from the root word “Lyla” which means “night.” Essentially, night demons.
DYBBUK-pIH'T: This word is technically in Yiddish but is derived from the Hebrew word “Dabek” which means "to cling to or adhere." When a spirit of a dead person who is wandering or dislocated attaches to a human, this spirit is called a Dybbuk. It's essentially a form of possession, but instead of a demon, it is a spirit of the dead. Generally, the possessed person doesn’t know he or she is possessed.
IBBUR-“ID’D: This is related to the above entity, but instead of being malignant like a Dybbuk; an Ibbur is a benign spirit. The word Ibbur means “Impregnation” or “Incubation.” In this form of possession, it is not a spirit of the dislocated dead that possesses a person, but the spirit of a righteous person. Often these spirits will possess another to fulfill a mission. The person who is possessed may not know he or she is possessed, unless the Ibbur makes it known.
Words for Conjurers, Witches, Sorcerers and Necromancers:
Although there are many terms for people who work with spirits, the Old Testament distinguishes between Hebrews who practiced the Occult and foreigners who practiced the Occult. This would not be obvious in English but is very clear in Hebrew.
Let us look at every term used in the Old Testament for practitioners of the Occult, starting with the foreign ones first.
HARTOOMIM-D'Tpl0~in: This term is used pretty much only when referring to magicians from either Egypt or Chaldea. Egyptian Magicians: (Genesis 41:8, 24; Exodus 7:11, 22; 8:3, 14, 15—Eng 8:7, 18, 19; 9:11). Chaldean Magicians: (Daniel 1:20; 2:2, 10, 27; 4:7, 9; 5:11).
ASHAPHIM-D'p™: This term is used pretty much only when referring to enchanters from Chaldea. (Daniel 1:20; 2:2, 10, 27; 4:7; 5:7, 11; 5:15).
In almost all the verses referring to foreign magicians and enchanters, the word “Wisemen” is also found. The Bible is referring to them as wise.
Let us now look at broader terms for Occultist that was usually applied to the Hebrews and perhaps their immediate neighbors.
HOVREI SHAMAIM-Q’TOp^ '"OH: This term is often used as a term for astrologers, but literally means “Gazers of the Heavens.”
CHOZIM BAKOCHAVIM-D'ppi^p D'T n: This is more of a proper term for Astrologer since it means “Gazers of the stars.”
MODIIM LECHODASHIM-D’EnQ? D’lTto This term is not used often. It means “Monthly prognosticators.”
These three references above can be found in Isaiah 47:13.
GAZERIN-|'~IB: This is an Aramaic term for astrologers that can only be found in the Aramaic portions of the book of Daniel. (Daniel 2:27; 4:7; 5:7, 11).
CHACHAM CHARASHIM-D’ETIU □□□: This term can only be found once in the entire Old Testament, in Isaiah 3:3. It literally means “smart or skillful magician.”
KOSEM KSAMIM-Q'TOOp? DO|?: This term usually means one who practices divination but can also mean Magician. (Deuteronomy 18:10) Sometimes the term Kosem - DOp and a
derivative is used alone without the Ksamim (Numbers 23:23; 1 Samuel 15:23; 2 Kings 17:17; Micah 3:6).
ONEN/MEONEN-|]W?0—|]W: This is generally translated as “Fortune-teller/s.” (Deuteronomy 18:14; 2 Kings 21:6; 2 Chronicles 33:6; Isaiah 2:6, Jeremiah 27:9).
DORESH EL-HAMETIM-D’riftn-PK tohj: This is the term for Necromancer. (Deuteronomy 18:11).
MENACHESH-^n^TO: This can mean “enchanter." The root word means snake so perhaps snake charmer? The usage of Menachesh can be found in Deuteronomy 18:10. Derivatives of the word can be found in Isaiah 3:3; 3:20; 26:16; Jeremiah 8:17; Ecclesiastes 10:11.
CHOVER CHAVER-"!^ ,“Ofi: This is another word for a charmer found in Deuteronomy 18:11. Some scholars have suggested that this might imply the practice of tying magical knots. They say this because the root word means “Weaving or tying.”
MACHASHEPH/MACHSEPHA-nDSOO/^SOO: This word is the masculine and feminine of the words for “Wizard/Witch” and “Sorcerer/Sorceress”. (Exodus 22:17; Jeremiah27: 9;
Malachi 3:5).
As you can see, there are quite a few different terms for Occult practitioners.
The Gods of Foreign Nations
I find it necessary to clarify what I will and will not cover in this book as it pertains to demons and spirits. Many will notice as I progress through the book that I appear to be leaving out key names that people often consider to be demons. Let me explain why I am doing this, and who I am omitting.
There is no text on this planet that is more misunderstood, misinterpreted and mistranslated than the Old Testament. The mistranslations are easy to explain. The Old Testament is written in Hebrew, and so it is easy to mistranslate words. The misunderstanding of the Old Testament is partially a result of these mistranslations. If you do not have a good translation, you won’t understand the true meaning of the text, nor will you know you are reading a bad translation. It is a vicious cycle; a cycle that has been perpetrated for hundreds upon hundreds of years, producing dreadful, and often dangerous translations.
Misinterpretation is another issue altogether. Although it can also be related to the issue above, it poses its own challenges that may even surpass the other issues.
The Old Testament is clear in all translations about one thing. The Gods of foreign lands are called and are considered demons. This interpretation of foreign Gods is extended into the New Testament.
Names such as Baal, Beelzebub, Asherah, Moloch, Dagon, Chemosh, Balaam, Leviathan and a few others. NONE of these are demons in the real sense of the word according to Rabbinic Judaism. In fact, none of the above are really mentioned much as demons in Judaism proper. If they are not considered demonic in the Rabbinic texts, I will not include them in the book. They are only PERCEIVED as demons by those who follow the words of the Christian biblical perspective and misinformed occult texts whose underpinnings are biblical, even though they do not realize it, or care to admit. To consider these entities as anything other than Gods, is to disrespect the people who worshiped them. They didn’t view those Gods as demons, why should we? Therefore, I will not be discussing them in any great depth. They may appear from time to time because the names may be part of a verse I am discussing.
However, I will say many of these names/Gods, I stated above may be considered “fierce," but they are not demonic. Very much like the Goddess Kali in the Hindu tradition. What people may perceive as evil, is just fierceness. People will say the same of Santa Muerte. She is NOT evil by any stretch of the imagination, but she is fierce and looks fierce. This is a distinction that is often lost on those who follow biblical ideologies and Occult ideologies for that matter. The Western traditions are not comfortable with fierceness; the West often associates fierceness and
aggression with demonic entities.
The demons I will discuss are those that have traditions that are not directly linked to the Gods of Foreign Lands, if there is a link, it is very weak. There is, however, only two exceptions to be made, and that is of the Goddess Lilith and the God Resheph. Although Lilith is found in the mythos of non-Hebrew people, she has taken on a life of her own within the Hebrew tradition. The Jewish tradition DOES NOT associate her with other nations; she is a purely demonic entity. I, personally, do not consider her a demon. Resheph too has taken on a life of his own in the Rabbinic traditions.
Some of the demons I will discuss aside from Lilith and Resheph are Azazel, Ashmadai (Asmodeus), Naamah, Sameal, Agrat bat Mahlat, Aluka, Mastema, Belial, to name a few. They are true demons in the Jewish tradition; even if a few didn’t start that way. Please note, I may not think all of these are demonic or evil; I am simply transmitting the information as it has been recorded and understood.
The Basics
In Judaism, most of the ideas about demons and evil spirits were borrowed from the surrounding cultures. The Israelites were very much influenced by Mesopotamian beliefs and especially Canaanite ones. The Canaanite influence is clear throughout the Old Testament. In regard to the Mesopotamian beliefs, we have firsthand evidence of its influence. For example, the word Shedim, the most common term for demons, and the name Lilith, are just two of examples. We also have evidence that the dualism of Zoroastrianism fostered a more delineated understanding of good and evil in the Hebrew psyche. The Zoroastrian influence came via Mesopotamia during the Babylonian captivity. Prior to these influences, Hebrew tradition was not consistent with its conception of ghosts and demons.
The Hebrews presented their idea of evil and evil spirits in three main ways.
In some texts, it appears, they did not have a concept of an external evil force, but rather, all evil and evil spirits came from God; even Satan himself needed God's permission to punish Job.
They used the term demon/s as descriptions of the Gods of other nations. It was meant as a derogatory term against such Gods as Baal, Asherah, Dagon, etc. Technically, they aren’t really demons as I mentioned in the previous chapter.
In some other cases, it does appear that evil spirits are coming from an external source not in direct control of God. This idea is now commonplace in the Abrahamic religions, I.e. Shatian, Iblis, the devil, etc.
As you will see, the Old Testament doesn’t make a definitive claim that certain named entities are demons or not. Whereas in the New Testament, when a demon is presented in the text, you know for sure it is a demon because it pretty much says so. In the Jewish tradition, it is only during the Post-Biblical era do we find demons and ghosts becoming more prominent. It is also in the post-biblical era when certain names you will encounter in the Old Testament, develop distinct demonic characteristics.
Before we go into the demons and ghosts of the Old Testament, we need to discuss how the text viewed people who performed Magick and other occult practices. As you can imagine, it is not a favorable view. Let us look at a few examples.
Exodus 22:17 “Thou shalt not suffer a witch/sorceress to live.”
In Hebrew:
n-^nri x^ ,nDio?
The word “Machshefa” is often translated as Sorceress, but it also means Witch. As we know, rituals of Sorcery and Witchcraft often use spirits, both benevolent and malignant. The above verse does not make a distinction; it is ALL BAD in the Bible.
Deuteronomy 18: 10-12 “There shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one that useth divination, a soothsayer, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or one that consulteth a ghost or a familiar spirit, or a necromancer. For whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto the LORD; and because of these abominations the LORD thy God is driving them out from before thee.”
In Hebrew:
nso?i ^m? |]W ,□'?□£ nop ,tfK3 Ira-fti "'rnijr? ,^p x^-x cn^’-7x unn ,'wti nix ’pxtn ;-nn ,"ani
^'"iin ,^’i^^x nin' 'n?xn n’niJinri ,y?ni ;nI?^< niyiJ-’?3 ,np' nmjin-':? ^97? nnix
The first part of the verse “There shall not be found among you anyone that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire...” this is in reference to the practice of child sacrifice that was often practiced by the Canaanites, especially to the God Moloch.
As you can see, the above text is clear that any kind of working with demons, and spirits is forbidden.
We see in 1 Samuel 28: 3 “Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel had lamented him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. And Saul had put away those that divined by a ghost or a familiar spirit out of the land.”
In Hebrew:
Ton >iwi ;iTin-i nnx •■inTip’i ,’?K"np-’?3 ft-n^p-’i-n? ^xiwi nxnn--a'WTn-nxi ninxn J V T T •• • J • “ V J T
Despite the above prohibitions, it seems that rabbis in the Post-Biblical time had no problem calling upon demons. It’s this odd dichotomy that exists within the Rabbinic texts. Let me show you what I mean, and then we will move on. The text I am going to provide is from the Talmud. The verses below come from a Tractate within the larger Talmud called Sanhedrin. The
Talmudic passage was sourced from Sefaria.org.
Sanhedrin 101a “And one may not consult the words of demons on Shabbat. Rabbi Yosei says: Even during the week it is prohibited to consult demons. Rabbi Yosei did not say that it is due to the Torah prohibition of witchcraft that it is prohibited during the week; rather, it is prohibited due to danger, lest the demons harm him. This could happen, as in that incident concerning Rav Yitzhak bar Yosef, who consulted a demon and as a result was swallowed into a cedar tree, and a miracle was performed for him and the cedar split and expelled him... The Sages taught in a baraita: With regard to demons of oil and demons of eggs, i.e., demons consulted by means of oil and eggs, respectively, it is permitted to consult them; but it is futile to do so, due to the fact that they deceive.”
The Rabbis here are making certain exceptions and seem to be disregarding the expressed prohibitions in the Bible. You will find this throughout the Talmud. In fact, you will find this many years after the Talmud as well. A Prominent Rabbi of the twelfth-century known as Eliezer of Worms, was an advocate of calling upon angels and demons, as long as they were used for benevolent purposes. It is an interesting dichotomy within Judaism that would be lost if one does not pay close attention. It goes to show that Magick, no matter how many prohibitions there are against it, can never be truly avoided. It is in our blood, and Rabbis and clergy the world over can try to remove it, but all they do is add it back in another form.
Thank you for allowing me this digression.
Let us now take a look at a few broad examples of how demons and ghosts appear in the Old Testament. I will start with demons.
Please note, there are demons in the Old Testament that I will mention in this chapter but will also mention in subsequent chapters as well, in greater detail. Often the Old Testament does not give much detail on these demons; we must rely on Rabbinic texts to add clarity and back story.
The most common term for demon/s in the Jewish Tradition is “Shed” (singular) and “Shedim” (Plural) as I stated earlier. This word is most likely derived from the Assyrian word for demon “Sedu." However, there is much debate among scholars regarding the root of the word itself as it is presented in Hebrew. In Hebrew, the word SHED/SHAD, which is also the singular for “demon," can also mean “destruction, laid waste, ruin,” etc. In Job 5: 21-22, in the Hebrew, we find this usage.
kit n nW K"pn-K> pn W |Wi nW
In English: “You will not be afraid of ’destruction’...”
“At ’Destruction’ and famine you shall laugh.”
You will find several references to the word “SHAD” in the Bible that are translated as “destruction and ruin.” I can see how the word for demon could also mean destruction. It makes sense to me.
Let us now look at the use of “Shedim” in the Old Testament. There are only two references to the word Shedim, plural. We first see this word mentioned in Deuteronomy 32:17, it states, “They sacrificed unto demons, no-gods, gods that they knew not.”
In Hebrew:
□WT W ,TWK W$ W □’"iW /WP
The highlighted word is “Shedim." In this passage, the writer is equating the Gods of foreign peoples to demons. Then again, we see the word Shedim mentioned in Psalms 106:37- 38. It states, “Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood.”
In Hebrew:
□n$? □j^’rili^-nK ,^’:p-n$ inipi
,n$n w^l W 'i^? ,iniT n^-^’ntQi □^-□i ,’pi □"[ 1^1 □’TTp
In this case, as in the previous one, we have demons associated with the Gods of other nations. As with the Abrahamic religions, ANY other god, goddess or spirit of other nations would be classified as a demon. In Ancient Canaan, the Canaanites did not view their gods as demons, not even in the slightest. Yes, they sacrificed children and shed blood during many of their rituals, but that didn’t make them demonic in their respective religions. Human sacrifice was quite common worldwide. We may find it distasteful, but just because we find it distasteful doesn’t necessarily make it demonic in the context in which the sacrificing is taking place. Remember, the mind of the ancient near east is very different than our own, and that is mostly due to living conditions and life circumstances we may never understand.
The next reference to demons is using the term Seirim. There is some debate as to what this word means. Many scholars believe the word means “hairy ones” or “hairy beings." The thing is, the word is also used for Billy-goat, wild goats and Satyrs in the Old Testament. I don’t think it really matters which one you are partial to, the implication that they are foreign spirits and Gods is the same. However, there is a compelling case to be made that the word means Satyr in some cases. Let us take a look at Leviticus 17:7. It states, “And they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices unto the Satyrs, after whom they go astray. This shall be a statute forever unto them throughout their generations.”
In Hebrew:
□>ln np?n :^’W □’it □<! "IUZ$ ^"I’m'/? ,^’n;iT-n$ ,nw inip-K^i □nTr? ,□3? nxt-n’tfH
The word in bold is Seirim. I used a translation that used Satyrs, but I have seen some translate the word as “Goat demons.” I chose the translation, which used the term Satyr because in Isaiah 34:14, it states something very interesting that makes me think Satyrs is the correct translation.
It states, “And the wildcats shall meet with the jackals, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; yea, the night-monster shall repose there, and shall find her a place of rest.”
In Hebrew:
n^pni ,n't?'tp nimn atf-is ;xnip?? •inyi-’?y "iwi ,D”K-n$ □”¥ -i^si nnn n?
The first bolded word is Seir, the singular of Seirim. Now take a look at the second bolded word. That says LILITH, yes, as in THE Lilith. The only place in the Bible in which Lilith is mentioned. Here we have a verse with Lilith and the Satyr; they are lumped together in this verse. To me, this is an indication that the Satyr translation is correct as opposed to the mere definition of “Billy-Goats.” The fact that Satyr is mentioned in the same breath as Lilith means to me, they are a kind of being that was worshiped at some point. Even further confirmation of this can be found in 2 Chronicles 11:14-15:
It states, “For the Levites left their open land and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem; for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest's office unto the LORD; and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the Satyrs, and for the calves which he had made.”
In Hebrew, the key terms are:
nt^si "iu7$ ,Q'W?i: ,a'"!W?i nina?
“High places and for the Satyrs, and for the calves which he made.”
Cleary, this is a reference to idol worship to the spirits they knew in the form of Satyrs and Calves. The first word there is “La-Bamot," this is often translated as High place, but it can also mean altar. The Canaanites, when they gave offerings to Baal and other gods, they often did it on hilltops. Therefore, “high places.”
To me, this is clear evidence that there was a Satyr-like being that the Israelites often worshiped. The writers of the Old Testament clearly believed they were demons of some sort. A Satyr would certainly qualify as a demon in the Jewish Tradition and every other Abrahamic religion for that matter.
Let us move on to another demonic entity.
There is an odd passage in the book of Exodus 12:23.
It states, “ For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side-posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.”
In Hebrew:
nwn ’w ?y] ^ipyrp-py cnn-nx nxil ,m"np?-n$ ntf? ,np' nziiJi ntf? □p’na-’p^ xi? ,n’nWn in x^] ,nn9n-?j ,np' nos-i
On the surface, it is the common story of how God killed the first-born of Egypt and spared the Hebrews who smeared blood on their doorposts. The story is so common that people often read it quickly and do not pay attention to the intricacies of the verse. Notice the highlighted term. “The Destroyer." It was not God directly that killed the Egyptians, but a spirit he calls “the destroyer." This is a clear indication, this is some kind of entity, and it takes orders from God. (This entity would later be known as “Mastema” in texts outside the Old Testament, I will discuss that later.) As we get deeper into the Old Testament, it will become very clear that this Destroyer is an evil entity and an angel of death of sorts. Or more precisely, the “Angel of Destruction and Slaughter.”
Let us look at a few verses to corroborate my assessment of this destroyer figure.
2 Samuel 24:16 it states, “And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented Him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people: 'It is enough; now stay thy hand...”
In Hebrew:
^tf? "iwi ^irin-px np' □rj^Jfl Pno^? ,O?^T nx^n It n^-’i
Tin nmj n am n’nran
;
Notice it says in Hebrew “La-Malach Ha Mashcheet.” The same term for “The destroyer” is used, but now the destroyer is identified as an angel. It literally says, “The Angel of Destruction/Slaughter.” Again, we see that God has control over this Angel, he doesn’t do anything on his own accord.
In the next verse, we find God sending forth an “Angel of God," to kill the Assyrians. 2 Kings 19:35 “And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred fourscore and five thousand; and when men arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.”
The Hebrew term for this angel is:
nin’ nxpn or simple “Angel of God.” Again, we see God using angels with malicious powers
to do his dirty work. One might say ’well, these are angelic servants of God and not necessarily
evil spirits.’ This appears to be true until we come across the following verses.
Psalms 78:49 “He (God) sent forth upon them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, a sending of messengers of evil.”
In Hebrew:
□’in 'pxpn ,nnPW ;ni^^i ami nipy-iss jinn ,ap-n>^'
rds in Hebrew literally mean “Evil Angels." '3XpT2 means angels and D’UI me
The words in Hebrew literally mean “Evil Angels." 'pX?72 means angels and O’lll means bad or evil. As we see, it is GOD who is sending evil angels. This may seem surprising, but God made it very clear that he is the creator of evil. In Isaiah 45:7, it states, “ I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am the LORD, that doeth all these things.”
In Hebrew:
n^x-pp n/1 ,nin' ’j$ ;in xnini nW n/1 ,-^n xnini nix W
As you can see, there are instances when evil spirits and evil angels are under the direct control of God. I will provide three more examples, and then we will move on.
1 Samuel 16:14 “Now the spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrified him.”
In Hebrew:
nin' nxn ,nin-rni inrwni >ixtf ain ,nno nin' nini
T * .. .. Z T T “ — —;.Z T ...Z T T T * — *
The text says, “An evil spirit from the lord." Clearly, God can control such spirits.
Again, in the book of Samuel, we see a reference to the evil spirit of God. However, this time, it mentions it twice, confirming this evil spirit is from God alone.
1 Samuel 16:23 “ And it came to pass, when the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; so Saul found relief, and it was well with him, and the evil spirit departed from him.
In Hebrew:
nm ;in'^ i^j:?] ,nir?n-nx nn nppi: ,>ix^-Px □'n'z2X-nri ni’Tjra ,n'ni ninn riin I'pin mo?] ,ip niwi pixwp
Here we see the Spirit of God is upon Saul, and that the harp playing of David, drives the evil
Spirit out. In the first part of the verse, this spirit was described as simply the “spirit of God” and then it was given an attribute of “Evil Spirit.”
Remember our friend Job? In the book of Job, we find that God and Satan are betting on the righteousness of Job. Satan thinks that he will be able to break Job and by breaking him, Job will forsake God. God allows him to test Job’s resolve. He states in Job 1:12 “the LORD said unto Satan: 'Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thy hand.' So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.”
We see here that GOD has given Satan permission to mess with Job. Clearly, Job did not break, so Satan comes back to God to kick it up a notch. Satan now wants to inflict bodily harm on Job. It states Job 2:6 “And the LORD said unto Satan: 'Behold, he is in thy hand; only spare his life.”
As the story goes, Job does not break, and Satan loses the bet. This story is a perfect example that even Satan himself cannot do anything without God’s permission, at least according to what we read in Job.
In the Dead Sea Scrolls, we have a particularly interesting account of how God uses evil spirits. In the Scroll called the Genesis Apocryphon the writers of the scroll give additional details as to what was happening to Pharaoh when Abraham approached him with his wife Sarah. In the biblical account, Abraham was afraid to say that Sarah was his wife in fear that Pharaoh would kill him. Instead, he called her his sister. This, of course, saved him, but Pharaoh was still going to pursue Sarah.
Let me show you that from that Bible, and then we will get more details from the Genesis Apocryphon.
Genesis 12: 10-17 “Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ’This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels. But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram’s wife Sarai.”
In the Genesis Apocryphon, Abraham is very sorrowful over this and prayed to God, and God answered. The text states:
Column 20: 14- “I lodged a complaint before you, my lord concerning the Pharaoh, King of Egypt, for my wife has been taken from me by force. Bring Judgment against him on my behalf and reveal your mighty hand through him and all of his house that he might not prevail this night in rendering my wife unclean for me! Thus, they will come to know you, my lord, that you are the Lord over all kings of the earth. “So I wept and was deeply troubled. During the night, the Most High God sent a pestilential spirit. It was an ongoing affliction for him and every person of his household an EVIL SPIRIT. It was an ongoing affliction for him and every person of his household, so that he was not able to approach her, nor did he have sexual relations with her.”
In the original, the term used is KU1K nn a common term for evil spirit. Here we see yet another account of God using an evil spirit to do his bidding.
I would just like to add that I find it rather interesting that in the above verse from the Genesis Apocryphon, Abraham is not as concerned for Sarah herself, but rather for himself. Very much like in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, he is afraid he will be killed. In the Genesis Apocryphon, he is afraid she will be made unclean FOR HIM. He doesn’t seem concerned that Sarah was essentially about to get raped. It is obvious that this was a patriarchal society.
Elusive Demons
Let us get back to the Old Testament. There are more elusive demonic entities that we don’t know much about. Let us look at a few before we move on.
In Deuteronomy 32:24 we see the mention of the names Resheph and Ketev Meriri. You would never know this in the English though. Let’s look at the Hebrew.
“ ,a:]-nz?t7?$ ,nnrn-|i7! {0} ;'"i'"in d^] {"1} ,n^"!. 'nn>i nyi ’p? "^
0} ."Di ’’?ut ,nng-Dy {"}}
English: “The wasting of hunger, and the devouring of the fiery bolt, and bitter destruction; and the teeth of beasts will I send upon them, with the venom of crawling things of the dust.”
The first highlighted word in Hebrew is “Resheph” this was a Canaanite god and god of various Semitic peoples. I generally would not include him in the demonic fold, but in this instance, the Rabbis interpreted this name to be a demon of thunder and at times hunger and plague. We see that the Rabbis saw him as a demon in the Talmud.
In Berachot 5a, they are speaking of this verse in Deuteronomy it states, “Here we see Resheph listed along with Ketev Meriri, both of which are understood by the Sages to be names of demons.”
The second highlighted name in the verse is “Ketev Meriri” this is an elusive character translated as “bitter destruction.” The Rabbis were not so sure about this one. Some say it does mean cutting down or destruction. While the Targumin, the Aramaic translations of the Old Testament translated it as “demons." Again, we look at the Talmud for more clarification.
Pesachim 111b “ The Gemara discusses the Ketev Meriri, a demon mentioned in the Torah (Deuteronomy 32:24). There are two types of Ketev demons, one that comes before noon in the morning and the other one comes in the afternoon. The one that comes before noon is called Ketev Meriri, and it appears in a jug of kutah, a Babylonian spice, and continuously revolves around inside it. The Ketev in the afternoon is called Ketev Yashud Tzaharayim (Psalms 91:6), and it appears inside the horn of a goat and revolves around inside it like a sifter.”
Let us now explore Ghosts and Spirits of the dead as well as familiar spirits in the Old Testament.
In Proverbs 21:16 it states:
“The man that strayeth out of the way of understanding shall rest in the congregation of the shades.”
This is an interesting verse. What is “congregation of the shades?” Unfortunately, the English is completely useless here. However, in the Hebrew, it is quite clear what this is.
In Hebrew:
nw n't<5D"i ^npa :^3t£zn ^"nn ,njJln--tnx
The word in Hebrew is “Refaim.” If you recall earlier in the book, I mentioned that the term RUACH REFAIM means ghosts. The verse is literally saying that this person will rest with a congregation of ghosts. It is odd that the term shades is found in several translations of the Bible. In Hebrew, Shade is “Tzel” - this word also means "shadow," not Refaim, so I am curious as to why “Shades” is being used.
Let us examine two other instances of the word Refaim in the Old Testament.
Job 26:5: “The Dead tremble under the waters and their inhabitants.”
In Hebrew:
□niotn ,mn nnnn --Win’ □’KDin
Here we have Refaim meaning the dead or spirits of the dead.
Proverbs 9:18: “But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.”
In Hebrew:
0’0? ^W TO ;□# □’KB"|-’? ,mt-k<?]
Here we have Refaim translated as the dead. We also have the term, Sheol, which is often translated as the grave or a kind of purgatory/Hell-like place where spirits of the dead reside. This coupling of Refaim with Sheol gives further credence that Refaim in these instances means ghosts or spirits of the dead.
Aside for the word Refaim, there is another word for Ghost, 3iK - Ohv. There are many references to ghosts in the Old Testament using the word Ohv; far more than the word Refaim. However, in modern Hebrew, Refaim is the more common word for ghost.
Let us look at the most famous ghostly encounter in the Old Testament; the encounter of Saul with the witch of Endor.
1 Samuel Chapter 28: 5- 15 “And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly. And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not,
neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul unto his servants: 'Seek me a woman that divineth by a ghost, that I may go to her, and inquire of her.' And his servants said to him: 'Behold, there is a woman that divineth by a ghost at En-dor.'And Saul disguised himself, and put on other raiment, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night; and he said: 'Divine unto me, I pray thee, by a ghost, and bring me up whomsoever I shall name unto thee.'And the woman said unto him: 'Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off those that divine by a ghost or a familiar spirit out of the land; wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?' And Saul swore to her by the LORD, saying: 'As the LORD liveth, there shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.' Then said the woman: 'Whom shall I bring up unto thee?' And he said: 'Bring me up Samuel.' And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying: 'Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.' And the king said unto her: 'Be not afraid; for what seest thou?' And the woman said unto Saul: 'I see a godlike being coming up out of the earth.' And he said unto her: 'What form is he of?' And she said: 'An old man cometh up; and he is covered with a robe.' And Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and prostrated himself. And Samuel said to Saul: 'Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?' And Saul answered: 'I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams; therefore, I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.”
I will only provide the Hebrew verses of the above that contain the word for Ghosts for brevity sake.
Verse 7:
;H2-n^1Xl ,n'Jx n2?>xi ,oix-n>ip nux 'J-iupo ,imi£ >ix^ "iox:,i "in I'in oix-nJip nux n^iii ,i'Jx i'"pi Tiptfi
Verse 8:
•ixtrn ,irnj a'^x w-i x-m p>i ,D’"in$ am? ua>i >W ^W’l nx ,’j ’jini: ,3ixi ’J xi (-’TO) -’mop ,"zpxbi ;n>j n^xn-Jx n?Jx "iox-"iUx
Verse 9:
n'"i:Dn "itfx >W ntaj-"itfx nx rum nnx mn ,i'Jx ™xn "inxhi
-
• ; • •.• —; z t t t *.* —! •• t 5 - t t - •••✓▼•• t . t •,• —
'2rrnq> /w# WTO nnx nri?i: ;n$nro ,'WTn-nxi nDxn-nx
The first bolded word means those who call upon “Familiar Spirits.”
As you can see here, the Witch of Endor called up the spirit of Samuel. Samuel says, “Why hast though disquieted me, to bring me up?” This appears to be the first biblical instance of a spiritual conjuration. Or, perhaps the better term would be necromancy.
Let us now look at Isaiah 29:4 “And brought down thou shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust; and thy voice shall be as of a ghost out of the ground, and thy speech shall chirp out of the dust.”
In Hebrew:
-
,Hz?ip ,r&n nTO n^i ;nnTO*S nW H2?3J^i ,'"!TO r&n ^5^1 H^s^n ^nnnx ,"idjj?>i ; ; ;
There are several instances of Ohv in the Bible, and they all mean ghost or spirit of the dead. Sometimes it will be used in conjunction with another word to describe people who call upon ghosts.
In the next verse, we will see three different kinds of ghostly figures and those who call upon them.
Isaiah 19: 3: “And the spirit of Egypt shall be made empty within it; and I will make void the counsel thereof; and they shall seek unto the idols, and to the whisperers, and to the ghosts, and to the familiar spirits.”
In Hebrew:
,D’ipi<^-^i^] □'>z?Kn-^ *i^“ni ;y^$ toiji ,ia"if?:? □n^-n-'i"’ nn?;?;j’i □,:in^jj’n-^h<i nllxn—PKi
• • • “ V • T V •
The first bold word is one you won’t see often because it is only mentioned once in the Old Testament if I am not mistaken. It is pronounced Eiteem. The word is being translated as whisperers. This term usually connotes a person who speaks to the dead. The second bolded word is the common word for Ghost, Ovot, plural of Ohv that we discussed above. Finally, we have the word Yedoonim or familiar spirits. As an FYI, the above words for ghosts are also used to describe those who call upon them. For example, Yedoonim is not only familiar spirits, but also soothsayers, magicians and the like.
In the next chapter, I will discuss the texts of the Post-Biblical period, and the how they address demons. You will see that the idea of evil as being an instrument of God changes a bit. We find evil being a result of evil spiritual forces working against God in most cases.
