Asmodeus

Asmodeus - the name is derived from ashma daeva (see Asmoday, Chammaday).  Asmodeus is a Persian rather than Jewish devil; however, incorporated into Jewish lore, he is there regarded as an evil spirit.  According to Forlong, Encyclopedia of Religions, Asmodeus is "the talmudic Ashmedai, a demon borrowed from the Zend Aeshmadeva," a "raging fiend" (The Book of Tobit 3:8).  It was Ashmadai (Ashmedai), says Forlong, who made Noah drunk, and who, in Tobit, slew the 7 bridegrooms of the young Sarah, and who, overcome by the angel Raphael, was finally "banish to upper Egypt."  In demonology, Asmodeus in Heller is the controller of all gaming houses.  Wierus the demonographer says Asmodeus must be invoked only when the invocant is bareheaded, otherwise the demon will trick him.  Barrett, The Magus II, pictures Asmodeus in color as one of the "Vessels of Wrath."  In James Branch Cabell's The Devil's Own Dear Son, Asmodeus is the son of Adam's first wife Lilith by Samael.  However, in The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abra-Merlin the Mage, we find this report: "Some rabbins say that Asmodeus was the child of the incest of Tubal-Cain and his sister Naamah; others say he was the demon of impurity."  Jewish lore charges Asmodeus with being the father-in-law of the demon Bar Shalmon [Rf. Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 510].  In Solomonic legends, Asmodeus also goes by the name of Saturn, Marcolf or Morolf.  He is credited with being the inventor of carousels, music, dancing, drama, "and all the new French fashions."  [Rf. Michaelis, Admirable History of the Possession and Conversion of a Penitent Woman; Waite, The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts; Malleus Maleficarum (p. 30); Voltaire, "Of Angels, Genii, and Devils."] (a)

Ashmedai - in rabbinic lore, a messenger of God, hence an angel.  However, being an opponent of Solomon and ruler of the south, with 66 legions of spirits under him, he is usually regarded as an evil spirits himself, some occult sources going so far as to identify him with the serpent who seduced Eve in the garden of Eden. [Rf. Mathers, The Greater Key of Solomon.]  Good or evil, angel or demon, he is not considered harmful; he has been characterized as a cherub, "prince of sheddim," and as "the great philosopher." [Rf. Jung, Fallen Angels in Jewish, Christian & Mohammedan Literature; Muller, History of Jewish Mysticism.] (a)

Asmadai - one of the 2 "potent thrones," as cited in Milton's Paradise Lost VI, 365. Uriel and Raphael succeed in vanquishing Asmadai (along with Adramalec), 2 powers, says Milton, "to be less than Gods/Disdain'd" (see Asmoday) (a)

Asmoday - a fallen angel "who has wings and flies about, and has knowledge of the future," according to Budge, Amulets and Talismans, p. 377. Asmoday teaches mathematics and can make men invisible.  He "giveth the ring of Vertues" and governs 72 legions of infernal sprits.  When invoked, he manifests as a creature with 3 heads (bull, ram, man).  Asmoday is a character in John Dryden's dramatic poem, The State of Innocence.  A variant spelling of the name is Hasmoday, who is one of the demons of the moon. [Rf. De Plancy, Dictionnaire Infernal;  Butler, Ritual Magic; Waite, The Lemegeton; Shah, The Secret Lore of Magic.]  (a)

Asmodee (see Ashmedai) - a French form for Asmodeus and (according to De Plancy) identical with Sammael or Satan.  (a)

Aeshma - The basis for Asmodeus (q.v.).  In Persian myth, Aeshma is one of the 7 archangels (i.e., amesha spentas).  The name is drawn, in turn, from the Zend Aeshmo daeva (the demon Aeshma). (a)

