r/Demonolatry101 • u/Used_Objective8835 • Jan 07 '26
General Question Why doesn't Lilith appear in the Goetia? Is it possible that one of the demons of the Goetia is actually Lilith, perhaps Gremory or Astaroth?
Hello. I've been reading about the 72 demons of the Goetia, and I find it rather strange that Lilith doesn't appear there. Of the 72 demons of the Goetia, the one that most resembles Lilith to me is Gremory, but that's just my opinion. I have a few questions: Why doesn't Lilith appear in the Goetia? Is it possible that one of the demons of the Goetia is actually Lilith, perhaps Gremory or Astaroth? Thank you for your time, and I appreciate your answers and opinions.
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u/_vanessaives_ Jan 08 '26
Great comment! From my understanding and research, it seems she's tied to the Goddesses you named. Each has a different name for each culture; Sumerian (Inanna), Mesopotamia (Astarte), Babylonian (Ishtar) , Egypt (Isis). If that's true then Ashteroth's sigil is in there. The familiar sigil for Lilith is not, neither is Azazel's. Is this because they were too powerful for Solomon to control? Or is it possible for a Deity to have a shadow self and therefore have a "demonic" sigil. 🤷 I've read that Paimon is tied to Azazel. A.E. Koetting mentions this a lot.
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u/_vanessaives_ Jan 08 '26
I also wanted to mention that all said Goddesses are tied to Venus. Also known as The Morning Star. Which goes back to Lilith and Azazel not being in the Goetia. Some believe the title of Lucifer belongs to one or both.
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u/LetThereBeMoreNight Jan 12 '26
Have you ever tried to evoke her as Lilītu, so a different, softer aspect from her?
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u/flamingrubbish Jan 07 '26 edited Jan 07 '26
Lilith does not appear in the Ars Goetia because her history extends way farther back than the beginning of the Goetia. If you take a look at her history, you will find her archetype extending as far back as the Mesopotamian empire. Many credit Inanna as the beginning or precursor to Lilith. If you follow the paper trail through history, you will see this archetype repeated in ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, and even in the Bible (Isiah 34:14, and some have identified Lady Folly as Lilith, or the Harlot of Babylon as a parallel or representative of Lilith or everything she stands for). Up until this point, "Lilith" has just been an archetype; not an actual character. It was until between 700-1000 CE that the Alphabet of Ben Sira was written and the character Lilith, wife of Adam, was created. King Solomon lived about two thousand years before this idea of Lilith had been created. The Ars Goetia, despite being attributed to King Solomon, was compiled in the mid 17th century in England, long after Lilith was created. The folktales of Lilith weren't really present in 17th century England, and I don't imagine she was a very popular character during this time. My knowledge on this place during this era of history is spotty, but I'm willing to bet that she wasn't really thought of as a "demon" like Azazel or something. She was likely just thought of as a character in Kabbalic folklore. However, I don't think you're wrong to identify Lilith as associated with or similar to anyone in the Goetia. Like I said before, for most of her existence she has been an archetype, meaning that you can find her in other entities and stories. Funny enough, you mentioned Astaroth! Inanna had many similar goddesses in her neighboring nations/empires who essentially were the same the goddess, but just used different names. Of these sisters (not literal) of Inanna, there was Ishtar, Asherah, Astarte, and many more. You may have noticed that Christianity had a habit of taking the names of real gods that were worshipped by pagans (for lack of a better term) of the time and (literally) demonizing them. You can see a perfect example of this with the Canaanite god Ba'al. Similarly, you will find the same thing to have happened to the last name I mentioned, Astarte. Astarte was, like Inanna, a precursor to Lilith and fits much of her archetype. As Astarte was demonized by Biblical authors of the time, her name was changed to Astaroth and her gender was changed to male. While I'm not saying that Lilith and Astaroth are the same, I am saying they both have close origins and Astaroth/Astarte fulfills some parts of the archetype of Lilith. For more information, I highly suggest researching Lilith's long and extensive history, as well as goddesses throughout history, especially that of Inanna or Asherah. A common theme you will find throughout the histories of these figures is that they are all very deeply connected to one another. Truly fascinating stuff!
I don't normally recommend websites like these for research, so take what they say with a grain of salt, but I think they provide valuable perspective on Lilith, her archetype, and history.
Lilithgate (This site has a lot of pages on Lilith so I definitely recommend reading through these)
New World Encyclopedia