Please bear with me, these initial chapters are necessary for a good foundation before we get deeper into the topic.
PART II - FOUNDATIONAL DEMONICS
The Devil Is In The Details
We will now move away from the Old Testament for a few chapters and venture off into Rabbinic literature and other Jewish texts that will provide some clarity on some things that the Old Testament does not. Please understand, when I say it provides clarity, I don’t mean it will make this topic easier to understand. Rabbinic literature and Post-Biblical texts are quite convoluted. However, they do, at least, give us some back story and anecdotal information regarding many of the demonic and ghostly entities we have and will encounter going forward.
In order to understand how the demonological ideas crept into Judaism, we must look to Ancient Babylon and Mesopotamian beliefs as a whole. Many wrongly believe that Ancient Egypt had more influence on Hebrew religion and belief because the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt for a few generations. I see why some would think this. After all, the foundation of Judaism is the “Out of Egypt” narrative. Judaism wouldn’t exist without it. However, what we find is that the Ancient Egyptian belief system itself barely influenced the Hebrew religion, if at all. Even the Ancient Egyptian language is very different from Hebrew. Its morphological repertoire hardly relates to the Hebrew language, even though they are both considered “Afroasiatic languages.”
You would be a hard-pressed to find much there that is Ancient Egyptian both in belief and linguistically. What you will find is a heavy influence from the Canaanite and Mesopotamian beliefs and languages. I will only discuss the Mesopotamian briefly in this book because it has a direct influence on many beliefs that crept into Rabbinic Judaism, and by extension, modern Judaism when it comes to demons and spirits. Whereas, the Canaanite influence was mostly biblical in nature; most influences have stayed in the Bible with little to no influence on the rabbinical and latter-day Jewish concepts regarding demons and the Occult.
How did Mesopotamian beliefs enter Judaism?
The answer begins to unfold during the Babylonian exile. During and after the Babylonian Captivity 609 B.C. to 515 B.C. the Jewish people started to incorporate and assimilate many beliefs from Babylonia. Judaism develops in its belief system, four main demonological classes, whereas in the Bible, they weren’t put into organized classes. The classes are, mainly the Shedim, Ruhin, Lilin and the Mazzikim. There are a few more, we will discuss these shortly.
Another, more important development in Jewish thinking came when a clear delineation of good and evil started to develop. This occurred at the tail-end of the Babylonian captivity when the Persians conquered Babylon. Now, under Persian Rule, the Jewish people were exposed to the concept of good and evil in the Persian belief system. Mainly that of Ahura Mazda (Ormuzd) and Ahriman (Angra Mainyu), both deities found in Zurvanism and later, Zoroastrianism. Ahura
Mazda represents the good and the light, and Ahriman represents the evil and the dark.
The Babylonian exile left a lasting impression on the Jewish people and in time, a very large Jewish population developed there, some of these communities can trace back to the Babylonian Exile itself, while some moved back there after the fall of the Second Temple. While in Iraq/Babylon, the Rabbis and scholars started to codify and elucidate many of the laws contained in the Torah, or the first five books of Moses. In time, the text would be known as The Babylonian Talmud. At the same time, the Jews who were left in Jerusalem/Palestine were doing the same thing, their version of the Talmud is called The Jerusalem Talmud and sometimes The Palestinian Talmud. In modern Jewish scholarship, the Babylonian Talmud is the one people most refer to. You can read more about this in my book The Talmud: An Occultist Introduction.
In the Talmudic literature, especially the version of the Talmud that came from Iraq/Babylon, we see quite a bit on demons and spirits; much of it harkens back to the Babylonian Exile. The Jerusalem/Palestinian Talmud, however, is surprisingly devoid of any information on demons and angels. Louis Ginzberg, in his book The Palestinian Talmud states “Palestinian authors of Talmud excluded, almost entirely; the popular fancies about angels and demons, while in Babylonia, angelology and demonology gained scholastic recognition and with its entrance into the Talmud... A Similar observation can be made in regard to the difference in attitudes of the two Talmuds’ toward sorcery, magic, astrology and other kinds of superstition.”
Here is an example of this. In the Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 68a it states, “It is written: “I got myself sharim and sharot, and human pleasures, shidda and shiddot” (Ecclesiastes 2:8). The Gemara explains: “Sharim and sharot”: These are types of musical instruments. “And human pleasures”: These are pools and bathhouses. “Shidda and shiddot”: Here, in Babylonia, they interpreted these words in the following manner: Male demons [shidda] and female demons [shiddetin]. In the West, in Israel, they said that these words are referring to carriages [shiddeta].”
Here you can see, the Rabbis of the Babylonian tradition make mention of how the Rabbis of the Palestinian/Jerusalem Talmud interpreted the words for demons, as a carriage in this particular scenario. It is almost as if the Rabbis of Jerusalem didn’t want to have anything to do with demonology or similar topics. I personally side with the Babylonian Rabbis because it states, “Shidda and shiddot”, clearly referring to a male and female aspect. Last time I checked, I don’t recall carriages having a gender. It just doesn’t make sense. I am not saying the Jerusalem Talmud doesn’t reference demons at all, but it is far more subdued than the Babylonian Talmud.
Unlike the Old Testament, the Babylonian Talmud goes into detail as to how the demons came to be. Unfortunately, it is not uniform, but it is interesting, nonetheless. The source texts of the
Talmudic verses in Hebrew, Aramaic and English are derived from Sefaria.org; one of the few sites I know of that does a good job at translating from the original texts.
Before I go into the various descriptions of how demons came to be, let us look in the Talmud regarding how the Rabbis viewed demons in general.
Babylonian Talmud, Chagigah 16a and Avot d. Rabbi Natan 37:
“The Rabbis Taught: six things were said about demons; three in which they resemble ministering angels, and three in which they resemble human beings. The three that resemble angels have wings, they fly from one end of the earth to another and they know the future... And the three that resemble humans eat and drink, have offspring and die.”
We see here that demons fall under two main categories. Unfortunately, it is not quite so clearcut as the above passage states. It is far messier. Let us take a look at what the texts say regarding how demons form and are created.
How demons came to be
In the Talmud, there are several ways demons came into being. I will also add a few more from other Rabbinic texts and the Zohar, a Kabbalistic text that includes many of the same rabbis who are present in the Talmud. I will go more in-depth on the Kabbalah later in this book.
Demon origin one:
In a Tractate of the Talmud, Pesachim 54a it states, “The Sages taught: Ten phenomena were created on Shabbat eve during twilight, and they were: Miriam’s well, and manna, and the rainbow, writing, and the writing instrument, and the tablets, the grave of Moses, and the cave in which Moses and Elijah stood, the opening of the mouth of Balaam’s donkey, and the opening of the mouth of the earth to swallow the wicked in the time of Korah. And some say that even Aaron’s staff was created then, with its almonds and its blossoms. Some say that even the demons were created at this time.”
I will present the Hebrew/Aramaic text of only the bolded words since that is pertinent to our conversation.
j’P’ran nx ci’"inix ^'i
The term for demons used in this passage is “Mazikin” those that “bother or harm.” It is interesting to note that according to the Rabbis, these demons were created on Sabbath Eve, way before the angels fell. I will get into why this is significant in the chapter on Satan.
Demon origin two:
In the Talmudic Tractate Eruvin 18b, it states that several types of demons were created from the wasted sperm of Adam, the first man. Let us take a look.
“Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: All those years during which Adam was ostracized for the sin involving the Tree of Knowledge, he bore spirits, demons, and female demons... When Rabbi Yirmeya made his statement, he meant that those destructive creatures were formed from the semen that Adam accidentally emitted, which brought the destructive creatures into being.”
In Aramaic
T?in ’rm |i^xnn mx n'n^ dm jnix ?□ "irn?x p nrn’ '□" mx j’*?’*?! i’twi |’ni"
The words in Aramaic say, “Ruchin, Shedin and Lilin. Spirits, demons and Night demons or Lilin, the class of demons Lilith comes from. In the Zohar, it states that he didn’t wasted his
seed after leaving the Garden Eden, but rather he reunited with Lilith, and they spawned these demons together.
Demon origin three:
In the Talmudic Tractate, Bava Kama 16a, it states that a male hyena, over several years turns into a demon. Yes, I know it is quite ridiculous.
Let’s take a look.
“A male hyena after seven years metamorphoses into an insectivorous bat; an insectivorous bat after seven years metamorphoses into a herbivorous bat; a herbivorous bat after seven years metamorphoses into a thistle; a thistle after seven years metamorphoses into a briar and a briar after seven years metamorphoses into a demon.”
In Aramaic
-
□1W DIW "inK? ^D ^D ~WU2 □IW D3W "inK? "CT urn KIDT
-
□iw niw "inx? win’? win’? nwu] □iw't "inx? id-id hd-d nwu] w nwu] □iw uiw "inx? nin nin nwu]
The word in Aramaic used here is “Shed," the singular of demons.
If you think the above is strange, the rest of the passage that I did not provide here is even stranger. It states that a person who did not bow during certain prayers would have his spine turn into a snake seven years after death. Yeah, strange stuff and to think, this is the least of it. The Talmud is a very strange place, stranger than you can imagine.
Demon origin four:
In the Zohar 1:29a it states, “... In the name of R. Judah, that the souls of the wicked are the demons of this world.”
^n Kn?in I'p'-rn j-i3i< xc”m
Here we see the word “Mazikin” as the word for demons. Those that “bother or harm. “
Demon origin five:
This may not be exactly a demon class, but in the Rabbinic Text Peirkei Avot, it states 4: 11 “Rabbi Eliezer the son of Yaakov would say: He who fulfills one good deed, acquires for himself one angel-advocate; he who commits one transgression, acquires against himself one angelaccuser. Repentance and good deeds are as a shield against retribution.”
This angel accuser is possibly a demon type of being. Since we know Satan is an accuser, as is Belial, in the Rabbinic texts, it makes sense to me that this angel accuser might be a demon, albeit a transient one based on deeds alone.
Demon origin six:
In the Talmudic text, Sanhedrin 107b, it states, “ The members of the generation of the flood have no share in the World-to-Come and will not stand in judgment at the end of days, as it is stated: “My soul shall not abide in man forever” (Genesis 6:3); neither will they stand in judgment nor shall their souls be restored to them.”
The above text is essentially saying all those who died during the flood, in the book of Genesis, will not get to Heaven. Some Rabbis interpreted this passage to mean that the souls of these people become demons and therefore, their souls would not be resurrected or restored. The rationale is that they were so wicked that they don’t deserve it.
Demons pervaded the worldview of the Rabbis of the Babylonian Talmudic era. Demons were everywhere and could inject themselves into nearly any situation. The Talmud makes this very clear.
Berachot 6a-b “ Abba Benjamin says, If the eye had the power to see the demons, no creature could endure them. Abaye says: They are more numerous than we are, and they surround us like the ridge round a field. R. Huna says: Everyone among us has a thousand on his left and ten thousand on his right. Rava says: They are responsible for the crushing in the Kallah lectures, fatigue in the knees, the wearing out of the clothes of the scholars from rubbing against them, and the bruising of the feet. If one wants to discover them, let him take sifted ashes and sprinkle around his bed, and in the morning, he will see something like the footprints of a Rooster. If one wishes to see them, let him take the afterbirth of a black she-cat which is the offspring of a black she-cat, the firstborn of a firstborn, roast it in fire and grind it to powder, and then let him put some into his eye, and he will see them. Let him also pour it into an iron tube and seal it with an iron signet that they should not steal it from him, and let him also close his mouth, so that he should not come to harm. R. Bibi b. Abaye did so, saw them and came to harm. The sages, however, prayed for him and he recovered.”
This passage alone illustrates just how much thought has been given to the prevalence of demons in the world. They were everywhere and in everything.
With this demon haunted worldview, various remedies would be prescribed. Many address the demons that cause them directly. Let us take a look at a few.
Shabbat 67a “ To be saved from a demon, let him recite as follows: You were stopped up,
stopped up you were. Cursed, broken, and excommunicated be the demon called bar Tit bar Tamei bar Tina and Shamgaz, Merigaz, and Istemai. To be saved from the demon of the bathroom, let him recite as follows: On the head of a lion and on the nose of a lioness we found the demon named bar Shirika Panda. With a bed of leeks, I felled him, and with the jaw of the donkey I struck him.”
Continuing on the subject of bathrooms, there is more.
Berachot 62a “ Rabbi Tanhum bar Hanilai said: Anyone who is modest in the bathroom will be saved from three things: From snakes, from scorpions and from demons. And some say that even his dreams will be settling for him. There was a particular bathroom in the city of Tiberias, where, when two would enter it, even during the day, they would be harmed by demons. When Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi would each enter alone, they were not harmed. The Sages said to them: Aren’t you afraid? Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi said to them: We have learned through tradition: The tradition to avoid danger in the bathroom is to conduct oneself with modesty and silence... Abaye’s mother raised a lamb to accompany him to the bathroom. The Gemara objects: She should have raised a goat for him. A goat could be interchanged with a goatdemon.”
What on God’s Green earth is going on here? These words may sound amusing to us because they don’t make much sense. However, they took this very seriously in Talmudic times.
Conversing with the Devil
In some instances, demons would speak directly to certain rabbis as we see in Pesachim 110b “ Rav Yosef said: Yosef the Demon said to me: Ashmadai, the king of the demons, is appointed over all who perform actions in pairs...”
As you can see, a demon by the name of Joseph, spoke to Rabbi Joseph regarding the actions of King of the Demons, Ashmadai. Ashmadai is the original spelling and pronunciation of the demon Asmodeus. I will discuss him later in the book.
This is not the only instance in which the Rabbis spoke with demons. Let us look at Chullin 105b:
“There were certain porters who were carrying a barrel of wine. When they wanted to rest, they placed it under a gutter and the barrel burst. They came before Mar bar Rav Ashi, who brought out horns and had them blown as he excommunicated the demons of that place. The demon came before Mar bar Rav Ashi, and the Sage said to it: Why did you do this? The demon said to him: How else should I act, when these men place a barrel on my ear? Mar bar Rav Ashi said to it: What are you doing in a place where many people are found? You are the one who deviated from the norm; go and pay them the value of the barrel of wine. The demon said to him: Let the Master now set a time for me, so that I can find the money, and I will pay. Mar bar Rav Ashi set a time for his payment. When that time arrived, the demon delayed in coming to pay. When the demon eventually came, Mar bar Rav Ashi said to it: Why did you not come at the time set for you? The demon said to him: With regard to any item that is tied up, or sealed, or measured, or counted, we have no authority to take it. We are unable to obtain money until we find an ownerless item. For this reason, it took him a long time to find enough money to pay for the barrel.”
Yevamot 122a “. they heard a disembodied voice, but went and found no person there. Perhaps it was a demon. Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: They saw that he had the form of a person, so they knew it was not a demon. The Gemara asks: They, i.e., demons, also appear similar to people. The Gemara answers: They saw that he had a shadow. The Gemara asks: But they also have a shadow. The Gemara answers: It was a case where they saw that he had a shadow of a shadow. The Gemara asks: But perhaps they also have a shadow of a shadow? Rabbi Hanina said: Yonatan the demon expert said to me: They have a shadow, but they do not have a shadow of a shadow.”
Interesting passages to say the least. It appears that the Rabbis of this era had several conversations with demons as if they were just everyday people. What I find amusing is that the
demons have such normal names like Joseph/Yosef and Jonathan/Yonatan.
Here is another account of demons, speaking. It is in the following passage, we also see the name Ashmadai once again. We see in the Talmud, Gittin 68a-b that King Solomon was seeking out something called a “Shamir.” The Shamir is one of the most enigmatic creatures in the Talmud. It is essentially a worm-like creature that was used to cut the blocks used to build the temple. The source and location of the Shamir was known only by Ashmadai. Let us take a look Gittin 68a:
“Solomon brought a male demon and a female demon and tormented them together, and they said: We do not know where to find the shamir. Perhaps Ashmadai, king of the demons, knows.”
Here we see that King Solomon had control over demonic entities. This is in line with the tradition about him; a tradition that has been consistent throughout time and across all the Abrahamic religions.
Let us take a look at other ideas and encounters these Rabbis had with and regarding demons.
In Kiddushin 29b, it states, “ Abaye heard that Rav Aha bar Ya’akov was coming. There was a certain demon in the study hall of Abaye, which was so powerful that when two people would enter, they would be harmed, even during the day. Abaye said to the people of the town: Do not give Rav Aha bar Ya’akov lodging so that he will be forced to spend the night in the study hall. Since Rav Aha bar Ya’akov is a righteous man, perhaps a miracle will occur on his behalf and he will kill the demon. Rav Aha found no place to spend the night, and he entered and spent the night in that study hall of the Sages. The demon appeared to him like a serpent with seven heads. Rav Aha bar Ya’akov began to pray, and with every bow that he bowed one of the demon’s heads fell off, until it eventually died. The next day Rav Aha said to the townspeople: If a miracle had not occurred, you would have placed me in danger.”
The Talmud contains several passages that serve as warnings to people regarding demons and where they can be found. Here are a few examples.
The passages you are about to read are mind-numbing and quite absurd.
Pesachim 111a-b “With regard to one who relieves himself between a palm tree and a wall, we said that he places himself in danger only when there are not four cubits (6 feet) of space between the two objects (the palm tree and the wall). However, if there are four cubits (6 feet), we have no problem with it. The demons have enough room to pass, and he will not obstruct them. And furthermore, even when there are not four cubits (6 feet), we said there is a problem only when the demons have no other route besides that one. However, if they have another route, we have no problem with it. and with regard to one who passes between two palm trees, we said that he is in danger only if a public domain does not cross between them. However, if a public
domain crosses between them, we have no problem with it, as demons are not permitted to cause harm in a public place.”
The next two passages contain various locations to which demons flock to.
Berachot 3a-b “The Sages taught, for three reasons one may not enter a ruin: Because of suspicion of prostitution, because the ruin is liable to collapse, and because of demons. “
Chagigah 3b “With regard to one who sleeps in the cemetery, one could say that he is doing so in order that an impure spirit should settle upon him.”
It is interesting to note that the two scenarios above are very reminiscent of where the Jinn reside as well. I would not be surprised if these verses were directly influenced by Jinn tradition that was prevalent in Arab lore, pre-Islam, especially in Iraq.
Let me discuss a few other passages that deal with the locations in which demons reside. You will see just how uncomfortable the Rabbis were during this time period.
The Rabbis were very specific as to where the demons reside and the timing to which they are more likely to appear.
There is a story about a town called “Shihin” that had about 300 demons at its doorstep.
In Gittin 68a it states:
“Rabbi Yohanan says: There were three hundred types of demons in a place named Shihin, but I do not know what the form or nature of a demon itself is.”
In Hebrew:
nn uni' w nn^u m’un j’n’ua i’n D'w ’ra nixn tfw jini’ 'nn nnx
K’n
Here the passage is using the term Shedim for demons. It isn’t clear why Shihin has 300 demons.
This next one is amusing to me. Megillah 3a “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: It is prohibited for a person to greet his fellow at night if he does not recognize him, as we are concerned that perhaps it is a demon...”
If you bump into me at night in the city, and I don’t say hello to you, please know it is only because I don’t know you and who knows? You might be a demon.
It is particularly not safe to walk outside on Wednesday night and the night of the Sabbath. In Yalkut Hadash, Keshafim, 56 it states that you may encounter the “dancing roof demon.” Her name Agrat bat Mahlat, she and her gang of 180,000 fellow demons can cause great harm. The text goes on to mention that one way to insure the demon doesn’t get you is to only drink water from “White vessels”. I will discuss Agrat bat Mahlat a bit later in the book.
One of the most dangerous times of the year, according to the Rabbis is 10 AM to 3 PM, in the middle of the summer; more specifically, the 17th of Tammuz to the 9th of Av. In the year 2019, in which this book was written, that corresponds to July 20 th through August 10th (Plan accordingly). It is, at this time, a demon by the name of Ketev Meriri is at his strongest. He has the head of a calf, with one oddly revolving horn in the center, and an eye on his breast. His whole body is covered with scales and hair and eyes; and whosoever sees him, man or beast, falls down and expires. (Pesachim. 3b; Lamentations. Rabbah. 1:3; Midrash. Tehilim. to Psalms. 91:3; Numbers. Rabbah. 12).
The Talmud at times describes demons as well. In the texts, dDemons assume the shape of men, but have no shadow (Yevamot. 122a; Gittin. 66a; Yoma 75a). At times, they are black goat-like beings (Kiddushin 72a); at other times, seven-headed dragons (Kiddushin. 29a).
Apparently, not only are they dangerous, but they can also be consulted from time to time. Supposedly, they still can hear what is going on in the Heavens and so can relay this information to us. In Shabbat. 101a, it states, that the best way to consult them is by means of oil and eggshells; only on Sabbath is this forbidden (Shabbat. 101a). Hillel and Johanan ben Zakkai understood their talk just as King Solomon did (Bava. Batra 134a; Sukkhot. 28a; Gittin. 68b).
Let us take a look at a few more.
Sabbath 151b “ Rabbi Hanina said: It is prohibited to sleep alone in a house, and anyone who sleeps alone in a house will be seized by the evil spirit Lilith.”
As you can see, it was discouraged for men to sleep alone in fear that Lilith will kill him. This, as you know, was quite a fear back in those days, and even today. Many Jewish households have Talismans against Lilith.
The following is a description of what one must do in order to drink water from a lake or well. Apparently, it was not safe to do so because of the potential dangers of encountering a demon. Just look at how detailed this is, it boggles the mind.
Pesachim 112a “ Lul, Shafan, Anigron, Anirdafin, which are names of demons, I sit between the stars, I walk between thin and fat people, take any of them if you wish but leave me alone. And if he does not recall this incantation, if there is another person with him, he should wake him and
say to him: So-and-so, son of so-and-so, I thirst for water; and then he may drink. And if there is no other person with him, he should knock the cover on the cup and then drink. And if he is not able to do this, he should throw some object in it and then drink. The Sages taught: A person should not drink water from rivers or from ponds at night. And if he drank, his blood is upon his own head due to the danger. The Gemara explains: What is this danger? The danger of blindness. The Gemara asks: And if he is thirsty, what is his remedy? If there is another person with him, he should say to him: So-and-so, son of so-and-so, I thirst for water. And if there is no one else with him, he should say to himself: So-and-so, my mother said to me to beware of shavrirei, the demon of blindness. He should continue to say the following incantation, in the first part of which the demon’s name gradually disappears: Shavrirei verirei rirei yiri ri; I thirst for water in white earthenware cups. This is an incantation against those demons.”
Do you notice anything odd about the Shavrirei verirei rirei yiri ri configuration? Aside from everything? This is a magical incantation very similar to Abracadabra in its form. If you are an Occultist, I am sure you have seen how Abracadabra is often depicted on seals in Hebrew and English for that matter. I will illustrate below.
X"mxp™ xmxpnx
K1KPK
XXX
X
The same this is occurring with Shavrirei verirei rirei yiri ri found in that text above.
’"I’-aw
’"!’"□
'-'-
'-'
'
As the text states, it is used as an incantation against the demons of blindness, USING, the demon of blindness to remedy it. The reason the word slowly loses a letter is to represent the slow waning of the power of this demon.
Another interesting aspect of Talmudic demonology is the idea that “pairs” of things is demonic and a source of very bad luck. This applies to EVERYTHING. If you do anything twice in a row, you will call the attention of demons and especially Ashmadai. You can’t go to two weddings on the same day. If you are a judge, you can’t pass the same sentence twice. Let us take a look.
Pesachim 109b to 110b “ A person should not eat in pairs, i.e., an even number of food items; and he should not drink pairs of cups; and he should not wipe himself with pairs; and he should not attend to his sexual needs in pairs. The concern was that one who uses pairs exposes himself to sorcery or demons... The Sages taught in another baraita: If one drinks in pairs his blood is upon his head. Rav Yosef said: Yosef/Joseph the Demon said to me: Ashmadai, the king of the demons, is appointed over all who perform actions in pairs.”
The text goes on and on about this in mind-numbing detail. For some odd reason, doing anything in pairs should be avoided.
Now here is where it gets amusing. There appears to be a way to avoid bad luck that is derived from the whole doing things in “pairs” thing. If a person forgot about not doing things in pairs and the demon, Asmodeus comes to bring bad luck, the person would need to do the following.
Pesachim 110ab “ And if one forgets, and it happens that he goes outside after having drunk an even number of cups, what is his solution? The Gemara answers: He should take his right thumb in his left hand, and his left thumb in his right hand, and say as follows: You, my thumbs, and I are three, which is not a pair. And if he hears a voice that says: You and I are four, which makes a pair, he should say to it: You and I are five. And if he hears it say: You and I are six, he should say to it: You and I are seven. The Gemara relates that there was an incident in which someone kept counting after the demon until he reached a hundred and one, and the demon burst in anger.”
Remember kids, next time you do anything in pairs, make sure you follow the remedy above.
Moving on.
The word demon and other associated words are not the only terms used to describe demons. The Talmud uses another term for demons, and that is “Angels of Destruction.” This is also the case in the Old Testament as we discussed earlier. We this reference in (Berachot. 51a; Ketuvot. 104a; Sanhedrin. 106b).
Let us take a look at one of these references. I will quote the entire passage, so you can see just how precise these rabbis were when it came to avoiding the demonic.
Berachot 51a “ Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha said: Suriel, the Heavenly ministering angel of the
Divine Presence, told me three things from on high: Do not take your cloak in the morning from the hand of your servant and wear it; do not ritually wash your hands from one who has not ritually washed his own hands; and only return a cup of asparagus to the one who gave it to you. Why is this? Because a band of demons and some say a band of angels of destruction lie in wait for a person and say: When will a person encounter one of these circumstances and be captured?”
In Hebrew/Aramaic
Px □’isn nw Px’nio 'P no □’im nwpw dwPx p tow ’□" nnx i'T poi xPw 'nn tt pion Pxi wnpni wnwn Tn n'nnwn "pipn Pion np 'nnxi n'Doonw 'isn "|p iiniw 'np xPx ounsox did nnnn Pxi 'Tp □tx xt 'nn'x □’nmxi □nxp ip j’D^n npnn 'DxPn pw nrnPnox tdP'i ippn □'innn nnx
In Hebrew, the word used “Malki Chavalah” or angels of destruction.
This is one example of washing of the hands. Rabbinic literature is overrun with these references of demons latching on to people with unwashed hands.
I will supply several more verses from the Talmud, and then we will move on.
Pesachim 111b:
“One who relieves himself on the stump of a palm tree will be seized by a spirit of a pain of half his head, i.e., a migraine, and one who places his head on the stump of a palm tree will be seized by a spirit of sickness. One who walks over a palm tree, if the tree is cut down, he too will be killed. If that tree is uprooted, he will also be uprooted and will die. The Gemara comments: This statement applies only if he does not place his legs upon it; however, if he places his legs upon it, we have no problem with it.”
In Aramaic:
|xn 'xni xiPd nin n'TnP n'p xnnx xpprn xttix ’ism |xn 'xn 'uosn |xn 'xn xnn^ nin n'p xnnx xppm xttix n'w'i 'p^m n’D"D nin xPt 'p'n 'in n''ni npu'n npu'x 'x p’op Pup'n 'x xPp’tx nn |p n'p n'ip'u n^no nin Ptx n'ip'u
The Aramaic uses the terms Ruach Palga and Ruah Zardah to describe these spirits. Ruach Palga literally means “spirit of the divide or middle.” Thus, pain in the middle of the head. Ruach Zardah means “Spirit of Vertigo.” I can see why the English translation did not translate these spirits literally; it wouldn’t fit quite right, but that is what those names mean if you were to translate them based on the text.
Bekhorot 44b “The Mishna teaches that one who is afflicted with a melancholy temper is disqualified from performing the Temple service. The Gemara asks: What is this melancholy temper? A Tanna taught: A fallen spirit, i.e., the spirit of a demon, has come upon him.”
In Aramaic:
i’pn nxn □’Ps p nn xid in'] ’xn i’Pn nxn m^p nn
Here we have the term Ruach Kezarit, which is a bit hard to translate. The root of the word is “Ketzer” which can mean shortcut, or “short." As in a “short fuse.” They are clearly trying to convey some kind of malfunction in a person. In English, they use the term “melancholy” I have seen other translations use the term “Asthma.” The reason why some may use the term Asthma is because instead of translating the term “Ruach Kezarit” as a signifier of a class of spirits, they literally translate the word Ruach “wind/air/breath” therefore, the person has “shortness of breath." In either case, the verse goes on to say that these conditions are caused by the “fallen spirits," essentially demons.
In Ketuvot 61b
“I saw a leprous spirit hovering over the food and realized that it had this defect.”
In Aramaic:
n’f?’D nnns xpn du"i^ nn ’xrn
The term used is “Ruach Zaraat” or as the translation accurately states, “Spirit of Leprosy.”
Chullin 107b “Abaye said: The reason for the washing is not on account of the food, specifically. Rather, it is due to an evil spirit named Shivta, who contaminates hands that have not been washed in the morning. As long as one washes his hands in the morning, perhaps he need not wash them again to feed another.”
In Aramaic:
XD^’w mwn □Dn ’nx nnx
To give some context, nearly this entire section, 107b deals with various rules regarding the
washing of the hands. They go back and forth about this and Abaye chimes in to state that the reason it is important to wash one’s hands is because if you do not, an evil spirit by the name Shivta will attack you. This is one of a few reasons why orthodox Jews pray as they wash their hands in the morning. It is believed that unwashed hands are tainted, the term used is “TUMAH” or “impure." The root word is Tameh.
In Pesachim 11a we see “The Gemara cites a related statement: One who meets a woman when she is ascending from the ritual immersion of a mitzva, after her menstruation, if he has intercourse with any woman first, a spirit of immorality overtakes him; if she has intercourse first, a spirit of immorality overtakes her.”
In Aramaic:
□np in’x 'X ni^n n?oun xp?on xn'un xnn’xn rnsn |xn ’xn n? xnnx n^n^ni nmp ’n’x 'x □’mr nn non? n’^ xnnx rarai imnn □nn’i □’□’n ^n m -|Diw on xn'^ n'n^pn 'xn □nur nn mn*? pm x?
Here we have a passage that is clearly discussing a sexual matter during the menstrual cycle. The demon class in this text is “Ruach Zenoonim.” This literally means “Spirits of Sexual desire.”
As you can see, in the Talmud, there are many references to demons. I will return to the Talmud in a moment, but I want to turn our attention to a group of Jewish texts called the Targumin. The purpose of these texts is to translate the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic. The reason for this is that many Jews of the Rabbinic period didn’t know Hebrew well, they were fluent in Aramaic. The Targumim are also a font of wisdom because they don’t often translate the texts verbatim but add commentary. In the next passage, we will see other classes of demons we did not discuss yet.
There were several other classes of demons who were often equated with the main four classes, and in some instances diverge from them. You then have demons who have a more specific purpose, such as the ones that bring natural disasters as well as sickness, we saw a few of those earlier. Let us take a look at how some of these additional demon classes are portrayed in the Targumim.
Targum Jonathan Deuteronomy 32:23-24: “And when they dwell in Babel they will serve their idols; for I have spoken in My Word to array calamities against them, the plague arrows of My vengeance to destroy them, I will make them go into captivity in Media and Elam, in the captivity of Babel, the house of Agag who are like demons gaping with famine, and to corpses
devoured by birds, and to stricken evil spirits of the noon, to Lillin and to spirits big with evil.
