Naberius
Naberius holds the 24th position in the catalog of the 72 spirits of the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of Marquis, and in some editions of the text his name is spelled Cerberus.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
This spirit's name is spelled Naberius in Mathers' edition (1904), but appears as Cerberus in related manuscripts and editions — a noteworthy name-echo, since Cerberus is also the name of the three-headed hound of Greek mythology that guards the entrance to the underworld, illustrating how grimoire demonology sometimes repurposed the names of earlier mythological figures without this implying a direct historical identity between them. The text describes Naberius appearing in the form of a black crow, and when he takes human form, speaking with a hoarse voice.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, Naberius is listed as a Marquis, commanding a number of legions of spirits according to the text. He is described as able to make men cunning in all arts and sciences, but especially in rhetoric, and as restoring lost dignities and honors.
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 distinct structural practice: each of the 72 spirits in the catalog is paired with a corresponding angel from the Kabbalistic Shem HaMephorash system (72 divine names), functioning as a restraining/governing counterpart. Where the exact identity of the angel paired with a particular spirit is not firmly established in the available sources, it is more accurate to describe this pairing practice in general terms than to attribute a specific angelic name without documentary basis — a caution reinforced by 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), reinterpret the Ars Goetia's 72 spirits not as external entities summoned through the authority of a higher divine power — the Solomonic model — but as archetypal masks representing currents of the practitioner's own psyche, integrated in service of self-deification. In this reading, Naberius's attributed ability to restore lost dignities and honors, and to make men skilled in rhetoric, is reinterpreted not as a favor granted by an external spirit, but as a symbol of reclaiming one's own voice and inner authority — the black crow, the form in which he appears according to the text, functioning as a symbol of the message and psychic transformation the practitioner seeks within.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Are Naberius and Cerberus the same spirit?
- Yes, within the Goetic catalog. Naberius, the form used in Mathers' edition, appears spelled Cerberus in other sources — a name that echoes the three-headed hound of Greek mythology, though without proven historical identity between the two figures.
- What does Mathers' edition attribute to Naberius?
- Mathers describes Naberius as a Marquis able to make men cunning in the arts and sciences, especially rhetoric, and to restore lost dignities and honors, according to the text.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Naberius 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).