The twenty-ninth
29. The demon Astaroth - The Goddess of love Inanna
The twenty-ninth Spirit is called Astaroth. His other names are: Asteraoth, Astarta, Astarte, Inanna, Ishtar, Anat, Isis. Strangely enough, most of these hypostases are female, which we will discuss below.
Astaroth is a Great and Powerful Duke, a member of the Infernal Council, and a Knight of the Order of the Fly. He appears as a Slaying Angel, riding a Dragon-like infernal Beast, with a viper in his right hand. The summoner must in no way allow him to get close to himself, so that the demon cannot harm him with his disgusting breath. Therefore, a Magician must hold a Magic Ring in front of his face, and this will protect him.
According to Christian sources, Astaroth gives truthful answers about the events of the past, present and future and can reveal all the secrets. He will talk about the fall of the Spirits [of the Angels] and explain the reasons for his own fall.Veyer claims that Astaroth does not consider himself fallen of his own free will). He can make people well versed in all liberal sciences.
In the folk book about Dr. Faust (1587), Astaroth is named among the seven main spirits of Hell who visited the famous magician at his request. He "appeared in the form of a dragon and entered right on his tail. He had no legs, his tail was colored like a lizard's, his belly was thick, two short paws were completely yellow in front, and his belly was yellow-white, his back was brown like a chestnut, with sharp needles and stubble as long as a finger, like a hedgehog's." Astaroth is one of the four hellish princes of the cardinal directions, ruling in the West. In The Black Raven (16th century), he is named as one of the four Governors of the underworld.
According to R. Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy (1621), Astaroth is the prince of the eighth order of demons, "accusers and spies" (criminatores et exploratores), "accusatory devils or slanderers" who drive people to despair.
In the magical books Grimorium Verum (16th century) and Grand Grimoire (18th century), Astaroth is the Grand Duke, who along with Lucifer and Beelzebub forms the supreme triad of evil forces. His area of influence is America. His seal, symbols, and spell are listed here:
"Astaroth, Ador, Cameso, Valuerituf, Mareso, Lodir, Cadomir, Aluiel, Calniso, Tely, Pleorim, Viordy, Cureviorbas, Cameron, Vesturiel, Vulnavii, Benez, Meus Calmiron, Noard, Nisa Chenibranbo, Brazo, Tabrasol, come, Astaroth! Amen to that."
His main subordinates are Sargatanas and Naberius. His support is invoked when invoking a lesser spirit (for example, Lucifuge of Rofocal in "Grand Grimoire"). Astaroth appears in human form, dressed in black and white (sometimes also in the form of a donkey). In the Grimoire of Pope Honorius (1629), Astaroth is a Wednesday demon, summoned to a magic circle by a special spell between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. in order to gain the favor of the king and other lords:
"I conjure you, Astaroth, evil spirit, by the words and power of God, the all-powerful God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, To whom all demons submit, Who was conceived by the Virgin Mary; by the mystery of the Angel Gabriel, I conjure you... Do not disregard my orders, do not refuse to appear..."
In the late Kabbalah, Astaroth (or Tarthak) is also a demon of the Environment and the planet Mercury. He is depicted as a man with a donkey's head, carrying an upside-down book in which the words "Liber Scientia" ("Free Knowledge") are written. He is contrasted with the seal of Solomon (hexagram), around which the word "Yahweh" is inscribed, as well as the name of the angel Raphael. Astaroth is the 4th of the ten archdemons (opposing the ten Divine Sephiroth). He provides protection to the powerful.
Astaroth is a demon often involved in possession epidemics. In 1563-66 . he and other demons possessed Nicole Aubrey from Vervain and, after an exorcism, came out of the possessed woman's mouth in the form of a pig. In 1611 Astaroth, along with 6665 other demons, owned the nun of the Ursuline monastery in Aix-en-Provence, Madeleine Demandol. According to the "Admirable History" of the exorcist Sebastian Michaelis, Astaroth is the prince of the order of Thrones (L.Spence in the Encyclopedia of Occultism refers to him as Seraphim), loves empty pastime and idleness. He inclines people to idleness and laziness, and also inflates their vanity.
In Christianity, his "heavenly opponent" is Saint Bartholomew. A little later, Astaroth was one of the demons who possessed the Loudoun nuns (owned by Sister Elizabeth Blanchard with 5 other demons). An agreement has been preserved (written in Latin from right to left in inverted words) between the infernal forces (Astaroth and other demons) and Urbain Grandier, a French Catholic priest accused of devil worship, witchcraft and ritual murders and burned at the stake by a verdict of the ecclesiastical court.
Astaroth and Asmodeus (as traditional devils of lust) were invoked in the ritual of the black Mass (in 1673) by Louis XIV's mistress Madame de Montespan and the sinister Abbot Guibourg, sacrificing a child to demons:
"Astaroth, Asmodeus, friendly princes, I urge you to accept this child as a sacrifice, which I present to you with the request that the king and the Dauphin preserve their affection for me, that I be honored by the princes and princesses of the court, and that the king not refuse any of my requests, both for the benefit of my relatives and vassals."