In Aramaic:
xwiri? '-inw n’rnx p rn jinniinoZ j’rfpD jim *?□□□ j’^’n’ pm idi jinn wk ’mmw nnn '-'i xnwn jin’Zn
I'Z'nn n iiK nm jin^ ip’nx *?□□ n’nw Kii |n □’p’nn nrn jinn’ ’’zik j’^’^i j’wn j’nin ’wro ’"im’o ’nZi qin ’Z’dk ’p’mZi jdd ’n^n n’wZ j’wn |'nii- 'nii-ni
As you can see, they are using the term Shedin, which is the same as the Hebrew word Shedim for demons. They are using “Tiharire” for the noon spirits; the mention Lilin, the night demons and the same class that Lilith is from. The also mention “Ruchin Beeshin.” The English translation for Ruchin Beeshin is “Spirits big with evil," the correct translation should be “Spirits that bring sickness.”
Thank you for enduring this chapter, I know it was a lot. I felt it was necessary to give you a broad, but at the same time, a detailed view of how Early Judaism during the Post-Biblical period perceived demons. There is so much more, but I would never get this book done if I itemized each occurrence of demons in the Rabbinic texts.
Demons and Ghosts in the Dead Sea Scrolls
In the Dead Sea Scrolls, we have many references to evil spirits; many we have already touched upon earlier in the book, and several new ones we will soon discover.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in a place called Qumran, near the Dead Sea. Many were written during the Roman occupation of Judea, and the general time that Jesus supposedly preached there. The scrolls contain various books of the Old Testament with a few changes as well as additional biblical and Apocryphal books. Among these scrolls also contained texts unique to the community that composed them. Many believe that the people who wrote them were an ascetic group of Jews called the Essenes. This is just a hypothesis; we don’t really know who lived there, but the Essenes seem to fit the bill.
This group was disgusted by the corruption of temple Judaism and decided to go off on their own. They were equally despised by the establishment Jews, who had a more Orthodox view of Judaism. These texts would have been lost to history if they were not discovered by a goat herder in the mid-1940s. It is a long story, one I can’t go into here. Just know that these texts give us a glimpse into Judaism of the first-century B.C. and A.D.
Let us take a look at how the Dead Sea Scroll describes demons and spirits.
In these texts, we find the characters we met previously. Mainly Belial, Satan and Mastema. We also see Malkei Rasha or “Evil Angels” as well as the “Angel of Darkness.”
First, let us look at Belial
1QM 13:11
In Hebrew it states:
n'mn? in^nm iri?wnn q^inni nuD^n qx^n nnw*? ’?D’’?n nn'^u □’wxn*?!
The common English translation of this passage is:
“You made Belial for the Pit, Angel of Malevolence his dominion is in darkness and his counsel is to condemn and convict”
This is the common translation, and it is a very bad one. It is one of the worst translations I have ever read. The word the translated as “The Pit”, in Hebrew is “Shahat”. This means destroy or destruction. The word they translated as malevolence is “Meeshpata”. This means trial or judgement.
The second to last work that is bolded is “ Leharshiya” which means to convict and the next word is “Velahasheem” which means to blame or accuse. The entire verse should read “You made Belial for destruction, the angel of judgment. His dominion is darkness and his counsel is to convict and to blame.”
The original English translation even had the word order wrong at the end. So, we see here that he is not an angel of malevolence, but an Angel of Judgement. It makes sense since the last part of the verse it says, “convict and to shame/accuse”. He is essentially Satan himself. In Hebrew, Satan means the adversary and the accuser.
I will show you one more form the Dead Sea Scrolls regarding Belial and then we will move on to Mastema.
1QM 14:9:
’?D’’?3 np^rn [nori?ra n']"iwP nonon nnpDn irnnn Pio
“Throughout all our generations You have made Your mercies wondrous for the remnant of the people during the dominion of Belial.”
This translation is fairly accurate and contains the gist of the message. Like in the previous examples, it is not easy to translate Qumran Hebrew into English so it will make sense. For example, in the above text if I read it for what each word really means it would read as “Throughout all the generations you have DROPPED upon us mercies to those remaining who are WELCOMED during the dominion of Belial.”
Meaning, he bestowed mercies to those he, (God) has welcomed into his fold. It’s a little clunky, so you can see why it is hard to translate it precisely. The Old Testament, although also difficult to translate, is still much easier than Dead Sea Scroll Hebrew. I discuss why the Qumran Hebrew is different in one of my podcasts. You can watch it on YouTube. The topic starts about 31 minutes into the podcast. https://youtu.be/FNnC6PZHEkw
As you can see, Belial is a demonic entity in the Dead Sea Scrolls, in fact, he is Satan himself. I would highly recommend you read the War Scroll in its entirely; it is pretty much dedicated to this epic battle between God’s Forces and the Forces of Belial.
Mastema
We first encountered Mastema in the Book of Jubilees. I will present it again here for your reference.
Jubilees 48:13 “And the prince of the Mastema stood up against thee and sought to cast thee (Moses) into the hands of Pharaoh, and he helped the Egyptian sorcerers, and they stood up and wrought before thee.”
Then in another passage, it states Jubilees 49:4 “you (The Hebrews) were eating the Passover in Egypt, when all the powers of Mastema had been let loose to slay all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh to the first-born of the captive maidservant in the mill, and to the cattle.”
As you can see, he has a kind of dual role. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, Mastema is mentioned ten times and in each instance, it is not used as a personal name like in the second verse we just saw from Jubilees, but with the use of an article and a noun.
For example:
In the Damascus Scroll: 4QD6.2 it translates the term
“Angel of hostility as “ "ix’pn
HftU^ftH” = Malach HaMastema. The exact translation would be “Angel of THE Hostilities.” In other parts of the Scroll we have references to Mastema as “The Prince of the Mastema.” nnwnn W.
In many instances, Mastema and Belial are linked. At times, Mastema is used alone; at other times as a description of the hostile nature of Belial. There are many references, but for now, the above will suffice.
Here are few other names of evil spirits and demons found in the Dead Sea Scrolls:
□’"iron ninn - The Spirits of the Bastards
□ '^nn ’Hl" - The Spirits of Vanities
3'" ’HI" - The Spirits of fighting/strife
nu^" 'HD - The Spirits of evil
nur ni" - The Spirit of Prostitute and sometimes Adultery
"7^ HI" - The Spirit of lies
rf?Din ni" - The Spirit of rudeness
rI3 nI" - The Spirit of scorn/contempt
The Dead Sea Scrolls have many references to evil spirits. I could not include them all here. However, I think you have a taste of what is contained in them.
The Jewish Apocrypha
I will now discuss the Old Testament Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha. I emphasis Old Testament because there are many Apocryphal books that are of Christian origin as well and would be classified as the New Testament Apocrypha. Often when people discuss the “Apocrypha," they lump all the texts together.
When I use the Apocryphal material in this book, I went to great lengths to pick out only those that I could verify to be of Jewish origin and left out the rest. Some of those texts I left out may disappoint some people, but I had to leave them out because they were not of Jewish origin, and this book is expressly about demonology in the Jewish and Hebrew traditions. In light of this, there is really just a handful of truly Jewish texts to choose from. However, to make people happy, I have added bonus at the back of this book itemizing some texts I did not include and some background material. I feel it will satisfy those who desired to see those texts in the body of this book. Please also note that I won’t be going into the history of these various Apocryphal books in depth, that is too big of a topic for this book, I will just be illustrating concepts in them that pertain to the topic at hand.
The word Apocrypha means “Hidden” in Greek “Apokrophon”; Indicating hidden books. These hidden books I will discuss here are of Jewish origin. Unfortunately, I am not able to fully weed out the Christian influences, but I will do my best. I say this because in the Greek Old Testament, aka the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament, contains some of these books, as does the Latin Vulgate, the latter being a Christian text. Therefore, some texts are considered canonical by the Catholics and the Greek Orthodox. The Jews, not so much, even though many are distinctly Jewish. To Jews, these texts are, by and large, not considered “holy” and are not accepted as canon, but some of these texts are referenced from time to time as stories and histories. For example, the Book of Jubilees and the Book of Maccabees, although not canonical, they shed light on various Jewish narratives and histories and are generally looked upon as being true, while other texts are not.
Many of them are biblical in feel and discuss aspects of the scriptural narrative not present in the Bible itself. Many are back stories to events we have found in the Bible and some events that were not recorded in the Bible. It is a treasure trove of information. Even if they are proven to be false stories, it does give you an interesting idea of the ideas that were floating around regarding Old Testament figures and events.
The word Pseudepigrapha is also in Greek and means ROUGHLY “False Name/inscription” -“Pseudepigraphos.”
As the term suggests, it is the name for texts that were attributed to certain authors but were not actually written by them. This was a common practice in late antiquity. It was very widespread. In fact, many say that the four gospels are Pseudepigraphal in nature. For example. The Gospel of Matthew was probably NOT written by Matthew the apostle himself.
Many of the texts in this genre can be both Apocryphal and pseudoagraphia, in fact, most of them are. We will see books attributed to Adam, Abraham, Ezekiel and the like. It is highly unlikely they are written by those individuals. However, that does not mean they are of no value. They are invaluable. They span many years of composition, the earliest being around 500-400 B.C. to 100-200 A.D. and perhaps a bit later.
Hebrew and Aramaic are the main languages of many of these texts. However, many of the extant documents are in Greek. Greek was one of the main languages in late antiquity for Jews in the region and therefore, it is not unusual to see Jewish documents written in Greek.
Rabbinic Reception of Apocryphal Literature
Aside from the book of Jubilees, the book of Maccabees, and possibly the Alphabet of Ben Sirach, Jewish tradition doesn’t reference the Apocryphal literature much. In fact, it is scorned upon. Regardless of whether the rabbis accepted them or not, some texts are still Jewish and reflect Jewish ideas regarding events in the Bible. In some circles, many of the books were considered holy. For example, several Apocryphal texts can be found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, indicating that at least some Jewish sects did view these books as sacred. It is for this reason I will be using some of them in this text.
Let us first quickly discuss the Rabbinic conception of Apocryphal texts. As I mentioned earlier, there were Jewish sects that embraced certain Apocryphal texts. For mainstream rabbis at the time, these books are either just trivial works or outright heretical in nature.
For example, in (Yad. III. 5; Tosef., Yad. II. 13) it states that those who read these books “makes the hands that touch them unclean.”
In the Mishna, Sanhedrin 10:1 “All Jews have a share in the World to Come, as it says, (Isaiah 60:21), Thy people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.” These have no share in the World to Come: One who says that [the belief of] resurrection of the dead is not from the Torah, [one who says that] that the Torah is not from Heaven, and one who denigrates the Torah. Rabbi Akiva says: also one who reads outside books...”
In Hebrew the term is □’rtrnn □’"isp “Sfarim HaChizonim”, literally “extraneous books” or “outside books.” This implies books that are outside the agreed-upon Canon.
Cleary the Rabbis did not approve of these books. However, as I mentioned, the book of Maccabees is still read by some Jews today as it pertains to the holiday of Hanukah, since it describes the wars and historical events that are the foundation of that holiday.
Considering the rabbinic dislike of these books, a small number of them are still considered Jewish, and therefore, I am adding them to this book as they pertain to demonology.
Let us begin.
PART III - THE IN CROWD OF HELL
The Demons and Their Ways
In the last few chapters, we discussed some general classes of demons and their roles, as well as other pertinent topics I had to bring up in order for these upcoming chapters to be a reality. In the following chapters, we will discuss specific demons and the general understanding of their function. You will learn about the major demons that everyone knows about and those that are less known. I, of course, can't go through every demon there is, but you will get a very nice selection.
In the post-Biblical texts, we see Ashmadai and Samael as the Kings of demons. In some texts, they mention one, and other texts mention the other. We also see the mention of Belial as a leader of the forces of evil. We see this in the Dead Sea Scrolls and a few Second Temple period texts. We also see Mastema as the father of evil in the book of Jubilees and the Dead Sea Scrolls. In a single line of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and in The Book of Giants, we see a reference to Azazel as being one of the leaders of the rebellious angels in the Watchers traditions. In essence, Satan, Samael, Ashmadai, Belial, Azazel and Mastema are often treated as the same being.
As I discuss these entities, I will jump around a bit as we look over the source material. Some of it will be from the Talmud, some from other rabbinic texts such as The Midrash Rabbah, which is a compilation of texts often called “Aggadic." The Hebrew and Aramaic word is “Aggadah” which means “Tales." It provides a lot of back story to many of the stories of the Old Testament as well as other sources. And as I mentioned, we will also be looking at Second Temple period literature that is considered Apocryphal.
The demons await!
If you have noticed to this point, I hardly mentioned anything about Satan, and that is because in everything that we have seen, there does not always seem to be a direct link between Satan and the demons we have discussed. This is why I treated him as an afterthought. In this chapter, I will place him front and center.
Satan, in Hebrew, |0 W simply means adversary and accuser. It is often used as both an adjective and a noun. In both forms, we find the word Satan and variants of Satan are being used. There are many examples. I will show you a few for illustrative purposes.
Psalms 38: 21 “They also that repay evil for good are adversaries unto me, because I follow the thing that is good.”
In Hebrew:
□io (-’D"n) -’Dim nnn ,’:mo7 —mio nnn ,ny“i 'npwi
The word in Hebrew, in bold says “YI-SATAN-ooni.”
The root word there is Satan. In this case, it is simply a term meaning adversary.
Psalms 71: 13 “Let them be ashamed and consumed that are adversaries to my soul; let them be covered with reproach and confusion that seek my hurt.”
In Hebrew:
’nm,'Lj/2^--h^7zi ,hs"|QW :'W ’io’7,i^?’ira
The highlighted Hebrew word read “SATANEI," root word again is Satan and used as a term for an adversary.
2 Samuel 19:23 “ And David said: 'What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? Shall there any man be put to death this day in Israel? For do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?'
In Hebrew:
tf’K n^i’ ,oi*n ;io7> ,ni*n ’>-i’fln-’3--nmv ’:p □?z?i 'p-nn ,Tn "iwi ,?K"$7?-’?y n^-’iK Di’n ’? ,’i?J^l’ Ki^n ’rp—^tcn^;-!
The Hebrew highlighted word says “LE-SATAN” or “to be a Satan.” Here is another instance
when the word Satan is used to mean an adversary.
Let us look at one more example of the word Satan as an adversary.
Numbers 22:22 “And God's anger was kindled because he went; and the angel of the LORD placed himself in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.”
In Hebrew:
xfi Kin ;f? ivptp'1? ,l“i.Ti^? nin' ^n ^1 ,Kin ^?P-’3 ,n’rf?$ nx-"im Iran i’"iijj wi ,ljhx-^jj
In this passage, clearly the angel of the lord is making himself as an obstacle on the road to the individual in question. In this case, it is the Magician and Prophet Balaam. So in a sense, the word Satan in this instance means “Oppose or to hinder.”
Let us now look at Satan as a separate being.
Zechariah 3:1-2 “ And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the LORD said unto Satan: 'The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan, yea, the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee; is not this man a brand plucked out of the fire?'”
I will not include the Hebrew here because the word Satan is stated in English, and the translation is correct. As you can see here, Satan is a being of sorts. It mentions his name and that his function is as an accuser.
1 Chronicles 21:1 “And Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.”
Yet again, we have Satan here as a noun, an actual being of sorts.
And, of course, we have the story of Job, in which it is clear Satan is a being.
Here is a list you can reference regarding the various mentions of Satan in the Old Testament. Please note, the word Satan may not appear in the English, but it will appear in all instances in the Hebrew in one form or another.
(Psalms 38:20; 71:13; 109:4, 20, 29; Zecharia 3:1, 1 Samuel 29:4; 2 Samuel 19:22; 1 Kings 5:4; 11:14, 23, 25, Numbers 22:22, 32; Job 1:6, 7, 8; Zecharia 3:1; 1 Chronicles 21:1).
Post-Biblical Satan
Here is where things get a bit more interesting as far as I am concerned.
The Snake as Satan?
Let us start with the Snake in the Garden of Eden. In Christian lore, the snake is Satan, the head of all demons, the fallen angel Lucifer. In fact, according to Christian doctrine, the story is pretty cut and dry. The Snake seduced Eve into eating from the tree, She, in turn, seduced Adam, and humanity has been in a fallen state ever since. However, things in the Jewish tradition are not so clear cut when it comes to this story.
First, let us look at the verse in Genesis when the Snake seduces Eve.
Genesis 3: 1- 6 “Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman: 'Yea, hath God said: Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?' And the woman said unto the serpent: 'Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said: Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.' And the serpent said unto the woman: 'Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.' And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.”
So who is this snake?
This is a complicated question with an equally complicated answer. This snake is an enigmatic character. According to Some Rabbinic literature, he is Samael; I'll get into that later. According to other Rabbinic texts called the Midrashim, the Snake is a personification of the Evil inclination or in Hebrew, Yetzer Hara. In the Talmud, it states that Satan, the angel of death, and the Evil inclination are, in fact, the same being. Now, we must remember that Satan is not a fallen angel in early Judaism. People often mistaken Satan as a fallen angel. He is only that in the Christian tradition and only in much later Jewish traditions does he become an enemy of God. In Early Judaism, Satan is the same as the “Evil Spirit of God” we saw previously.
So answering more directly “didn’t he fall with the angels in Genesis 6:4?” The answer is NO!
Why? Because the snake, if it is Satan, PRECEDED the fall of the angels, therefore, he could not have been part of the fallen angels. He existed before the whole concept of fallen angel existed. He was created to be an adversary for mankind right from the start.
In addition, the whole concept of evil and hell was hinted at even before the angels fell according to Jewish texts.
How did they figure that out? If you notice in the book of Genesis, when God is creating the world in six days, he says, “and it was good” after each day. However, there was one day, the second day, when God did not say, “it was good.” Why is this? In the Talmud, Pesachim, it states, “Rabbi Bana’ah the son of Rabbi Ulla said: “Why doesn’t it say, “It was Good” on the second day of creation? Because the Fire of Hell/Gehinnom was created on that day.” It goes on to say, “The cavity of Hell/Gehinnom was created before the world came into being and its fire on the second day.” Another interesting passage state “... Because the wicked are punished and purified by it.” It, being the fires of Hell/Gehinnom.”
You see what I mean? Hell was already created on the second day, according to tradition. Satan was not the cause of evil; it was God. God created a place for the wicked, even BEFORE wickedness even existed in the hearts of mankind. In fact, mankind didn’t even exist yet.
In essence, the Old Testament idea makes it seem like Satan is simply God’s agent and has little to no will of his own.
However, things change in the Apocrypha and Talmudic literature. Satan is now a free agent and does what he does with his own free will. His origin and function are also “clarified." In Yalkut Genesis 1.23, one of many commentaries on the Old Testament states that Satan and Eve were created at the same time. This of course contradicts other accounts, but as I said, there is no consistency in the Rabbinic literature regarding these and many other topics.
Aspects of Satan
Satan can come in any form that he chooses. This allows him to lead people astray by deception. It is only on Yom Kippur or the day of Atonement when he has no power at all. The Rabbis determined this by the use of Gematria, in which they took each letter in the phrase “The Satan” - |Wn and added them up numerically in Hebrew.
50 - ]
When you add those letters up, it equals = 364. There are 365 days in the year, but only for 364 days is Satan active, that one day he isn't, Yom Kippur. This kind of method is used quite a bit to discern the messages and ideas that cannot be otherwise gleaned from the surface text. This can be found in the Talmud, Yoma 20 “Satan, on Yom Kippur, has no license to prosecute. From where is that idea derived? Rami bar Hama said: The numerological value of the letters that constitute the word HaSatan is three hundred and sixty-four...”
In the Kabbalah, Satan becomes more active and ominous. He is considered the driving force for all evil and that those in the Old Testament who were considered evil became associated with him. In fact, some say that Satan incarnated or possessed them. People such as Goliath of the David and Goliath fame and Haman, from the book of Esther to name a few.
Essentially, any evil person who wanted to destroy the Hebrews, and the Israelites became synonymous with Satan himself.
We see this throughout the Jewish tradition in which a demonic force or entity doesn’t always start out that way, but becomes one in time. Satan, at first, is an agent of God to tempt, test and accuse. By the time we get deep into the Rabbinic and Apocryphal texts, he is an entirely free agent and is an enemy of God. We find this also with Belial. We will discuss him next.
Belial
In the Old Testament, Belial is not a demon. The word Belial is used more as a description. The only reason I bring him into this text is because Jewish tradition has a demonological understanding of Belial. First, let us look at the biblical references.
Belial is mentioned twenty-seven times in the Old Testament. For the sake of brevity, I won’t go through each one, but I will give you a good idea of how Belial is presented.
We first encounter Belial in Deuteronomy 13:14. In the Hebrew Bible, it states:
Hebrew first:
nriini np^ nnx1? □tii 'i^Tix -in'T] ^"i^n ?y-’?;T'n d'h/ix -1x3 □rpjn'"^ "i^x D'"!rix d'Hpx
English:
“That certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying “Let us go and serve other gods’ which you have not known.”
In the Hebrew passage, the bolded words mean “Sons (Beni) of Belial." In the English translations, it simply translates this as “worthless fellows." However, the verse is not translated correctly, at least not the first four words.
^^p-':?:? D'uax 1x3^'
Literally means, “The people (□'tpQX), sons of Belial went out." So the translation, taking into account the definition “worthless” would read “The people, sons of worthlessness went out.”
In most of the references to Belial, we have this understanding that Belial simply means worthless; it is a description of a type of person.
Belial - The Book Jubilees
We see Belial referenced in the book of Jubilees. Please note, in the following Apocryphal texts, the English renders his name as Beliar as opposed to Belial.
Jubilees 1:28 “ let not the spirit of Beliar rule over them to accuse them before Thee, and to ensnare them from all the paths of righteousness, so that they may perish from before Thy face.”
In Hebrew:
"Ils’? |w? an? ni’rf? ’d’^ nn cm ’ira’ *?ki
The Hebrew literally states, “The spirit of Belial will rule over them and be a SATAN before you*...”
* (You, being a reference to God)
In this verse, we see that Belial is clearly of a demonic nature. In Hebrew, he is called “A SATAN.” Satan in Hebrew means accuser and adversary. However, it can also mean Satan himself. In either case, we have Belial being personified as a Satan.
The Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs:
The next set of texts is called the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs. These patriarchs are the twelve sons and grandsons of Jacob. They are the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel.
In these texts, Belial shows up prominently, more so than in any other text I have read. I will not go into each instance, for that you may reference my book “Belial a History." I will just itemize a few instances of how Belial is referenced in them.
Reuben 4:7: “For promiscuity has destroyed many. WhEther a man is old, well born, rich, or poor, he brings on himself disgrace among mankind and provides Beliar with an opportunity to cause him to stumble.”
Here we see clearly that Belial is a being; one who causes a person to stumble; very much the synonym for Satan.
Levi 18:12 “And Beliar shall be bound by him, And he shall give power to His children to tread upon the evil spirits.”
Here we see that Belial is essentially Satan himself and will be bound at the end of days.
Asher 1: 8-9 “But if the mind is disposed toward evil, all of its deeds are wicked; driving out the good, it accepts the evil and is overmastered by Beliar...”
Let us look at another Apocryphal text.
Lives of the Prophets
Levi 19:1 “And now, my children, you have heard everything. Choose for yourselves light or darkness, the Law of the Lord or the works of Beliar.”
These references make it clear that the writers of these texts view Belial as Satan himself, this is very much in line with other texts we have seen.
Belial - The Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls are very much in line with the portrayal of Belial in the Apocryphal texts. Let us take a look.
1QM 13:11
“You made Belial for the Pit, Angel of Malevolence his dominion is in darkness, and his counsel is to condemn and convict.”
As you can see, the nature of Belial changes over time. If you would like a more in depth understanding of Belial, please read my book Belial - A History.
Samael
Samael is a very prominent figure in Jewish demonology. He can be found in pretty much all Jewish texts EXCEPT, the Old Testament, at least not directly.
He is one of the most reviled of all the demons and has made it to the very top of the demonological list. In fact, he was the first demon ever, according to the Kabbalah. He is feeding the energy of the Klippot, which also makes him the husband of Lilith, the only one more reviled than he is in the Jewish tradition.
Samael is the angel of death, the most dreaded. We first see this in the Targumim. In Targum Jonathan, Genesis 3:6, we find the mention of Samael “And the woman beheld Samael, the angel of death..."
His very name, SAM-A-EL means “Poison of God.” His name is fitting, for it states in the Talmud, Avodah Zara 20b:
“When a sick person is about to die, the Angel of Death stands above his head, with his sword drawn in his hand, and a drop of poison hanging on the edge of the sword. Once the sick person sees him, he trembles and thereby opens his mouth; and the Angel of Death throws the drop of poison into his mouth. From this drop of poison, the sick person dies, from it he putrefies, from it his face becomes green.”
In Deuteronomy, Rabbah 11, we see Samael as the King of the Demons. It states that he is a “Rosh HaSatanim” or the “Head of the Satans. Or The HEAD Satan.”
Speaking of Satan, if you recall in the section on Satan, we discussed the serpent. In conventional understanding, Satan was the serpent. However, here we have something interesting. In the following text, it states that Samael was the serpent, or at least controlled the serpent. This leads one to believe that Samael is simply another name for Satan as I hinted at earlier in the book. It makes sense since Samael is the head of the Klipotic energy, an energy from which evil originates.
Peirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 13: “ Samael was the great prince in Heaven; the Chayyot (Holy Animals) had four wings, and the Seraphim had six wings, and Samael had twelve wings. What did Samael do? He took his band and descended and saw all the creatures which the Holy One, blessed be He, had created in His world and he found among them none so skilled to do evil as the serpent, as it is said, "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field.” Its appearance was something like that of the camel, and he mounted and rode upon it. The Torah began to cry aloud, saying, Why, O Samael! Now that the world is created, is it the time to rebel
against the Omnipresent? “
That is very interesting and also confusing. It briefly describes what Samael is, and that he has “descended.” What does it mean he descended? To most, this harkens back to when the Angels fell from the Heavens and mated with Human women. Well, it might sound that way, but it isn't. As you recall in the section on Satan, I stated that Satan, the serpent came BEFORE the angels fell. Here the text states the same thing. “He (Samael) took his band and descended and saw all the creatures which the Holy One, blessed be He, had created in His world, and he found among them none so skilled to do evil as the serpent..."
The Serpent and the tempting of Adam and Eve was way before the fall. Therefore, the descent of Samael and the fall of the angels that came much later, could not be the same event.
Here is additional proof from the Apocrypha that perhaps there are two falls here. One with Samael, or as this text will name him “Satan” and another, when they fell before the flood.
In the Apocryphal text the Life of Adam and Eve, also known as the Apocalypse of Moses, we find details of life after the fall from Eden. It is sad in the sense that it describes the grief they had about losing the right to be in Eden after being tempted by the snake. They go on their way to repent, and we find that Satan is angry and wants revenge for being thrown out of the Garden of Eden as well. He had nothing else to lose, so he kept at his tempting ways. Let's take a look.
9:1 - 10:4 “ And eighteen days passed by; then Satan was wroth and transformed himself into the brightness of angels, and went away to the river Tigris to Eve, and found her weeping, and the devil himself pretended to grieve with her, and he began to weep and said to her: 'Come out of the river and lament no more. Cease now from sorrow and moans. Why art thou anxious and thy husband Adam The Lord God hath heard your groaning and hath accepted your penitence, and all we angels have entreated on your behalf, and made supplication to the Lord; and he hath sent me to bring you out of the water and give you the nourishment which you had in paradise, and for which you are crying out. Now come out of the water and I will conduct you to the place where your food hath been made ready.’ But Eve heard and believed and went out of the water of the river, and her flesh was (trembling) like grass, from the chill of the water. And when she had gone out, she fell on the earth and the devil raised her up and led her to Adam. But when Adam had seen her and the devil with her, he wept and cried aloud and said: 'O Eve, Eve, where is the labour of thy penitence. How hast thou been again ensnared by our adversary, by whose means we have been estranged from our abode in paradise and spiritual joy.'”
In this passage, we see that it is implied that the first fall was caused by Satan. And here we have another fall as well. Satan is used in the traditional Jewish form as an adversary, a stumbling
block. However, the story takes an interesting turn; Satan also starts to lament for an interesting reason.
12:1 - 15:4
“And with a heavy sigh, the devil spake: 'O Adam! all my hostility, envy, and sorrow is for thee, since it is for thee that I have been expelled from my glory, which I possessed in the Heavens in the midst of the angels and for thee was I cast out in the earth.' Adam answered, 'What dost thou tell me What have I done to thee or what is my fault against thee Seeing that thou hast received no harm or injury from us, why dost thou pursue us' The devil replied, 'Adam, what dost thou tell me It is for thy sake that I have been hurled from that place. When thou wast formed. I was hurled out of the presence of God and banished from the company of the angels. When God blew into thee the breath of life and thy face and likeness was made in the image of God, Michael also brought thee and made (us) worship thee in the sight of God; and God the Lord spake: Here is Adam. I have made thee in our image and likeness.' And Michael went out and called all the angels saying: 'Worship the image of God as the Lord God hath commanded.' And Michael himself worshipped first; then he called me and said: 'Worship the image of God the Lord.' And I answered, 'I have no (need) to worship Adam.' And since Michael kept urging me to worship, I said to him, 'Why dost thou urge me I will not worship an inferior and younger being (than I). I am his senior in the Creation, before he was made was I already made. It is his duty to worship me.' When the angels, who were under me, heard this, they refused to worship him. And Michael saith, 'Worship the image of God, but if thou wilt not worship him, the Lord God will be wrath with thee.' And I said, 'If He be wrath with me, I will set my seat above the stars of Heaven and will be like the Highest.'And God the Lord was wrath with me and banished me and my angels from our glory; and on thy account were we expelled from our abodes into this world and hurled on the earth...”
This narrative is interesting for two reasons.
It gives us another interesting story about a fall from Heaven. It is very different from the one in the book of Enoch Perhaps this is the Fall of Samael, and the other fall was another event. It makes sense if we put this, and what we know of Samael together. Perhaps, in Heaven he refused to worship Adam, and he, therefore, was cast out. While being cast out, he decided to ruin creation by having the snake tempt Eve. So perhaps the narrative should go as such. God creates man; God asks angels to worship man; Samael refuses; he is cast out; he employs a snake to tempt Eve and he too also is kicked out of Eden.
This theme appeared to be quite popular since the general narrative is one that Islam also shares. Mind you, this text was written between the first-century B.C. and first-century A.D. The Quran
was written in the seventh-century A.D. We are talking nearly 700 years apart. Clearly, this story was circulating for quite some time.
Let us take a quick look at the Quranic verse I am referring to.
Quran Surah Al- Araf 7:11- 13 “ And We have certainly created you, [O Mankind], and given you [human] form. Then We said to the angels, "Prostrate to Adam"; so they prostrated, except for Iblees. He was not of those who prostrated. [ Allah ] said, "What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you?" [Satan] said, "I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay." [ Allah ] said, "Descend from Paradise, for it is not for you to be arrogant therein. So get out; indeed, you are of the debased.”
