Sigil of Asmoday
At a glance
- Entry
- 32 of 72
- Rank
- King
- Legions
- 72 in the text
- Also written
- Asmodai
Description in the text
Asmoday is said to teach arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and crafts. The passage also attributes to him answers to questions, invincibility, and the finding and guarding of treasure, while placing him under Amaymon.
Read entry 32 on page 32 of the 1916 edition
Appearance
A three-headed figure with bull, human, and ram faces, serpent tail, and goose-like feet; he rides a dragon.
Topics attributed to this entry
- Mathematics
- Crafts
- Treasure
Reading this entry
Asmoday, also Asmodai, is a king with bull, human, and ram heads, serpent tail, fiery mouth, and goose-like feet. He rides a dragon and carries a lance and banner. The entry situates him under Amaymon and spends considerable space on how he is recognized and addressed. These ceremonial directions are evidence of the figure’s importance in the grimoire’s hierarchy; they are not needed as a practical procedure for a reference reader.
His offices include arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, handicrafts, answers, invincibility, and guarded treasure. The text also mentions a “ring of virtues” without defining it in modern terms. Asmoday governs 72 legions within Amaymon’s following, an unusually resonant number in a 72-entry catalogue. The multi-headed portrait, named superior, lengthy encounter, and mixture of mathematical and martial claims make this a particularly dense profile.
Read entry 32 on page 32 of the 1916 edition or compare the 1904 transcription.
A closer reading of entry 32
What the numbered text says
Asmoday’s three heads, goose-like feet, serpent tail, fire, dragon mount, and banner form one of the most densely specified bodies in the catalogue. A long ceremonial episode places him under Amaymon before the offices begin. Those offices name arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, crafts, answers, invincibility, and treasure. The 72 legions are said to be among Amaymon’s, making the superior’s name part of the source’s hierarchy rather than a new entry in this numbered list.
About the printed seal
The fifth 1916 frontispiece numbers Asmoday’s emblem 32. The passage calls it a lamen and assigns it a ceremonial role; the plate does not explain how its geometry represents the three heads or Amaymon. Its image documents this edition’s sign without validating the ritual claim.
Compare another entry
Compare entry 21: Marax. Marax also teaches astronomy but does so beside liberal sciences and knowledgeable familiars. Asmoday specifies arithmetic, geometry, and handicrafts as well and gives a long superior-and-king narrative. One shared discipline should not erase the difference in rank, portrait, and textual scale.