Asmodeus was one of the busiest demons. He was not only the overseer of all the gambling houses in the court of Hell, but the general spreader of dissipation. On top of that, Asmodeus was the demon of lust, personally responsible for stirring up matrimonial trouble. Maybe it was because he came from the original dysfunctional family. According to Jewish legend, his mother was a mortal woman, Naamah, and his father was one of the fallen angels. (Or, possibly, Adam before Eve came along)  Characterized in The Testament of Solomon, the great manual of magic, as "furious and shouting." Asmodeus routinely did everything he could to keep husbands and wives from having intercourse, while encouraging them at every turn to indulge their pent-up drives in adulterous and sinful affairs. When he condescended to appear before a mortal, he did so riding a dragon, armed with a spear; he had three heads - one a bull's, one a ram's, and one of a man's - as all three of these were considered lecherous creatures by nature. His feet, on the same theory, were those of a cock.  (c)

Sidonay, alias Asmoday, a great king, strong and mightie, he is seene with three heads, whereof the first is like a bull, the second like a man, the third like a ram, he hath a serpents taile, he belcheth flames out of his mouth, he hath feete like a goose, he sitteth on an infernall dragon, he carrieth a lance and a flag in his hand, he goeth before others, which are under the power of Amaymon. When the conjuror exerciseth this office, let him be abroad, let him be warie and standing on his feete; if his cap be on his head, he will cause all his dooings to be bewraied, which if he doo not, the exorcist shalbe deceived by Amaymon in everie thing. But so soone as he seeth him in the forme aforesaid, he shall call him by his name, saieng; Thou art Asmoday; he will not denie it, and by and by he boweth downe to the ground; he giveth the ring of venues, he absolutelie teacheth geometrie, arythmetike, astronomie, and handicrafts. To all demands he answereth fullie and trulie, he maketh a man invisible, he sheweth the places where treasure lieth, and gardeth it, if it be among the legions of Amaymon, he hath under his power seventie two legions. (g)

ASMODAY. - The Thirty-second Spirit is Asmoday, or Asmodai. He is a Great King, Strong, and Powerful. He appeareth with Three Heads, whereof the first is like a Bull, the second like a Man, and the third like a Ram; he hath also the tail of a Serpent, and from his mouth issue Flames of Fire. His Feet are webbed like those of a Goose. He sitteth upon an Infernal Dragon, and beareth in his hand a Lance with a Banner. He is first and choicest under the Power of AMAYMON, he goeth before all other. When the Exorcist hath a mind to call him, let it be abroad, and let him stand on his feet all the time of action, with his Cap or Headdress off; for if it be on, AMAYMON will deceive him and call all his actions to be bewrayed. But as soon as the Exorcist seeth Asmoday in the shape aforesaid, he shall call him by his Name, saying: "Art thou Asmoday?" and he will not deny it, and by-and-by he will bow down unto the ground. He giveth the Ring of Virtues; he teacheth the Arts of Arithmetic, Astronomy, Geometry, and all handicrafts absolutely. He giveth true and full answers unto thy demands. He maketh one Invincible. He showeth the place where Treasures lie, and guardeth it. He, amongst the Legions of AMAYMON governeth 72 Legions of Spirits Inferior. His Seal is this which thou must wear as a Lamen upon thy breast, etc. (h)

The Names of Some of the Good and Bad Spirits Solomon Made Use of which are mentioned in Enoch's Seven Tables, with a true account of their shapes, powers, government and effects, with their several seigniories* and degrees.

3 ASMODAI, hath one Idea called Muriel incorporated into two figures Geomantic, called Populus by day and Via by night. A Lunar spirit. (s)

*this is the spelling in the text

Demonology in the Apocrypha

The Old Testament Apocrypha is comparatively free from direct allusions to demons and their work.

We have, however, an important exception in the book of Tobit, chapters vi. and vii.  Tobias, son of Tobit, is sent under the guidance of the unknown angel Raphael to Ecbatana, to claim money due to his father, and to seek for himself the hand of Sarah, the beautiful daughter of Raguel who lives in that city.  In the Tigris, a fish is caught, of which he is told, by his angel guide, to reserve the heart, liver, and gall ; the first two are to prevent the demons, who had killed the former husband of Sarah, from killing Tobias the first night of his marriage.  This turns out exactly as intimated at the time of the catching of the fist.  Sarah is so loved by a powerful demon, that seven men who had in turn married her were by him put to death the night of the marriage, before indeed it was consummated.

