Ronove
Ronove is the twenty-seventh of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the dual title of Marquis and Earl, an unusual combination among the catalog's spirits.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
The name Ronove appears recorded in a relatively stable form across editions of the goetic catalog, compared to other spirits whose names vary more significantly between manuscripts. In Mathers' edition (1904), Ronove is described with the appearance of a monster, showing himself before the practitioner according to the text.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, Ronove holds the catalog's twenty-seventh position and is described with the dual title of Marquis and Earl, commanding a number of legions of spirits according to the text. He is listed with the attribute of teaching rhetoric, and is further described as granting the favor of friends and of foes, and providing good servants, per the attributes recorded in the text.
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 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 corresponding to Ronove in Rudd's documentary practice is discussed in Joseph Peterson's research on the Rudd manuscripts, which systematized this angel-spirit pairing across the whole catalog.
Interpretation — Luciferian Tradition (modern interpretation)
Michael W. Ford and other authors of the modern Luciferian current, in works such as The Luciferian Goetia, propose reading the 72 goetic spirits not as powers summoned under the command of a celestial hierarchy but as archetypes of latent capacities within the practitioner, consciously cultivated through a process of self-initiation. In this key, Ronove's dual title — Marquis and Earl — and his mastery of rhetoric are reinterpreted as the archetype of the power of speech and persuasion as tools of self-assertion, while his ability to grant the favor of both friends and foes symbolizes the skill of navigating ambivalent social relationships with ease, without depending on others' approval.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Why does Ronove hold two titles, Marquis and Earl?
- Mathers' text assigns Ronove the dual title of Marquis and Earl, a combination of hierarchical ranks found in a handful of spirits in the goetic catalog, without the original text explaining the exact reason for this dual classification.
- What does Mathers' text attribute to Ronove as knowledge or skill?
- The text describes Ronove as associated with teaching rhetoric and granting favor with friends and foes, as well as providing good servants, per the attributes recorded in Mathers' edition.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Ronove 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).