The Goetic hierarchy feels like a court summoned by candlelight from the underside of the world, each name a sigil trembling in the air. Unlike Milton or Dante, the Lesser Key of Solomon (Ars Goetia) doesn’t describe “nine circles” but a royal chain of command: kings, dukes, princes, marquises, presidents, earls, and knights.
Below is the infernal aristocracy as usually presented: the monarchs first, then the nobility who answer their call. Think of it as a constellation of power rather than a ladder.
THE ROYAL FOUR
These are the high crowns of the Goetia. Their presence bends ritual space like iron softening in a forge.
1. Bael — King
The first spirit. Commands legions with a cool, clinical authority.
Masks the world in a haze of invisibility and misdirection. His throne is quiet, but absolute.
2. Paimon — King
The most celebrated of the Goetic kings.
Arrives with a brass orchestra of desert winds, riding a dromedary like a nomad-king of forbidden knowledge.
Grants deep wisdom, secret arts, and hidden languages.
3. Beleth — King
A storm in regal form.
Beleth’s court moves like an unruly cavalry—terrifying, majestic, impossible to stop.
One of the most fearsome monarchs in the Goetia.
4. Purson — King
A lion-faced sovereign bearing a serpent and riding a bear.
His visions glide through past and future like lantern-light over water.
These four form the crown of command, the uppermost stratum of Goetic power.
THE GREAT PRINCES AND PRINCESSES
Their domains sit just beneath the kings, ruling vast territories of cunning and sorcery.
Astaroth — Duke/Prince
Often titled a grand duke or princess depending on the tradition.
Embodies ancient wisdom, forgotten theology, and the bitter clarity of cosmic truths.
Vine — King/Count
A hybrid ruler whose role straddles royalty and nobility.
Builds walls, tears them down, perceives hidden things. A paradox in regal form.
Stolas — Prince
Owl-shaped scholar of astronomy and herbal craft.
More mystical savant than tyrant.
THE DUKES
The dukes rule expanses of infernal territory like wandering generals.
Agares
A patient master of languages and motion.
He commands earthquakes like a conductor guiding drums.
Vual (Vassago in some texts)
Giver of prophecies and restorer of lost things.
Gremory
A duchess or duke riding a camel, draped in gold.
Reveals buried treasure, both literal and metaphorical.
Aamon
Mediator of disputes, a political force among the damned.
There are 23 Goetic dukes in total.
THE MARQUISES
Strategists and battlefield commanders of the infernal host.
Marchosias
A wolf with a fiery serpent-tail, noble in temperament and loyal once summoned.
Amon
A phoenix-wolf hybrid who burns with contradiction.
Decarabia
A star-shaped spirit who twists perception, unlocking the nature of gems and birds.
THE PRESIDENTS
Not political presidents—more like occult project leaders, each with a specialized domain.
Buer
Teaches medicine, healing, herbs, and philosophy.
A wheel of upright lions, spinning like wisdom on the move.
Foras
Gives insight into hidden virtues of stones and plants.
Malphas
Builder of fortresses and saboteur of enemies.
His architecture is both creation and destruction.
THE EARLS
Warrior-nobles who command mid-tier legions.
Botis
Snake-bodied oracle who shifts from monstrous to human form.
Bathin
Traveler of long roads and master of herbs.
THE KNIGHTS
Swift, sharp, and dangerous—cavalry spirits.
Furcas
Rides a pale horse; teaches logic, ethics, and astrology.
A philosopher-knight.
SO WHO RULES WHAT?
Unlike Dante’s Hell, the Goetia does not divide Hell into nine circles.
But many occultists map them symbolically:
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