Zepar
Zepar is the sixteenth of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of Duke, appearing according to the text in red apparel and armor, in the likeness of a soldier.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
In Mathers' edition (1904), Zepar is described as appearing in red apparel and armor, in the likeness of a soldier — one of a small number of entries in the catalog whose described dress carries a specific color, a detail manuscript scholars note as consistent across the surviving copies of this section of the text.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, Zepar holds the sixteenth position in the catalog and is described as a Duke, commanding 26 legions of inferior spirits according to the text. The source attributes to his office the causing of love between women and men, listing this alongside his martial appearance as his documented characteristics.
Interpretation — Dr. Rudd's Tradition (manuscript, c. 1650)
Thomas Rudd's manuscript, predating Mathers' 1904 edition by roughly two and a half centuries, documents a related but distinct version of the catalog in which each of the 72 spirits — Zepar included — is paired with a corresponding angel drawn from the Kabbalistic Shem HaMephorash system (72 divine names), functioning as a structural restraining counterpart absent from Mathers' edition. The specific angelic correspondence assigned to each entry in Rudd's tradition has been documented through the research of scholars such as Joseph Peterson, whose editions catalog the Rudd manuscripts' pairings in detail.
Interpretation — Luciferian Tradition (modern interpretation)
Modern Luciferian authors, chiefly Michael W. Ford (in works such as The Luciferian Goetia), reinterpret the Ars Goetia's 72 spirits not as external entities subject to a higher divine authority — the Solomonic model — but as archetypal masks representing the practitioner's own psychological currents, integrated in service of self-deification. In this reading, Zepar's red apparel and armor, in the likeness of a soldier, are read as the archetype of vital force and passion in its most active and disciplined form, while his office of causing love between women and men is reframed as the practitioner's conscious mastery over their own desire and magnetism, turning raw erotic impulse into a force directed by will.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the Ars Goetia say Zepar looks like?
- The text describes him in red apparel and armor, in the likeness of a soldier — a distinctive detail among the catalog's entries, most of which are not described with a specific color of dress.
- Do Mathers' edition and Dr. Rudd's manuscript describe Zepar the same way?
- In a related but not identical way. Rudd's manuscript, predating Mathers' edition, adds a corresponding angel to each spirit — a layer of Kabbalistic correspondence absent from the better-known Mathers/Crowley version.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Zepar 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).