Can you see perhaps how all the stories got mixed up? The Rabbis make it clear Samael was an angel, he fell before “the fall," and he used a snake to tempt Eve. I wouldn’t be surprised that this is the case. It’s a bit convoluted and confusing; it requires the reader to question the stories that are read. People tend to take stories at face value, but when working with this kind of literature, that is the LAST thing you want to do.
This is why I caution people about accepting narratives that seem very clean and organised. Most accounts such as these get woven together to make a seamless story but are, in fact, completely different in nature. Timelines don’t match; circumstances don’t match, etc. Samael’s descent is clearly different than the fall of the angels, yet, they get lumped together despite being hundreds, if not thousands of years apart per the Book of Genesis, the Apocryphal text we just read from and the Rabbinic texts.
There can be a few explanations for why these stories don’t seem to match over time. A few come to my mind.
The Rabbinic tradition is inconsistent as we have seen earlier. There are many ideas and little cohesiveness when it comes to demons and many other topics for that matter.
The Decent of Samael had nothing to do with the actual fall of angels and is a completely different event altogether, but future writers read the Talmudic passage and quoted it out of context. Something that happens ALL THE TIME in religious and spiritual texts because it is so easy to do.
There are competing narratives floating around in the Jewish communities and people read them and patch the stories together and in time, it becomes the main story with its earlier renditions lost within the new storyline.
It is hard to tell what exactly happened there. However, one thing we do know is that clearly
Samael fell BEFORE the actual fall of the angels.
Staying with the Book of Genesis, Samael rears his head again, at least as far as the Kabbalists are concerned. If you recall in the Book of Genesis, Jacob has a physical altercation with an Angel. Let us take a look.
Genesis 32: 24-28 “So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak. “But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asked him, “What is your name?” “Jacob,” he answered. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
Here we have an encounter with what presumably is an angel of God. However, in the Zohar, the main Kabbalistic text of Judaism, it says something interesting.
Zohar Sulam commentary of Parasha Vayetze, verse 23, it states: “Jacob went to her abode, the wife of harlotry (Lilith) and saw her decorations but was saved from her. Samael was bothered that Jacob was saved from her. In his anger, he went down to him and wrestled with him, but to no avail. After that, Jacob was saved from them all. He became the middle pillar.”
How interesting is that? The Zohar Sulam commentary is perplexing. It is stating, in no uncertain terms, that the reason why Jacob got into a wrestling match with an “angel” was because he did not get ensnared by Lilith. Samael, Lilith’s consort was angry at this and wrestled with him. What this is saying is that the Angel, who wrestled Jacob in Genesis was, in fact, Samael. This is incredibly problematic because Samael also blessed Jacob with a new name “because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.” Jacob, later in the Genesis story, calls the place that this fighting match occurred as “Peniel," saying “It is because I saw God Face to Face, and yet my life was spared.”
Saw GOD face to face? That is an interesting thing to say. Aside from the Kabbalah, there is another instance in Rabbinic literature where we find the same thing being said of Samael.
Midrash Tanchuma, Vayishlach 8:3 “ It was Samael, Esau’s (Jacobs brother) guardian angel, who wanted to kill him, as is said: When he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh...”
Do you realize the implications of this? Now when you read the Genesis passage again, it is making it sound like God was the one he wrestled, but it was not God, it was Samael all along. Some Rabbis tried to explain this away that Samael only appeared as an angel of God. Well, Genesis still makes this out to be a positive event, so I am not sure if that explanation that he
deceived Jacob will fly. There is something deeper here that is beyond the scope of this book.
As we see, Samael is a complex figure in the Rabbinic tradition. Yet, one thing is certain; he is the embodiment of evil throughout most of the texts. This book could go on and on if I were to itemize everything that is written about him in the Jewish texts. However, I assure you one thing, keep your eyes open for a book about Samael soon. In fact, it is almost completed. Let me now discuss Asmodeus.
Asmodeus - Ashmadai
Similar to Samael, Asmodeus / Ashmadai is not mentioned in the Old Testament. He is found mainly in Rabbinic and Apocryphal texts. Unlike Samael, we do not know exactly what his name means. There are several theories. In Hebrew, the first letters of his name mean “ I will destroy." “Ashmeed.” The other theory that state his name is of Persian origin is not very convincing to me.
In all texts about him, he is the King of Demons, nearly the same status Samael has, but there is one text found among the more obscure kabbalistic documents that states that Asmodeus is under Samael. I will get into that in the chapter on the Sitra Achra.
Let us look at what the Rabbis thought of Asmodeus, there is so much, so I will be picking out key passages.
Let me start with one of the Apocryphal texts. I would quote each one, but the one I feel put Asmodeus on the map is the one I have chosen.
We see Asmodeus make what is arguably his first appearance in the Apocryphal text called the Book of Tobit. It is not a commonly read text among the Jewish people; It doesn’t hold as much weight, as let’s say, the Book of Jubilees. However, there is an indication that this book was at least considered somewhat historical. The reason for this is that we find a part of it in the Aggadic text of the Midrash Rabbah. This indicates rabbis did hold it in somewhat high regard. In addition, fragments of it were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The date of composition is no later than 200-100 B.C., we can say this based on the language it uses, among other things.
Tobit is an interesting text. It is essentially a religious fairytale- like story. It is about a righteous man named Tobit, who was living in Babylon during the Babylonian Exile. What made him righteous was that he would give a lot to charity and made sure that Jews who died would get a proper burial. Despite his righteousness, he was struck blind. As his story plays out, another story is playing out as well; the story of a woman named Sarah. She is a relative of Tobit and as with Tobit, she was righteous, but she had a demon attached to her, the demon Asmodeus. Every time she would marry, Asmodeus would kill her husbands; this happens seven times. Both Tobit and Sarah cry out to the Lord for forgiveness and answers. Let us see what happens.
We start in chapter 3. We find Tobit was grieving for his sin because God had struck him blind. Tobit prays and says “When I being grieved did weep, and in my sorrow prayed, saying, O Lord, thou art just, and all thy works and all thy ways are mercy and truth, and thou judgest truly and justly forever. Remember me, and look on me, punish me not for my sins and ignorances, and
the sins of my fathers, who have sinned before thee: For they obeyed not thy commandments: wherefore thou hast delivered us for a spoil, and unto captivity, and unto death, and for a proverb of reproach to all the nations among whom we are dispersed. And now thy judgments are many and true: deal with me according to my sins and my fathers’: because we have not kept thy commandments, neither have walked in truth before thee. Now therefore deal with me as seemeth best unto thee, and command my spirit to be taken from me, that I may be dissolved, and become earth: for it is profitable for me to die rather than to live, because I have heard false reproaches, and have much sorrow: command therefore that I may now be delivered out of this distress, and go into the everlasting place: turn not thy face away from me.”
The story breaks away suddenly to Sarah, the daughter of a man named Reuel, Tobit’s relative.
The story goes on to say” And on that same day it happened to Sarah, the daughter of Reuel, who lived at Agbatanis, a city in the land of Media, that her father’s maidservants were reproaching her and mocking her, saying to her, it is not correct to call thee Sarah, but Zarah [trouble]. For she had been given to wife to seven husbands, and not one of them had approached her, but Asmodeus, the King of the demons, had killed them before they approached her after the way of all the earth. And the maid said to her, Why dost thou kill thine husbands, and hate us because of this evil matter It would be good for thy parents that thou shouldest die for them, and that they see not of thee either son or daughter forever... And it came to pass when Sarah heard this reproach, that she was grieved sore. And she wept, and went up to her father’s upper chamber, and cried before the Lord with a bitter voice, and said, 0 Lord God, thou hast given me to my parents, who are old and well stricken in age, and thou hast sent against my husbands that married me the king of the demons, for thou art the God of all the spirits and all the demons, and the maker of all creatures, and in thy hand are all the kinds of evil spirits which are in the world. Now therefore, O Lord, is it good in thine eyes that I should bring down the old age of my father and my mother in sorrow to the grave? For if the sentence of judgment hath gone forth from before thee against me in this matter, destroy me utterly, I pray, and let me see no longer my exceeding trouble and my great reproach.”
Here we have an interesting story. Sarah has been married seven times and each time; her groom would die by the hand of Asmodeus. Since the others did not know that Asmodeus was involved, they thought that she was the one murdering them. She was getting a dangerous reputation. What are the chances all seven husbands would die? Not many! At this point, people don’t want to have anything to do with her and so Sarah contemplates death. The text continues with her prayers. After some time, the angel Raphael comes and saves the day for both her and Tobit.
The text states “At that time the prayer of them both were heard before the throne of glory, the
prayer of Tobit concerning his blindness, and the prayer of Sarah concerning the humiliation of her parents. And the Lord sent the angel Raphael, the prince who is appointed over healing, to heal them twain, to heal Tobit, the father of Tobiyyah, of the disease in his eyes, and to give Sarah, the daughter of Reuel, to Tobiyyah, the son of Tobit, to wife, and to take away from her Asmodeus, the king of the demons.”
Here we have Asmodeus as being a rather big nuisance but is easily dispatched by Raphael. This book is early proof that Asmodeus was indeed in the minds of the Jews of this period.
Asmodeus in Rabbinic Texts
As we saw earlier in the book, Asmodeus was known to King Solomon, in fact, he is of vital importance to him. If you recall, I mentioned earlier that Solomon needed demons to help construct the temple. In order to do that, he needed a worm-like creature called “The Shamir.” Let us take a look again. Gittin 68a:
“Solomon brought a male demon and a female demon and tormented them together, and they said: We do not know where to find the shamir. Perhaps Ashmadai, king of the demons, knows.”
What I did not mention the first time I quoted this passage was that there is an entire back story to this. The demons didn’t just leave it at that. They told Solomon where they could find Asmodeus so he could obtain the location of this Shamir creature. The Shamir was something only demons knew about. As the story goes, Asmodeus lives in a mountain.
Here is where the story gets interesting. When Asmodeus was not at his mountain abode, he was in Heaven, in the celestial study halls called “Metivta." He would then go back to earth and attend earth-bound Metivtot (Plural of Metivta). It is not clear why he would do this, but apparently, he did so and was very wise due to his studies. It is no wonder Asmodeus and King Solomon had a Love/Hate relationship. In the Tractate Gittin alone, we have dozens of interesting stories of the interaction between Asmodeus and King Solomon, too many to mention here.
According to the Zohar (Zohar Lev. pp. 19a, 43a; ib. Num. 199b, ed. Wilna) It states that Asmoedus provided to Solomon a book of magick and medicine. This will explain, perhaps why Solomon was so steeped in magick.
We have more proof of this interesting relationship that Asmodeus had with Solomon in Targum to Ecclesiastes 1:12 “ When King Solomon was sitting upon the throne of his kingdom, his heart became very proud of his riches, and he transgressed the word of God, and he gathered many horses, and chariots, and riders, and he amassed much gold and silver, and he married from foreign nations, whereupon the anger of the Lord was kindled against him, and he sent to him
Ashmadai the king of the demons...”
What we have here is Asmodeus’ long history within the Jewish tradition. He is the King of the Demons. He is a demon of the utmost importance; it would seem that he would be superior to Samael, who is always called “Prince of demons.” However, according to the Kabbalah’s perspective on the Sitra Achra, Asmodeus answers to Samael and not the other way around. I will cover that later. I like Asmodeus because he is truly wise and has “seen it all” so to speak. We also know that despite his wisdom, he is jealous, covetous and requires one to be of sound mind in order to handle him.
I will provide a wisdom ritual to him later in the book.
Azazel
When I first encountered Azazel, I was a schoolboy studying the Bible. I recall learning of this ritual in which the scapegoat for Israelite sin was called Azazel, and he was thrown off a cliff. There was no indication that it was a demon of any sort. The name Azazel is mentioned only three times in the Old Testament. Let's take a look.
Leviticus 16: 8-10 "And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for Azazel. And Aaron shall present the goat upon which the lot fell for the Lord, and offer him for a sin-offering. But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive before the Lord, to make atonement over him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness."
On the surface, it seems like they are sending this goat off to a being named Azazel. On the other hand, many believe, and it was what I was taught early on, is that Azazel is simply a description of a place. This latter idea is still in wide acceptance in modern Israel. If you tell an Israeli “Lech Le-Azazel” it is the equivalent of saying, “ Go to hell.” Others claim that Azazel is the actual name of the goat. The goat named Azazel seems interesting because the first two letters of the name Azazel, AZ/EZ actually means goat in Aramaic. Azel means “to go” or to “depart” in Aramaic. So in essence, the name means “ The Goat which goes.” That’s an interesting take. Another interpretation of the name Azazel is that “Azaz'” means “rugged" and “EL” means "strong," but it also means god. This is alluding to the fact that this goat is thrown off a “rugged” mountain or cliff. That is not as convincing to me. What is more convincing to me is that Azazel may have been the name of a kind of Goat demon. I say this because just a chapter after Azazel is mentioned, it states in Leviticus 17:7 “They must no longer offer any of their sacrifices to the goat idols to whom they prostitute themselves.“
This passage suspiciously follows the one of the Azazel goat. I wonder if Azazel isn’t a being after all. In either case, it is still not proof, but it is a compelling potential connection.
In the end, as far as the Bible is concerned, it is not clear what this Azazel is. However, this idea would change in the post-Biblical traditions.
As with Belial, Azazel starts off in the Bible as a description and then become a noun. In the Book of Enoch, we see Azazel come to life. He is no longer a symbolic goat or even a goat demon, but a leader of the angels of the fall. He taught the people of the earth every kind of warfare and weaponry. He taught women beauty secrets. He is especially known for his teaching of Witchcraft and Magick. The text states
In Chapter 8: “ And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and
breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all coloring tinctures".
Some Rabbis postulated that perhaps the Azazel Goat was to atone for the Angel Azael for his wicked deeds during the fall. It states in Yoma 67b “The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught Azazel is so called because it atones for the actions of Uzza and Azael. These are the names of “sons of God” who sinned with “daughters of men” (Genesis 6:2) and thereby caused the world to sin during the generation of the Flood.”
Azazel was not mentioned in Genesis 6:2, it was only in the book of Enoch that he is mentioned in regard to the flood. Therefore, these rabbis knew about the book of Enoch in order to say what they just did above. They knew it so well that they merge the Fall of the angels with the Azazel atonement in Leviticus. This is how disparate stories become one narrative. To me, this connection is suspect. To say that the Azazel goat is to atone for the angels seems to be a stretch. Why would the Israelites offer a goat to atone for Azael? He was hardly a threat to them compared to Samyaza. It certainly sounds compelling because both Azazel and Azael are very similar names, but the two accounts of Azazel; the one in the Bible and the Rabbinic passage in Yoma 67b, don’t seem to jive, it feels forced to me.
In the Jewish Apocryphal book, the Apocalypse of Abraham he is depicted not as a goat, but as an “unclean bird.”
In this Apocryphal text, we get the back story of the patriarch Abraham. The first half of the text gives us the back story behind Abrahams conversion from Idolatry to “monotheism” for lack of a better term. In the second half, we have a more apocalyptic tone. It also has more miraculous events like Abraham’s ascension into Heaven, etc. This is a common theme in these texts; we see this with Enoch as well. There is a lot in the text that ties into Jewish literature, and therefore, it can safely be included in this book as “Jewish” in origin. It is also very much tied to the Merkavah mysticism of the early Jewish mystics. I will eventually get into that in my course on Kabbalah.
In this book, we have a mix up between demons and gods of other nations, just like in the Old Testament. I will not be covering the mention of the Gods of other nations because they are not true demons, but rather demonized gods. The only true demon in this text is Azazel.
Let us take a look at this text.
13: 3-7
“And an impure bird flew down on the carcasses, and I drove it away. And the impure bird spoke
to me and said, “What are you doing, Abraham, on the holy heights, where no one eats or drinks, nor is there upon them food of men. But these will all be consumed by fire and they will burn you up. Leave the man who is with you and flee! Since if you ascend to the height, they will destroy you.” And it came to pass when I saw the bird speaking, I said to the angel, “What is this, my lord?” And he said, “This is iniquity; this is Azazel!” And he said to him, “Reproach is on you, Azazel! Since Abraham’s portion is in Heaven, and yours is on earth, since you have chosen it and desired it to be the dwelling place of your impurity. Therefore, the Eternal Lord, the Mighty One, has made you a dweller on earth. And because of you there is the wholly-evil spirit of the lie, and because of you there are wrath and trials on the generations of impious men.”
Here we see Azazel is being depicted as a kind of demonic bird and the ultimate cause of evil. Further in the book we find that not only is he the cause of evil in this world.This would mean he, and Samael might be linked, or perhaps the same being.
23:10 “This is the reason of men, this is Adam, and this is their desire on earth, this is Eve. 23:11 And he who is between them is the Impiety of their pursuits for destruction, Azazel himself.”
The text goes on to say 31:5 “ And those who followed after the idols and after their murders will rot in the womb of the Evil One—the belly of Azazel, and they will be burned by the fire of Azazel’s tongue.”
We see that Azazel is a mysterious figure in the Bible and eventually morphs into one of the leaders of the Fallen Angels. Since this makes him a demonic figure in the Jewish tradition, it is for this reason I added him to the book.
Lilith
By now, I think most occultists know about Lilith. In fact, I dedicated a whole book to her, The Magick of Lilith. Please note, there will be some new content in this chapter that I did not include in my book on Lilith. Please do not skip this chapter.
The story of Lilith is a complex one because on one hand, she is a Goddess, and on the other hand, she is a demon. It all depends from what perspective you are approaching her. I, for one, view her as a Goddess that has darker tendencies. THAT DOES NOT MEAN EVIL. It is only in the Jewish tradition that she is portrayed as evil.
We first encounter Lilith in the Hebrew tradition in the Old Testament. She appears only once by name in the book of Isaiah, Chapter 34: 14 “And the Wildcats shall meet with the jackals, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; yea, Lilith shall repose there, and shall find her a place of rest."
It doesn’t say much about her other than that. There is a kind of mystery about her.
The meaning of her name has been debated for some time. In Hebrew, her name would be derived from the word for night, “Lyla.” In essence, she is a night demon. Since her reputation in Judaism is that of a killer of men at night, I will assume that her name derives from “Lyla.”
It is in the post-Biblical texts where we truly get an idea of how the Jewish tradition feels about her. She is, by far, the most reviled of all demonic figures; far more than Satan and Samael. Much of this hatred could also be due to the fact that many of the Rabbis feared women.
We get most of our understandings of the Lilith Story from a book called the Alphabet of ben Sirach; a text written between 700-1000 A.D. This is one of the few truly authentic Jewish Apocryphal books out there. Although Lilith was known prior to this text, this was the one that truly put her on the map as far as Judaism is concerned. Her story is well-developed in this text.
It is in chapter five of the Alphabet of ben Sirach that we encounter Lilith. Like the other stories of Lilith, she is considered to be sexually deviant, permissive and dangerously seductive. Here is where things break away from the past writing; It is in this book where we first learn that Lilith was Adam’s first wife, before Eve was even a glimmer in God’s eye.
The narrative begins in King Nebuchadnezzar’s court, the King of Babylon. We are told that the king’s son is seriously ill, and no one has been able to heal him. They call on ben Sirach to help the boy.
He is a rather unconventional person, so he doesn’t give the child medicine, Instead, he starts invoking the name of God and creates a Talisman with the names of three angels who are known
for their healing powers. The King inquires as to who these three angels are. Sirach goes on a long-winded explanation in which he not only tells the king about the names of the angels but goes on about Lilith and how these same three angels went after her when she rebelled against Adam. Let us take a look.
Ben Sirach 34:
"The angels who are in charge of medicine: Senoy, Sansenoy and Semangelof... When God created the first man Adam alone, God said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” Therefore, God created a woman for him, from the earth like him, and called her Lilith. Soon they began to quarrel with one another: She said, “I will not lie below you,” and he said, “I will not lie below you, but above you, since you are fit for being below me and I for being above you.”
She says to him, “The two of us are equal, since we are both from the same earth.” Lilith in her rage uttered God's ineffable name, (YHVH) and flew away into the air. Adam stood in prayer before God and said, “Master of the Universe, the woman you gave me fled away from me.”
God immediately sent the three angels Sanoy, Sansenoy, and Samangelof after her in order to bring her back. God said, “If she wants to return, that is good. And if not, she must accept that a hundred of her children will perish every day.” The angels pursued her and overtook her at the Red Sea, in raging waters, and told her God's orders for her. She refused and did not want to return. They told her they would drown her in the Red Sea, and she replied:
“Leave me alone! I was only created in order to sicken babies: if they are boys, from birth to day eight I will have power over them; if they are girls, from birth to day twenty.” When they heard her reply, they pleaded with her to come back. She swore to them in the name of God that whenever she would see them or their names or their images on an amulet, she would not overpower that baby, and she accepted that a hundred of her children would perish every day. From that day forth, a hundred of her demon children die every day, and because of this, we write the names on the Talisman to protect young children. When Lilith sees them, she remembers her promise and the child is protected from her wrath”.
We see here that Lilith committed the ultimate sin of taking God's name in vain. As a result of this, not only is she now out of Eden, she develops supernatural abilities. She is, in essence, a new being.
Apparently, she has quite a bit of power. I say this because when the angels got to her, instead of killing her, they bargain with her. They won't kill her, as long as she does not kill babies who have a Talisman bearing her name and the names of the three angels. They accept this deal, and God seems to be ok with it as well.
As this story gained traction, her reputation began to expand and become more “evil.” It is interesting to note that according to other rabbinic texts, Lilith was destined for evil from the start, even before she scorned Adam. She pretty much said it herself when she said that she was only created to “Sicken babies.”
Here is yet another twist to her story. According to the Kabbalah, Lilith was created at the same time as Eve. Her consort was the demon King Samael and Eve was Adam's wife. Since Samael is the progenitor of the Sitra Achra (The other side), by being Samael’s wife, she becomes the Queen of the “other side.” I will discuss that later in this book. This implies she was considered evil from the start. She was created that way if these texts are to be believed.
Despite all that has transpired, it does appear that she still had some relationship with Adam because we see in Genesis Rabbah 20, it states that when Adam was alone, he cavorted with Lilith, and they spawned thousands of demon children. This can also be found in the Talmud, Eruvin 18b:
“Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar said: All those years during which Adam was ostracized for the sin involving the Tree of Knowledge, he bore spirits, demons, and female demons... When Rabbi Yirmeya made his statement, he meant that those destructive creatures were formed from the semen that Adam accidentally emitted, which brought the destructive creatures into being.”
According to the Kabbalah, it was no accident that Lilith extracted his semen and became pregnant. She used his semen and the semen of every man she encounters to create demon babies. Ever since this time, Lilith has been considered one of the most dangerous demons in Jewish tradition.
Speaking of evil, if you recall earlier in the book, I discussed briefly, that during the Babylonian exile, the Jews acquired much of their ideas on demonology. This is where they acquired Lilith as well, since Lilith herself originates in that region. If you also recall, I mentioned that the Hebrew tradition also derived a more focused understanding about the concepts of good and evil from the Zoroastrian faith that was present at the tail end of the Babylonian exile. I will not discuss the concept of good and evil as it pertains to Zaoroastianism, but I do want to take this in another related direction. A direction I did not suspect existed when I first studied Lilith many years ago.
As I mentioned earlier, Zoroastrianism has a belief in a strong duality of being. One God named Ahura Mazda that represents the light and one God named Ahriman as the darkness. The Rabbis of the Talmud knew of Zoroastrianism and stated that Ahriman was the son of Lilith. Yes, you heard that correctly. I know, I didn’t know this either until I stumbled on to it by chance. Let us
take a look at the passage.
It states in the Talmud Tractate Bava Batra 73a “ I have seen the one called Hurmin, son of Lilith...”
In Aramaic
n’’?’’? -□ j’omn
On the surface, this doesn’t look like much. That is, until you look up what “Hurmin” is.
Jastrow, an encyclopedia of the Talmud states ” |'7p~!-IH m. (Pers. Angra-Mainyus) Ahriman, the evil principle in the Zendavesta.”
So here we have a direct quote by the Rabbis that indicates they are aware of the Zoroastrian beliefs. There is more, the Rabbis were so well aware of this dualism they go on to state in Sanhedrin 39a “ A certain magus said to Ameimar: From your midpoint and up is in the domain of Hurmiz, the god of good, who created the significant and essential elements of the body, and from your midpoint and down is in the domain of Ahurmiz, the god of bad.”
We just looked up Hurmin, let us now look up Hurmiz in Jastrow “ PTO-I1H pr. n. 1) Ormuzd (Ahura Mazda), the good principle in the Zendavesta.”
Although the spelling is a bit different in the Aramaic, it is clear as day what they are talking about here. The Rabbis knew very well about the duality of Zoroastrianism AND, they thought that the evil principle in Zoroastrianism was born of Lilith. It is truly fascinating.
There is a lot more about Lilith, but I cannot fit it in this book. If you want to learn more about her, please reference my book, The Magick of Lilith.
Agrat bat Mahlat
This is another female demon and consort of Samael. She is also known for her fierceness. Her name means Agrat daughter of Mahlat. Some have suggested that she and Lilith are the same, but there is no proof of this. We see her mentioned in Pesachim 112b “With regard to the instruction: Do not go out alone at night, the Gemara states that this is as it was taught in a baraita: One should not go out alone at night, neither on Tuesday nights nor on Shabbat nights, i.e., Friday nights, because the demon Agrat, daughter of Mahalat, she and 180,000 angels of destruction go out at these times. And as each and every one of them has permission to destroy by itself, they are all the more dangerous when they go forth together.”
Here we see she has quite an entourage of evil with her and is not afraid to use them against an unsuspecting fellow on those particular days.
According to Yalkut, Hadash, Keshaflm, 56, she dances at the head of 478 demon hosts. The reason why they came up with a seemingly arbitrary number is because the last part of her name Mahlat in Hebrew equals 478 numerically.
n^nn
40 - n
8 — n
30 - *?
400 - n
Total = 478
They said the same about Lilith, but said she dances at the head of 480 demon hosts, since her name in Hebrew equals 480.
n’’?’’?
30 - *?
10 - '
30 - *?
10 - '
400 - n
Total = 480.
It says in the Zohar that between Agrat bat Mahlat and Lilith, they “... fill up the entire atmosphere between them.”
It is interesting to note that according to tradition, Mahlat, the mother of Agrat, and Lilith are not on the best of terms, and that they are from two different demonic aspects. It states in the Kabbalistic commentary, Shenei Luchot Habreet, Beshalach, Torah Or “... normally Machalat and Lilith are constantly at war with one another since they represent opposing forces. Mahlat, as implied by her name represents dances, joy and happiness. All the happy-go-lucky scoffers who consider life one single long row of sensual pleasures derive their impetus from that "woman...". Lilith, on the other hand, also true to her name, represents melancholy, despair and the heretical views...”
Not much else is known about her unfortunately. Not much is known about her mother either. We just know a bit here and there.
Naamah
This is another demoness that many don’t know about. She is considered to be high up in the demonic ranks; a Queen like the other two and consort to Samael. She has a different story because, it appears, she is referenced in the Bible as an actual person.
The verse in question in the Bible is Genesis 4:22 “ Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain's sister was Naamah.”
It is odd because Naamah was a righteous character in the Bible. It is only in the Zohar and other Jewish texts, that she appears to transform into a demon. If you recall earlier, there is a story about Lilith and Adam and how they spawned demon children after he and Eve separated for 130 years. The Zohar, states that not only Lilith partook in this, but so did Naamah; they both had demon children with Adam. Let’s take a look at those passages.
Zohar 3:76b-77a:
“For 130 years, Adam kept separate from his wife Eve, and they did not bear children... Two female spirits, Lilith and Naamah would come and lay with him and bring forth children. Those children are the evil spirits of the world who are called the disease of humanity. They lead the sons of men into error, and live in the doorways of the house, and in the water containers and bathrooms.... Only if the holy name Shaddai is found in the doorway of a man's house, they will
go away from there. We have learned that in the hour in which man descended to the earth, in the image of God, the beings from on high and beings from below saw him, they all proclaimed him king over this world.
The Serpent copulated with Eve and placed in her the seed of filth so that she gave birth to Cain. From this moment on, all the wicked generations of this world came to be. The place of the demons and the spirits is from his side. Thus, the spirits and the demons owe half their essence from man, and the other half from the angels of the heavenly realms. Adam begot from those spirit's daughters who contain the beauty of those in the Heavens and those from Mankind. All could not resist them. One man who was born from the spirit of Cain's side, he was called Tubal-Cain. He was not alone for a female came forth as well, and all went astray after her. Her name was Naamah. She herself gave birth to countless demons. Her children suspend themselves in the air and speak things to those found on Earth. Tubal-Cain brought weapons of death into this world. Naamah became aroused and excited and cleaved to her evil inclination. She still exists, and she resides in the waves of the great sea. When she comes out of her abode, she tempts and beguiles the sons of man. Due to her temptation, inspires lustful dreams, in that lustful desire, she will cling to him that lusts for her. She uses the lustful emotions from the man and from that, she
gives birth to a myriad of spirits into the world. Her children whom she bore from man come to the women, and they in turn bear spirits from them. And all find refuge with Lilith the Ancient, and she raises them all...
She sees the sons of man lust after her children, she ensnares them in order to kill them. She injects her essence into the very souls of the children of the sons of man, and then she takes away the child. As she departs, three angels come before her and take that child away from her and place him before God.
Thus, the Torah warns, Be sacred (Lev. 19:2). If a man is righteous, he will come to no harm from her, for God orders those three angels to guard that child, so she can do no harm. However, if a person is not righteous, and attracts spirits from the side of impurity, she then awakens, appears before the child, and when she dispatches with him, she injects herself into that soul, which has left the child and will forever be with it. There are times when Naamah goes forth into the world of mankind in order to seduce the sons of man. A man finds himself lusting for and with her, and he awakens from his sleep and takes hold of his wife and copulates with her, for his lust was derived from that dream. The child from that union comes from Naamah, for the man was driven by his lust for her in his dream. Lilith Sees this and rears this child as she does all of Naamah’s children. Naamah will be with this man many times. Every Month, on the New Moon, Lilith emerges and visits all those whom she rears.”
This account of both Lilith and Naamah is incredibly profound because it tells you how they operate in the world. They are far from just acting in the world on a physical level; they inspire lustful thoughts into the minds of man. These thoughts are then pregnant with their essence. As we see, Naamah just had to inspire lust in a mans dream. When he wakes up, he wants to have sex with his wife and the child whom she gives birth to belongs to Naamah and by extension, Lilith. His mere drive is enough to taint the soul of his child. We also see that once they produce male offspring, that male offspring, then pursues women and those women give birth to children who belong to Lilith. It only takes one thought inspired by Lilith or Naamah, and you and everyone you associate with becomes a kind of surrogate for them to produce more and more offsprings. Another thing we don’t hear in other texts is that when Lilith kills a child, she doesn’t just kill it; she steals its soul. That, we have not seen before in any other narrative about Lilith. That is quite intense. It makes you appreciate just how powerful and feared these two women are.
Another thing I would like to mention is that if you notice, the whole story of Naamah is in the book of Genesis, BEFORE the fall of the angels. Yet again, the Hebrew tradition is very clear. Evil and demonic forces have been around way before the fall of the angels. Thus, we should not
look to those that fell as the originators of evil or of the fall of man; God already baked all that into creation ahead of time. This raises some profound philosophical questions about the nature of good and evil and that of free will; topics that are not appropriate for this book.
Moving on.
