Barbatos
Barbatos is the eighth of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of Duke, associated in the text with understanding the language of animals.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
In Mathers' edition (1904), Barbatos is described as appearing when the Sun is in Sagittarius, accompanied by four noble kings and their respective companies of troops, along with trumpeters. The text describes him as able to understand the singing of birds, the barking of dogs, the lowing of cattle, and the voices of other creatures, and states that he knows treasures hidden by magicians and sorcerers.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, published with commentary by Aleister Crowley, Barbatos holds the catalog's eighth position and is described as a Duke, commanding a number of legions of spirits according to the text. He is listed with the attribute of knowing the past and future, reconciling friends and potentates, and understanding the language of animals.
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 Barbatos, 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. The precise identification of the angel associated with Barbatos in the Rudd manuscript is 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), offer an alternative reading of the Ars Goetia's spirits as archetypal masks for aspects of the practitioner's own consciousness, integrated in service of self-deification, rather than external entities subordinate to a higher divine authority. In this reading, Barbatos' attributed ability to understand the language of birds, dogs, and cattle is reinterpreted as a symbol of deeper inner listening — attentiveness to the instinctive, nonverbal currents of one's own psyche — while his knowledge of treasures hidden by magicians is read as a metaphor for accessing an inner knowledge or power the practitioner has not yet recognized.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the Ars Goetia text say about Barbatos' appearance?
- According to Mathers' edition, Barbatos appears when the Sun is in Sagittarius, accompanied by four noble kings with their companies of troops and trumpeters.
- How does Dr. Rudd's manuscript describe Barbatos differently from Mathers' edition?
- Rudd's manuscript, predating Mathers' edition, adds to each spirit, including Barbatos, a corresponding angel drawn from the Shem HaMephorash system — a layer of Kabbalistic correspondence absent from the better-known Mathers/Crowley version.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Barbatos as old as the Mathers and Rudd traditions?
- No. It is a modern interpretation, formulated mainly from the 2000s onward by Luciferian authors such as Michael W. Ford, who reinterpret 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).