But the heart and liver of the above fish saved the life of Tobias ; by means of them the devil is driven into Egypt (viii. 1-3).

The demon referred to before is called Asmodeus, and the incident shows that at the time when the book was written (some time in the second century B.C., according to Fritzsche, Bissell and Rosenmann) demons were believed to be capable of sexual love, reminding one of the love of the sons of God for the daughters of men in Gen. vi. 2, and especially of the Jinns among the Arabs, whom W.R. Smith¹ rightly regards as by no means peculiar to the Arabs, though the name probably is.

Two opinions prevail as to the etymology of the name Asmodeus.  A Semitic origin is claimed by the Talmud (in which he is called [Hebrew script]), and by several modern scholars.

The root would in that case be  [Hebrew script],  which in Hiph. means to destroy, Asmodeus being an aphael form.  But for noun agent, "destroyer," we should, had this etymology been correct, have had Masmodeus, not Asmodeus.

The great bulk of modern scholars identify this Asmodeus with the Persian Ashma, who in the Avesta is next to Angromainyus, the chief of the evil spirits.  Benfey, Stern, Windischmann, Fritzsche (in Schedkel sub voce) and Kohut, say the word means covetous, lustful.  the last part of the word is, they say, derived from doeva (div)=demon (cf. θαîος, deus).  Thus also Baudissen (Herzog ii).

Rev. J. M. Fuller,² while admitting the Persian origin, holds that the character given to Asmodeus agrees with Babylonian rather than with Persian belief.

Evil spirits are referred to in some other parts of the Apocrypha - such as in Wisdom ii. 24 ("by the envy of the devil [ό dιάβολος] death entered into the world").  In Ecclus. xxi. 27 Satan is mentioned.  (1)

¹"Rel. Sem.," p. 422.

²Speaker's Commentary.

There seems to be a similar conception in the book of Tobit; the demon Asmodeus apparently took up his abode in the bedroom of Sarah, where he would kill anyone who tried to take her to wife.  Tobias, however, armed himself with the heart and liver of a fish at the suggestion of Raphael, who informed him that by burning these organs one could put an end to the molestations of any evil spirit and drive it away for good.  Accordingly, we read that Asmodeus was baffled by the smell of the fish and ran away into upper Egypt where Raphael bound him in fetters, thus assuring his permanent removal.  (2)

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Other Information:

Ashmedai's Son-In-Law

Read Asmodeus' entry in: Hell's Hierarchy as Described by Father Michaelis (1612)

Resource List - all entries are taken verbatim from the original source:

(a) "The Dictionary of Angels" by Gustav Davidson, © 1967.

(c) "Fallen Angels...and Spirits of the Dark" by Robert Masello ©1994. 

(f) "The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, Book I, II, & III." Translated By: S. L. Mac Gregor Mathers.

This Adobe Acrobat edition contains the complete and unaltered text of the corresponding sections in the second (1900) edition published by John M. Watkins, London.  Prepared and typeset by Benjamin Rowe, December 16, 1998.   BEQUEATHED BY ABRAHAM UNTO LAMECH HIS SON.  TRANSLATED FROM THE HEBREW.  1458.

(g) "Pseudomonarchia daemonum" - Johann Wier (1583)

(h) "Sacred Magic of Abra-Melin the Mage" - S. L. MacGregor Mathers (1898)

(s) "A Treatise on Angel Magic, Being a Complete Transcription of Ms. Harley 6482 in the British Library."  Edited & Introduced by Adam McLean.  Phanes Press.  ©1990.  First published in 1949.

(1) "Magic, Divination, and Demonology Among the Hebrews and Their Neighbors."  T. Witton Davies.  KTAV Publishing House, Inc.  New York.  First published 1898.

(2) "The Devil, Demonology and Witchcraft." Henry Ansgar Kelly.  Doubleday & Company, Inc.  New York.  1968.  pg. 68