Paimon
Paimon is the ninth of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of King, and ranks among the most extensively documented and commented-on spirits in the catalog, with one of the text's most elaborate descriptions.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
Paimon is one of the most prominent and elaborately described spirits in the entire Ars Goetia catalog. In Mathers' edition (1904), he is described riding a dromedary, wearing a glorious crown, with a face that may appear like that of a woman; his arrival is described as accompanied by a great noise of voices and by trumpets and other musical instruments playing before him. The text further describes Paimon as accompanied by a retinue of other spirits, some in the form of men carrying trumpets, and mentions that he speaks with a loud, harsh voice.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, published with commentary by Aleister Crowley, Paimon holds the catalog's ninth position and is described as a King, commanding a great number of legions of spirits according to the text — being described in the text as subject in part to the direction of the higher spirit Amaymon. He is listed with the attribute of teaching all arts and sciences, as well as revealing secrets and hidden knowledge.
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 Paimon, 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 Paimon 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), read the Ars Goetia's spirits not as external entities commanded through the authority of a higher divinity — the Solomonic model — but as archetypal masks for psychological currents within the practitioner's own consciousness, integrated in service of self-deification. In this reading, Paimon's kingship and his command over all arts and sciences are seen as a particularly fitting archetype for the self-crowned initiate — the figure who claims sovereignty over their own knowledge and will — while his extensive retinue is read as a symbol of integrating multiple faculties of the mind under a single governing consciousness.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is Paimon considered one of the most notable spirits in the Ars Goetia?
- Paimon receives one of the catalog's most extensive and elaborate descriptions, including a detailed retinue of accompanying spirits and music, making him one of the figures most discussed by scholars of the text — alongside Bael, another King in the catalog.
- How does Dr. Rudd's manuscript describe Paimon differently from Mathers' edition?
- Rudd's manuscript, predating Mathers' edition, adds to each spirit, including Paimon, 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 Paimon 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 tied to the practitioner's sovereignty and 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).