Leraje
Leraje is the fourteenth of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of Marquis, appearing according to the text in the form of an archer clad in green, carrying a bow and quiver.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
The name Leraje also appears in the primary sources as Leraikha, a variant spelling found across different manuscript traditions of the catalog. In Mathers' edition (1904), Leraje is described as appearing in the form of a gallant archer clad in green, carrying a bow and quiver — an image consistent with the martial character the text attributes to him.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, Leraje holds the fourteenth position in the catalog and is described as a Marquis, commanding 30 legions of spirits according to the text. The source attributes to him the causing of great battles and contests, and states that he makes wounds inflicted by arrows fester and putrefy — a documented attribute tying his martial iconography to his textual office.
Interpretation — Dr. Rudd's Tradition (manuscript, c. 1650)
Thomas Rudd's manuscript, predating Mathers' 1904 edition by roughly two and a half centuries, documents a related but distinct version of the catalog in which each of the 72 spirits — Leraje included — is paired with a corresponding angel drawn from the Kabbalistic Shem HaMephorash system (72 divine names), functioning as a structural restraining counterpart absent from Mathers' edition. The specific angelic correspondence assigned to each entry in Rudd's tradition has been documented through the research of scholars such as Joseph Peterson, whose editions catalog the Rudd manuscripts' pairings in detail.
Interpretation — Luciferian Tradition (modern interpretation)
Modern Luciferian authors, chiefly Michael W. Ford (in works such as The Luciferian Goetia), reinterpret the Ars Goetia's 72 spirits not as external entities invoked under a higher divine authority — the Solomonic model — but as archetypal masks representing the practitioner's own inner psychological currents, integrated in service of self-deification. In this reading, Leraje's image as an archer clad in green is reframed as the archetype of focused will and precise intent, capable of striking inner goals with accuracy, while the battles and contests the text attributes to him are read as the psychological conflicts the practitioner must face and overcome in order to mature, and the festering of arrow wounds as a reminder not to let inner grievances heal superficially, but to confront them until they are truly resolved.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is Leraje sometimes called Leraikha?
- Leraikha is a variant spelling of the same name found in the primary sources, reflecting differences typical of grimoire manuscripts copied across different scribal traditions rather than a distinct entry.
- Do Mathers' edition and Dr. Rudd's manuscript describe Leraje the same way?
- In a related but not identical way. Rudd's manuscript, predating Mathers' edition, adds a corresponding angel to each spirit — a layer of Kabbalistic correspondence absent from the better-known Mathers/Crowley version.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Leraje 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).