Buer
Buer is the tenth of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of President, with an appearance associated in the text with the sign of Sagittarius.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
In Mathers' edition (1904), Buer is described as appearing when the Sun is in Sagittarius, with an unusual body form, described with heads and limbs arranged radially, moving in a manner resembling a wheel. The text associates him with knowledge of moral and natural philosophy, as well as logic and the virtues of herbs and medicinal plants.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, published with commentary by Aleister Crowley, Buer holds the catalog's tenth position and is described as a President, commanding a number of legions of spirits according to the text. He is listed with the attribute of teaching moral and natural philosophy, logic, and the virtues of all herbs and plants, and the text also mentions that he furnishes good familiars.
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 Buer, 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 Buer 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), propose that the Ars Goetia's spirits be understood not as external entities subordinate to a higher divine authority, but as archetypal masks for aspects of the practitioner's own consciousness, cultivated in service of self-deification. In this reading, Buer's radial form, with heads and limbs arranged like the spokes of a wheel, is interpreted as a symbol of perception turned simultaneously toward multiple directions of knowledge, while his command of moral and natural philosophy, logic, and the virtues of plants is read as an archetype of the autonomous reason and discernment the practitioner cultivates internally, without dependence on an external authority.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- What knowledge does the Ars Goetia text attribute to Buer?
- According to Mathers' edition, Buer is described as teaching moral and natural philosophy, logic, and the virtues of herbs and medicinal plants.
- How does Dr. Rudd's manuscript describe Buer differently from Mathers' edition?
- Rudd's manuscript, predating Mathers' edition, adds to each spirit, including Buer, 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 Buer 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 recast the Ars Goetia's spirits as psychological archetypes tied to inner knowledge and discernment — 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).