Mastema
Mastema is an elusive character. We only have two references to Mastema in the Old Testament, both in the Book of Hosea. In it, the word Mastema simply means “hostility and Enmity.” We also see him in the Dead Sea Scrolls. I will not rehash that here since we discussed that in a previous chapter. Let us look at Hosea.
Hosea 9:7-8 “ The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come, Israel shall know it. The prophet is a fool, the man of the spirit is mad! For the multitude of thine iniquity, the enmity is great. Ephraim is a watchman with my God; as for the prophet, a fowler's snare is in all his ways, and enmity in the house of his God.
Hebrew:
wx m^? ,K’:i3n >i$ ^o^ W--^ ’?’ ixa ,nnrn??n ’?’ ixa nnwn n?n ,nriiJ ?i ^--n-nn
rtf?$ d’?; ,nnwn--i'?iv^?-?y ,^lp’ n$ k’x ;’rfrx-Dii ,QrW n^
The word in Hebrew is “Mastema." As with Belial and Azazel, in the Old Testament itself, these names serve as descriptions. It is only later in Rabbinic literature that they transformed into demons. Let us see this in regard to Mastema.
In some Extrabiblical texts, he is referred to as “The Mastema” while others just use Mastema. Mastema is a bit different than the other leaders of Darkness in the sense that he appears to be God's fixer; the one who does all the dirty work. He is also in open defiance of God. He is, in many ways, an instigator.
In the book of Jubilees 17:21-22 it states, “And the prince Mastema came and said before God, "Behold, Abraham loveth Isaac his son, and he delighteth in him above all things else; bid him offer him as a burnt-offering on the altar, and Thou wilt see if he will do this command, and Thou wilt know if he is faithful in everything wherein Thou dost try him."
This is an important passage because we see Mastema tempting God in the same way Satan did in the Book of Job. And, of course, God falls for it. It is interesting to note that in that story in which Abraham was about to sacrifice Issac, there is a tale that when he was about to do it, Samael came to him and tried to stop him. In the Guide to the Perplexed by the great Rabbi Rambam/Maimonidies/ Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon discusses a Midrash called ’Yalkut Shimoni’ about this and states “ Samael is the name generally applied by our Sages to Satan. Thus, they
say in several places that Satan desired to entice Abraham to sin, and to abstain from binding Isaac, and he desired also to persuade Isaac not to obey his father.”
We have Mastema, tempting God to test Abraham and Samael trying to dissuade Abraham from going through with it. That is a very interesting double team effort to undermine God and Abraham for that matter.
Mastema as I mentioned, was also God's fixer.
For example, in the Book of Jubilees, it states that HE is the destroying angel who killed the firstborn of Egypt in the book of Exodus. It also appears that he helps the Egyptian sorcerers against Moses as well. It is almost as if he was both working for and against the God of the Old Testament. Let us take a look.
Jubilees 48:13 “And the prince of the Mastema stood up against thee and sought to cast thee (Moses) into the hands of Pharaoh, and he helped the Egyptian sorcerers, and they stood up and wrought before thee.”
Then in another passage, it states, Jubilees 49:4 “you (The Hebrews) were eating the Passover in Egypt, when all the powers of Mastema had been let loose to slay all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh to the first-born of the captive maidservant in the mill, and to the cattle.”
As you can see, he has a kind of dual role. He is also mentioned in the Watcher tradition as well. I will discuss that aspect in the next chapter.
The Watcher material is one of the most important in the study of Jewish Demonology and Angelology, and therefore, I had to add them here. We find the Watchers in the Book of Enoch, probably the most demon and angel-laden book in the Apocryphal traditions. It is also the oldest.
I won’t go into depth about the history of the book of Enoch, if you would like to learn more about it, please see my book “The Watchers and their ways.” I will be pulling from that text a bit for this section in an abbreviated form.
Let us begin.
Genesis 6: 1-4:
“When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. 3 Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”
It is in Genesis 6: 1-4 that we first encounter these strange beings called the sons of God, Nephilim or the mighty men of old, the men of renowned. In the Bible it is not clear exactly who they are. However, in the book of Enoch, it is clear who they are. They are Fallen Angels, the progenitors of the demonic. Let us take a look.
1 Enoch 6:1-2 it states, “In those days, when the children of man had multiplied, it happened that there were born unto them handsome and beautiful daughters. 2 And the angels, the children of Heaven, saw them and desired them; and they said to one another, “Come, let us choose wives for ourselves from among the daughters of man and beget us children”
Upon seeing the beauty of human women, they started to become a corrupting influence on humans. The text goes on to name these angels, now demons.
Enoch 6: 7-8 " Samyaza their leader, Arakiel, Ramel, Kochaviel, Tamiell, Ramiel, Danell, Ezekiel, Barakiel, Azazel, Armaros, Batarel, Ananel, Zakiel, Shamsiel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael, Sariel. 8 these are their chiefs of tens”. It is these angels that impregnated the daughters of men and taught mankind the forbidden arts. What were these arts exactly? I will quote directly from the book of Enoch Chapters 7 " they taught them charms and enchantments, and the cutting of
roots, and made them acquainted with plants. " Chapter 8 " And Azazel taught men to make swords, and knives, and shields, and breastplates, and made known to them the metals of the earth and the art of working them, and bracelets, and ornaments, and the use of antimony, and the beautifying of the eyelids, and all kinds of costly stones, and all coloring tinctures" " Samyaza taught enchantments, and root-cuttings, Armaros the resolving of enchantments, Barakiel, (taught) astrology, Kochaviel the constellations, Ezekiel the knowledge of the clouds, Arakiel the signs of the earth, Shamsiel the signs of the sun, and Sariel the course of the moon" . The versions of Enoch I used for these passages are from " The Book of Enoch" - Charles, R.H, Oesterley, W.O.E.
All this was very disturbing to God, so he had to send angels to remedy this situation.
He sends the great archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel to the scene. Sariel is sent to prepare Noah for the Flood (Enoch 10:1-3), it is, after all, because of the Watchers influence that we will have a flood in the first place. Raphael is sent to imprison Azazel in darkness (10:4-8), Gabriel is sent to destroy the Nephilim (10:9-10), and Michael is to imprison Samyaza and bring stability to the earth (10:11-22).
In the above, we find that Samyaza is the leader of the demons. However, when we look at another section of the Book of Enoch called the book of parables, it makes it clear that it is not Samyaza that is the leader, but Azazel.
(1 Enoch. 54:1-5) “Turning and looking at another part of the earth, I saw there a deep valley burning with fire. And they brought the kings and the mighty, and they threw them into this deep valley. I saw there with my own eyes how their shackles were being forged—iron chains of incalculable weight. So I asked the Angel of Peace who went with me: “These shackling chains —for whom are they being prepared?” He said to me: these are being prepared for the legions of Azazel, so that they may seize them and throw them into the lowest hell ...”
Later, the text reverts back to Saying that Samyaza is the leader in Enoch 69. As I mentioned earlier in the book, often these demons are interchangable.
The Book of Jubilees
Let us now look at the book of Jubilees as it pertains to the Watchers. Some of the information you may already know from previous chapters, but in order for this chapter to be complete, I had to reiterate it.
I won’t go through the entire story since it is pretty much in line with the book of Enoch in the broad details. The only reason I am bringing it up is because there is a demon NOT mentioned in Enoch regarding the Watcher tradition. It is here we are introduced to a new master of demons, Mastema. He is not new to us. I discussed him the last chapter, but he is new to the Apocryphal texts. In the text, as God was about to have the “Fallen” ones bound, Mastema steps in. Mastema complains to God, stating that if he binds all the demons who fell, then he could not fulfill his mission, which is to destroy and mislead the world. Oddly enough, God agrees and compromises. Let us take a look.
Jubilees 10: 7-14 “ And Thou knowest how Thy Watchers, the fathers of these spirits, acted in my day: and as for these spirits which are living, imprison them and hold them fast in the place of condemnation, and let them not bring destruction on the sons of thy servant, my God; for these are malignant, and created in order to destroy. And let them not rule over the spirits of the living; for Thou alone canst exercise dominion over them. And let them not have power over the sons of the righteous from henceforth and for evermore." And the Lord our God bade us to bind all. And the chief of the spirits, Mastema, came and said: "Lord, Creator, let some of them remain before me, and let them hearken to my voice, and do all that I shall say unto them; for if some of them are not left to me, I shall not be able to execute the power of my will on the sons of men; for these are for corruption and leading astray before my judgment, for great is the wickedness of the sons of men." And He (GOD) said: "Let the tenth part of them remain before him, and let nine parts descend into the place of condemnation."
He lets ten percent of them go. The rest will be bound. This of course is not the first time we see God compromise with “demonic” forces. Here we see Mastema taking on the role of Satan.
The Targumim
On to our final texts regarding the Watcher tradition in Post-Biblical and Second Temple Judaism. This next text is not Apocryphal, but it is from the Targumim, the Aramaic translations of the Old Testament we discussed earlier in the book. The reason I did not mention the Watcher narrative contained within these texts earlier is because it would not have made sense without first having discussed the Watcher tradition in Enoch and the book of Jubilees first.
As we saw in the previous examples, the angels that fell from the Heavens were often referred to as “Sons of God.” However, the Targumim names them something completely different. In the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, they are referred to as "Sons of the great ones." In Targum Onkelos they are called "Sons of the great ones" and in Targum Neofiti, they are referred to as " The Sons of Judges." We will further see that the concept of Nephilim within the Targum is also not uniformly named.
In the Targum, Pseudo-Jonathan, the Nephilim or the “offspring” of these angels is referred to as “Mighty Ones." In Targum Onkelos they are called "Mighty ones." HOWEVER, in Targum Neofiti, they are referred to by name " Samyaza and Azazel." So, we have the Targum Neofiti coming very close to the actual Enoch story. It names the very same "fallen angels" that are found in the Book of Enoch. These same two angels are mentioned sporadically within the Jewish tradition. Therefore, it is clear the Book of Enoch, and its contents were known and have influenced the Targumim and other Jewish texts, albeit sporadically.
Aluka - Give, Give!
Aluka is a very mysterious figure in Jewish tradition. Her name means “Leech.” We first see her name in Proverbs 30:15:
“The leech hath two daughters: 'Give, give.'”
In Hebrew:
□n no --nin 'w ^’py’?
The first word in Hebrew is “Alukah.” In the Bible, there is not much to be said about this being except for the fact that she has two daughters who are as much of a leech as she is. It is only in Rabbinic and exegetical texts that we get an idea of who she is. In those texts, she is portrayed as a kind of Vampire in human form with the ability to shape shift. In a Hassidic text called Sefer HaHasiddim, it describes her as a “Blood-hungry Monster.” This is in line with Arab lore that has a female bloodsucking monster named “Aluk.”
As with pretty much every female form of evil in the Jewish tradition, she is associated with Lilith, some say she is the same being. The only difference is that in the Sefer HaHasiddim, it states that she is an actual person.
We find, in the Talmud a reference to her and her children in Avodah Zarah 17a “The Alukah has two daughters: Give, give” (Proverbs 30:15). What is meant by “give, give”? Mar Ukva says: This is the voice of the two daughters who cry out from Hell due to their suffering; and they are the ones who say in this world: Give, give, demanding dues and complete allegiance. And who are they? They are heresy and the ruling authority. There are those who say that Rav Hisda says that Mar Ukva says: The voice of hell cries out and says: Bring me two daughters who cry and say in this world: Give, give.”
So here the daughters of Alukah are an analogy for heresy and authority who are crying out from hell. Staying with the theme of hell, oddly enough, in some Jewish texts, Alukah is not an individual, but a name for a certain level of hell. We see in the Legends of the Jews, by Louis Ginzberg, it states, “ Moses saw the place called Alukah, where sinners were suspended by their feet, their heads downward, and their bodies covered with black worms, each five hundred parasangs long. They lamented and cried: "Woe unto us for the punishment of hell. Give us death, that we may die!" Nasargiel explained: "These are the sinners that swore falsely, profaned the Sabbath and the holy days, despised the sages, called their neighbors by unseemly nicknames, wronged the orphan and the widow, and bore false witness. Therefore, hath God delivered them to these worms."
That is all we have as it pertains to Alukah. She is indeed a mysterious one.
Reshef - Resheph
I was hesitant to place Resheph in the book since he is a God of foreign people. I will explain in a moment why I did eventually add him.
In Deuteronomy 32:24 we see the mention of the names Resheph. You would never know this in the English. Let’s look at the Hebrew.
nun ’nn>i mn 'in n^ ' ; ;
English: “The wasting of hunger...
The last word in Hebrew is “Resheph” this was a Canaanite god and god of various Semitic peoples. I generally would not include him in the demonic fold, but in this instance, the Rabbis interpreted this name to be a demon of thunder and at times, hunger and plague. We see that the Rabbis saw him as a demon in the Talmud.
In Berachot 5a, they are speaking of this verse in Deuteronomy it states, “ Here we see Resheph . understood by the Sages to be names of demons., And Resheph means nothing else than "evil spirits"
In every instance outside of Judaism, Resheph was a god of Thunder and war. He was no one to contend with; he was known to be fierce. However, this did not prevent his cult from spreading throughout the Middle East. It is only in the Jewish tradition that he is a rendered into a demon.
Banim Shovavim
In Hebrew, the term “Banim Shovavim'” simply means “mischievous sons.” Sometimes Shovavim can mean “wayward” as well. On the surface, this means nothing, but in later Jewish tradition, these sons become demonic in nature. If you recall earlier, when Adam and Lilith spawned children, they created all sorts of demonic hordes. From this union bore many sons and these became the “Banim Shovavim.” They are essentially male demons who cause havoc and mayhem; they taunt their victims to insanity.
Concluding Remarks to the In crowd
There you have it, a brief overview of some known and some not so known demons of the Jewish Traditions. I know many were expecting names such as Beelzebub, Astaroth, Abaddon and the like. The reason they were not added is because they are not considered demons in the Rabbinic Jewish traditions; they became demons in the Christian and Occult traditions. I am not saying they aren’t demons, I am just saying Judaims doesn’t state that they are. Other names you didn't see are Leviathan, Behemoth and Rahab. Yes, they are written in the Old Testament, but they are all seen by Jewish traditions to be mythic creatures and not associated with demonic entities directly. Therefore, they were excluded from this book. I am only covering demons, devils and ghosts here that are in the Hebrew Rabbinic tradition. My apologies for the inconvenience.
In the next four chapters, I will discuss Kabbalistic concepts as they pertain to the origin of evil. The third of the Kabbalistic chapters is a very special one. I think you will enjoy it. I am adding it as part 4 to this book since I feel it needs its own section separate from the rest of this text.
Let us proceed.
PART IV - EVIL IN THE KABBALAH
The Kabbalah
In order to understand how evil came to be as per the Kabbalah, let me give you a brief history of the Kabbalah first.
In Hebrew, the word Kabbalah means “To receive." It is the mystical teachings of Judaism. We can see inklings of it in the Bible. However, it truly started to grow and gain acceptance in the Middle Ages. The main objective of the Kabbalah is to convey the mystical teachings underlying the Bible, more specifically, the Torah or first five books of Moses. It goes into great detail about God, the creation of the universe, the hidden messages in the Bible as well as other facets of Jewish lore and belief. It is very comprehensive in scope. However, like other rabbinic texts, it is not always uniform and therefore, when one dives into it, they should be prepared to encounter many contradictory ideas.
It was initially transmitted orally and only from qualified teachers to equally qualified students. It was not meant to be shared with just anyone. A student had to be male, over 40, and he had to be proficient in the Bible, the Talmud and other texts that are pertinent to learn in order to live a full Jewish life. Learning the Bible, and especially the Talmud is no easy task and can take a lifetime. The reason why there are so many hoops to jump through before you could learn Kabbalah is because the rabbis feared that if people studied the Kabbalah without foundational knowledge, it would turn into a superstition and worse yet, a knowledge that would be very easy to abuse. Kabbalah, if used correctly, can convey immense spiritual powers. In light of this, it is very easily misused both to the student’s peril and to the people around them. The Kabbalah holds the keys to the essence of all things and therefore, if one were to master aspects of it, he or she could cause great harm if they so desired.
As the ideas of the Kabbalah were evolving, many meditative practices were developed. I will incorporate adaptations of these meditations in this book. These practices are the key to not only understanding the Kabbalah, but also to attain spiritual insight and power. Kabbalah, of course, is more than just gaining Occult power, it also goes into quite some depth about the nature of Heaven, reincarnation, the coming of the Messiah and many more topics. In this book, I will focus mostly on the concept of the Sitra Achra and demonology in general as it is understood in the Kabbalah.
The earliest Kabbalistic text is the Sefer ha-Bahir, which was edited in Provence in the midtwelfth-century. It contains the bedrock of Kabbalistic teachings, mainly the ten Sefirot or emanations. I will touch upon them briefly in this book. These Sefirot are the emanations that essentially translate God's hidden nature into the universe. However, it also is the structure in
which the Sitra Achra communicates in this world.
Fast-forward to 1290 and another pivotal, and the most well-known text comes to light; The Zohar. Often people refer to it as a single text, but it is a large compilation of texts put together by the Spanish Mystic, Moses de Leon. He went on to credit the work of the Zohar to the great Talmudic sage of the second-century, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai.
Kabbalah slowly gained steam, and by the 1490s, it was widely practiced and studied by Jews who were expelled from Spain and Portugal. In the mid-sixteenth-century, Kabbalah started to really take its current form. In a town in Israel called Safed, a growing community of Jewish mystics started to take shape. It is this era in Kabbalah that we will be deriving much of the information for this section.
Existence Before Existence
In the beginning, there was nothing but God. Absolutely, nothing else was in existence. The vast expansive emptiness was eternal with no point in which to call “Here or there." In this space, only the pure light existed, the essence of God. In Kabbalah, it is called “Ein Sof” or “never ending” or "without end."
For the Godhead to truly reflect upon itself, it had to cause within the Ein, a process in which Ein and the opposite of Ein, “Yesh” (which simply means “something”) could coincide; this was a complex process. The all-pervasive light started to contract upon itself. Through immense force, this contraction called “Tzimtzum” created space within the void that was itself. God contracted to the center, and all around him was now empty space. The contracted Ein created the empty space because where God is, nothing else can be. This empty space was vital for the universe to come into being. It is within this newly created emptiness that the manifest and unmanifest worlds come into being. God drew from his Ein Sof light, a single beam of light into the void. This Ein Sof light will provide the living force of all things that will manifest within the empty space.
Within this empty space, the infinite light creates an energetic soup that starts to stir. In it, all the archetypical ideas and values that make up not only the soul of humanity, but the entire cosmos becomes expressed. This expression comes in the form of the Primordial human called Adam Kadmon. Adam Kadmon signifies the broader divine will; it is not fully manifest but includes the blueprints for all creation. Adam Kadmon is a world unto itself; one of five. Please understand that although Adam Kadmon is described in anthropomorphic terms, his meaning is to express that not only is man the embodiment of earthly creation, but also of the divine.
Out of Adam Kadmon, five lights emerge. They intertwine with one another and create three worlds. These worlds contain the 10 emanations or the 10 Sefirot in different configurations. In Hebrew, Sefirot is usually translated as emanations, but the word itself can mean count or number. They are essentially attributes of the divine, each in their own “sphere” but interconnected. Through them, the Ein Sof creates the manifest world. They are in many ways like gateways and relays of divine energy. Each also embodies the attributes that make them up. In this way, they are the vehicles of their respective attributes. The great Kabbalist Rabbi Isaac Luria called them “Keeleem,” which is often a word defined as “vessels” but also can be defined as “tools."
Here is an illustration as to how the Sefirot are generally illustrated within the “Tree of Life."
The descriptions are as such:
Keter - Crown
Chochmah - Wisdom
Binah - Understanding
Chessed - Kindness
Gevura - Strength
Tiferet - Beauty
Netzach - Victory
Hod - Awe and Splendor
Yesod - Foundation
Malchut - Kingdom
There is technically a mysterious 11th Sefira, Daat which means “knowledge” that is in the center, right under Chochmah and Binah. That is a bit more advanced and not for this book, I will cover that in my course.
Before the Sefirot took on the common form above, they were configured differently in the three worlds that emanated out of the five lights of Adam Kadmon. Those three worlds are:
The World of Binding, called Akudim. In this world, there are 10 lights in a single Sefira. This level is also called Tohu, or chaos. The energy here is only of potential creation.
The World of points, called Nekudim. Here are 10 lights in 10 different Sefirot. This level is also called Chaos or Tohu but is not as stable as the preceding one. The Sefirot in this world are operating as discrete entities, not connected to one another.
The World of Flecks, called Berudim. It contains 10 interrelated lights, in 10 different vessels. This level is also called the beginning of rectification or “Tikun.“ In this world, the Sefirot are working together and interdependently.
It is through these emanations that God's light permeates the manifest world, in fact, the entire universe in general both spiritual and material. The Sefirot themselves contain within them the 10 Sefirot and then those contain the 10, ad infinitum. It is very much like a fractal; the selfsimilar pattern is found all the way down and all the way up, to the left and to the right, forever and ever.
It is in the world of Nekudim, where the 10 Sefirot are not working with one another, but are operating as discrete spheres is when trouble begins to brew. Ideally, the 10 Sefirot were meant to contain the Ein Sof light within them, but they were not able to contain the energy in the world of Nekudim since they were so fragmented. As the divine light passed through, 6 of the 10 Sefirot shattered; from Chessed to Yesod. Luckily, the top three Sefirot remained intact; Keter, Binah and Chochmah. If they were to shatter, the universe would go right back to its primordial state. Rabbi Isaac Luria called this event “Shvirat ha Keeleem” or the “shattering of the vessels.” As one Sefira shattered, pieces of it fall into the lower aspects and onward all the way down to the manifest world.
Each shattered Sefira still has a little light within them called Nitzutzot or “sparks." These sparks are the creative engines of the Sefirot. However, now, the Sefirot are not whole so the creative energy is not used properly. The energy continues to malfunction and descends downward.
The Sefirot are not all that exist in this primordial space, there is void as well, the same void just prior to creation that is recounted in Genesis 1:1. The void is in the spaces in-between the Sefirot and surrounding them. As the shards fall through the Sefirot, especially that of the Sefirah Gevura breaks off, and falls within these gaps of void and starts to form “husks” around them, sometimes translated as “shells," in Hebrew, Klippot. They also go under another name “Chitzonim” or “Outsiders” but Klippot is the most common name. The “outer shells" of these
Klippot are without life, but their interior is made up of the shattered light of the Sefirot. In many ways, the light is trapped within them. These husks form what we know as the “evil realms” or the Sitra Achra. They are very sticky and cleave quite readily to our world. Much like a virus, they can hijack us and everything else. Since the light that is captured within them is from a shattered Sefirotic vessel, within it, too, contain all 10 Sefirot ad infinitum, like a fractal. In many ways, they are the shadow or “left hand"” Tree of Life. When trapped in an unclean vessel, it is transformed into “evil." The main reason they get their evil character is because they have a larger portion of the light of the Sefira Gevura. Gevura is the Sefira of sternness, judgement and strength. Without the balance of Chessed, they become stern and full of judgment. It is for this reason so many of the demons in the Jewish tradition are called demon or angels of judgement. Satan himself is the adversary and the one who is a harsh witness against mankind. Thus, the engine behind the Klippot is sternness, judgment and severity. They are, in essence, a disturbance in the matrix if you will. Because they are of Gevura, they are very powerful.
Rabbi Isaac Luria taught that through a process of Tikkun or rectification, sometimes translated as repair, the shards of the broken Sefirot can rise back into place. In the meantime, since the manifest world was created with these broken shards mixed into its DNA so to speak, he stated that all of creation is thus in a form of exile and until the Tikkun is made, it will remain so.
Now that we covered HOW the Klippot were created, let us take a look at the Sitra Achra and the Klippotic natures.
Klippot and the Sitra Achra
“The Devil is composed of God’s ruins” Eliphas Levi, Dogma and Ritual
In the last chapter I covered, in brief, how the Klippot were a product of a “malfunction” or as Rabbi Isaac Luria put it, a “Crisis of Creation.” We also learned that a preponderance of the Sefira Gevura is contained in them, which accounts for their wrathful natures. Let us now discuss what is known about the Klippot and the Sitra Achra in general.
The Klippot, as I mentioned, are also comprised of the 10 Sefirot, but instead of them representing the positive qualities I mention in the previous chapter, they now correspond to:
Keter - Hollowness and Baseness
Chochmah - Irrationality
Binah - Despondency
Chessed - Hostility
Gevura - Idleness
Tiferet - Crudeness
Netzach - Subservience
Hod - Rigidity
Yesod - Exteriority
Malchut - disharmony
These negative attributes inform the Sitra Achra.
The Two Sides
In the Kabbalah, the world is divided into two opposing sides. We have the Sitra D’Kedusha or the side of holiness, represented by the Tree of Life, and the Sitra Achra, the “other side” implying unholiness and the Tree of Death.
The Klippot come in two rather distinct categories. One category of Klipa (singular) can be redeemed through good works and holy deeds. This is called Klippat Nogah, and the other category is called: “Shalosh Klippot Hatmayot” or the “Three totally impure klippot.” Klippat Nogah can be redeemed from its fallen state through acts of kindness. Giving charity, for example, elevates this Klipa. The second category of Klipa is a bit more complex. This category of impure klippot is “acquired” through sin and are the stickier of the klippot since it is immediately tied to our actions and are naturally occurring in the universe since their creation. Their influence is felt from the highest of the Heavens, to the depths of Hell. They are intertwined in everything. They are especially found in people who would be considered “evil and wicked.”
As the great Kabbalist, Moshe Cordovero writes in his introduction to Kabbalah called Or Neerav, he states, “All the power of the wicked derives from the Klippot... the wicked and the klipa are as one, and though the wicked is the son of Lilith, the evil maidservant, it is all one— mother and children.”
Here we see that the evil or wicked person is overrun and is one and the same as the klippot, but not just any Klipa, but the Queen of Klippot herself, Lilith.
Our World is that of the Klippot
The klippot overrun our existence since as the klippot fell through the Tree of Life after the breaking of the Sefirot, they settled in Lilith or Malchut. So in this sense, the Earth and material existence is a klippotic hive as it states in the Kabbalistic work the Tanya, Part one, “until there was created this material and gross world, the lowest in degree, than which there is none lower in the aspect of concealment of His blessed light; [a world of] doubled and redoubled darkness, so much so that it is full of Klippot and the Sitra Achra which opposes the very Godhead, saying: "I am, and there is nothing else besides me."
In this way, the Klippot informs all things that are considered wrong in the eyes of the Lord. For example, one of these evil things is sorcery. We see the direct correlation between sorcery and the Klippot in the book Shaar HaEmunah Ve'Yesod HaChassidut a Kabbalistic text it states, “This is why King Solomon said in ((Song of Songs, 7:11), "I descended to the Walnut garden.” He had a complete knowledge of the Klippot (impure shells), which gave him a thorough knowledge of all forms of sorcery.”
The Walnut in this verse was a reference to the shells that protect it or the Klipa. What this is saying is that Solomon alluded to his knowledge of sorcery through the Klippot which was hinted at by the word “Walnut.”
This idea is in alignment with all Abrahamic religions in the sense that the world is the abode of evil with one major difference. In Christianity, the Earth literally belongs to Satan. However, in Judaism, the world does not belong to evil, but rather it is OVERRUN by evil, and has a propensity for evil through the influence of the Klippot. They did believe the Earth could be redeemed by reuniting the klippotic influences with their source.
The Caretakers of the Sitra Achra
Samael and Lilith are the caretakers of the Unholy Tree of Life. Samael, whose name means “Poison of God” is the feeder energy of the Tree. From him, the Klippot are fed a steady stream of energy. Lilith, on the other hand, is a receiver of this energy, which she then transmutes into the world. She is the dark counterpart to the Shechina or holy presence that is often associated with the last Sefira called Malchut in which our existence resides. In this way, she takes the energy from Samael and infuses it into Malchut in an attempt to dim the divine light of the Holy Presence. In this sense, She and Samael are the vessels in which all the klippot exist in and through.
I would like to share with you a story that further elucidates the Klippot and how Samael and Lilith are the main caretakers of the Sitra Achra. The story is derived from the Kabbalistic text called the Zohar, the main body of texts of the Kabbalah. Its purpose is to mystically elucidate the first five books of Moses. It, like the Torah (five books of Moses itself) has a structure. The texts are separated out into weekly portions called Parashiot. Every week, one Parasha is read. In the text I am about to discuss, is the Zohar’s interpretation of a Parasha called ’VAYETZE’. This parasha would correspond to the 7th weekly portion of the Jewish Torah cycle that starts with a holiday called “Simchat Torah.” Coincidentally, I am writing this very Chapter on the week this portion is read. This was not planned.
Zohar VAYETZE: This Parasha revolves around the patriarch Jacob. It illustrates how Jacob confronted the Sitra Achra and the organizing principles of the Klippot along his way. Let us take a look.
Zohar Sulam commentary of Parasha Vayetze, verse 23, it states, “A deeper mystery can be found in the strength of Issac’s holiness and from the dregs of wine. These dregs being Klippot. One single shape emerged from both, one made of good and one of evil, one male and one female, both as one... The Male is called Samael, and the female principle is included in him. The female is called “the serpent” and “ a wife of harlotry.”
Here we see the introduction of Samael, and we presume the wife of Harlotry is Lilith.
The verse goes on “The light of the spirit of the male is a thinner light.and the spirit of the female displays itself in many ways.for in the Klipah, the female is larger than the male. She attaches herself to men, wearing jewelry, looking like an abominable prostitute who solicits and seduces men by the roadside. This teaches that she only goes after those who are godly for she wants them to fall into her trap. She is standing at the entrance to holiness.”
We see that Lilith is the “greater Klipa” and her whole purpose is to ensnare those who follow
the right side of the path. In fact, she stands right at the gates of Holiness to make sure many fall before they make it in.
The verse goes on “When a foolish man approaches her, she embraces him and kisses him; she pours upon him wine and the venom of snakes. After the foolish man drinks it, she has sex with him. Once he is at the height of his lust and forsakes the holy path, she removes all her alluring qualities. She leaves him asleep in bed, she denounces him and then descends upon him to kill him... and throws him into Hell.”
The text continues “Jacob went to her abode, the wife of harlotry and saw her decorations but was saved from her. Samael was bothered that Jacob was saved from her. In his anger, he went down to him and wrestled with him, but to no avail. After that, Jacob was saved from them all. He became the middle pillar.”
Jacob resists the bewitchments of Lilith. Her consort Samael is bothered by this and decides to have a match with Jacob but does not prevail. This passage, as I mentioned earlier explains the wrestling match Jacob had in Genesis 32 when he encountered what looked like an angel and wrestled with him. It was Samael all along. After he walked away from that wrestling match, he was freed from the klippotic energy. So here we meet Lilith and Samael in their roles of the Male and Female Klippot. We find the Lilith is the larger of the Klippot as well. Yay Lilith!
Indulging in the Klippot
When indulging the klippot, the divine light tends to diminish. In the text Kedushat Levi, a Chassidic text, it states, “We already know that when someone in our domain of the universe commits a sin that this leaves a corresponding “stain” or defect in the celestial domain. In practice, this means that sins committed on earth strengthen the forces of the Klippot “peels” i.e. the forces that surround holiness and thereby make it less effective or ineffective, much as a peel prevents us from getting at the fruit within it.”