Undoubtedly, Astaroth is one of the oldest daimons, and therefore one of the most powerful and respected. It is worth saying that he was one of the first Sumerian gods.
His female hypostasis was known as the "Queen of Heaven" for several thousand years before the Christian religion awarded this title to an earthly woman. The female hypostasis of Astaroth was known to the Canaanites as Astarte, to the Sumerians as Inanna, to the Babylonians as Ishtar, to the Assyrians and Akkadians as Ashtart, Astarte, Asherah, and Astoret, the Egyptians knew her as Isis, Ashet, and Asset, the Phoenicians as Tanith-Ashtart and Astarte. In Ugaritic, her name is Anat. Despite the fact that she has a slightly different role in each culture, she has always been an influential mother figure and served as a kind of guardian and patron of humanity. Both humans and gods sought her protection, so she was most likely the most revered deity of her time.
The goddess Astarte became the most maligned goddess when other religions began to gain popularity in the Middle East. The people who were in power at that time sought to destroy all the old beliefs as quickly as possible, and therefore they distorted the essence of all the gods and goddesses and presented them in the form of evil demons.
Astaroth patronizes and is an Advisor to both Daimons and humans. He deals mainly with human affairs, but is also the Treasurer of Hell.
Based on historical sources, it can be argued that Astaroth is the grandson of Bael, his parents are Ningal and Nanna.
The three dots on the sides of the five—pointed star of his sigil are an extremely ancient symbol that denotes his high spiritual rank.
Ast is the Egyptian transcription of the name of Isis (it was difficult for the Greeks to pronounce Ast, as well as Asr — Osiris). What is also very symbolic is that the Sumerians had their own Ennead, and Inanna was part of it, at number 9. The Sumerian transcription of her name is In-Nin, literally, it will be "Lady Nine". The numeral "inn" is still pronounced that way in Armenian. What Christians have made of all this is not surprising. They are great masters of distortion.
The goddess Inanna was also known as a great warrior, and her sacred animal was a lion, and the sacred city was Uruk, one of the oldest cities in Sumer, where she had her own temple. Under Inanna's rule, people Sumer and their communities flourished, and shrines and temples were erected in her honor in many cities of Ancient Mesopotamia.
Later Babylonian writings refer to her as Ishtar in combination with the titles "Light of the World", "Goddess of Goddesses", "Giver of power", etc.
The Ishtar Gate, built around 575 BC, was the main entrance to Babylon. This is the eighth of the eight gates of the inner city. King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon dedicated these gates to Ishtar. It is one of the most impressive monuments in the ancient Near East. Ishtar Gate is decorated with dragons, bulls and lions.
Along with Ea (Lucifer) and Enlil (Bael), she entered the grimoires during the Christian era as one of the main Crowned Princes of Hell. These three are the most popular and well—known deities in the Middle East. But with the advent of monotheism, their reputation was destroyed, and they themselves were monstrously slandered, covered in dirt and demonized, labeled as "evil."
"Despite the fact that Sidon is respected, one cannot forget that its goddess was Ashtart, a name that the Israeli scribe depicted with five consonants ShTRT, and voiced the vowels so that the word resembled the Hebrew word "shame", thus turning the Sidonian goddess into Astoret ("bastard" in Hebrew)." [Excerpt from "The Restoration of Sarepta, the Phoenician City" by James B. Pritchard, 1978]
"The various spellings of the name Astarte are based on the letters Tel Amara. The Hebrew word Astoret originated when the Rabbinical school of the Masoretes in the sixth century decided to adopt the traditional system to compensate for the lack of vowels in written Hebrew, and at the same time insert the vowel words "boshet", which means "abomination", into the names of non-Jewish deities. [Excerpts from Who's Who, Nonclassical Mythology. Egerton Sykes, 1993]
Astaroth gives truthful answers about the past, present and future. He reveals all the secrets and teaches liberal arts. It evokes prophetic dreams or visions about the future and gives knowledge about the unknown. He grants friendship to those in power and represents luxury and enjoyment.
When the summoner's contact with the daimon reaches the required level, Astaroth appears in the form of Inanna, a tall, beautiful and elegant goddess with fair skin and long blond hair. Everything she does, she does with ease and grace. She only helps those who are her followers. Those who want to use her abilities to commit injustice will be refused.
He controls 40 Legions of Spirits.
The most favorable time for conscription is from December 31 to January 10 and from September 18 to September 22, during the daytime.
Rank: Duke
Direction: North.
Element: Earth.
Planet: Venus.
Metal: Copper.
Plant: Laurel.
Color: Green, Brown, Red, Blue.
Incense: Sandalwood.
Zodiac sign: Capricorn.
The words of the call: Tasa Alora Foren Astaroth.
Namtar Enzigal, 22.11.2019
