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ARS QLIPPOTH
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Samael

Angel of Mirrors · Prince of the Void

In late-Jewish and kabbalistic contexts Samael is the angel of judgement, at once fallen and serving. Consort of Lilith, head of the qlippoth.

The name is first attested in early-Christian-era Targumim as "the blind angel." In the Zohar, Samael is Metatron's counterweight, the left side of the tree. His ritual attributes are a cup of poison and a mirror returning the verdict.

Renaissance demonology (Agrippa, Weyer) classifies Samael as head of an infernal order, iconographically binding him to the serpent-tempter. Baroque grimoires substitute the inverted pentacle for the name itself to avoid direct invocation.

§ Sources

  • —Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, Gen. 3:6
  • —Zohar I, 148a
  • —Liber Juratus Honorii, 13th c.