This passage is probably the best description of the Klippot. Since the word Klippot means “shells and peels,” what the passage is suggesting is that the shell itself is what keeps the divine energy at bay and that whenever we commit a sin, we in a sense make the outer shell of these klippot stronger.
In many ways, even the urge to sin is in a real way a klipa that is embedded into the human soul, for the human soul was part of creation and thus has Klippot cleaving onto it. In fact, this is exactly what we find in the Kabbalistic text, the Tanya, part one “ In every Jew/person, whether righteous or wicked, are two souls, as it is written, "The neshamot (souls) which I have made," [alluding to] two souls. There is one soul, which originates in the Klipa and Sitra Achra, and which is clothed in the blood of a human being, giving life to the body, as is written, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood." From it stem all the evil characteristics deriving from the four evil elements which are contained in it. These are: anger and pride, which emanate from the element of Fire, the nature of which is to rise upwards; the appetite for pleasures— from the element of Water, for water makes to grow all kinds of enjoyment; frivolity and scoffing, boasting and idle talk from the element of Air; and sloth and melancholy— from the element of Earth.”
Here we see a direct reference to how the klipot are in many ways embedded into one of the souls. It is for this reason that it is so hard for mankind to resist temptation and evil. We are essentially born with it. This is in an interesting concept because what it is saying is that this Sitra Achra was already created way before mankind “sinned” in the Garden of Eden. The whole breaking of the vessels was prior to the creation of Adam and Eve. It makes you think that perhaps the whole system is born with “sin” embedded into it. Some do believe this, but that is too large of a topic for this book.
The early Kabbalists took the Sitra Achra and the “left hand” emanations seriously. In their understanding of the world, it was essential to get to know the left-hand side if they wanted to become holy and glean the secrets of creation. As Rabbi Isaac Ben Yacov Ha-Kohen, an influential Kabbalist in the Middle Ages, states, “ it is a long and deep path, and it eludes all masters of wisdom who are not willing to descend into the depth of the wisdom of the hidden emanation, the ’depth of good and depth of evil’.”
To understand the Sitra Achra, you need to understand the structure that exists within it. They are a product of the shattered Emanations. However, not every single Sefira has a corresponding demon. The top three Sefirot do not according to Jewish traditions. Here is a list of the 7 Sefirot that do have demonic names associated with them.
-
1. Samael - Gevura
-
2. Za’afiel - Chessed
-
3. Za’aiel - Tiferet
-
4. Qasfiel - Netzach
-
5. Ragziel - Hod
-
6. Abriel - Yesod
-
7. Meshulhiel - Malchut.
Please note that Lilith is also associated with Malchut.
These seven demons all have their own horde. Aside from Samael, the other demons are rather insignificant. The Sitra Achra is truly made up of Samael and Lilith. As the Kabbalah states, it was understood that when Adam was first created, he was androgynous. Both Male and female in the same body, especially Adam and Eve were one being. Samael and Lilith were the demonic equivalent of Adam and Eve for Rabbi Isaac Ben Yacov Ha-Kohen states “Samael takes on the form of Adam and Lilith the Form of Eve. They were both born in a spiritual birth as one, as a parallel to the forms of Adam and Eve. “
This indicates that Samael and Lilith are primordial spirits; a product of the earliest times of creation. It was said that Samael and Lilith also known as the “Northern one” emanated from underneath God’s Throne of Glory. It is not quite clear what the throne of glory is. Some say that it is literally God’s throne in Heaven, in which he rules the universe. Above the throne is where light is from, the positive attributes of the emanations and below the throne is where the
klippot formed, the negative aspects of the Tree. So right from the start, Samael and Lilith are under this throne because they are emanated from the negative Klippot of the Tree of life. Now here is where it gets a bit dangerous for the divine. Since Lilith, the “Northern one” was under the throne, she weakened the metaphoric legs underneath it and caused a collapse to occur. This created an intermingling between light and darkness and thus created a situation in which the fall of Adam and Eve would occur. I know this seems confusing because in one tradition, it states that Lilith was Adam’s first wife, as I said early in the book, Rabbinic and Jewish traditions are not always consistent or clear.
Rabbi Isaac Ben Yacov Ha-Kohen goes on to say that those who understand the true nature of the Sitra Achra develop magickal powers. As I stated earlier in the book, there was a Rabbi known as Eliezar of Worms. He is the one who had no problems using demons for his purposes as long as it didn’t go against the Torah. The story goes that he would occasionally use demons to fly off to far-flung places. This knowledge is attained by understanding not only the Sitra Achra, but its intricate levels called “Ethers." Each Ether has a purpose and several attributes as well as angels and demons guarding them. in a sense, when you perfect this knowledge, you move through the Ethers and attain more and more control over demons as well as other spiritual entities. The problem is, you need to have PERFECT knowledge of these Ethers, three of them in all. It was said that Eliezar of Worms made an error when tapping into one of these Ethers; as a result, he hurt his leg, and the leg never recovered from that demonic flight.
The Rabbi described the Ethers as such:
Ether 1: This Ether is guarded and ruled by the spirit Qedoshiel. He is called the Prince of the Hosts. He is in charge of the Heavenly armies so to speak; armies made up of warrior angels. Despite this, the Ether has no specific form or image. These angels are the highest of the high and are pure essence. If one does not approach this Ether correctly, he or she will be cut into pieces by these guardian angels.
Ether 2: In this Ether emerges the secret wisdom of prophecy. All the prophets and holy people who have prophetic powers get it from this Ether. These powers emerge as the person ascends to this Ether.
Ether 3: It is when we get to the third Ether that we encounter and acquire control over demons. Unlike the other Ethers, this one is a bit complex in the way that it is structured. It has three parts. An upper level, middle and bottom levels.
The upper level is controlled by Asmodeus, King of the demons. Tradition says that this upper part of the Ether is most energetically active on Mondays when Asmodeus can fully use his power. The text doesn’t make it clear WHY Monday is the day. Interestingly enough, this tradition on the Ethers describes Asmodeus in a very different light than the other traditions around him. It states that although Asmodeus is the King over ALL demons, he, in the end, answers to Samael. Both great demons cohabitat with Lilith-type energies. Samael with the great Lilith and Asmodeus with the “lesser” or younger Lilith, who is the daughter of Qafsefoni, the ruler of the middle part of Ether 3. It is said that Asmodeus and the “lesser Lilith” have a son that was born in Heaven by the name Elfpaneyesh; his face is a raging fire. He is, in turn, the ruler of 80,000 demons. He is so fierce that he is called “the sword of King Asmodeus.” The reason I am mentioning this is because as a person works to this Ether, they will be encountering these beings in their raw form. A form that the texts state when you go to this level you will see “Many horrendous details concerning the forms of Samael and Asmodeus and the images of Lilith, the bride of Samael and Lilith the bride of Asmodeus.” The text interestingly enough goes to say, “Happy is he who merits this knowledge.” This is clear indication that this knowledge of demons is acquired by those who are worthy of acquiring it.
Let us now look at the middle part of the third Ether.
In the middle section, we come in contact with a spirit named Qafqafoni, with his consort Sarita, whom he spends time with for half the year. The other half of the year, he is with another consort name Sagrita. His offspring with Sarita are often two-headed demonic like creatures. Whereas his children with Sagrita look like lepers. This led some Kabbalists to believe that people who
were lepers were lepers due to this union between Qafqafobi and Sagrita. The text describes this part of the Ether as “Evil spirits abound in the Ether and all sorts of storms and horrors go forth from the power of these interminglings. Nevertheless, the rule and terror of Asmodeus are imposed on them...”
This part of the Ether is generally chaotic and very dangerous for the person that is trying to master or pass through it. The chaotic whirlwind is too much for most to withstand. The overarching ruler of this part of the Ether is Qafsefoni and his consort Mehatabel, daughter of Metrad.
Finally, at the bottom part of the Ether, we find even odder demonic activities. In this realm, the demonic entities are in the form of dogs. These dogs are created by sin. So, when you commit a sin, you create a demon dog essentially. This demon dog, then bites at all who come through its territory. It is relentless in its attacks. There is no salvation from these devilish hounds, so it is of vital importance that one be prepared to enter this part of the Ether.
Some have reported that they don’t see dogs on this level, but they see Azazel himself in the form of a man and that he is accompanied by goats that also, at times, take on human form. It is these forms that are in many ways more sinister than the demonic hounds. These forms under Azazel almost always appear to humans so as to destroy them. These hordes, if left unchecked, will completely consume the world. It is only due to the powers of the angel Yufiel that keeps them in check from complete universal annihilation. All these ultimately are under Asmodeus and in turn; Asmodeus is under Samael.
So that, in a very large nutshell, is the structure of the Klippot and the Sitra Achra. As you see, it is not an organized system, but rather one that is multilayered. It is so intricate that if I were to go into it here, there would be a need for an entirely separate book just for that. If you want more information on this, please refer to the work of Rabbi Isaac Ben Yacov Ha-Kohen. I must warn you, his work is not always easy to understand.
This chapter is one I did not plan. It was not even on my radar until just a few days ago (2/7/2019). I finished writing for the day. It was late, and I was going to go to bed. Then, out of nowhere I had an idea. I jumped out of bed and ran to my computer. I am glad I did because what I discovered blew my mind, and I KNEW, I had to add it to the book because it would tie in so beautifully with everything we have discussed in the book. It is a bit speculative, but well worth your time.
What kept me up? The Bible codes.
The Bible codes gained popularity in the 80s and 90s. These codes are hidden messages within the Hebrew text of the Bible. These are messages that cannot be discerned by reading the surface text. They are, in essence, a parallel text that can only be determined by looking at the text as a whole without spaces between words. For example, “In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the earth," becomes “InthebeginningGodcreatedtheHeavensandtheearth.” As you see, the integrity of the text is still intact but all the spaces between the words have been removed. Now apply this principle, but to the Hebrew text.
When you present the Hebrew text in this way, you are able to see patterns more easily. In this case, the patterns show themselves as words or phrases that are spelled out with letters that are equidistant from one another. That means that if you count from one letter, the same number of spaces to the second letter and the same number to the third letter and so on and so forth and come up with a word or a phrase, then you have discovered a hidden message. This alone is pretty remarkable, but it is even more remarkable when the hidden message applies to the surface text that the message is found in. Let me show you a common one that those who study this area of Bible study often use. It is quite interesting.
The name of the first five books of Moses, in Hebrew is called Torah. In Hebrew, it is spelled:
min
I am going to present here a passage from the book of Genesis, both in English and in Hebrew.
Genesis 1: 1-5 “ In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the earth. Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters. And God said: 'Let there be light.' And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”
Now we will look at the Hebrew and count 50 letters from the letter I indicate and see what happens. Hebrew goes from right to left.
Now in Hebrew:
n$n nx] ,n?ntyn nx ,D’rf?£ xni ,n’tfxn3
’^-’y n^D“i7p ,D’rf?$ fri"! ;oinn ’1?-?y ,Wn /inni inn nn'n ,n.xni: □?zpn
nix-’n’i ;nix ’n ,D’rf?£ "W
l^no i’ll nixn pi /a’n^x ’mn plo-’3 ,nixn-nx Q’n^x xn/’i
nnx □!’ ,"i£3-’n’i 3"i.v-’n’i ;n>’ xn^ i^n>i ,□!’ nix1? Q’n^x xnTp?’i
When counting from the first letter, 50 letters and doing that three times you get the word TORAH in Hebrew.
What we have is the word Torah hidden within the first paragraph of the Torah. We find it by counting 50 letters from the letter indicated. This is what I mean by hidden messages.
I know. one may think this is a coincidence. Let us look at the beginning of Exodus and see if we find it again. In this next passage, there are few of these equidistant scenarios involving the word Torah, but I'll stick with the one that is most consistent with the last example I showed you. We will look for a 50-letter spacing.
Exodus 1 :1-6 “ Now these are the names of the sons of Israel, who came into Egypt with Jacob; every man came with his household: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher. And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls; and Joseph was in Egypt already. And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.”
In Hebrew:
jikzq inni wx ,lpy’ nx :nnn¥O ,a'xan /pxnjp 'n nw ^^x] ,'n'l .ntfxq ti /^n^ni n .jn?pi ,j>nf nw .nnin'i ’f? ,|ium pix" qpi’ non .m"np?? n’n ,no?i'l ;tfpi □’jj;itf--lpy.’-,i"|’ ’xy ^-^ nbraa—TO^iri -m’i -i^"m •inis >xn^ ’m x-mn "inn tai ,rnx-tai □rfx ,n.x^ xtani ;nx^
When you count 50 letters from the first letter indicated, you get yet again Torah right at the beginning of Exodus just like we saw in Genesis. Now we have two books of the Torah with the hidden word Torah within them.
We have a very rare occurrence of the word Torah hidden within the first paragraphs of both Genesis and Exodus, AND they are equidistant, with 50 letters apart. The likelihood of this occurring is very low. It would be very difficult for a person to purposely plan this. I could go on with these 50 letters count throughout the first five books, but you get the point.
Now, before I go into the intended purpose of this chapter, let me give you some of the ground rules when it comes to using Bible Codes.
Since the original Hebrew did not contain vowels, therefore, vowel sounds are ignored.
The term/s being looked for MUST be equidistant for it to be valid. For example, if we are looking for a word, and we find it, it must be comprised of letters that are the same distance away from one another. Letter A is equidistant from Letter B and so on and so forth. It could be any number. The examples I used just happen to be 50.
The word or term does not necessarily have to correspond to the verses they are found in since the Torah itself when looked upon as a code book contains messages throughout the text, and therefore, the entire text must be looked at as one huge matrix.
However, when a word or phrase DOES correspond to the underlying verses it is derived from, then there is a direct hidden message there that should be looked into.
In Hebrew, there are a few final letters. For example, the letter 0 has a final form □ . The letter X has a final form of f and so on and so forth. The Final letters are treated the same way as the standard forms so they may not always appear as final letters when a code is found. So, you may find final form f at the beginning of a code, instead of at the end. The word integrity is still intact.
Words and phrases can also be spelled backwards since the entire Torah matrix is not confined by a linear structure.
You can use more than one word at a time. In the examples I provided I used one, but you can use more than one word at a time.
The best way to do this is to use a software that specializes in Bible codes. This would be impossible without software. I recommend ’Bible Codes’ by Computronic Corporation http://www.Biblecodesplus.com.
With that out of the way, let me take you through a few things I discovered the other night. It’s pretty amazing stuff.
If you recall earlier in the book, I mentioned that Samael was the angel who wrestled with Jacob.
In fact, the Zohar stated Samael had it in for Jacob.
In this example, I am going to use the name Samael and input it into the software and see what I find. The Hebrew for Samael is below.
5xno - Proper Form.
^□0 - with final letter Mem
in the middle of the name.
Genesis 35: 14-17 “And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where He spoke with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a drink-offering thereon, and poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him, Beth-el. And they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was still some way to come to Ephrath; and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, that the mid-wife said unto her: 'Fear not; for this also is a son for thee.'”
In Hebrew:
;T>y ■qon ;px n3yp--inx _i3T"W □iprap ,n3rn 3py 3£i
"PT "W ,rnp?pn □ip-n$ 3py' K“i^i w n'^y py’i pgJ Tiy-'n'i ,5x n’3D iyo’i 1x<-n’3--^’n^K otf inx
'Ti'i nm5?? wnn ^nn ;nm? & xi3> nw-mp?
■^1 ni-m-’3 ,'XTn-’?x ni'p'pn n1? "ipxni ;Hni5? ,HntTia
13
When you count 41 letters from the first letter indicated, you will get SAMAEL -
1x^0.
So
here we have verses about Jacob with Samael haunting him in the hidden codes. What are the chances of that happening? Still not convinced, let’s take a look at another.
Genesis 46: 19-21 “ The sons of Rachel Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin. And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On bore unto him. And the sons of Benjamin: Bela, and Becher, and Ashbel, Gera, and Naaman, Ehi, and Rosh, Muppim, and Huppim, and Ard.”
In Hebrew:
.on^n ns? no?i't? t^?^ .it?.??-! 90i’ ,ij?u.' n^K >rn 'i? ,nw-n$--|x in? y-19 ’pte-n? ,njpx f?-nT?' "w ’nK ,|Qyr, kt ,?3W "I??! a?? jd'j? ’i^-i .□H9$-n$] T]KT. ,0'9(11 □’£>£> ;tfK"ll
If you count 26 letters from the first letter indicated, you will get SAMAEL -
>KQ0.
So here
we have verses with the name of Jacob, mentioned with Samael haunting him in the hidden codes yet again. We have two instances of Jacob being mentioned, two instances with equidistant letters, spelling Samael for those verses. Let us look at two more regarding Jacob and Samael.
Genesis 48:17 “ And when Joseph saw that his father was laying his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.”
In Hebrew:
;rj’D3 dit-dtpk 3'N-n ira'-T i’3S n’E?-’:? ,qpi’ kti np3p ^K_i-?ij--Q’-i9^-3W ?yzj nnx toh? ,t?x-t ?Qn’l.
If you count 6 letters from the first letter indicated, ayou will get SAMAEL -
bKQO
in its
proper form.
Notice what the verse says, “Joseph saw his Father." Who is Joseph’s Father? JACOB! Yet again, we find Samael stalking the stories involving Jacob in the Hidden code.
Genesis 50:14 “ And Joseph returned into Egypt, he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father.”
In Hebrew:
/pax-nx na^ inx □'bhn-'?;)! ,rn^i Kin to'tot? ^o?i' a^u lox-nx riai? ,'inx
, I '
If you count 6 letters again from the first letter indicated, you will get SAMAEL -
bxno in
its proper form. Who was Joseph burying? His father Jacob.
I think you get the picture now. I showed you four examples, using Samael in both the proper and improper forms and in each one, he is found hidden within texts that mention Jacob. As I said, Samael was the angel who wrestled Jacob and was angry with him. Coincidence? I think not.
I could go on with Samael since he is found in other scenarios a well but let me move on to Asmodeus. Please note, I will only cover three demons in this chapter. I had to cut it short since I could write an entire book JUST on the Bible codes and the demons we discussed throughout this book.
Let us now search for the demon Asmodeus in the Old Testament.
In Hebrew, his name is spelled:
W'TOW in the proper form.
'KTDTO With a final letter form in the middle of the name.
As with the Samael examples, I looked for passages in which the name of the demon, and the underlying theme had something in common.
Let us take a look.
Habakkuk 1: 1-4 “ The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. How long, O LORD, shall I cry, and Thou wilt not hear? I cry out unto Thee of violence, and Thou wilt not save. Why dost Thou show me iniquity, and beholdest mischief? And why are spoiling and violence before me? so that there is strife, and contention ariseth. Therefore the law is slacked, and right doth never go forth; for the wicked doth beset the righteous; therefore right goeth forth perverted. ”
In Hebrew:
pyix :m$n x^i ,'nyitf nin' n:&-iy .K'ri-ir^ pipnrj ,mn "iux xwzpn
’n’i ;n#? onni: TUi: ,wzirn Pw US ’JK"in ntf? .jj’^in K1?] ,onn n'px
"I’npn nun ’3 :U3Up n^> xr-X?] ,n"iin iwri js-py x^ ,|nni □’" ^mp U9un xk js-py ^'^n-nx.
You count 16 letters from the first letter indicated and the name 'xTPWx In its proper form emerges. Notice what the verses says “so that there is strife, and contention ariseth. Therefore, the law is slacked, and right doth never go forth; for the wicked doth beset the righteous...”
Who sows discord and strife in the Hebrew tradition? DEMONS. Ashmadai fits the description perfectly in this scenario. Perhaps the Bible is saying Asmodeus was responsible in this case.
There is more, the word for “destruction” in this verse is TU. If you recall earlier, that is also the singular for “demon.” Another interesting thing to note is that the four letters of the name
Ashmadai in Hebrew are TftWK in Hebrew, that means “I’ll Destroy.” Add all these factors up and you get an interesting insight into this verse you would never get from just the surface texts. Again, could this whole scenario be a coincidence? Again, I don’t think so.
Let us look at another one.
Proverbs 3:32-33 “ For the perverse is an abomination to the Lord; but the righteous are in his confidence. The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked he blesses the habitation of the just.”
In Hebrew:
iHo □'"i^-nx ;rf?i np' nmjin '3.
TO' □'fro np ;deh n’:n ,np' n"ixp.
If you count 3 letters from the first letter indicated and you get the name 'XT^WX with the final letter form in the middle of the name.
This one is a no-brainer. This is discussing wicked and perverse people. Who influences these people to be wicked and perverse? Ashmadai!
This next one is excellent.
1 Kings 14: 15 “ For the Lord Shall Strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel from his good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have mad their ASHERIM, provoking God to answer.”
In Hebrew:
pw TOTOnx wrp pps njpp iir -ixs >xTO-nx np' toi "iUx ,|sj' :"imp TO? □in /□n'nnxp pi tox nxp nTOn nmxn np?-n$ /□'p'Dp>-^'itf3;-n$ -itoy.
If you count 6 letters from the first letter indicated you will get the name 'xT?Wx in its proper form, but backwards. Notice what the verse is talking about. God is punishing Israel for worshiping idols, more specifically, the Asheraim. Who might be tempting them to do this? Ashmadai. Remember, the demons in the Jewish tradition are meant to lead people astray according to tradition. Again, this is a perfect fit.
There are a few more that are so fitting, but again, I think you see where I am getting at with
Asmodeus.
Now let us look at Belial.
Belial in Hebrew is:
?U'?3
Let us take a look.
Numbers 25: 1-4 “ And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto the Baal of Peor; and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them up unto the LORD in face of the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.'”
In Hebrew:
tot? ,djj> jK^ni .3xin nt^-^ ntif? ,ann ?n’l ;□'” ,?xiip 3^1 ;"iw9 ?id’? ,?K"i^ in^i .in’rfpK? •nnntf’i ,aun tax’! ;m’rf?x --:,..■“■: -:-:.-"
,□¥0 'W"P??-nx np ^^-^ nin' "iwi .^J<"ii^3 ,nm n£-"in’i ^i<ntp^z? ,nin'-nx |i“in 3^'1 ;^vn ,nin'> □nix upini.
Count 36 letters from the first letter indicated, the name spelled is Belial - ^D’^3. How perfect does that fit? It fits in two ways. 1. We have the Israelites being led astray. We know Belial does this kind of thing. 2. God is punishing them; Belial in the Dead Sea Scrolls is the angel of destruction and is used to punish. So we have Belial written ALL OVER this scene.
Let us look at another.
Book of Isaiah 59:8 “The Way of Peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings; they have made them crooked paths goes in there shall not know peace.”
In Hebrew:
^--□0? •iwp’ii ,^n'ni3'n2 ;^ni^v^? us^n j’x ,'1U^' x^ □frw n"n □frtf UT K<? ,H3 1TI
Count only 2 letters from the first letter indicated, the name
spells Belial - ?U'?3. This
verse is
saying that the wicked will not know peace, and they have crooked ways. Who do you think leads them in these ways, according to the Jewish tradition? Belial! That is yet another perfect fit and with such a short two count, it doesn’t get better than that. Well, except for the next one.
Deuteronomy 17: 2-3 “ If there be found in the midst of thee, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that doeth that which is evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, in transgressing His covenant, and hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, or the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of Heaven, which I have commanded not...”
In Hebrew:
,n^x-ix tf'x :nz? ini Tnfrx nin?-"i#$ ,T"V^ nnx? ^u?? x^-’? in'"q "□uz?--H'n^x-nin' ’jj’u? mn-nx n^v "^x
x^-W? ix ,nV? ix ^W^ ;□£!> ,inrn^P^l ,D’"!(iX D'^^X nnv’l ,n^’l ’rra-x<? "^-□wn
Count only 5 letters and the name spelled is Belial - ?v'??, but backwards. Here the verse is starting to warn the Israelites of certain sins they should not commit or find within their camps. Who would influence them to do such things? Belial! Essentially, the text is stating, in hidden code that Belial is responsible for these kinds of sins. It is a perfect fit and with only a 5 count. Again, there are so many good ones regarding Belial.
Many people would say all these findings are random, but I have to disagree. What are the chances that I could so easily find verses that correspond with the demons we discussed? I find it to be a bit of a stretch to say that it is coincidence. Some may also state, “well, you cherry picked the ones that fit. What about all those that didn’t?” Well, I don’t know that the others didn’t fit. Remember, the equidistant sequence can be anywhere from one to thousands. The Bible matrix that can be read in infinite ways, and they are not required to fit the verse they are taken from. I have seen equidistant distances of several hundred, that when the letters were put together with a phrase that makes sense, it was mind blowing. So, in this sense, we don’t truly know how far this can go. I encourage you to look at this in more depth. There are so many interesting findings, too many to illustrate here.
We have concluded part 4 of this book. There are four chapters in part 5, and then we will jump into the rituals.
PART V - GHOSTS IN THE JEWISH TRADITION
As you have seen, there is a strong sense of the demonological in Judaism. To the early rabbis, the world was overrun by them. We learned that in the Kabbalah, we see that these evil entities are in a very direct way embedded into the fabric of spiritual and material existence. In this chapter, we will venture away from the demons and look at the Jewish conception of ghosts in the Jewish tradition.
Before we get into the details, let me first describe the two main types of ghosts that we find in the literature.
DYBBUK - pIH'T - this word is technically in Yiddish, but is derived from the Hebrew word “Davek” which means to cling to or adhere. When a spirit of a dead person who is wandering or dislocated attaches to a human, this spirit is then called a Dybbuk. It’s essentially a form of possession, but instead of a demon, it is a spirit of the dead. Generally speaking, the possessed person doesn’t know he or she is possessed.
IBBUR - “ID’D - this is related to the above entity, but instead of being malignant like a Dybbuk, an Ibbur is generally positive. The word Ibbur means “Impregnation” or “Incubation.” In this form of possession, it is not a spirit of the dislocated dead that possesses a person, but a righteous person. Often these spirits will possess another to fulfill a mission. The person who is possessed may not know he or she is possessed, unless the Ibbur makes it known.
Most of us in the occult are familiar with Dybbuks and so it is with them that I will start.
There are two other terms for Dybbuk that I find truly captures what they are. “Dybbuk min Ha-Chizonim” or “ A Dybbuk from the outside.” Chizonim, as we saw, is one way to describe the Klippot and the Sitrac Achra. The other term for Dybbuk “Dybbuk Me-Ruach Ra’ah” or “A Dybbuk from an evil spirit.” To reiterate, this evil spirit is not that of a demon, but a dislocated soul of the dead.
A Dybbuk, as I stated earlier, has mostly malevolent intent towards the host it is attached to. It is commonly conceived that Dybbuks can haunt certain places and can be trapped in boxes. This is largely untrue. There is no Jewish precedence for such a belief. These spirits only possess a living being and not inanimate objects.
How Does a Soul become a Dybbuk?
In general, when a person dies, the soul should ideally go on its way to whatever realm it is supposed to go to. However, there are times when this doesn’t happen. There are many reasons why a soul may get disoriented after the death of the body. Often, sudden or violent deaths can cause a soul to lose its way so to speak. If the soul of a person came from someone who was wronged, it may cause his spirit to become angry, and it returns for malevolent intent and revenge. When this malfunction during the spirit's passage to the next world occurs, it more often than not creates a malignancy in the nature of this soul. This malignancy can show itself in four main ways.
The soul that has become a Dybbuk may have come from an evil person, and his or her spirit intentionally wants to harm the person he or she is possessing.
The soul that has become a Dybbuk may want to get revenge on someone in the living world.
The soul that has become a Dybbuk may have no reason whatsoever and simply possesses some poor Joe that comes along its path.
The soul might be experiencing hell or purgatory and is seeking relief by possessing a person. This became the widespread belief among the Kabbalists.
There are, of course, a myriad of reasons why a soul may want to return to harm the living, too many to mention here.
The Origin of the Dybbuk Tradition
The idea of a possessing spirit traces its roots back to the Old Testament. If you recall earlier in the book, we saw that David played the harp to remove Samuel's “foul mood."
1 Samuel 16:23 “ And it came to pass, when the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; so Saul found relief, and it was well with him, and the evil spirit departed from him.”
Although this verse was used to make the case that God uses evil spirits for his own work, it is often interpreted by others to mean that Samuel had a Dybbuk, and the harp drove the spirit out. In many ways, it is the first spiritual exorcism of sorts in the Jewish tradition. Fast-forward to a Twelfth-Century text, that told of a “lost” Talmudic account of spirit possession. Let's take a look.
“Once Rabbi Haninna ben Dosa went to immerse himself in the water of a cave. Samaritans came and placed a large rock over the mouth of the cave. The spirits came and removed it. Subsequently, an evil spirit, haunted a poor woman in the Rabbi Hanina’s neighborhood. His students said to him: Rabbi, see how this poor woman suffers grief from the evil spirit. Rabbi Hanina addressed the spirit: Why do you cause grief to the daughter of Abraham? The Spirit responded: Are you not the one who went down to dip in a cave and so on.. .until I came with my brothers and my father’s household and removed the rock. Is this how you pay me for the favor I did? He answered her: I decree.”
Then the passage breaks off. This is a much-cited passage. However, one issue with this text is that aithough it has a very Taimudic feei to it, the exact passage can’t be found in the Tamud. Some suggest that the Tweifth-Century rabbi who wrote of it, perhaps, was using a text that has now since been iost. This is very possibie since there is no doubt that there are iost texts of the Taimud. Another theory as to why this text may be a Taimudic text, but not entered into the “finaiized” version of the Taimud is because it had a very occuit feei to it. Who knows? In either case, it does sound iike something that came directiy from those texts.
I personaiiy beiieve the text is authentic because Rabbi Hanina had a reputation among evii spirits. Let us take a iook.
Pesachim 112b “initiaiiy, these demons were present every day. Once Agrat, daughter of Mahalat, met Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa and said to him: Had they not announced about you in the Heavens: Be careful of Hanina and his Torah, I would have placed you in danger. He said to her: If I am considered important in Heaven, I decree upon you that you should never travel through inhabited places. She said to him: I beg you, leave me a little space. He left for her Shabbat
nights and Tuesday nights.”
The reason I mention this passage is to give credence to the fact that Rabbi Hanina did have some sway with these spirits and therefore, the “unknown” Talmudic passage in which he is assumed to exorcise a spirit, is most likely authentic. This last passage mentioned demons, but it was to prove a broader point about the Rabbi.
There a few other stories of exorcism in the Talmud, but for the sake of brevity, I must move on.
In time, spirit possession moved away from demonic entities and to souls of the dead. This idea hit its peak in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries; right at the tail end of the Medieval period among certain European Jews.
The stories of spirit possession by a Dybbuk circulated widely and became the go-to explanation for various mental conditions and other mysterious conditions of unknown origin. This belief was so embedded into Judaism that several texts were written to address this. This was especially true for those who adhered to Kabbalistic teachings. The Kabbalists believed that if a person committed sins in this life, without repenting, their souls would be cast into hell or to a kind of purgatory. Some souls, in order to get respite from their torments, would find relief by possessing a person.
What is the nature of Dybbuks?
Although Dybbuks can be the souls of both men and women. In Jewish tradition, it is often understood that most Dybbuks are the souls of men who passed on. Possession of men was quite rare, but it did happen from time to time.
