Andromalius
Andromalius is the 72nd and last of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton, closing the catalog's order as established in the text. He is described with the title of Earl.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
In Mathers' edition (1904), Andromalius is described as appearing in the form of a man holding a great serpent in his hand. As the spirit that closes the catalog's order of 72, his documented office in the text has a notably distinct character from many earlier spirits: the manuscript attributes to him the function of bringing back both the thief and the goods that were stolen, revealing every kind of wickedness and underhanded dealing, punishing thieves and other wrongdoers, and discovering hidden treasures.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, published with commentary by Aleister Crowley, Andromalius holds the catalog's 72nd and final position — closing the sequence of spirits as Solomon is said in the text's narrative to have bound them — and is described as an Earl, great and mighty, commanding 36 legions of spirits according to the manuscript. He is listed with the attributes of recovering stolen goods and thieves, revealing underhanded conduct, and discovering hidden treasures.
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 Andromalius in his final position, 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 Andromalius was found among the sources consulted for this entry; the general pairing practice, which completes itself with the 72nd spirit, 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), read the Ars Goetia's 72 spirits not as external entities subordinate to a higher divine command but as psychological archetypes integrated toward self-deification. As the spirit that closes the catalog, Andromalius offers, in this reading, a particularly fitting closing note: his documented office of exposing thieves, revealing dishonest conduct, and recovering stolen goods is reinterpreted as the archetype of a final confrontation with oneself — the stage at which the initiate is called to unmask their own self-deceptions and name whatever, within them, was taken or hidden away by fear, repression, or denial. His function of discovering hidden treasures becomes, in turn, a symbol of reclaiming long-abandoned parts of one's own psyche, symbolically closing, as the last of the 72, the initiatory journey the whole catalog represents.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is Andromalius significant to the structure of the Ars Goetia catalog?
- Andromalius holds the catalog's 72nd and final position, closing the complete sequence of spirits as listed in the text. For that reason, this entry carries a structural cross-reference to Bael, the catalog's first spirit, symbolically bookending the order between the start and end of the list.
- What office does Mathers' edition attribute to Andromalius?
- According to the text, his office is to bring back thieves and stolen goods, to reveal every kind of wickedness and underhanded dealing, to punish thieves and other wrongdoers, and to discover hidden treasures.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Andromalius 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).