Decarabia
Decarabia is the 69th of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of Marquis. In some sources his name also appears spelled Carabia — one of the spelling variations common to the catalog's names across different manuscript and printed copies.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
In Mathers' edition (1904), Decarabia (also spelled Carabia) is described as initially appearing in the form of a star within a pentagram, taking human shape only at the operator's request per the text. The manuscript attributes to him knowledge of the virtues of birds and precious stones, as well as the ability to make the likeness of various kinds of birds appear before the operator, flying and, according to the text, singing as ordinary birds do.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, published with commentary by Aleister Crowley, Decarabia holds the catalog's 69th position and is described as a Marquis, commanding 30 legions of spirits according to the text. He is listed with the attribute of revealing the virtues of birds and precious stones, and manifesting the likeness of birds before the operator, as described in the manuscript.
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 Decarabia, 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 Decarabia was found among the sources consulted for this entry; the general pairing practice 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), approach the Ars Goetia's 72 spirits not as external beings summoned under a higher divine command but as archetypal expressions of the practitioner's own psyche, cultivated toward self-deification. In this reading, Decarabia's form — a star within a pentagram, taking on a human face only when addressed by the operator — is read as the archetype of hidden knowledge waiting to be recognized and named by the consciousness that seeks it. His command over the secret virtues of birds and precious stones is reinterpreted as the initiate's capacity to discern latent value in ordinary things — inner potentials not yet catalogued by the waking mind — and the birds he conjures, singing as though real, become a symbol of intuitions and insights that find their own voice once acknowledged.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Are Decarabia and Carabia the same spirit?
- Yes. Decarabia and Carabia are variant spellings of the same name, found in different manuscripts and printed editions of the Ars Goetia.
- What form does the text attribute to Decarabia?
- According to Mathers' edition, he initially appears as a star within a pentagram, taking human shape at the operator's request. He is associated with knowledge of the virtues of birds and precious stones, and with manifesting the likeness of birds before the operator.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Decarabia 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).