The demon Asmodeus is one of the demons listed in the Goetia of the Lesser Keys of Solomon. According to this listing, he is a fearsome creature with three heads: a bull, a man, and a ram. He also has a serpent’s tail, webbed feet, and flaming breath. He rode a dragon and carried a lance and a banner.
Asmodeus was the first and foremost of the demons under the rule of Amayton, one of the four kings of the cardinal directions. Asmodeus was also called the Great Bear or the Offspring of a Dragon. He was known for plotting against newlyweds, spoiling the beauty of virgins, and making hearts grow cold. He hates water and fish, which can be used against him.
Asmodeus, whose name has many spelling variations, may be derived from the Zoroastrian demon (daeva) Aesma (wrath), and is a Persian demon absorbed into the traditions of their Jewish neighbors.
Spelling variations: Asmoday, Asmodai, Asmodee, Osmodeus, Hashmedai
Fall From Heaven
Asmodeus describes himself, saying: “I was born of an angel’s seed by a daughter of man,” suggesting a potential relationship to the Nephilim, the children of the Watchers with mortal women.
Another story suggests that Asmodeus is one of the Seven Kings of Hell and represents one of the Seven Deadly Sins, lust. His former form as an angel was Asmodel, the angel of April and Patience who rules Taurus. He joined Lucifer’s rebellion and was personally defeated by the archangel Raphael, who tore out the lion part of his body and tossed him out of Heaven. As he recovered, his lion part became his steed. He mated with Lilith and gave birth to the first generation of incubi and succubi.
Asmodeus Describes Himself to Solomon
According to the Testament of Solomon, a pseudepigraphic work attributed to the 10th-century king of Israel and Judah, probably dating to the 1st century BC, Asmodeus tells the king the following about himself:
“I am called Asmodeus among mortals, and my business is to plot against the newly wedded, so that they may not know one another. And I sever them entirely by many calamities; and I waste away the beauty of virgins and estrange their hearts… I transport men into fits of madness and desire when they have wives of their own, so that they leave them and go off by night and day to others that belong to other men; with the result that they commit sin and fall into murderous deeds.” (11.20).
Asmodeus and the Temple of Solomon
Various sources say that Solomon compelled Asmodeus to help him construct his temple, which was the first temple of Jerusalem.
According to the Haggadah, Solomon did not know how to get the blocks of marble into shape for his temple since, according to the law, they could not be worked with iron tools. Wise men advised him to obtain the shamir, a worm whose mere touch could cleave rocks. But this was a challenging task as not even demons, who were believed to know many secrets, knew where to find the shamir. However, Asmodeus knew the location.
Asmodeus lived in a mountain hideout, where he had a well-head that he blocked with a large rock whenever he left to go to heaven and participate in the discussions of the Metibta (celestial house of study). He also attended, invisibly, the debates in the earthly house of learning.
Solomon sent Benaiah ben Jehoiadah to capture Asmodeus, providing him with a chain and ring on which the Tetragrammaton (the ineffable, four-letter Hebrew name of God) was engraved, a bundle of wool, and a skin of wine. Benaiah drew off the water from the well through a hole that he created and then stopped up the source with the wool and filled the well with wine. When Asmodeus returned, he was surprised to discover wine instead of water. He drank the wine until he fell into a deep sleep. Benaiah took the opportunity to throw a chain around his neck, which he secured with the name of God.
On the journey back to Solomon, Asmodeus behaved strangely. He brushed up against a palm tree, uprooting it. He knocked against a house and overturned it. He broke a bone avoiding a poor woman’s house at her request and stated, “Is it not written that the woman’s entreaty breaks the bone?” He also helped a bling man and a drunkard, and wept when a wedding company passed. He laughed at a man who asked a shoemaker to make him shoes that would last him for seven years, and at a magician who publicly showed his skills.
