Difference between revisions of "Archdemons of the Zodiac"

If the Kabbalistic author Jacques Gaffarel is to be believed, the foundational text concerning the demon rulers of the zodiac comes from an unpublished manuscript titled ''Memlecheti Halaal'' originally written by a Persian astrologer named Hamahalzel. This manuscript was acquired and translated into Hebrew by Rabbi Eliahou Chomer before being passed to Gaffarel.

The earliest published reference to Ssakmakiel is found in [[Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa]]'s ''[[Three Books of Occult Philosophy]]'' (1531). According to Agrippa, these zodiac demons are ''genii'' of Arabic origin, although he links them to the [[Kabbalah]]. It is important to note that Agrippa spells the spirit names only in Arabic and Latin, not in Hebrew, suggesting he may have had access to the original manuscript and was not aware of the Chomer translation.

Gaffarel published the names of the demons of the Zodiac in his 1629 book ''Curiositez inouyes'' (“Unheard of Curiosities of the Talismanic Sculpture of the Persians, the Horoscope of the Patriarchs, and Reading the Stars"). In this book, he cites his sources as Rabbi Chomer and the Persian astrologer Hamahalzel, but some scholars believe he may have invented these personages himself.

[[Éliphas Lévi]]'s book ''Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie'' (1854) later translated by [[A.E. Waite]] and published in English as ''Transcendental Magic'' (1923), lists Ssakmakiel's name and seal, but the version of the seal provided by Levi is found nowhere else in previous literature.