Berith
Berith is the twenty-eighth of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of Duke, ruling according to the text.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
The name Berith also appears spelled Beal or Bofi in related manuscripts. The name echoes Baal-berith, the title of a deity venerated at Shechem according to Old Testament texts — a documented case, similar to that of Bael, of how medieval and Renaissance Christian demonology repurposed the names of earlier Canaanite deities, reclassifying them as subordinate spirits. In Mathers' edition (1904), Berith is described with the appearance of a soldier mounted on a red horse, wearing a crown and red garments, and speaking with a clear and subtle voice.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, Berith holds the catalog's twenty-eighth position and is described with the title of Duke, commanding a number of legions of spirits according to the text. He is listed with attributes that include telling things past, present, and future, and turning metals into gold, per the attributes recorded in the text. The text also warns that his answers should be treated with caution, describing him as prone to lying.
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 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 corresponding to Berith in Rudd's documentary practice is discussed in Joseph Peterson's research on the Rudd manuscripts, which systematized this angel-spirit pairing across the whole catalog.
Interpretation — Luciferian Tradition (modern interpretation)
The modern Luciferian reading, formulated chiefly by Michael W. Ford in works such as The Luciferian Goetia, proposes understanding the Ars Goetia's spirits not as external entities commanded by a higher divine authority but as archetypal currents within the practitioner's psyche, to be consciously recognized and integrated. In this reading, the image of Berith as a crowned soldier mounted on a red horse is interpreted as the archetype of warlike will and personal sovereignty, while his power to turn metals into gold is read symbolically as the capacity for inner transformation; the Solomonic text's own warning about his tendency to lie is repurposed in this key as a reminder that integrating these archetypes demands critical discernment on the practitioner's part, not naive acceptance.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the name Berith related to any ancient deity?
- The name echoes Baal-berith, the title of a deity venerated at Shechem according to Old Testament texts — a documented pattern, similar to the case of Bael, in which medieval and Renaissance Christian demonology reclassified the names of earlier Canaanite deities as subordinate spirits, without this implying a direct historical identity between the figures.
- Is Berith the same name as Beal or Bofi?
- Yes. Beal and Bofi are documented orthographic variants of the same spirit in related manuscripts, reflecting the textual instability common in the manuscript transmission of the catalog's names across the centuries.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Berith 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).