Ars Goetia

"The Ars Goetia are the 72 elite demons of Hell, each with their own noble rankings and their own legions that they command into battle. They're the most famous out of all the potential demonic summonings, probably because of their own past with Solomon and their name being written down in the Lemegeton and stuffs. Words from the grapevine - Mattie - said that they exist in some sort of noble rankings completely outside of the infernal hierarchy known as the Goetial Authorities, which, despite how many times I bugged him, that shitty old man still won't tell me more about it."

- Carl Black.

The Ars Goetia, also known as the 72 Pillars or the Lemegeton, is a group comprised of seventy two noble demons with exemplary strength and their own legions. They are listed in the grimoire Lesser Key of Solomon.

Overview
Their great amount of power and leadership status among the lesser demons also grants each Goetia the authority to exert command over Lucifer's other forces within Hell. Lucifer himself is confident enough of the Ars Goetia's abilities to send them out on potentially hazardous missions, such as gathering information in the Human World, fighting strong angels such as Seraphim by themselves and searching for items that would benefit the Emperor of Hell or even destroying certain things that may be an obstacle.

Ironically, most of the Ars Goetia are not actually pure demons, but were in actuality fallen angels that rebelled alongside Lucifer during the War in Heaven. Lucifer's respect and even care for the Ars Goetia is reflected in his manner of addressing them, often referring to them as "my dear brothers" or "my beloved fallen". While all of them are completely loyal to Lucifer, some of the loyalists are also discreetly so fearful of him that they almost desire to refuse following him. Lucifer himself is known to be harsh and cruel to them should they fail in a certain task, but he is not completely without mercy as he chooses to spare them from a cruel punishment unlike Satan.

Like most demons, the Ars Goetia are tempters, who tried to damn humans by offering worthy gifts, like wealth, knowledge or magical powers in return for souls.

Characteristics
There seems to be a sort of hierarchy among the Goetia; a higher-ranked member apparently can give orders to lower-ranked members. This is evidenced with the demon Satanachia holding Aamon, Pruflas, and Barbatos as his own subordinates. When a demon of the Goetia is either summoned or tasked by Lucifer, it usually involves one or more Goetia demons operating together, with the strongest members exercising command over the others, being less powerful then they. And even then, it is also due to the status that they hold such as a Count or an Earl being under the command of a Marquis.

While the Ars Goetia appear to constantly gather in Hell's council to discuss certain events alongside their lord Lucifer, they can have their own quarters within Hell, which ranges from castles, underground fortresses, or even a separate dimension that is tethered to Hell. These palaces are modified to suit the specific Goetia demon's taste.

The Goetia are divided into a noble hierarchy, with the following ranks:
 * King of Hell
 * Duke of Hell
 * Prince of Hell
 * Marquis of Hell
 * Count of Hell
 * Knight of Hell
 * President of Hell

Myths and Legends
Ars Goetia is the title of the first section of the Lesser Key of Solomon, containing descriptions of the seventy-two demons that King Solomon is said to have evoked and confined in a bronze vessel sealed by magic symbols, and that he obliged to work for him. The Ars Goetia assigns a rank and a title of nobility to each member of the infernal hierarchy, and gives the demons "signs they have to pay allegiance to", or seals. The lists of entities in the Ars Goetia correspond (to high but varying degree, often according to edition) with those in Johann Weyer's Pseudomonarchia Daemonum an appendix appearing in later editions of his De Praestigiis Daemonum, of 1563.

A revised English edition of the Ars Goetia was published in 1904 by Samuel Liddell Mathers and Aleister Crowley as The Goetia. based on manuscripts from the British Museum, with additions by Crowley, including a Preliminary Invocation drawn from Goodwin's Fragment of a Graeco-Egyptian Work upon Magic, and the essay The Initiated Interpretation of Ceremonial Magic. It is not a faithful edition of the source manuscripts but contains several innovations, including some evocations in Enochian written by Crowley. In his introduction, Crowley argues that the work of demonic evocation is merely a form of psychological self-exploration. It has since become a relatively well-known book of magic and has even been featured in places like the graphic novel Promethea by Alan Moore and James Blish's novel Black Easter.

Etymology
Ancient Greek γοητεία (goēteia) means "charm, jugglery" from γόης "sorcerer, wizard". The meaning of "sorcerer" is attested in a scholion, referring to the Dactyli, stating that according to Pherecydes and Hellanicus, those to the left are goētes, while those to the right are deliverers from sorcery. The word may be ultimately derived from the verb γοάω "groan, bewail". Derived terms are γοήτευμα "a charm" and γοητεύω "to bewitch, beguile".

γοητεία was a term for witchcraft in Hellenistic magic. Latinized goetia via French goétie was adopted into English as goecie, goety in the 16th century.

Connection to other mythologies
Many members of the Ars Goetia often resemble deities and monsters from other mythologies. Whether they were the actual deities of old, later impostors or just demonization of later Christian demonologists, is unknown.

Notable examples:
 * Agares - Argus Panoptes, servant of Hera from Greek mythology
 * Aamon - Amun, Egyptian god of the sun
 * Andras - Andraste, Celtic war goddess
 * Astaroth - Astarte, Mediterranean goddess of love and war
 * Baal - Hadad, Mesopotamian god of war and thunder
 * Balam - Balaam, non-Israelite prophet
 * Bathin - Nephthys, Egyptian goddess of women
 * Bifrons - Janus, Roman God of doors and new beginnings
 * Haagenti - Bastet, Egyptian goddess of cats, women, art and war
 * Ipos - Anubis, Egyptian god who serves as the judge of the dead
 * Kimaris - Chimera, Greek monster
 * Morax - Maat, Egyptian goddess of truth and harmony
 * Naberius - Cerberus, Hellhound Guardian of the Greek Underworld
 * Orias - Osiris, Egyptian god of the Underworld
 * Phenex - Phoenix, Greek wife bird
 * Purson - Horus, Egyptian god of Kings
 * Raum - Khnum, Egyptian god of the Nile
 * Sabnock - Sobek, Egyptian god the Nile
 * Sitri - Set, Egyptian god of chaos
 * Zagan - Dagon, Mesopotamian god of agriculture
 * Zepar - Zephyrus, Greek god of the West Wind

Trivia

 * The Ars Goetia Book is one of the five grimoires of the Lesser Key of Solomon.
 * Goetic Theurgy, another practice described in the Lesser Key of Solomon, is similar to the book's description of Goetia, but is used to invoke aerial spirits.

Image Sources

 * (Ars Goetia.jpg) Ars Goetia by ???
 * (72 Goetia Sigils.jpg) Seals of the Ars Goetia from the Lesser Key of Solomon
 * (Another illustrations of the 72 Goetic demons.gif) Ars Goetia by ???
 * (Ars Goetia Artworks.jpg) Collection of Ars Goetia Demons Images by Louis Le Breton