Andrealphus
Andrealphus is the sixty-fifth of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of Marquis according to the text, with an initial form of appearance uncommon among the catalog's spirits.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
In Mathers' edition (1904), Andrealphus is described as initially appearing in the form of a peacock, with great noise, later taking human shape according to the text. The manuscript attributes to him the perfect teaching of geometry and of matters related to astronomy, along with the ability — recorded in the text itself as an attribute of the spirit — to transform a man into the likeness of a bird.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, published with commentary by Aleister Crowley, Andrealphus holds the catalog's sixty-fifth position and is described as a Mighty Marquis, commanding 30 legions of spirits according to the text. He is one of the few spirits in the catalog whose initial form of appearance is that of a bird, and the text specifically associates him with the teaching of geometry and knowledge related to astronomy.
Interpretation — Dr. Rudd's Tradition (manuscript, c. 1650)
The manuscript attributed to Thomas Rudd, predating Mathers' edition by roughly two and a half centuries, pairs each of the 72 spirits in the catalog — including Andrealphus — with a corresponding angel drawn from the Kabbalistic Shem HaMephorash system (72 divine names), as a structural restraining/governing counterpart, an element absent from Mathers' edition. The consulted sources offer no reliable confirmation of which specific angel name Rudd assigned to Andrealphus; the general pairing practice, however, is well documented in Joseph Peterson's research on the Rudd manuscripts.
Interpretation — Luciferian Tradition (modern interpretation)
Modern Luciferian authors, chiefly Michael W. Ford (in works such as The Luciferian Goetia), propose that the catalog's 72 spirits be understood not as external entities summoned under a divine hierarchy, but as archetypes of latent faculties within the practitioner's own psyche. In this reading, Andrealphus's initial appearance as a noisy peacock, followed by human form, is interpreted as the moment an instinctive, showy display of personality matures into structured self-awareness. His mastery of geometry and astronomy is read as a symbol of the rational capacity to order and map one's own inner universe according to precise patterns. His power to transform a man into the likeness of a bird, meanwhile, is reinterpreted as the archetype of symbolic liberation from limited perspectives, associated with raising consciousness to a broader vantage point on the self.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is Andrealphus associated with a peacock in the Ars Goetia?
- Because Mathers' edition describes his initial form of appearance as that of a peacock, accompanied by great noise, before he takes human shape according to the text — one of the few descriptions in the catalog centered on a bird.
- What knowledge does the text attribute to Andrealphus?
- According to Mathers' edition, he teaches geometry perfectly and matters related to astronomy, and the text describes him as able to transform a man into the likeness of a bird.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Andrealphus 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).