The Truth Of The Demon Summoning Book The Lesser Key Of Solomon

"The Lesser Key of Solomon" is what's known as a grimoire or, more commonly, a spellbook. These are arcane texts containing various incantations, secrets, and pieces of ancient wisdom. As the Oxford University Press blog explains, the creation of grimoires is a very old tradition that has since become interwoven with the Abrahamic religions of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. There are numerous grimoires in the world, each with its own distinct history and lore. Notable examples are the "Book of Shadows," which began Wicca, and "The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses" — a founding text in Rastafari.

Most grimoires are known as books of black magic, filled with mysticism about spellcasting and conjuring spirits. As the University of Sydney Library explains, while they're associated with witches, grimoires were more often found in the hands of wizards, sorcerers, and officials of the early church. They also have numerous surrounding superstitions, including the idea that all magical powers are nullified if any money changes hands. Other traditions involve the ideas that a manuscript must be handwritten in red ink and bound in black. Disturbingly, one even calls for a grimoire to be bound in human skin. Grisly details notwithstanding, grimoires were quite popular between the 17th and 20th centuries, which is most of the time the "The Lesser Key of Solomon" has existed. 

The first and most famous book of "The Lesser Key of Solomon" is the Ars Goetia, often known simply as the Goetia. Delerium's Realm explains how the name derives from the Greek word for witchcraft. The version of "The Lesser Key of Solomon" most people will encounter — sold by bookstores like Barnes & Noble — was produced in 1904 by Aleister Crowley and Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and contains only this book. It concerns demons, referred to as "principal spirits," and gives elaborate details on them. This version gained notoriety for including demonic sigils (researched by Crowley) that were missing from some other versions.

The Ars Goetia gives full descriptions of how to invoke demons, including both ceremonies and spoken incantations. Lengthy orations are given, not only to conjure and command a demon but also to curse a demon who rebels or disobeys. Additionally, a lot of description is given of the demons themselves, each of whom is presented together with their magical seal. The descriptions don't only mention what kind of powers and abilities they have but also their physical appearances and even the way they speak.

Bael is the first of the demons mentioned in the Goetia, hailed as a ruler over 66 legions of infernal spirits. He's described as having a hoarse voice, with the ability to appear in many forms, appearing variously as a cat, a toad, and a man — and sometimes all three. Bael is said to have the power to turn you invisible but will only obey if you wear a talisman inscribed with his sigil.

Other occult texts also mention Bael, including the "Pseudomonarchia Daemonum," written by a doctor named Johann Weyer as a rebuttal against the infamous witch hunter's handbook, the "Malleus Maleficarum." Weyer specifies that Bael appears with all three heads at once. Elsewhere, Jacques Collin de Plancy's "Dictionnaire Infernal" speculates on whether he's the same as Baal, a Canaanite deity. As the Online Etymology Dictionary notes, the name Baal is the same as the first part of the name Beelzebub and has been used generally to refer to false gods.

Other demons in "The Lesser Key of Solomon" are similarly complex, both in appearance and history. The Great King Asmoday, for example, is seemingly the demon Asmodeus who was captured by King Solomon. He, too, is described as having three heads (a bull, a man, and a ram), as well as having a snake's tail, the feet of a goose, and the ability to breathe fire. Despite his fearsome appearance, Asmoday is said to teach arithmetic, astronomy, and handicrafts.

Translating as "The Art of Paul", the Ars Paulina deals with invoking angels and is attributed to the Biblical Apostle, St Paul. It has a distinctly different tone from the more famous Ars Goetia. Where the Goetia talks about commanding and instructing demons, the angels in the Paulina are asked and requested for aid. The angels also seemingly have many more followers, each commanding hundreds of dukes and some with over a thousand servants. Their appearances aren't mentioned, but Biblical angels are said to look no less outlandish than demons. Ezekial 1 in the Old Testament describes angels as being like brilliant blue wheels full of eyes, with four wings and four faces — a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle.

One thing that the Ars Paulina notes is that there are 24 angels listed, one for each hour of the day and night, with the first hour coming at sunrise. According to the book "The Gods of the Egyptians," Ancient Egypt followed a similar tradition. In the Ancient Egyptian religion, there were also gods and goddesses for each hour. The Egyptians, however, only had 12 hourly deities, whose roles were repeated, both by day and by night.

The fifth book of "The Lesser Key of Solomon" is the Ars Notoria, which UCLA's Clark Library explains means "the notary art of Solomon." It contains a series of spoken prayers, which is said to have granted King Solomon his deep understanding of science and his legendary wisdom. The orations in this book aim to invoke angels and focus on mental abilities like memory and eloquence. Among them are magic words in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.

The Ars Notoria dates back to at least the 13th century. There are several different versions still in existence, many of them written in Latin, but the best versions also include mystical drawings known as notae. Researcher Joseph H. Peterson at Esoteric Archives explains that the notae are the centerpiece of the Ars Notoria, and the text is incomplete without them. Some elements in this book, like "Assaylemath, Assay, Lemeth, Azzabue," are very much what many people may expect magic words to sound like. On the other hand, other parts sound very similar to Catholic prayers, though this is likely influenced by the personal beliefs of past translations and edits.

King Solomon, according to legend, had the power to control demons. The Jewish Encyclopedia explains that this was due to him wearing a magic seal ring inscribed with the name of God. The story, embellished by Arabic writers, states that the ring was given to Solomon by God himself, made from brass and iron and used to compel good and evil spirits, respectively. One legend goes that the demon Asmodeus stole the ring from Solomon, throwing it into the sea to cut off his power. But eventually, Asmodeus was thwarted when Solomon found his ring in the belly of a fish. According to Ancient Origins, Solomon used his ring to interrogate the demons he held under his control, learning their names and abilities as well as how to protect against them. With his ring, Solomon was even able to compel demons to work for him, commanding Asmodeus to help construct a temple. Understandable, then, that Asmodeus would want to throw the ring into the ocean.

The Seal of Solomon, inscribed on Solomon's magic ring, was a six-pointed star. Britannica explains that this symbol was the predecessor to the familiar Star of David, the symbol of modern Judaism. The symbol had long been used as a protective charm to ward off evil spirits. In the 17th century, the Jewish community in Prague began to use the Star of David as their official symbol, and by the 19th century, it had become adopted almost universally as a symbol of Judaism.