Ssakmakiel

Ssakmakiel also spelled as Tzakmeqiel is the demon ruler of the zodiac sign of Aquarius.

Name and abilities

The name in Hebrew may be translated as the "brightness of God" or the "foulness of God," although the name is of Persian origin.

This demon rules over events while the Sun is in the sign of Aquarius. Its other offices are over water and commerce by sea. It may be invoked for assistance in any of these matters.

Although considered a "demon," the spirit is more properly called a genii and governs the descending aspect of Aquarius. He is opposed by Gabriel (Zodiac Angel)Gabriel, the Archangel of the Zodiac who rules the ascending aspect of Aquarius.

Textual history

The origins of Ssakmakiel, like all the Archdemons of the Zodiac are somewhat obscure.

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Jacques Gaffarel is to be believed, the foundational text concerning the demon rulers of the zodiac comes from an unpublished manuscript titled Galgal HaMizrachim originally written by a Persian astrologer named Hamahalzel.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 Geinni 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.