Orobas
Orobas is the fifty-fifth of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of Great Prince according to the text.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
In Mathers' edition (1904), Orobas is described as initially appearing in the form of a horse, taking human shape at the operator's request per the text. The manuscript attributes to him the gift of giving true answers about things past, present, and to come, as well as addressing matters relating to divinity and the creation of the world. The text also describes him as able to grant dignities and prelacies, and to confer the favor of friends and foes.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, published with commentary by Aleister Crowley, Orobas holds the catalog's fifty-fifth position and is described as a Great Prince, commanding a number of legions of spirits according to the text. The manuscript characterizes him as a spirit of notably faithful nature toward the operator, a textual description of temperament that does not amount to usage instruction.
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 Orobas, 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 Orobas 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), propose reading the catalog's 72 spirits not as external powers invoked under a higher divine authority — the Solomonic model — but as archetypal forces latent within the practitioner's own psyche, to be recognized and integrated in service of self-deification. In this reading, Orobas' transition between equine and human form is reinterpreted as the symbolic passage from instinctive impulse to autonomous consciousness, and his gift of giving true answers about the past, present, and future is read as the archetype of the inner voice — the faculty of discernment that depends on no external authority. The notably faithful nature attributed to Orobas toward the operator, meanwhile, is reframed as the practitioner's loyalty to their own sovereign will, rather than submission to an external entity.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- What form does the text attribute to Orobas?
- According to Mathers' edition, Orobas initially appears as a horse, able to take human form at the operator's request.
- What knowledge does Mathers' edition attribute to Orobas?
- According to the text, Orobas gives true answers about things past, present, and to come, addresses matters relating to divinity and the creation of the world, and grants dignities, prelacies, and the favor of friends and foes.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Orobas 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).