When Asmodeus was finally led to Solomon, the king said that he only wanted the shamir, so Asmodeus told him where it could be found. When Solomon was told about his behavior on the journey. He explained that this was because he did not see with human eyes, but the truth. He cried when he saw the wedding party because he knew that the groom would be dead within the month. He laughed at the shoes, because he knew that the owner would not have them for seven days. He laughed at the magician who pretended to disclose secrets but did not see the treasure beneath his feet.
Asmodeus stayed with Solomon until the temple was complete. This led Solomon to question his greatness as he could not free himself. Asmodeus responded that Solomon should remove his chains and lend him his magic ring to allow him to prove his greatness. Solomon agreed. The demon then stood before the king, with one ring touching heaven and the other earth. He snatched up Solomon, who was no longer protected by his protective ring, threw him far away, and pretended to be the king.
Solomon eventually made his way home to reclaim his throne. At first, the people thought he was a madman, but when a wiseman observed Asmodeus closely and realized what had happened. For example, he always wore slippers because he had cock’s feet. Solomon was able to acquire another magical ring and scare Asmodeus off.
According to Islamic tradition, Solomon banished Asmodeus into a rock and then threw the rock into the bottom of the sea. Because of this legend, Asmodeus is known as Sakhr (the stony one).
Solomon and Asmodeus in Later Sources
Solomon was famously granted the ability to control demons by God. In later sources, specifically the Zoha, Asmodeus is described as a teacher of Solomon, giving him a book of magic and medicine (19a, 43a).
According to another legend, Asmodeus brought forth from the earth a two-headed man, who married and produced both normal and two-headed children. When he died, there was a dispute about inheritance among the children, with the two-headed children saying they should get twice as much.
Asmodeus in the Book of Tobit
Asmodeus also appears in the Book of Tobit, a 3rd or 2nd century BC composition considered deuterocanonical. This means that they are considered canonical in some streams of Christianity, including the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, but not in Protestantism or Jewish Rabbinic tradition. In the book, he is called “king of the demons” (3.8, 6.14),
He is the primary antagonist to the marriage of Sarah, daughter of Raguel. He slays seven successive husbands on their wedding nights, blocking consummation of the marriages, reportedly because he fell in love with her. For this, he is called the “worst of demons.”
Finally, when Tobias is preparing to marry Sarah, Asmodeus plans the same fate. But Tobias is counseled and attended by the angel Raphael. Following the angel’s instructions, Tobias places a fish heart and liver on red-hot cinders, producing a smoky vapour that causes Asmodeus to flee to Egypt, where Raphael binds him (3.8, 6.14, 8.2-4).
Modern Demonology
In demonology, Asmodeus is often considered the adversary of St John. He is sometimes associated with the month of November, when his power is strongest, but others link him with Aquarius, especially January 30 to February 8th. Asmodeus was cited by the nuns of Loudun during some possessions in 1634.
In his Malleus Maleficarum (1486), Henrich Kramer deals with Asmodeus, saying that he is the “devil of fornication,” and that his name means “creature of judgment,” because fornication was the sin that led to the judgment of Sodom.
In the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (16th century), Dutch occultist Johann Weyer says that when a practitioner summons Asmodeus, he should be outside and wearing a cap, or he will be deceived by the demon. When Asmodeus appears in his beastly form, the conjurer should call him by his true name, Asmodeus, and he will not deny it, but bow down and teach the conjurer everything they want to know about geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and handicrafts. He can also make the conjurer invisible, show him where treasure is hidden, and guard treasure. Plus, he can command 72 legions of demons.
The Infernal Dictionary (1818), by French occultist Jacques Augute Simon Collin de Plancy, adds that Asmodeus is a destructive demon and the superintendent of gambling houses. He notes that Asmodeus was expelled to Egypt by Solomon and Raphael. He says that a man called Paul Licas saw him imprisoned there on one of his trips, though he does not believe it. He also noted that he read in the Courrier de l’Egypte that the people there still adore the serpent Asmodeus, and that he has a temple in the desert of Ryanneh. He shares the opinion that Asmodeus was the serpent who tempted Eve. He notes that in the infernal hierarchy, he is under Amoymon and that he was one of the demons who possessed Madeleine Ravent.
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