Seere
Seere is the 70th of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of Prince. In some sources his name also appears spelled Sear or Seir — spelling variations common to the catalog's names across different manuscript and printed copies.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
In Mathers' edition (1904), Seere (also spelled Sear or Seir) is described as appearing in the form of a beautiful man, riding upon a winged horse. The text attributes to him the office of going and coming with great speed, causing great quantities of things to come to pass suddenly, and carrying or bringing objects from any part of the world in a short space of time, per the manuscript's description. The text explicitly characterizes him as 'neither good nor bad' — an unusual classification among the catalog's 72 spirits, most of whom are described in threatening terms.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, published with commentary by Aleister Crowley, Seere holds the catalog's 70th position and is described as a Prince, commanding 26 legions of spirits according to the text. He is listed with the attribute of going and coming quickly and carrying things from one part of the world to another in a short time, as described in the manuscript.
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 Seere, 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 Seere 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), read the Ars Goetia's 72 spirits not as external powers subordinate to a higher divine command but as archetypal masks of the practitioner's own consciousness, integrated toward self-deification. Seere's case is particularly suggestive in this framework because of a trait rare in the catalog: the text itself classifies him as 'neither good nor bad,' escaping the binary frame of good and evil that qualifies most other spirits. Luciferian authors read this textual neutrality as reinforcing a rejection, central to Luciferian philosophy, of moral categories imposed by external religious authority, proposing in their place a self-determined ethic. His swiftness in going and coming, and his ability to carry things from any part of the world in a short time, become a symbol of the initiate's will manifesting without the friction of others' moral judgment.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Are Seere, Sear, and Seir the same spirit?
- Yes. These are variant spellings of the same name, found in different manuscripts and printed editions of the Ars Goetia.
- How does the text characterize Seere's nature?
- Mathers' edition explicitly describes him as 'neither good nor bad' — one of the few neutral classifications among the 72 listed spirits, distinct from most, who are described in threatening or purely hierarchical terms without explicit moral qualification.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Seere 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).