These male ghosts were often the ones who possessed women out of jealously, and usually during her wedding night. The women tend to be virgins, but not always, and the entry into the body is through the vagina, but also through the mouth. Although the unsuspecting woman may not feel any different, she will certainly act differently. Often the Dybbuk would have her act in a lewd manner. There is no limit as to how the Dybbuk can express itself within his host.
There are a few telltale signs of possession that seem to be consistent throughout Jewish history regarding Dybbuk possession. Some of the signs came in the form of epileptic seizures; this symptom was also considered a form of possession In Jesus’ time as well. The person who is possessed may appear to get swellings under the skin and have unusual strength. Another puzzling symptom is that many who are possessed, start to speak in languages they previously did not know.
Rachel Elior, a professor of Jewish philosophy at Hebrew University in Israel takes a more academic and psychological approach. She suggests that the women who were more prone to Dybbuk possession were women who were forced into arranged marriages. The “possession” would give her a sense of control and would stop an unwanted marriage dead in its tracks. This, of course, is an academic and psychological explanation and perhaps, in some cases, it is true. Elior makes another interesting statement that when Dybbuks do attach to men; the mitigating circumstances are often similar. When men were forced to marry, some of them would get possessed in order to avoid the arranged marriage. I am on the fence about the issue. I think in certain cases it is a psychological defense mechanism, but at the same time, some of the cases of possession are a bit graphic and would not lend to a natural or psychological cause.
In time, as the psychological sciences advanced, the report of Dybbuk possessions dropped. This advancement also coincided with more freedom for people who no longer wished to adhere to arranged marriages. By the twentieth-century, among most, but not all European Jewish communities, the idea shifted completely away from the supernatural causes to the psychological ones. There are some very religious ultra-Orthodox European Jews who do believe in Dybbuks still, as do many Sefardic and African Jewish Communities.
In general, I feel this total shift from Supernatural causes to a purely psychological ones is unfortunate because in some cases, it may not be wholly psychological. These poor people who
are truly possessed are drugged up and often, there is no improvement, and so they languish and are forgotten. I know it would be naive of me to think this would ever change, but it would be nice if we had organizations that would at least attempt to see if there is truly a sickness of the soul brought on by supernatural forces.
Since a Dybbuk is a spirit that possesses very much like demons do; an exorcism would be required. Sometimes the remedy would simply be that the possessed person be given a special Talisman to ward off the spirit, or a rite of exorcism would need to be performed. These exorcisms would be performed by Rabbis. I have not seen any instance in which a rabbi was not used. Even so, because it is not very common that exorcisms take place. Therefore, it is not one of the things learned during Rabbinic training. I asked my cousin who is a prominent Sefardic rabbi here in Manhattan if he was trained in exorcism. He stated that there is no formal practice or training for this. Whereas, in the Catholic Church, there are texts that specialize in exorcism. My cousin did say that even if such a formal practice was established, it wouldn’t be something that just every rabbi in training would learn. The Rabbi had to be of an especially high rank. I suspect he means holy. I say this because throughout Jewish history, those who did perform exorcisms were often mystics and famous Kabbalists in their own right.
Despite there not being a formal practice, there does seem to be a pattern to most of the exorcism that did take place. As with the Catholic version, there are prayers and biblical verses used, I guess that would be a given. The rabbis also used a horn called the Shofar. It was believed the blowing of these horns would release the spirits. We saw an inkling of this in one of the early chapters of this book. Aside from the Shofar, there was also the use of smoke to essentially drive the spirit away. There are times when the Rabbi would touch or shake the possessed person to encourage the spirit to leave. If all this didn’t work, the Rabbi would negotiate a kind of deal with the spirit. I am not sure exactly what kind of negotiating could take place, but I assume it has something to do with relieving the spirit so it would find peace once it left the body of the host.
As you see, Dybbuks were a big concern for Jews of the past and for some, it still is. I for one think more attention should be brought to this topic because I suspect that these possessions are a lot more common than one would think.
If you would like to read accounts of Dybbuk possession, you can find plenty online. However, I do recommend the writings of J. H. Chajes. His book Between Worlds: Dybbuks, Exorcists, and Early Modern Judaism is very good.
Before I end the discussion on Dybbuks, I need to address something that has been circulating around regarding them.
Dybbuk boxes are all the rage in the occult circles. I hear people stating that these boxes are well-known in Jewish tradition. Well, I hate to break it to you, but that is false. It's fake news so to speak.
Dybbuk boxes are not found ANYWHERE in Jewish tradition. In fact, that idea is a complete fabrication. Let me explain.
Prior to the early 2000s, no one even knew what a Dybbuk box was or if anything like it ever existed. It was only in 2001 when a writer by the name of Kevin Mannis claimed that he had a wine cabinet that was acquired from a holocaust survivor. He claimed that many hauntings occurred due to its presence. Supposedly, everyone who eventually crossed paths with it would claim of hauntings and other supernatural events. When Kevin decided to list it on Ebay in 2003, he created a sensational ad in order to sell it. That Ebay listing went “viral." People have been listing so called “Dybbuk boxes” ever since.
Is it possible for an item to be possessed by a spirit? Yes, absolutely, but is it necessarily a Dybbuk? It is unlikely. A Dybbuk is a very certain kind of spirit, and it is ONLY known to possess people, not inanimate objects in the Jewish tradition. My guess is that it is not necessarily a Dybbuk in the traditional sense of the word, but most probably demonic or a Jinn. Even if it was a Dybbuk, why on earth would a person want to own one?
In my mind, this is not only inviting unneeded harm to the person, but also it is a form of spiritual cruelty. Think about it, a Dybbuk is a lost soul so to speak. Why would you want to bind a lost soul into a box, much less have it on your altar or in your home? If anything, you should get that box exorcised and save that poor soul.
If it does turn out to be a true Dybbuk spirit locked inside a box, you are best to get rid of it as soon as possible, but try to have it exorcised first. No need to court undue hardship on yourself. Most buy these things for the thrill, the problem is, if that spirit takes hold of you or a loved one, good luck getting rid of it, even if you throw the box away, it's too late; that spirit is now on you like a poltergeist.
If you are thinking of buying such a box, I highly advise you not to do so. You have been warned.
Ibbur
As I mentioned earlier, an Ibbur is generally a positive possession, in contrast to the negative Dybbuk possession. The word Ibbur means “Impregnation” or “Incubation.” In this form of possession, it is not a spirit of the dislocated dead that possesses a person, but a righteous one or one that needs to “get their karma straight” so to speak. Often these spirits will possess another to fulfill a mission. The person who is possessed may not know he or she is possessed, unless the Ibbur makes it known.
The concept of the Ibbur originated in the thirteenth-century as interest in Reincarnation was becoming more mainstream in Kabbalistic circles. It was understood that there was always a reason why a soul would “impregnate” another person's soul and that was to fulfill something the impregnating soul did not complete OR to help the “pregnant” soul accomplish certain deeds. Unlike a Dybbuk that seeks to stay as long as possible in the host, an Ibbur only stays as long as it takes for its mission to be accomplished.
The Zohar, the main text of the Kabbalah cites several biblical stories and interpreted them in such a way to prove the existence of the Ibbur phenomena.
For example, there is an account of an Israelite man found to be secretly sleeping with a Midianite woman. This was forbidden in the Bible. A Man by the name of Phineas, whose grandfather was Aaron, was enraged and killed both the man and the Midianite woman with a single blow, piercing them both. The text states:
Numbers 25: 6-8, 14: “And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand. And he went after the man of Israel into the chamber, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly... Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a fathers' house among the Simeonites”
This gruesome account on the surface may seem like typical Old Testament gore. However, according to the Kabbalists, the souls of two men named Nadav and Abihu entered Phinehas in order to help him accomplish this murderous act. It would seem strange that those two would be chosen for this task, but I can see why. Those two men were part of the first priestly class of the Israelites. Their sin was not waiting for God to light a fire to consume a sacrifice, instead, they lit the fire first. This angered God, and he had them burned on the spot. In light of this, you’d think
that they would be Dybbuks, rather than Ibburs after death. However, the Rabbis state, as a way to atone for their misdeed, they entered Phineas in order to commit a righteous act; the act of killing a sinning Israelite.
How did they determine this? As with most Rabbinic texts, there are a lot of interesting interpretations, that on the surface, really don’t make sense. This is no different. The name of Phinehas in Hebrew is Pinchas, spelled OHJ'9. The Rabbis state that the name can be separated into two names.
]’S - Pin and OH - Chas. The name “Pin” has an extra letter in it, the middle letter Yod. The Rabbis state that the extra letter Yod is a secret indication that this represented the souls of Nadav and Abihu. I know that is quite a stretch, but it gets a little weirder still. A question was posed. Why two souls in one person? Rav Shimon states that since both Nadav and Abihu were not married, they are considered to be “half souls” and therefore, they would reincarnate as one in Phinehas. I know, not very convincing at all, but that is often how rabbinical exegesis is presented. Weirder still, when Phineas sinned with the daughter of Yiftach, he lost the Ibbur of Nadav and Abihu. The Ibbur eventually went to Samuel the prophet. Oh, and just as an aside, the Rabbis who constructed the Targumim, state that Phinehas later reincarnated as the prophet Elijah. It’s a mess.
There are countless stories of Ibbur possession within the texts of early and late Kabbalists writings, especially that of Rabbi Issac Luria, who made it popular. His student Rabbi Chaim Vital elaborated on this in his book The Book of Transmigrations. It is a little dense, but worth a read. You can find it on Amazon.com
Now that you have an understanding of how Jewish tradition views the ghostly and demonic phenomena, let me now move to the topic of how the Jews of various generations protected themselves, and removed demons and ghosts. After that, we will get into the rituals.
The Protection and Removal of Spirits
In this chapter, I would like to discuss the ways in which various Jewish traditions have protected themselves from evil forces and how they remove evil forces when they believed they were causing bad luck.
Since there is no single tradition regarding exorcism and protection from demons, I will itemize the more popular ideas here which may require me to jump around chronologically as I explain them.
Exorcising Spirits with Music
As we saw earlier, David used the harp to remove the troublesome spirit that was bothering Saul; a Spirit that God himself sent him. This method of spirit removal and protection is not unprecedented in Judaism. There was an idea that passed through ages, suggesting that music and song could repel demons and spirits. We see this very clearly in the Dead Sea Scrolls, in the Great Psalms Scroll collection called 11Q5. The name of one of these songs is songs to disperse demons.
The songs to disperse demons is comprised of four Psalms.
The First Exorcism Psalm: On Expelling Demons.
The Second Exorcism Psalm: Trusting in the Lord for Protection.
The Third Exorcism Psalm: The Lord has power to Strike Down Demons.
The Fourth Exorcism Psalm: Psalm 91.
The first Psalm is badly damaged, so it is not all that clear. The Second Psalms is penned by King Solomon himself. In it, he prays to God and calls upon angels for protection against evil spirits. The Third Psalms is most interesting because the Psalmist, assuming that is King David in this instance describes how a demon might appear. It states in Line 7 “... and your horns are the horns of illusion. You are darkness, not light.”
I find this very interesting; I believe it is the first time we have such a description in Judaism regarding demons or devils having horns.
The fourth Psalm is Psalm 91, which is famous the world over as a protective prayer.
As you see, the Dead Sea Scrolls show that during the Second Temple period, there was a tradition that rose up against the presence of evil spirits and devils using music. If you would like to read these four Psalms, I highly recommend The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible: The Oldest
Known Bible Translated for the First Time into English. Written by Martin Abegg, Peter Flint and Eugene Ulrich.
Exorcising Spirits with Smoke
In the Midrash Rabbah, Numbers 19, we see an indication as to how certain rabbis used roots and herbs to smoke out an evil possessing spirit. The text states:
“He said to him, "Has a restless spirit ever entered you?" He said to him, "No!" "Have you ever seen a man where a restless spirit entered him?" He said to him, "Yes!" [Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai] said to him, "And what did you do for him?" He said to him, "We brought roots and made them smoke beneath him and pour water, and it flees."
This fumigation technique was used ever since that time. The goal of this technique is to force the demon or evil spirit to reveal its name. Eventually, the smoke irritates the spirit so much that the spirit reveals its name. Once the Rabbi knows the name, he can then use it to compel the demon. This power of the name is also evident when Jesus asked a demon what its name was. There is power in the name.
Once the name is obtained, certain Psalms would be read to torture the spirit out of the person. The most popular Psalms aside from Psalms 91 is Psalms 10, 90 and Psalms 127. Ideally, the possessed person, as long as they still have their wits about them would be asked to recite these Psalms. If they are incapacitated by the spirit, the rabbi would recite them.
Another famous prayer that would be administered by the rabbis for this purpose is the Ana B’koach, also known as the Genesis Prayer or the 42 Letter Name of God.
For most, this would suffice, and the spirit would leave. However, other rabbis, mainly those of a more Lurianic Kabbalistic bent felt that the best way to remove a spirit is to work to rectify the negative “Karma” for lack of a better term of that spirit. If it is possessing someone, clearly, he has some evil taint on him. This rectification was not only for the possessing spirit, but also for the person who is possessed since it was understood that the person being possessed also had some taint that allowed for such a spirit to enter them in the first place. This rectification process is called a “Tikkun." This is a complex process and one too large for this book, but the gist of it is that the Rabbi intercedes on behalf of the possessing spirit to try to make it “whole,” thus when it leaves the body of the possessed person, they go to Heaven.
When the spirit leaves, it usually leaves behind a sign that it has departed. Often a person’s finger or toenail may bleed. In some cases, the spirit may leave from the throat or the rectum and in a not so pleasant way.
Protection Against Evil Spirits Using Incantation Bowls
An incantation bowl, also known as a demon bowl may sound ominous, but it is a good thing for those who are trying to rid their abode of demons. These bowls were generally made of clay and contain certain prayers, protective magickal spells and words of power written in and around them. I mention them because many of these bowls were constructed to protect against some of the more dangerous demons in Judaism such as Lilith. I will get into those in a moment. As you may suspect, almost all incantation bowls were found in the Middle East, more specifically in Babylon and Persia or Modern-day Iraq and Iran respectively. Most were produced between the sixth and eight-centuries A.D. Generally speaking, the bowls were created by qualified scribes. When a household purchased one of these bowls, they would then bury it upside down at the entrance of a home; sometimes also in the corners of the home. The idea was that demons would get caught in the bowl as they try to enter the abode. These bowls are invaluable because they don’t simply represent a kind of “superstition” they also tell a lot about the everyday practices and beliefs of the people who created them. There is no doubt that they were used during the Talmudic period, we know this based on the dating of the Hebrew font, wording and the script that was used on these bowls. Despite that, there is no mention of them in the Talmudic literature.
As I stated earlier, the bowls would contain incantations, spells and words of power. Often these words would be derived from the Bible, Talmudic quotations and names of prominent rabbis. I guess you could say they used the Rabbis names very much how the Catholics use Saints for protection among other things.
Here is an example of an Incantation bowl.
Incantation bowl with Aramaic inscriptions binding a demon. Nippur, Mesopotamia 6th-7th Century A.D. Photograph taken by Marie-Lan Nguyen https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Incantation_bowl_demon_Met_L1999.83.3.jpg
It is interesting to note that although we know of these bowls largely from Jewish settlements, we do know that others used them as well. Other groups such as the Mandaeans, Mazdeans and Christians who lived in Babylon at the time. It was a common practice.
Almost all the bowls found in Iraq had a common structure. They all opened with some kind of divine incantation, which is then followed by the name of the person who is requesting the protection. After that, the bowl gets into the specific kind of protection required. It is at that point that they would enter the names of the demons they are trying to get rid of. More often than not, it is Lilith or Lilith-like beings. We also see a few against the evil eye in general, and a demon named Bagdana. This is then followed by another incantation, and then it concludes.
Since most were created with Lilith in mind, I will provide one here for your reference. Please note this section was excerpted in part from my book The Magick of Lilith.
In terms of Bowls against Lilith, there is a famous one housed in the University of Pennsylvania. It has a very direct reference to Lilith; let’s take a look at some of the legible wording.
In the name of the Lord of salvations.
Designated is this bowl
for the sealing of the house of this
Geyonai bar Mamai,
that there flee from him the evil Lilith,
in the name of "YHWH-El has scattered";
the Lilith,
the male Lilin
the female liliths,
the Hag [ghost?],
and the Snatcher,
the three of you,
the four of you
and the five of you.
Naked are you sent forth, nor are you clad,
with your hair disheveled
and let fly behind your backs.
It is made known to you,
whose father is named Palhas
and whose mother is Pelahdad:
Hear and obey
and come from from the house and dwelling of this
Geyonai bar Mamai,
and from Rashnoi his wife,
the daughter of Marath.
...Be informed herewith
that Rabbi Joshua bar Perahia
has sent the ban against you....
A divorce-writ has come down to us from Heaven, and therein is found written
your advisement and your intimidation,
in the name of Palsa-Pelisa ["Divorcer-Divorced"], who renders to thee thy divorce and thy separation,
your divorces and your separations.
Thou, Lilith, male lili and female lilith, Hag and Snatcher, be under the ban...of Joshua bar Perahia,
who has thus spoken:
A divorce-writ has come for you
from across the sea....
Hear it and depart from
the house and dwelling of this
Geyonai bar Mamai,
and from Rashnoi his wife,
the daughter of Marath.
You shall not again appear to them,
either in a deram by night
or in slumber by day,
because you are sealed with the signet of El-Shaddai,
and with the signet of the house of Joshua bar Perahia
and by the Seven who are before him.
Thou, Lilith, male lili and female lilith, Hag and Snatcher,
I adjure you
by the Strong One of Abraham,
by the Rock of Isaac,
by the Shaddai of Jacob,
by Yah [is] his name...,
by Yah his memorial...
I adjure you to turn away from this
Geyonai bar Mamai,
and from Rashnoi his wife,
the daughter of Marath.
Your divorce and writ and letter of separation... sent through holy angels... the Hosts of fire in the spheres, the Chariots of El-Panim before him standing, the beasts worshipping in the fire of his throne and in the water... Amen, Amen, Selah, Halleluiah!
Patai78:225f.
As you can see, she is well reviled. Here is a picture of the bowl.
6th century A.D. incantation bowl (overview) University Museum, University of Pennsylvania.
Interestingly enough, a few bowls were found that were not protective in nature but were magick spells for other things like to acquire love and even one to cause a couple to divorce. The only problem with these is that it is hard to determine if they are truly of Jewish nature, they seem to be a mix of different cultures at that time. For example, the one used by a woman to gain the love of her husband uses terminology that is not distinctly Jewish, but yet has a Jewish feel at the same time and at times has Hebrew lettering. Let us take a look.
The Inscription:
“In the name of the Lord of Heaven and earth. Appointed is this bowl in regard to Anur-son of Parkoi, that he be inflamed and kindled and burn after Ahath, daughter of Nebazak.
“Presses of eternity (?) which have only been pressed (?) . . a man in his heart. One takes hrk and hot-herbs, which they call sunwort, mtlln and peppers . . . and the mysteries of love which she has sprinkled upon . . ., she shall sprinkle upon this Anur, son of Parkoi, so that he be inflamed and kindled and burn after Ahath, daughter of Nebazak. and in passion and in the mysteries of love . . . pieces from his heart....
“In the name of the angel Rahmiel and in the name of Dlibat the passionate . . . the gods, the lords of all the mysteries. Amen, Amen.”
Inscription source: A. Montgomery, .J."A Love Charm On an Incantation Bowl" journal Magazine . (): n. pag. The Museum Journal. Penn Museum, Web. 27 Jan 2019 <http://www.penn.museum/sites/journal/?p=103>
As you can see, this is clearly a love spell using an incantation bowl. We see that the driver of the spell is the angel Rahmiel and Dlibat. Both names have a very distinctive Jewish feel.
Rahmiel is an interesting angel to use for this spell. Although the source of the above incantation states that he is the angel of “love." He is, in fact, an angel of Mercy. His name means “Mercy of God.” He is found in Rabbinic tradition as well as in the book of Raziel the angel. In that book, he is one of the angels on the Amulet AGAINST Lilith.
In terms of Dlibat, this is a VERY obscure name that is found in Hebrew, and Mandaean love spells. Her other, more common name is Libat. It is interesting to note that in certain Mandean texts, her name is written as “Ishtar-Dlibat.”
Another thing I find odd about this passage is... “ The gods, the lords of all the mysteries. Amen, Amen.” This to me seems a bit suspect and not very Jewish YET, Libat has been used in Jewish spells before. This is most probably a kind of Jewish Hybrid love spell. I admit, I am scratching my head a little here. This sounds a bit too polytheistic for a Jewish or even a Mandean Incanation bowl, yet, it is written on them.
Amulets and Talismanic Magick
Talismanic Magick and Seals in general, are as old as humanity itself. Often, Talismans and Amulets are confused, although there is significant overlap. Amulets are generally used for protection, whereas Talismans are used for good luck and to bring about certain outcomes such as to attract love, money, etc. In many ways, incantation bowls that we discussed earlier can be both an amulet and a Talisman of sorts. I will use Talisman and Amulets interchangeably in this text for ease of use.
Talismans are taken very seriously and have various classes based on HOW they are used.
The most common category of Talismans are those that are worn on the body for protection.
The Second common category of Talismans are the ones that are hung over a bed to heal sickness or to ward off demons.
The Third Most common categories of Talisman are used for medicinal purposes of various kinds. They can either be immersed in water to “charge” the water with healing energies that are emanating from this Talisman or worn on the person. An additional way this is used is by inscribing the letters from a Talisman on food so the person could eat, and the healing energies will transfer into the body.
The fourth way to use Talismans is for various other reasons such as to conquer one's enemies, to gain wealth, to find love, acquire knowledge and attain magickal powers, etc.
Fifth Category of Talisman is the Bible itself. The Bible is often used as a standalone Talisman. It is either placed on the chest of the individual or under the pillow or bed.
The Jewish tradition alone is very well-known for its amulet’s. Even to this day many Jewish people, especially those who come from Middle Eastern countries tend to have greater affinity for Talismans. Often in this tradition, it is called “Camea” Or “Kamea." Generally speaking, the Talismans tend to be comprised of angelic names, names of God, as well as scriptural passages from the Old Testament.
A famous Judaic amulet is the one against “Lilith” The demoness and first wife of Adam, who is considered the cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Night Paralysis/Night terrors; she is also the prototype for the Succubus. This seal is found in a Jewish magickal text called “ Sefer Raziel Hamalach” Or the Book of Raziel the Angel. Please see image.
Amulet against Lilith in Sefer Raziel Hamalach
There is another popular one against Lilith, also from the book of Raziel. Often, I see this one circulating through the occult community stating that it is for one thing or another. However, based on the text of Sefer Raziel, this is for protection against the evil eye, demons and black magick. However, it was meant primarily for pregnant women so that their child is protected against witchcraft, demons and the evil eye.
Jewishencyclopedia.com
In the book of Raziel, it states that Adam constructed this amulet. Of course, there is no way to prove that. One thing we do know is that this is the second most popular amulet in Jewish tradition behind the amulet against Lilith, I showed you earlier.
All Religious Jews use Talismans every day and may not even consider it as such. The Tallit which is the prayer shawl they wear in the synagogue is a Talisman as is the Tiztzit, which is the fringed corners that is worn daily. It serves as a remembrance of God and his special connection to them. The same applies to the Mezuzah which is nailed to the door posts of most Jewish homes; this too would qualify as a Talisman since it is a parchment paper with biblical inscriptions, which is then rolled up and placed in a holder. And of course, the most famous Jewish amulet is the Star of David.
Earlier in the book, we saw that in general, Judaism tries to avoid magick or spells as much as possible; it fails miserably, but it tries.
There are many references to ornaments and jewelry in the Old Testament. We can safely assume some of them were Amulets and Talisman. However, it is not always clear if they truly are. Therefore, I will bypass the Old Testament and look to the Talmud for more concrete proof of Jewish amulet usages, especially against demons and other misfortunes.
Yoma 84a “ One bitten by a mad dog will die. The Gemara asks: What is the remedy? Abaye said: Let him bring the skin of a male hyena and write on it: I, so-and-so, son of so-and-so, am writing this spell about you upon the skin of a male hyena: Kanti kanti kelirus. And some say he should write: Kandi kandi keloros. He then writes names of God, Yah, Yah, Lord of Hosts, amen amen Selah...”
(Please do not try the remedy above)
The Rabbis encourage that a certain incantation should be written down as an amulet of sorts. Apparently, this was a remedy for Rabies. I say that because Rabies always kills its host and often drives dogs mad. Let us take a look at another.
Shabbat 61a “ What is an effective amulet? It is any amulet that healed one person once, and healed him again, and healed him a third time. That is the criterion for an effective amulet, and it applies to both a written amulet and an amulet of herbal roots; both if it has proven effective in healing a sick person who is dangerously ill, and if it has proven effective in healing a sick person who is not dangerously ill. It is permitted to go out with these types of Amulets on Shabbat.”
That is conclusive evidence to me that The Talmudic sages were certainly ok with Amulets. In fact, nearly this entire section of the Tractate Shabbat deals with laws and ideas around Amulets. It’s a bit dry and at times confusing, but it is interesting. Let us look at one more from the Talmud.
Pesachim 111b “ It was stated above that the demons found near the sorb tree are called sheidei. The Gemara comments: This sorb tree that is close to the city contains no less than sixty demons. The Gemara asks: What is the practical difference of this statement? The Gemara answers: It is relevant for writing an amulet for this number.”
Yet another instance of amulet language. This time to repel demons that are located in a Sorb tree, also known as a Service Tree.
The most famous tradition surrounding Talismans and Amulets is a text known as the “Greater Key of Solomon.” It contains over 40 amulets and Talismans for various purposes. Its true origin is shrouded in mystery, so it is very hard for me to definitively state this is a pure Jewish tradition, and therefore, I will not go into depth about in the body of this book, but I will add it as a bonus chapter at the end. The reason for this is because it is not directly Jewish, I feel it would muddy up the intent of the main body of this text.
The Hamsa
The Hamsa is by far the most popular amulet against the evil eye and evil in general. Most associate it with Judaism, but it can be found across the Middle East. The word Hamsa means “five” therefore, the amulet has five fingers.
Here is one I purchased not too long ago.
I also have a Hamsa as the cover of this book.
The use of the Hamsa does not start with the Jews but was a tradition from Ancient Mesopotamia where the Jews picked it up. It was an image in honor to the Goddess Ishtar. For the Jews, it represents, in many ways, the protective hand of God. You do not see as many Hamsa among European Jews as much as you see from Middle Eastern ones. It is on many texts, marriage agreements, the Passover Haggadah and a few other places. It was used as a general amulet against all evil that could possibly come upon a person, not just against the evil eye. Now it is more of a fashion statement for the nonreligious. It is a very beautiful symbol I must say.
As you have learned, there are several ways the Jewish tradition deals with demonic and ghostly forces. It doesn’t make a distinction, whether the entity that is bothering you is a demon or a ghost. The methods pretty much remain the same.
PART VI - RITUALS
Introduction to the Rituals
We have come to the ritual portion of the book. Thank you for enduring to this point; I know it was a lot.
I will be presenting here five rituals/meditations. Many will contain original Aramaic and Hebrew. I translate and transliterated when necessary. I have performed these meditations and rituals, so I know they work. Please note that I have not provided a ritual for every single demon we discussed. I will provide five for this book. In every single ritual, I will mention Samael and or Lilith as witnesses since they are the keepers of the Sitra Achra.
Each ritual and/or meditation will be a chapter unto its own. The first meditation is visual; I created a video for it. The link will be provided in that chapter. Let us begin.
Concerns About Protection
I, for one, do not perform many protection rites before a ritual. I feel, for me, if you approach the demonic without fear, you are just fine, and this ideology has kept me safe for that last 30 or so years. However, I do understand that people do feel they need protection. I get it. In light of this, I recommend Psalms 91 before every ritual. It has been historically used in Jewish and Hebrew demonology since time immemorial. I suggest, if you are concerned with protection, please say this before every ritual.
NIV: Psalms 91:
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side,ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you .You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
The Unification of Samael and Lilith
Samael and Lilith are the foundation of the Sitra Achra. All forces that emerge from the Klippot are from their union.
In this meditation, I will use a technique I have used in other books that have a deep foundation in Lurianic Kabbalah. This kind of meditation is called a Yichud. In it, we merge the names of two entities in a meditation. I use this method often because it is simply one of the most powerful of the Kabbalistic meditations. For this, a video has been created. The link can be found at the end of this chapter. I will also present it here in text as well.
The intent of this meditation is to bring together the entire Sitra Achra into one’s own mind. This will convey a power on the discerning occultist. Samael and Lilith embody the entire process of creation of the left-hand emanations. This meditation will not only bring these forces together in your own life, but it will enhance EVERY single Left-hand path ritual you perform since, in the end, all of it is under the purview of Samael and Lilith... Let us begin.
Meditation:
Please make sure that this is something you want to do. You are about to merge the very essence of the Sitra Achra together in your mind. This may appear to be a simple meditation, but it can have a profound impact on your mind.
When you are ready, find a comfortable place where you will not be disturbed for the next five minutes.
Take five deep breaths. Don’t force it, just let it be. Five deep breaths.
Repeat the following words: Samael, Lilith joined together as one.
SAMAEL VE LILIT KE-ECHAD
(SAMAEL AND LILITH AS ONE)
In a moment, you will see the name of Samael appear before your eyes, in Hebrew. Study the letters, sit with it.
?xno
Now, the name of Samael will slowly disappear. Now, please focus on the name of Lilith in Hebrew. Study the letters, sit with it.
D’?’?
Now pronounce, once again the Hebrew:
SAMAEL VE LILIT KE-ECHAD
Now visualize the name of Samael and Lilith joined together as a one.
n'^^K'n^o
Feel this union now; the Sitra Achra, as one. Sit with this. Let the image of these the two names together etch in your mind's eye.
Now, slowly reorient yourself to your surroundings. What you have done is unify the foundation of the Sitra Achra in your mind. This, alone, can give you insight, but it will mostly serve as a way to prime you for when you work with the darker side of the spectrum.
Thus concludes this meditation.. .So mote it be.
Here is the link to the video:
https://baalkadmon.com/demonmeditation/
In this ritual, you will call upon Samael and Naamah and her minions, to protect you from an enemy and in turn, defeat them, bind them and the like. This ritual will involve some Aramaic; I will transliterate, but if you must, you may say it in English. I will provide a link to the audio at the end of the chapter.
Here is what you will need:
Two black candles.
Incense, any will do. However, I would recommend Frankincense, that is always my go-to scent.
A bowl.
A Piece of paper.
Let us begin:
This ritual can be done on the night of any day of the week. I would suggest that if you could time it for when the moon is new, that would be ideal.
Place the bowl at the center of the altar.
Light the two black candles and place them on either side of the bowl.
Light the incense and place it wherever you please, so long as it does not obstruct access to the bowl.
Write the name of the enemy or enemies you wish Samael and Naamah to handle on the piece of paper and place it in front of the bowl.
Now say the following incantation, preferably in Aramaic, but English is fine too. I will supply the Aramaic first and then the English. I will also provide an audio file you can listen to at the end of this chapter with the pronunciation.
Aramaic transliterated:
“BEH SHEM SAMAEL, MELECH MALKEY MALEECHA. ATA DEEMPAKDEEN EYNON AL MACHAT OYEVEEN. TEESHLECHA ROOCHOTA BISHTA, ROOCHA DSHKAVA BEN KAVREI OOROOCHA DSHKAVA BEN EEGREI, OOROOCHA DSHKAVA BEPAGRAH BE-RASHA.
