Azael

Names: Uzza, Ouzza (not to be confused with Semyaza’s name Aza or Azza), Azael, Aziel, Azielis, Asael, Azzael
Superior: Amaymon
Element: Earth
Planet: Sun
Rank: Chief Duke
Direction: West
Zodiac: Thirty Degrees of Cancer
Qlipha: Nehemoth (Black Earth/Na-Ama-Hema)
Gematria: 108; 411

Above: Channeled Sigil of Azael

Note: the identification of one spirit with another is probably the single hardest type of gnosis to attain accurately. People want to think that entity A and entity B are the same– it makes things easier. The simplicity of soft polytheism can be a bit of a relief. Spirits will allow you to mistake them for one another until the day you die– they honestly do not give a fuck, and why would they? You can have a great relationship with them and attain great magickal success without grasping such particulars.

There are two primary narratives concerning the fall of the Grigori or “Watchers”– the angels who are said to have fallen out of love for humanity and taught us magick and various crafts. One myth depicts there being two rulers of the Grigori: Azael and Aza, the second of whom is often called Semyaza. The other myth presents Azazel as chief of the Watchers. Qabalistic thought presents Azazel as a synthesis of two spiritual forces: namely Azael and Semyaza. Since many modern commentators on Demonology, initiated and uninitiated alike, are very keen to thoughtlessly identify given spirits with one another based on shallow similarities, Azael, Semyaza, Azazel, as well as the Arabic angel Azrael have been readily and sloppily declared to be one and the same by some prominent authors. In grimoires of modern black magick, Semyaza is far more prone to be treated as an independent entity. This is presumably only because of one syllable.

While I originally suspected Azael and Azazel to be one and the same as most authorities merge the two (albeit with little to no logical or gnostic support), it became immediately clear that the two were different entities once Azael manifested. Michael W. Ford has always presented Azael and Azazel as one and the same, which gives me more faith in my personal gnosis (spiritually revealed information) that the two are not the same. In the Choronzon Edition of The Book of the Witch Moon, Ford made the claim that Pan and Cain were the same entity. My apprentices and I laugh about it to this day.

My personal gnosis is that Semyaza, Azael, and Azazel are all entirely separate entities. After I had drawn this conclusion on my own, I heard from another Demonolater who didn’t know my opinion on the matter and was told by the Goetic demon Seere that the three leaders of the Grigori are indeed entirely separate. Another experienced black magickian has related personal gnosis confirming that Azazel and Semyaza were separate, but says that her gnosis is that Azael is just another name for Azazel. Maybe she wouldn’t think that if she’d read Michael Ford.

Update: Azazel just told the aforementioned Demonolatress that he really is a separate entity from Azael. See? I told you the gods don’t give a fuck who you identify them with. That’s what makes this so difficult!

Update: I have just become aware of another apocryphal text describing the fall of the Grigori. It’s known as 3 Enoch, and it presents the Watchers as following three leaders. The text refers to these leaders as Azazel, Azza, and Uzza. Azza is simply a name for Semyaza– Semyaza translates to “the Name Aza”– and various different versions of the two-leader myth refer to Azael as Uzza or Ouzza. Now, we have a historical source supporting the postulation that Azael, Azazel, and Semyaza are separate entities. The only historical source for the Azael = Azazel postulation is the Qabalistic belief that Azazel is the unification of “two lunar forces” (Semyaza and Azael).

Azael is a psychopomp, a teacher of witchcraft, and the messenger between the denizens of Nahemoth (Black Earth/Na’amah) and the courts of the Qliphoth. He is primarily necromantic in nature, as indicated by the blackness of his eyes. The Black Light of Sitra Achara flows through his veins and empowers him. Like the rest, or at least the majority, of the Watchers, Azael was never an angel.

Grimoiric demonology presents Azael as one of the seven foremost authorities among the ranks of the demonic alongside Marbas and Mephistophiles, and he is held to be one of the twenty-eight ruling demons of the lunar mansions. After Azael told me about his relationship with the Qliphothic realm of Nahemoth (Black Earth/Na’amah), I read that Nahema/Na’amah is the demoness who supposedly convinced Azael and Semyaza to rebel against the Abrahamic deity.

According to Hebrew lore, Azael and Semyaza had thorough influence over Solomon, the famous Israelite monarch whose actual historical existence appears to be very much in question. The two Watchers are said to have given Solomon all of his wisdom as well as knowledge of the arts.

Azael can empower the spirit animal– the bestial manifestation of the Higher Self– through death magick and darkness. He can strengthen the astral weaponry of the witch and implant an evolutionary catalyst in her soul. He can engender empowerment via death magick and he presides over lunar, solar, and stellar magick. He is renowned for the speed at which he manifests the intended results of his magick.

Azael rules over destiny. In medieval magick, his auspices were pursued in the construction of a protective talisman intended to prevent “sudden death.” He is both the ruler and guardian of all the hidden treasures of the earth and he can reveal them to the witch. He presides over the escorting of the souls of the deceased to the afterlife and he specializes in revealing thieves. Solomon is said to have gone to Azael specifically every day for more wisdom.

Judging by Hebrew lore, Azael can give the magickian much knowledge regarding cosmetics, the construction of jewelry, metallurgy, minerals, and sexuality. He can be called upon to magickally cockblock people.* He can influence people to seek revenge as well as neglect their responsibilities, and he can sow hostility between parties.

Azael has a manifestation like an angel’s corpse possessed. He looked like a zombified angel with grey skin and completely black eyes– I’ve noticed black eyes apparently correlating with being necromantic in nature. Traditional demonography describes him manifesting as a bull while specifying that Azael can take any shape he likes. One source describes him as a three-headed androgyne with “serpentine fingers” and “serpentine legs that end in fishy tails.” Hebrew mythology depicts both Azael and Semyaza with pierced noses (I don’t know the cultural significance of that).

*Please don’t magickally cockblock me.

P.S. As for Azrael, I am completely confident that he is not the same entity as Azazel or Semyaza, but I can’t say whether or not he’s the same as Azael. I asked both my Higher Self and Matron Demoness about it via pendulum and got different answers. I talked to Chris Paige about it as well as the woman we’re going to keep referring to as “the aforementioned Demonolatress” and even got input from a couple other folks. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I just won’t be able to figure this one out.

Magickal Chants

Agios o Azael Rex Grigori Et Nephilim
“Numinous is Azael, King of the Watchers and Nephilim!”

Azzim-Kethall Lonkathorr Linkathandra Rim-Ka-Thool
Channeled Chant to Summon Azael

Aziel Uzza Azael Azielis
Chant to Azael comprised of four of his names.

-V.K. Jehannum
Agios Octinomos-Drakosophia

Sources
The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses
the Encyclopedia of Demons in World Mythology
Path to Satan
Gematria and the Tanakh
The Dictionary of Demons
The Encyclopædia Britannica
http://www.palmyria.co.uk/superstition/angelsdemons.htm
http://www.occultopedia.com/a/aziel.htm
and more