Vual
Vual is the 47th of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of Duke according to the text. In different editions and manuscripts his name also appears spelled Uvall or Voval.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
In Mathers' edition (1904), Vual is described as initially appearing in the form of a great and mighty camel, then changing into human shape. The text narrates that he speaks in a language the manuscript describes as Egyptian, or imperfectly when he cannot do so clearly. He is attributed, according to the text, with knowledge of things past, present, and to come, and with procuring the friendship of friends and foes — documentary descriptions of the traits narrated for the spirit, not indications of use.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, published with commentary by Aleister Crowley, Vual holds the catalog's 47th position and is described as a Duke, commanding 37 legions of spirits according to the text. He is listed with the attributes of knowing things past, present, and to come, and procuring friendship between people, as narrated 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 Vual, 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 Vual 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), reinterpret the 72 spirits not as external entities to be commanded by invoking a higher divine authority — the Solomonic model — but as archetypal masks or psychological currents representing aspects of the practitioner's own consciousness, integrated in service of self-deification. In this reading, Vual's attributed knowledge of things past, present, and to come is reinterpreted as a symbol of self-gnosis — the capacity to see clearly one's own origins, present moment, and potential for inner development — while his role in procuring friendship between friends and foes represents the reconciliation of opposing psychic forces within the practitioner.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Are Vual, Uvall, and Voval the same spirit?
- Yes. Uvall and Voval are variant spellings of the same name, found in different manuscripts and printed editions of the Ars Goetia.
- What form does the text attribute to Vual?
- According to Mathers' edition, Vual initially appears in the form of a great and mighty camel, then changing into human shape.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Vual 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).