A winged dragon with the face and hands of a man rolled into Solomon's court. Its body was scaled like a serpent, but its limbs were human, and great wings folded against its back. Solomon stared. "Who are you?"
"I am the Winged Dragon," the spirit said. "Once I was worshipped as a god among men, but now your ring and the wisdom of God have brought me to nothing." Solomon condemned it to saw marble for the Temple, invoking the angel Bazazeth, who sits in the second heaven.
Then came Enepsigos — a female demon with two extra heads sprouting from her shoulders, each with its own pair of hands. Three faces, six hands, one malevolent will.
"I have my dwelling in the moon," she said, "and for that reason I possess three forms. At times I am invoked as Kronos. At times I descend in another shape entirely. The measure of my celestial body is beyond your comprehension." She was defeated by the angel Rathanael, who sits in the third heaven. Solomon sealed her with a triple chain.
But Enepsigos prophesied before she was silenced: "After a time, your kingdom shall be broken, O king. This Temple shall be torn apart. Jerusalem shall be undone by the kings of Persia and Media and Chaldea. The vessels of this Temple will be profaned. The jars in which you imprison us will be shattered by the hands of men. And then we shall pour forth in great power across the earth, and lead the world astray for ages."
Solomon heard this prophecy and marveled. He did not believe it — not yet. But he wrote it down in his testament for the children of Israel, recording the powers of the demons, their shapes, and the names of the angels who defeat them. Only later, when every word came true, did he understand.
Next a sea-demon appeared — half horse in front, half fish behind — with a voice like thunder. "I am a fierce spirit of the sea," it roared. "I am greedy for gold and silver. I become a wave and throw myself upon ships, capsizing them and hurling sailors into the deep. I do not covet their bodies — I hurl them back onto shore. I want their treasure." This demon served Beelzeboul and had come up from the sea at his command. It was defeated by the angel Iameth. Solomon sealed it in a flask with ten jugs of seawater, sealed the mouth with marble, asphalt, and pitch, and deposited the vessel in the Temple.
Then came a spirit with gleaming eyes, bearing a blade — a demon born from one of the giants who perished in the great destruction. "I dwell in graveyards," it said. "I sit beside those who walk among the tombs. I take the form of the dead. If I catch a living man, I destroy him with my sword. If I fail, I cause him to be possessed, to devour his own flesh, and his beard falls away." Solomon sealed this spirit too.
And then, thirty-six spirits appeared at once. Their heads were shapeless — like those of dogs — but their bodies were human, with faces of donkeys, oxen, and birds. They spoke with one voice: "We are the thirty-six rulers of this darkness. We present ourselves before you from ram and bull, from twin and crab, lion and maiden, scales and scorpion, archer, goat-horn, water-pourer, and fish — all twelve signs of the zodiac, three spirits to each."
Solomon invoked the name of the Lord of Hosts and questioned them one by one. Each confessed its disease, its affliction, and the angel that defeats it:
Ruax causes headaches. Defeated by Michael.
Barsafael causes migraines. Defeated by Gabriel.
Arotosael harms the eyes. Defeated by Uriel.
Iudal causes deafness. Defeated by Uruel.
Sphendonael causes tumors and lockjaw. Defeated by Sabrael.
Sphandor paralyzes the shoulders and sucks marrow from the bones. Defeated by Arael.
Belbel distorts hearts and minds. Defeated by Arael.
Kurtael sends bowel cramps. Defeated by Iaoth.
One by one they confessed. One by one they were sealed. The ancient war between angels and demons was being waged not with swords but with names — and Solomon held the seal that compelled every dark spirit to reveal its weakness.
And the spirit answered and said: "This is the first
time I have stood before the, O King Solomon. I am a spirit made
into a god among men, but now brought to naught by the ring and
wisdom vouchsafed to thee by God. Now I am the so-called winged
dragon1, and I chamber2 not with many women, but only with a
few that are of fair shape, which possess the name of xuli3, of
this star. And I pair with them in the guise of a spirit winged
in form, coitum habens per nates4. And she on whom I have leapt
goes heavy with child, and that which is born of her becomes eros.
But since such offspring cannot be carried by men, the woman in
question breaks wind. Such is my role. Supposed then only that
I am satisfied, and all the other demons molested and disturbed
by thee will speak the whole truth. But those composed of fire
5 will cause to be burned up by fire the material of the logs
which is to be collected by them for the building in the Temple."
1. pterodrákun, a word not in the
lexicons.
2. [i.e. copulate.]
3. [D: Touxylou.]
4. [D: copulating (with them) through their buttocks.]
5. Tà dè dià pyrós.
And as the demon said this, I saw the spirit going forth from
his mouth, and it consumed the wood of the frankincense-tree,
and burned up all the logs which we had placed in the Temple of
God. And I Solomon saw what the spirit had done, and I marvelled.
And, having glorified God, I asked the dragon-shaped demon,
and said: "Tell me, by what angel art thou frustrated?"