BEH SHEM SAMAEL, MELECH MALKEY MALEECHA, TEESHLECHA NAAMAH BAT AYIN RA’AH. MASTEEMA, MATRITA, EVIREYATA KARAN LEKI. NAAMAH,
MACHAT OYEVEEN.
English:
“By the name of Samael, King of the Kings of Kings, you are appointed over the destruction of my enemies. Send the evil spirits, the spirits that reside in the graves and the spirits that reside on the roof tops and the spirits that inhabit the body and the head.
By the name of Samael, King of the Kings of Kings, send Naamah, the daughter of the evil eye. They call you the one who makes blind, the smiter. Naamah, destroy the enemy.”
Now take the piece of paper with the name of your enemy on it and place in the bowl. Now safely, light it on fire. Make sure you do this safely.
As it burns say in Hebrew.
“ Samael Ve Lilit Ke-Echad.”
“Samael and Lilith as one. “
Now sit with this for a bit, feel the power of Naamah, and Samael as they do their work for you.
When you are ready, thank Samael and Naamah in the way you see fit. Take the burnt piece of paper and flush it down the toilet. Doing so is the ultimate act of disrespect for your enemy.
When Samael and Naamah have done their work for you, it is vital that you make some kind of announcement that it has been done.
You should only have to do this once. If you do feel drawn to do it again, you may do so. Again, ideally on the New Moon, if possible.
Here is the link to the audio: https://baalkadmon.com/demonmeditation/
Demonic Healing
In this ritual, we will call upon Agrat bat Mahlat for healing, she is ideal for this since she is usually the cause of such things to her enemies. I know it is not easy to think of using an evil spirit of sickness to bestow healing. However, I know this works. If this feels uncomfortable for you, please do not perform it. You will notice that in the ritual it will have blank spaces. The first of the blank spaces would be your name or the person you want healing for. That will be followed up by “daughter or son” of and the name of the person's father. You would pick son or daughter as it applies to your case.
Here is what you will need:
Two black candles.
Incense, any will do. However, I would recommend Frankincense, that is always my go-to scent.
A bowl with water.
A clean and sterile pin you can use to prick your finger for a drop of blood. MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS SAFELY.
Let us begin:
This ritual can be done on the night of any day of the week. I would suggest that if you could time it for when the moon is new, that would be ideal.
Place the bowl at the center of the altar.
Light the two black candles and place them on either side of the bowl.
Light the incense and place it wherever you please so long as it does not obstruct access to the bowl.
Have the pin ready.
Sit before your altar and think of the healing you need. You may also use this to heal others as well.
Now say the following incantation, preferably in Aramaic, but English is fine too. I will supply the Aramaic first and then the English. I will also provide an audio file you can listen to at the end of this chapter with the pronunciation.
Aramaic transliterated:
“BESHEEMECH, AGRAT BAT MAHLAT. BAT MAHLAT, BAT EESHTA, BAT
MACHALA, BAT LILA.
BESHEEMECH, ANI OSEH KADISHA RABA OSATA LA _________ BAT/BEN
(DAUGHTER/SON) ____________. MESHBANA ALECHI ANTEE ROOCHA BISHTA.
TEESHEMI LI KE RABI HANINA BEN DOSA.
AGRAT BAT MAHLAT, ASOOTA MIN HA SITRA ACHRA LA______ BAT/BEN
(DAUGHTER/SON) ______. BESHEEMECH, ROOCHIN, SHEDDIN OOBEESHTEEN LO
TEEKARVOON ___________ BEN/BAT (DAUGHTER/SON) _________. AMEN SELAH.”
English:
“In your name, Agrat bat Mahlat, the daughter of Mahlat, the daughter of fevers, the daughter of sickness. In your name I do this, in your holy name, may there be healing for ________
daughter/son of ___________. I swear and adjure you, oh evil spirit, listen to me, as you listened
to Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa.
Agrat bat Mahlat, bring healing from the Sitra Achra for ________ daughter/son of
_____________. In your name, may spirits of affliction not come near ___________ daughter/son of __________. Amen, Selah.”
Now take the pin and pierce your finger just slightly. Place the drop of blood in the bowl of water.
Now say:
“ Samael Ve Lilit Ke-Echad.”
“Samael and Lilith as one. “
Now sit with this for a little bit. Feel the parts of you starting to heal. If this is for another person, please visualize the healing for them. Since you may not be able to get the blood of the person you want healing for, your own blood will be a surrogate.
Conclude the ritual by saying again:
“ Samael Ve Lilit Ke-Echad.”
“Samael and Lilith as one. “
Leave the water with the blood on your altar overnight. The next morning, say again:
“ Samael Ve Lilit Ke-Echad.”
“Samael and Lilith as one. “
Take the water and pour it out in a plant or in nature.
Thus concludes this ritual. This ritual can be done every week if need be. If you must do it every week, please do it on Friday night since that is when Agrat Bat Mahlat is at her most powerful.
Here is the link to the audio: https://baalkadmon.com/demonmeditation/
The Demon of Wisdom
In this ritual, we will be calling upon Asmodeus, or in Aramaic/Hebrew Ashmadai. Asmodeus is by far one of the most ancient of demons in the Hebrew tradition. He has “seen it all.” From the beginnings of time, to the time of the great King Solomon, to the present.
Here is what you will need:
Two black candles.
Incense, any will do. However, I would recommend Frankincense, that is always my go-to scent.
On the front of a piece of paper, please write down the knowledge that you seek. Is it regarding a specific topic? Is it general occult knowledge? Write in brief what it is you need to know.
Ashmadai is perfect for this task. On the back of the paper, please write in Aramaic:
’Tun x^n 'Ki”
This means: “Asmodeus, King of the demons.” This paper will serve as a Talisman that you either keep under your pillow or you can place in the area in which you find you spend most of your waking time in your home.
Let us begin:
This ritual can be done on the night of any day of the week, MONDAY is preferred. I would suggest that if you could time it for the New Moon, that would be ideal. If Monday does not correspond to the New Moon, please do it on the Monday after the New Moon.
Light the two black candles and place them wherever you want on the altar.
Light the incense and place it wherever you like.
Sit before your altar and think the desires to acquire wisdom. What does that mean to you?
Now say the following incantation, preferably in Hebrew but English is fine too. I will supply the Hebrew first and then the English. I will also provide an audio file you can listen at the end of this chapter with the pronunciation.
Hebrew/Aramaic transliterated:
“ASHMADAI, MALCHEI SHEDDIN VE ROOCHIN RAROT. TEN LEE ET HACHOCHMA SHEH’ANKATAM HAMELECH SHLOMO. MELECH SHLOMO CHEEPES ET
HASHAMIR, HARITA LO. SHLOMO BEEKESH CHOCHMA KEDEAI LARCHOSH SHALITA AL HASHEDIN, ASEETA ZOT. TEN LI ET OTO CHOCHMA SHEH’NATATA
LE MELECH SHLOMO. BEH SHEM, SAMAEL HA MELECH, VE’ET LILIT HAMATRONIT.”
English:
“Asmodeus, King of the demons and evil spirits, bestow upon me the wisdom you have bestowed upon King Solomon. When Solomon sought the Shamir, you showed to him, when he sought the wisdom to acquire control of the demons, you have done so. Grant me the same wisdom you have granted King Solomon. In the name of Samael, the angel and the great Matron Lilith. “
Now say:
“ Samael Ve Lilit Ke-Echad.”
“Samael and Lilith as one. “
Pick the piece of paper and say “ Ashmadai, charge this Talisman bearing your name, in the name of Samael your overlord.”
Now say again:
“ Samael Ve Lilit Ke-Echad.”
“Samael and Lilith as one. “
Sit with this Talisman in your hands. Let Ashmadai infuse it with his essence. You may experience many different sensations, don’t fear them. Let them flow as the Talisman is charged with its intended purpose.
When you are ready say the following three times to close out the ritual.
“Blessed are you, Ashmadai, King of the demons; patron of wisdom. I thank you to go in peace in the name of Samael.”
Here is the link to the audio: https://baalkadmon.com/demonmeditation/
Love and Lust of Another - Lilith and Naamah
In this ritual, we will be calling upon Lilith and Naamah. As I discussed earlier in the book, Lilith and Naamah have a symbiotic relationship. Both seduced Adam, both use their lust and seductive powers over mankind. Therefore, I have included them in a single ritual. Unlike the other rituals that allows for the option to perform on a New Moon or not. This ritual MUST be done on the New Moon. I know, this might seem a bit strict, but I know from experience, this works best when performed on the New Moon. Please note that this ritual may not be suitable for all audiences since it contains sexual material.
Here is what you will need:
Two black candles.
Incense, any will do. However, I would recommend Frankincense, that is always my go-to scent.
If you have a picture of the one you are lusting after, please have it handy. If you do not, please write their name on a piece of paper.
Let us begin:
Make sure to do this ritual on the New Moon. Its very important since that is when these energies are most potent.
Light the two black candles and place them wherever you want on the altar.
Light the incense and place it wherever you like.
Sit before your altar and think of the person you want to inspire love or lust in.
Now say the following incantation, preferably in Hebrew/Aramaic; English is fine too. I will supply the Hebrew/Aramaic first and then the English. I will also provide an audio file you can listen to at the end of this chapter with the pronunciation.
Hebrew/Aramaic transliterated:
“LILITH VE NAAMAH, TOFEEU LEFANI, LILITH VE NAAMAH TA’VOO ELY, MAPHTEEEM SHEL GAN EDEN VE’GHEHEENOM. TAVEEOO LEE_________. KAPHIN
VLO ACHEEL, ZAHEE VLO SHATI, NA’IM VLO DAMICH AD SHEH-HEM MEGEEYIM ELY.
BESHEMA D’LILIT
BESHEMA D’NAAMAH
AZIZATA.
TAVO ELY ___________”
English:
“Lilith and Naamah, appear before me. Lilith and Naamah, come to me, oh great seductresses of heaven and hell. Bring to me ______________. May _____________ be hungry and not eat, be
thirst but not drink, be tired but not lie down to sleep until they come to me.
In the name of Lilith
In the name of Naamah
The passionate.
Come to me _______________.”
Now say:
“ Samael Ve Lilit Ke-Echad.”
“Samael and Lilith as one. “
Pick the piece of paper or picture of the person and say again:
“ Samael Ve Lilit Ke-Echad.”
“Samael and Lilith as one. “
Sit with the picture or piece of paper in your hands. Stir up lust for this person. Think about them intently. Hold this image with one hand while you “be” with yourself in the way that you are most comfortable with.
Once you are satisfied. Say again:
“ Samael Ve Lilit Ke-Echad.”
“Samael and Lilith as one. “
Take the name of the person or their picture and hide it away until the next New Moon. If the person is still not responsive, do this ritual one more time.
If the person does respond, please be sure to thank Lilith and Naamah. Make an offering as you see fit. It must be authentically from you and not a contrived, routine procedure.
Thus concludes this ritual.
Here is the link to the audio: https://baalkadmon.com/demonmeditation/
CONCLUDING CHAPTERS
Conclusion
My friends, there you have it. The longest text I have written to date. I almost didn’t make the publication deadline, but I did; with ONE day to spare. This book may not have been heavy with rituals, but it was certainly heavy with information. I have yet to find a book that contains this much information in one place. I truly hope you learned a lot.
As you have seen, there is no one demonological tradition in Judaism, it is scattered throughout various texts. Some, very odd as you have seen. As scattered as it is, I feel it is of the utmost importance that it be studied. Many of the demons we have grown close to in the Occult originate in these texts. For example, Belial, Asmodeus, Naamah etc. Without the Rabbinic texts, we would not know of them.
Thank you again for enduring with me. I know it wasn’t easy to get through; it wasn’t easy for me to write, it took a lot out of me. I will be taking some time off from writing, just to regroup. I will be back at it soon enough.
Blessings to you all.
Bonus Chapter - The Testament of King Solomon
I am adding this chapter as a bonus. I, at first, wasn’t going to add it at all because the text is not truly a Jewish text; I wanted to stay true to the title of this book. However, I asked many of you what you thought and most told me to add it at the back of the book since it is such a pivotal text in Occult lore. So as not to disrupt the core text, I have added it here.
The Old Testament Apocryphal text called “The Testament of King Solomon,” is a text that provides the very foundation of Geotic magick. In fact, some of the demons in Geotia first appear in the Testament of Solomon.
The text was originally written in Greek. Although text is ascribed to Solomon, it is more likely as recent as the first-century A.D. The reason I did not want to add this to the body of this book is because it has many elements that are decidedly Christian; with a smattering of Greek mythological themes. It is here we have one of the first references to Beelzebub. Again, He is not a demon in Jewish literature, but he is in the Christian texts. There are elements that do have some connection to the Talmud, but not many. Even the King of demons in this text does not match what the Rabbis said who the demon was; mainly Ashmadai.
I must admit, the Testament of Solomon is not a thrilling read, but it is still very informative.
Here is a quick synopsis: It starts right from the start with the demons. A Demon by the name of Ornias was harming this young man who was apparently well-liked by King Solomon. He harmed him like most demons would; he stole half his money and slowly, through the young man’s thumbs sucked his energy out of him. Solomon hears of this and in his prayer, the archangel Michael appears to him and gives him a ring. The ring of course is this famous “Seal of Solomon” we have heard so much about. Solomon gives the young man this ring and throws the ring at the demon who is vexing him. This act places the demon under his control. In an interesting twist, Solomon orders the demon Ornias to imprint the ring on the prince of all demons “Beelzebul." Yes, Beelzebul as opposed to Beelzebub. I am wondering if this was an intentional misspelling or meant to suggest there is another demon with a very similar name. From what I know of demonology, this should be Beelzebub.
Now that the prince of demons is under Solomon’s control, he forces Beelzebul to call upon his entire demon race to construct the first temple for him. The Testament would be rather dull if it was only about the construction of the temple, but it gets deeper and a bit more interesting. We start to meet certain demons who are responsible for various kinds of things. Since these demons are now under Solomon’s control, they were also compelled to give him the information needed to banish them.
In one of the more interesting and slightly baffling demonic encounters, we find Solomon sending one of his boy servants with the ring to capture a wind demon who is causing trouble in the land of Arabia. The boy is given very specific instructions. He must hold a wineskin against the winds and with the ring in front of it, and when the bag is full, he ties it up. Apparently, that was all it took to capture this great wind demon.
This wind demons name is Ephippas and it was through his power that some of the larger cornerstones would be moved around. I guess he would cause a great wind to lift them. It is the encounter with this demon where we find an apparent Christian theme. While Ephippas was working on the temple it was clear he was not happy. Solomon approaches the demon, and they talk. Turns out the demon wasn’t lamenting his plight with Solomon but of the future arrival of one who will be able to defeat all demons. He describes this man as ’a man who will be born of a virgin, who will be betrayed by the Jews and crucified by the Romans.’. I’d say that is a very Christian theme, wouldn’t you agree? Now one can say that demons can see the future so could this account be possible in the time of Solomon? I suppose so, but I am not so sure. I have a feeling it was redacted later by Christians who wanted the book to steer more towards their agenda.
Ephippas after saying this to Solomon continues on with his work, he and a demon from the Red Sea brought a beautiful purple column to add to the temple. The name of this Red Sea demon is Ameloith. This demon has some very interesting credentials. He claimed that he was the demon who supported the pharaoh’s magicians against Moses. Oddly enough he also confesses to hardening Pharaoh’s heart.
In a brazen account that smacks of Greek Mythology is the encounter that Solomon has with the seven demon sisters. Oddly enough they state that they live in Mount Olympus. This is a clear reference to the seven demon sisters who represent the Pleiades in Greek Mythology. Another interesting connection to Greek Mythology is the demon Enepsigos; who tells Solomon that he is associated with the moon and can appear as a woman with 3 heads? HEKATE ANYONE?
Solomon eventually concludes the Testament with a warning to all of humanity that we should avoid becoming like him, and that we should be mindful of our actions since we don’t always know what they will lead us to in the future. That’s pretty sound advice.
There are other odd stories from this testament; I highly recommend that you take a read of it.
Bonus Chapter - The Key of King Solomon
The Key of King Solomon is another text that is highly suspect. Not that it is not true, but that it claims to be of Jewish origin. Since I could not fully ascertain its origin, I have placed here in the back of the book.
The Key of Solomon aka Clavicula Salomonis in Latin and Mafteach Shelomoh in Hebrew is probably something you are familiar with. The Solomonic Talismans or pentacles as sometimes they are referred to as in the book are by far the most popular of the Talismans and seals in the occult tradition. In every book on seals and Talismans that I have seen, they reference them. In modern times, the one who put it on the Map was the great occultist S. L. MacGregor Mathers in 1889.
Many historians place the writing of this book somewhere between the fifteenth-sixteenth centuries in Italy. There are quite a few versions of this book, some conform almost to the letter, and some seem to be adjusted and appear to have drastic changes done to them. Most agree, however, that the Latin and Italian versions of this book seem most complete. However, there appears to be a Greek version that may have been the inspiration for those versions. The Greek one is called “The Magickal Treatise of Solomon." I happened to take a look at that one, and it is very interesting indeed. There are two versions of this in Hebrew as well. You can find it at the British Museum. Scholars do not believe the Hebrew is the original but a derivative copy of the Latin and Italian versions. This is also one of the reasons I did not discuss it in the main body of this book.
According to the Solomonic legend surrounding this book, it is said that Solomon wrote all this and passed it on to his Son Rehoboam, who was to hide the book upon Solomon’s death. Rehoboam did this, and the book was lost to history. That is until many years later, Babylonian philosophers discovered the book at Solomon’s tomb. Some say the Tomb is still in Israel somewhere. These philosophers would not read the book, so they asked God for help in understanding the text. As they prayed, an angel of God appears to them and miraculously gives them the ability to understand the text. As is the case in most stories of this nature, this ability to read the text did not come free. The philosophers had to take a vow that they would never share the information with anyone who was evil. In order to ensure this, the book itself has a spell cast upon it. If a person obtains the book and is of evil nature, the magick will not work. Well, suffice it to say, the spell didn’t work because plenty of people of ill intent and ill repute have since used it with great success.
The book as you may have surmised is a Grimoire of spells and incantations. The book is divided
into two sections or two books if you will. The rituals that one finds in this book are called “operations and experiments." I will not address them as such since I feel it takes it away from what they really are. Unlike the other books ascribed to Solomon such as those that employ the powers of the 72 demons, which are derived from the previous bonus chapter, the rituals in this book are mostly addressed directly to “God."
The text itself is a bit complicated and speaks of rituals so difficult I HIGHLY doubt that anyone has the time our ability to really perform them as prescribed. I won’t go into the rituals here, but I did want to add this chapter, so you know of other traditions that have a patina of Jewish origins but are not Jewish.
Bibliography
All Talmudic and Rabbinc texts came from Sefaria.org.
Amulets and Magic Bowls: Aramaic Incantations of Late Antiquity
Naveh, Joseph, and Shaul Shaked. Amulets and Magic Bowls: Aramaic Incantations of Late Antiquity. Third Edition. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1998. Print.
The Babylonian Talmud, Volumes 1-20: Original Text, Edited, Corrected, Formulated, and Translated into English
Rodkinson, Michael L., trans. The Babylonian Talmud: Original Text, Edited, Corrected, Formulated, and Translated into English. Vol. 1-10. Boston, MA: The Talmud Society, 1918. Print.
The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary
Neusner, Jacob. The Babylonian Talmud: A Translation and Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2011. Print.
Daf Yomi: Cycle 13
Daf Yomi: Cycle 13. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2012. Print.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature: Volume I and II
Jastrow, Marcus. A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature and II 1903 : n. pag. Print.
Genesis and the “Jewish Antiquities” of Flavius Josephus
Franxman, Thomas W. Genesis and the Jewish Antiquities of Flavius Josephus. Vol. 35. Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1979. Print. Biblica et Orientalia.
History of New Testament Research, Volume Two: From Jonathan Edwards to Rudolf Bultmann
Baird, William. History of New Testament Research, Volume Two: From Jonathan Edwards to Rudolf Bultmann. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003. Print.
Introduction to Rabbinic Literature
Neusner, Jacob. Introduction to Rabbinic Literature. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 1994. Print.
The Jerusalem Talmud: A Translation and Commentary
Neusner, Jacob. The Jerusalem Talmud: A Translation and Commentary. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008. Print.
Jews, Judaism and the Classical World
Abrahams, Israel. Jews, Judaism, and the Classical World: Studies in Jewish History in the Times of the Second Temple and Talmud. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, 1977. Print.
Legends of the Jews
Ginzberg, Louis, Henrietta Szold, and Paul Radin. Legends of the Jews. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2003. Print.
Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael (Critical Apparatus)
Lauterbach, Jacob Zallel. Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael. New ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Jewish Publication Society, 2004. Print.
Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael (Cross References)
Lauterbach, Jacob Zallel. Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael. New ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Jewish Publication Society, 2004. Print.
Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael (English)
Lauterbach, Jacob Zallel. Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael. New ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Jewish Publication Society, 2004. Print.
Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael (Hebrew)
Lauterbach, Jacob Zallel. Mekilta de-Rabbi Ishmael. New ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Jewish Publication Society, 2004. Print.
The Mishna on Idolatry ’Aboda Zara
Elmslie, W. A. L., and J. Armitage Robinson, eds. The Mishna on Idolatry ’Aboda Zara. No. 2.
Vol. 8. Cambridge: Cambridge at the University Press, 1911. Print. Texts and Studies: Contributions to Biblical and Patristic Literature.
The Mishna on Idolatry ’Aboda Zara: English Notes
Elmslie, W. A. L., and J. Armitage Robinson, eds. The Mishna on Idolatry ’Aboda Zara: English Notes. Trans. W. A. L. Elmslie. No. 2. Vol. 8. Cambridge: Cambridge at the University Press, 1911. Print. Texts and Studies: Contributions to Biblical and Patristic Literature.
The Mishna on Idolatry ’Aboda Zara: Hebrew
Elmslie, W. A. L., and J. Armitage Robinson, eds. The Mishna on Idolatry ’Aboda Zara: Hebrew. Trans. W. A. L. Elmslie. No. 2. Vol. 8. Cambridge: Cambridge at the University Press, 1911. Print. Texts and Studies: Contributions to Biblical and Patristic Literature.
The Mishna on Idolatry ’Aboda Zara: Notes
Elmslie, W. A. L., and J. Armitage Robinson, eds. The Mishna on Idolatry ’Aboda Zara: Notes. Trans. W. A. L. Elmslie. No. 2. Vol. 8. Cambridge: Cambridge at the University Press, 1911. Print. Texts and Studies: Contributions to Biblical and Patristic Literature.
The Mishnah
Neusner, Jacob. The Mishnah : A New Translation. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988. Print.
Swimming in the Sea of Talmud
Katz, Michael, and Gershon Schwartz. Swimming in the Sea of the Talmud: Lessons for Everyday Living. Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society, 1998. Print.
The Talmud: Selected Writings
McGinn, Bernard, ed. The Talmud: Selected Writings. Trans. Ben Zion Bokser. New York;
Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1989. Print. The Classics of Western Spirituality.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature: Volume I and II
Jastrow, Marcus. A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature and II 1903 : n. pag. Print.
Genesis and the “Jewish Antiquities” of Flavius Josephus
Franxman, Thomas W. Genesis and the Jewish Antiquities of Flavius Josephus. Vol. 35. Rome: Biblical Institute Press, 1979. Print. Biblica et Orientalia.
A History of Biblical Interpretation, Volume 1: The Ancient Period
Hauser, Alan J., and Duane F. Watson, eds. A History of Biblical Interpretation: The Ancient Period. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003. Print.
The Interpretation of Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity: Studies in Language and Tradition
Evans, Craig A. The Interpretation of Scripture in Early Judaism and Christianity : Studies in Language and Tradition. London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004. Print. T&T Clark Academic Paperbacks.
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS A
Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon. Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS A. Hebrew Union College, 2005. Print.
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS AA
Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon. Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS AA. Hebrew Union College, 2005. Print.
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS AA Repeated Section
Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon. Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS AA Repeated Section. Hebrew Union College, 2005. Print.
Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS B
Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon. Cairo Geniza Targumic Fragment: MS B. Hebrew Union College, 2005. Print.
11Q11 Apocryphal Psalms
11Q11 Apocryphal Psalms. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2010. Print.
Apocrypha of the Old Testament
Charles, Robert Henry, ed. Apocrypha of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913. Print.
Apocrypha of the Old Testament (Apparatuses)
Charles, Robert Henry, ed. Apocrypha of the Old Testament (apparatuses). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913. Print.
Ancient Aramaic and Hebrew Letters (Texts)
Lindenberger, James M. Ancient Aramaic and Hebrew Letters. 2nd ed. Vol. 14. Atlanta, GA:
Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. Print. Writings from the Ancient World.
Ancient Aramaic and Hebrew Letters (Translations)
Lindenberger, James M. Ancient Aramaic and Hebrew Letters. 2nd ed. Vol. 14. Atlanta, GA:
Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. Print. Writings from the Ancient World.
Reading Samuel: A Literary and Theological Commentary
Van Wijk-Bos, Johanna W. H. Reading Samuel: A Literary and Theological Commentary.
Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, Incorporated, 2011. Print. Reading the Old Testament Series.
Signs and Wonders
Geisler, Norman L. Signs and Wonders. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1988. Print.
The Spirit World
Larkin, Clarence. The Spirit World. Philadelphia, PA: Clarence Larkin, 1921. Print.
About Baal Kadmon
Baal Kadmon is an Author, Occultist, and Meditation teacher based out of New York City. In addition to the Occult, he is a Scholar of Religion Philosopher, and Historian specializing in Ancient History, Late Antiquity and Medieval History. He has studied and speaks Israeli Hebrew, Classical Hebrew, Ugaritic language, Arabic, Judeo-Aramaic, Syriac (language), Ancient Greek and Classical Latin.
Baal first discovered his occult calling when he was very young. It was only in his teens, when on a trip to the Middle East that he heeded the call. Several teachers and many decades later he felt ready to share what he had learned.
His teachings are unconventional to say the least. In addition to rituals, he includes in depth history in almost all the books he writes. He shatters the beloved and idolatrously held notions most occultists hold dear. His pared-down approach to Magick and Meditation is refreshing and is very much needed in a field that is mired by self-important magicians and teachers who place more importance on pomp and circumstance, than on Magick and Meditation. What you learn from Baal is straight-forward, with no frills. There is no need to complicate things.
www.baalkadmon.com
www.occultcourses.com
www.occultmindscapes.com
Follow Him on Facebook and other Social Media Sites:
http://baalkadmon.com/social-media/
Occult Courses
Over the years, I have received many hundreds of emails asking me if I would ever consider creating online video courses. At first, I was unsure. After so many emails, I decided it was time.
I am now offering courses.
If it interests you in learning more about the Occult, Meditation, Ancient Languages and History, you will not be disappointed.
All courses will all be accessible, informative and affordable.
Please go to www.occultcourses.com
There you will find my current courses and all the upcoming courses. If you see a current course you are interested in, you can sign up and get instant access.
If you see a future course that interests you, sign up to the mailing list and I will notify you upon its release.
All courses come with a 30-day, no questions asked, money-back guarantee. If a course is not for you, just let me know, and I will refund you.
Please go to www.occultcourses.com
Baal Kadmon
Other Books By The Author
Organized by date of publication from most recent:
Devils, Demons and Ghosts in the Hebrew Tradition: Romancing the Sitra Achra
Melchizedek Unmasked
Belial: A History
Surya Mantra Magick (Mantra Magick Series Book 13)
Tiamat Unveiled (Mesopotamian Magick Book 3)
Pazuzu Rising (Mesopotamian Magick Book 2)
BAAL: THE LORD OF THE HEAVENS: CALLING DOWN THE GREAT GOD OF
CANAAN (CANAANITE MAGICK Book 2)
Chod Practice Demystified: Severing the Ties That Bind (Baal on Buddhism Book 2)
The Talmud: An Occultist Introduction
The Path of the Pendulum: An Unconventional Approach
Durga Mantra Magick: Harnessing The Power of the Divine Protectress
Asherah: The Queen of Heaven (Canaanite Magick Book 1)
Dependent Origination for the Layman (Baal on Buddhism Book 1)
The Watchers And Their Ways
Rabbi Isaac Luria: The Lion of the Kabbalah (Jewish Mystics Book 1)
Circe’s Wand: Empowerment, Enchantment, Magick
Ganesha Mantra Magick: Calling Upon the God of New Beginnings
Shiva Mantra Magick: Harnessing The Primordial
Tefillin Magick: Using Tefillin For Magickal Purposes (Jewish Magick Book 1)
Jesus Magick (Bible Magick Book 2)
The Magickal Moment Of Now: The Inner Mind of the Advanced Magician
The Magick Of Lilith: Calling Upon The Great Goddess of The Left Hand Path (Mesopotamian
Magick Book 1)
The Magickal Talismans of King Solomon
Mahavidya Mantra Magick: Tap Into the 10 Goddesses of Power
Jinn Magick: How to Bind the Jinn to do Your Bidding
Magick And The Bible: Is Magick Compatible With The Bible? (Bible Magick Book 1)
The Magickal Rites of Prosperity: Using Different Methods To Magickally Manifest Wealth
Lakshmi Mantra Magick: Tap Into The Goddess Lakshmi for Wealth and Abundance In All Areas of Life
Tarot Magick: Harness the Magickal Power of the Tarot
The Quantum Magician: Enhancing Your Magick With A Parallel Life
Tibetan Mantra Magick: Tap Into The Power Of Tibetan Mantras
The 42 Letter Name of God: The Mystical Name Of Manifestation (Sacred Names Book 6)
Tara Mantra Magick: How To Use The Power Of The Goddess Tara
Vedic Magick: Using Ancient Vedic Spells To Attain Wealth
The Daemonic Companion: Creating Daemonic Entities To Do Your Will
Tap Into The Power Of The Chant: Attaining Supernatural Abilities Using Mantras (Supernatural Attainments Series
72 Demons Of The Name: Calling Upon The Great Demons Of The Name (Sacred Names Book 5)
Moldavite Magick: Tap Into The Stone Of Transformation Using Mantras (Crystal Mantra Magick Book 1)
Ouija Board Magick - Archangels Edition: Communicate And Harness The Power Of The Great Archangels
Chakra Mantra Magick: Tap Into The Magick Of Your Chakras (Mantra Magick Series Book 4) Seed Mantra Magick: Master The Primordial Sounds Of The Universe (Mantra Magick Series Book 3)
The Magick Of Saint Expedite: Tap Into The Truly Miraculous Power Of Saint Expedite (Magick Of The Saints Book 2)
Kali Mantra Magick: Summoning The Dark Powers of Kali Ma (Mantra Magick Series Book 2) Mary Magick: Calling Forth The Divine Mother For Help (Magick Of The Saints Book 1) Vashikaran Magick: Learn The Dark Mantras Of Subjugation (Mantra Magick Series Book 1) The Hidden Names Of Genesis: Tap Into The Hidden Power Of Manifestation (Sacred Names Book 4)
The 99 Names Of Allah: Acquiring the 99 Divine Qualities of God (Sacred Names Book 3)
The 72 Angels Of The Name: Calling On the 72 Angels of God (Sacred Names)
The 72 Names of God: The 72 Keys To Transformation (Sacred Names Book 1)