Amdusias
Amdusias is the 67th of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of Duke. In some sources his name also appears spelled Amdukias — one of the spelling variations common to the catalog's names across different manuscript and printed copies.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
In Mathers' edition (1904), Amdusias (also spelled Amdukias) is described as initially appearing in the form of a unicorn-like head, with the rest of the body remaining invisible, before taking full human shape at the operator's request per the text. The manuscript attributes to him the production of the sound of trumpets and every kind of musical instrument, noting that these sounds do not manifest immediately. He is also described as able to make trees bend as indicated in the text.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, published with commentary by Aleister Crowley, Amdusias holds the catalog's 67th position and is described as a Duke, great and strong, commanding 29 legions of spirits according to the text. He is listed with the attribute of producing the sound of trumpets and other musical instruments, as well as bending trees, as described in the manuscript.
Interpretation — Dr. Rudd's Tradition (manuscript, c. 1650)
The manuscript attributed to Thomas Rudd, predating Mathers' edition by roughly two and a half centuries, documents a related but distinct version of the catalog — in it, each of the 72 spirits, including Amdusias, is paired with a corresponding angel drawn from the Kabbalistic Shem HaMephorash system (72 divine names), a restraining/governing structural element absent from Mathers' edition. No reliable record of the specific angel name Rudd's manuscript assigns to Amdusias was found among the sources consulted for this entry; the general pairing practice is documented by researchers such as Joseph Peterson.
Interpretation — Luciferian Tradition (modern interpretation)
Modern Luciferian authors, chiefly Michael W. Ford (in works such as The Luciferian Goetia), approach the Ars Goetia's 72 spirits not as external beings summoned under a higher divine command but as archetypal expressions of the practitioner's own psyche, cultivated toward self-deification. In this framework, Amdusias's disembodied unicorn-head form, becoming whole only when addressed directly, is read as the archetype of latent creative faculties waiting to be given full expression, and his conjured music — trumpets and instruments sounding before they are visibly produced — becomes a symbol of inspiration surfacing from the unconscious before the conscious mind has given it form. His power to bend trees is reinterpreted as the initiate's capacity to bend rigid, long-held patterns of thought.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Are Amdusias and Amdukias the same spirit?
- Yes. Amdusias and Amdukias are variant spellings of the same name, found in different manuscripts and printed editions of the Ars Goetia — a spelling variation common to several of the catalog's 72 spirits.
- What form does the text attribute to Amdusias?
- According to Mathers' edition, he initially appears as a unicorn-like head, with the rest of his body invisible, taking full human shape at the operator's request. He is associated with producing the sound of trumpets and other musical instruments, and with the ability to make trees bend.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Amdusias as old as the Mathers and Rudd traditions?
- No. It's a modern interpretation, developed mainly from the 2000s onward by Luciferian authors such as Michael W. Ford, who reframe the Ars Goetia's spirits as psychological archetypes for self-development — a contemporary symbolic reading, not a historical manuscript like Mathers' or Rudd's.
Sources
- S. L. MacGregor Mathers (trans.), Aleister Crowley (ed.). The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King (1904).
- Joseph H. Peterson (ed.). The Lesser Key of Solomon (2001).
- Thomas Rudd (manuscript), ed. Adam McLean. Dr. Rudd's Treatise on Angel Magic (c. 1650 (2007 ed.)).
- Michael W. Ford. The Luciferian Goetia (2007).