And he answered: "By the great angel which has its seat in
the second heaven, which is called in Hebrew Bazazeth. And I Solomon,
having heard this, and having invoked his angel, condemned him
to saw up marbles for the building of the Temple of God; and I
praised God, and commanded another demon to come before me.
And there came before my face another spirit, as it were a
woman in the form she had. But on her shoulders she had two other
heads with hands. And I asked her, and said: "Tell me, who
art thou?" And she said to me: "I am Enêpsigos,
who also have a myriad names." And I said her: "By what
angel art thou frustrated?" But she said to me: "What
seekest, what askest thou? I undergo changes, like the goddess
I am called. And I change again, and pass into possession of another
shape. And be not
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desirous therefore to know all that concerns
me. But since thou art before me for this much, hearken. I have
my abode in the moon, and for that reason I possess three forms.
At times I am magically1 invoked by the wise as Kronos. At
other times, in connexion with those who bring me down, I come
down and appear in another shape. The measure of the element2
is inexplicable and indefinable, and not to be frustrated. I then,
changing into these three forms, come down and become such as
thou seest me; but I am frustrated by the angel Rathanael, who
sits in the third heaven. This then is why I speak to thee. Yonder
temple cannot contain me."
1. mageyoméne.
2. Perhaps "the place or size of the heavenly
body."
I therefore Solomon prayed to my God, and I invoked the angel
of whom Enépsigos spoke to me, and used my seal. And I
sealed her with a triple chain, and (placed) beneath her the fastening
of the chain. I used the seal of God, and the spirit prophesied
to me, saying: "This is what thou, King Solomon, doest to
us. But after a time thy kingdom shall be broken, and again in
season this Temple shall be riven asunder1; and all Jerusalem
shall be undone by the King of the Persians and Medes and Chaldaeans.
And the vessels of this Temple, which thou makest, shall be put
to servile uses of the gods; and along with them all the jars,
in which thou dost shut us up, shall be broken by the hands of
men. And then we shall go forth in great power hither and thither,
and be disseminated all over the world. And we shall lead astray
the inhabited world for a long season, until the Son of God is
stretched upon the cross. For never before doth arise a king like
unto him, one frustrating us all, whose mother shall not have
contact with man. Who else can receive such authority over spirits,
except he, whom the first devil will seek to tempt, but will not
prevail over? The number of his name is 6442, which is Emmanuel.
Wherefore, O King Solomon, thy time is evil, and thy years short
and evil, and to thy servant shall thy kingdom be given3."
1. I conjecture the sense which the word must bear
in this context.
2. xmd.
3. This prophecy corresponds roughly to the one which
Lactantius, Instit. Div. lib. iv. c. 18, quotes from an
apocryphal Book of Solomon.
And I Solomon, having heard this, glorified God. And though
I marvelled at the apology of the demons, I did not credit it
until it came true. And I did not believe their words; but when
they were
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realized, then I understood, and at my death I wrote
this Testament to the children of Israel, and gave it to
them, so that they might know the powers of the demons and their
shapes, and the names of their angels, by which these angels are
frustrated. And I glorified the Lord God of Israel, and commanded
the spirits to be bound with bonds indissoluble.
And having praised God, I commanded another spirit to come
before me; and there came before my face another demon, having
in front the shape of a horse, but behind of a fish. And he had
a mighty voice, and said to me: "O King Solomon, I am a fierce
spirit of the sea, and I am greedy of gold and silver. I am such
a spirit as rounds itself and comes over the expanses of the water
of the sea, and I trip up the men who sail thereon. For I round
myself into a wave1, and transform myself, and then throw myself
on ships and come right in on them. And that is my business, and
my way of getting hold of money and men. For I take the men, and
whirl them round with myself, and hurl the men out of the sea.
For I am not covetous of men's bodies, but cast them up out of
the sea so far. But since Beelzeboul, ruler of the spirits of
air and of those under the earth, and lord of earthly ones, hath
a joint kingship with us in respect of the deeds of each one of
us, therefore I went up from the sea, to get a certain outlook
2 in his company.
1. Cp. Jude 13. That Jude here indulges in no mere
metaphor is clear from the words which follow, which embody the
belief detailed in the Testament of Solomon, p. 40.
2. "descent, or spiritual assault."
"But I also have another character and role. I metamorphose
myself into waves, and come up from the sea. And I show myself
to men, so that those on earth call me Kuno[s]paston1, because
I assume the human form. And my name is a true one. For by my
passage up into men, I send forth a certain nausea. I came then
to take counsel with the prince Beelzeboul; and he bound me and
delivered me into thy hands. And I am here before thee because
of this seal, and thou dost now torment me2. Behold now, in
two or three days the spirit that converseth with thee will fail,
because I shall have no water."
1. Cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist. 24. 74 "Cynosbaton,
alii Cynospaston, alii neurospaston vocant; folium habet vestigio
hominis simile. Fert et uvam nigram, in cuius acino nervum habet,
unde neurospastos dicitur." The human form revealed itself
in the footstep, which the leaf resembled.
2. basaníxeis. Cp. Matt. viii. 6, 29;
xiv. 24; Mark v. 7.
And I said to him: "Tell me by what angel thou art frustrated."
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And he answered: "By Iameth." And I glorified God. I
commanded the spirit to be thrown into a phial along with ten
jugs of sea-water of two measures each1. And I sealed them
round above the marbles and asphalt and pitch in the mouth of
the vessel. And having sealed it with my ring, I ordered it to
be deposited in the Temple of God. And I ordered another spirit
to come before me.
1. Cp. John ii. 6.
And there came before my face another enslaved spirit, having
obscurely the form of a man, with gleaming eyes, and bearing in
his hand a blade. And I asked: "Who art thou? But he answered:
"I am a lascivious spirit, engendered of a giant man who
dies in the massacre in the time of the giants." I said to
him: "Tell me what thou art employed on upon earth, and where
thou hast thy dwelling."
And he said: "My dwelling is in fruitful places, but
my procedure is this. I seat myself beside the men who pass along
among the tombs, and in untimely season I assume the form of the
dead; and if I catch any one, I at once destroy him with my sword.
But if I cannot destroy him, I cause him to be possessed with
a demon, and to devour his own flesh, and the hair to fall off
his chin." But I said to him: "Do thou then be in fear
of the God of heaven and of earth, and tell me by angel thou art
frustrated." And he answered: "He destroys me who is
to become Saviour, a man whose number, if any one shall write
it on his forehead1, he will defeat me, and in fear I shall
quickly retreat. And, indeed, if any one write this sign on him,
I shall be in fear." And I Solomon, on hearing this, and
having glorified the Lord God, shut up this demon like the rest.
1. Rev. ix. 4; xiii, 16, 17.
And I commanded another demon to come before me. And there
came before my face thirty-six spirits, their heads shapeless
like dogs, but in themselves they were human in form; with faces
of asses, faces of oxen, and faces of birds. And I Solomon, on
hearing and seeing them, wondered, and I asked them and said:
"Who are you?" But they, of one accord with one voice,
said1: "We are the thirty-six elements, the world-rulers
2 of this darkness. But, O King Solomon, thou wilt not wrong
us nor imprison us, nor lay command on us; but since the Lord
God has given thee authority over every spirit, in the air, and
on the earth, and under the earth, therefore do we also present
ourselves before thee like the other spirits, from ram and bull,
from
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both twin and crab, lion and virgin, scales and scorpion,
archer, goat-horned, water-pourer, and fish.
1. Acts ii. 1.
2. kosmokratores. Cp. Paul, Eph. vi. 12; Origen,
c. Celsum, viii, 58.
Then I Solomon invoked the name of the Lord Sabaoth, and questioned
each in turn as to what was its character. And I bade each one
come forward and tell of its actions. Then the first one came
forward, and said: "I am the first decans of the zodiacal
circle, and I am called the ram, and with me are these two."
So I put to them the question: "Who are ye called?"
The first said: "I, O Lord, am called Ruax, and I cause the
heads of men to be idle, and I pillage their brows. But let me
only hear the words, 'Michael, imprison Ruax,' and at once I retreat."
And the second said: "I am called Barsafael, and I cause
those who are subject to my hour to feel the pain of migraine.
If only I hear the words, 'Gabriel, imprison Barsafael,' at once
I retreat."
The third said: "I am called Arôtosael. I do harm
to eyes, and grievously injure them. Only let me hear the words,
'Uriel, imprison Aratosael' (sic), at once I retreat . . . . .1"
1. There seems to be a lacuna here.
The fifth said: "I am called Iudal, and I bring about
a block in the ears and deafness of hearing. If I hear, 'Uruel
Iudal,' I at once retreat."
The sixth said: "I am called Sphendonaêl. I cause
tumours of the parotid gland, and inflammations of the tonsils,
and tetanic recurvation1. If I hear, 'Sabrael, imprison Sphendonaêl,'
at once I retreat.''
1. The Greek medical terms which stand in the Greek
text are found in Hippocrates, Galen, and Cuel. Aurel.
And the Seventh said: "I am called Sphandôr, and
I weaken the strength of the shoulders, and cause them to tremble;
and I paralyze the nerves of the hands, and I break and bruise
the bones of the neck. And I, I suck out the marrow. But if I
hear the words, 'Araêl, imprison Sphandôr,' I at once
retreat."
And the eight said: "I am called Belbel. I distort the
hearts and minds of men. If I hear the words, 'Araêl, imprison
Belbel,' I at once retreat."
And the ninth said: "I am called Kurtaêl. I send
colics in the bowels. I induce pains. If I hear the words, 'Iaôth,
imprison Kurtaêl,' I at once retreat."
