Animal Symbolism Associated with the Seal of Andromalius

A brass seal weighs nothing on paper but everything in practice. When we lay the Seal of Andromalius flat on the working table, the animals incised into its design speak first: the serpent coiled, the raven in flight, the hound at rest. These are not decorative flourishes. They are the spirit’s visible anatomy, and reading them is the first step toward understanding what Andromalius does. Animal symbolism associated with the Seal of Andromalius draws directly from the spirit’s attributed powers over thieves and hidden knowledge, with each creature representing a distinct phase of recovery and judgment.

The Seal of Andromalius, as it appears in the 17th century grimoire the Lemegeton (circa 1640s), contains three primary animal figures when properly drawn according to the manuscript’s instructions. The serpent coils at the upper portion of the seal, the raven perches within the central geometric field, and the hound sits at the lower register. Each animal corresponds to a specific domain of Andromalius: the serpent for uncovering what is hidden, the raven for swift return of stolen goods, and the hound for tracking and relentless pursuit. Together they form a working symbol that encodes the spirit’s entire operational range within a single sigil. The seal itself is circular, drawn on virgin parchment or etched into a brass plate, with the animals arranged inside a series of concentric rings and angular boundaries. The animals are not rendered naturalistically. They are schematic, almost heraldic, which was standard practice for Goetic seals in the early modern period. What matters is the position: the serpent above, the raven at the center, the hound below. That vertical hierarchy mirrors the stages of retrieval Andromalius oversees.

Where the Animals Come From: The Seal in the Ars Goetia Tradition

The Ars Goetia, the first book of the Lemegeton, lists Andromalius as the 72nd spirit, a Great Duke who commands 36 legions. The manuscript tradition places him under the governance of the demon Amaymon. His seal appears in virtually every extant version of the text, from the 17th century Sloane manuscripts in the British Library (Sloane MS 2731, Sloane MS 3825) to later printed editions by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley in 1904. The animal symbols on Andromalius’s seal follow a pattern common to Goetic sigils: each spirit’s visual attributes derive from its functional description. Andromalius is said to “bring back both thief and stolen goods” and to “discover hidden treasures” and “punish the wicked.” The animals on his seal are therefore agents of detection and recovery, not malice or destruction. This distinguishes him from spirits like Buer, whose seal bears stars and geometric shapes tied to healing, or Balam, whose seal includes a bear and a hawk for different purposes. We should note that the Lemegeton was compiled from earlier sources, including the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum by Johann Weyer in 1583 and possibly the Steganographia of Johannes Trithemius from circa 1500. Weyer listed Andromalius under the name “Andrealphus” in some editions, though later manuscripts separated them. The animal symbols remained consistent across these transmissions, suggesting they were considered integral to the spirit’s identity, not optional decoration.

The Serpent: Uncovering What Lies Beneath

The serpent on Andromalius’s seal occupies the uppermost position, which in Goetic iconography indicates the spirit’s primary function. Serpents in early modern demonology are rarely simple. They carry dual meanings from biblical and classical sources: the tempter in Eden, the healing staff of Asclepius, the ouroboros of alchemy. For Andromalius, the serpent specifically represents the ability to uncover what is hidden underground or concealed beneath surfaces. The Lemegeton states that Andromalius can “discover all hidden treasures.” The serpent is the fitting symbol for this work because it moves through burrows, crevices, and underground spaces. A 16th century grimoire reader would have associated serpents with the earth’s hidden veins of metal and the guardians of buried wealth. In folk traditions across Europe, serpents were said to know the locations of treasure, especially treasure that was cursed or guarded by spirits. The serpent on the seal thus acts as both a map and a key: it knows where the hidden thing is, and it can grant the magician access to that knowledge. The serpent also carries a judicial meaning. Andromalius punishes the wicked. In medieval bestiaries, the serpent was known to seek out and destroy poisonous herbs, a metaphor for the righteous removal of evil. The seal’s serpent does not merely reveal; it exposes the thief themselves, which is also a form of uncovering.

The Raven: Swift Return and Messengers of Loss

The raven sits at the center of the seal, the focal point of the design. Ravens in Goetic seals typically denote speed, intelligence, and the ability to travel between worlds. For Andromalius, the raven represents the swift return of stolen property. The Lemegeton promises that this spirit makes stolen goods “return again quickly.”

Ravens were understood in early modern Europe as birds that could cover great distances rapidly and that possessed a near-human cunning. They were also associated with carrion and battlefield scavenging, which gave them a reputation as creatures that found what others had lost or abandoned. A raven finds the dead, the discarded, the hidden. Andromalius finds the stolen. The raven’s position at the center of the seal is significant. In ritual practice, the center is where the evocation occurs, where the spirit manifests within the triangle or the stone. The raven is therefore the point of contact, the intermediary between the serpent below and the hound above. It receives the command and transmits it outward. There is a curious detail in some manuscript versions of the seal. The raven is sometimes depicted with its head turned backward, looking over its shoulder. This may indicate the raven’s function as a messenger that brings back what was taken, returning from the thief to the victim. We cannot confirm this in all versions, but the variation appears in Sloane MS 3825 and warrants mention.

The Hound: Relentless Pursuit and Judgement

The hound at the base of the seal is the most straightforward of the three animals. Hounds track by scent, they pursue without rest, and they corner their quarry. Andromalius punishes thieves. The hound on the seal is the punitive animal, the one that finds the guilty party and holds them until judgment is executed. Hounds appear in other Goetic seals as well. The Seal of Balam includes a bear but not a hound. The Seal of Purson includes a lion. But the hound on Andromalius’s seal is distinctive for its posture. In the most authoritative copies, the hound sits, not baying, not attacking, but watchful. This is the posture of a creature that has already found what it was sent to find. The thief has been located. The stolen goods have been recovered. The hound waits for the magician’s next instruction. The hound also connects Andromalius to the classical figure of Cerberus, the three-headed dog guarding the underworld. But the seal shows a single hound, not three heads. The connection is associative rather than direct. Andromalius guards the threshold between loss and recovery, between hidden and revealed. The hound at the base of the seal marks that threshold.

How the Animals Work Together: A Three-Stage Operation

The animals on Andromalius’s seal are not independent symbols. They function as a sequence. The serpent uncovers what is hidden, the raven brings it back swiftly, and the hound punishes the thief. This three-stage operation corresponds to the three parts of Andromalius’s listed powers in the Lemegeton. In practice, when the seal is used in evocation, the magician traces each animal during the invocation, one after the other, from top to bottom. The serpent is traced first, calling the spirit’s power of discovery. The raven is traced second, calling the spirit’s power of return. The hound is traced third, calling the spirit’s power of judgment. This sequential activation is documented in several early 20th century Goetic practice manuals, including those from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which systematized the ritual approach to the seals. We should note that the Golden Dawn’s method was not original to the 17th century manuscripts. The Lemegeton itself gives no ritual instructions for tracing the animals in sequence. The sequential activation is an interpretive development, one of many that arose during the occult revival of the 19th and early 20th centuries. But it is a logical reading of the seal’s design, and it has become the standard method among contemporary practitioners.

Comparisons: How Andromalius’s Animals Differ from Other Goetic Seals

Each Goetic spirit has a unique seal, and the animals on each seal are chosen for specific reasons. Andromalius is unusual in having three separate animal figures. Most Goetic seals contain one animal at most. Balam has a bear, Buer has a star, Foras has a pair of griffin-like creatures. Andromalius’s three animals make his seal one of the most complex in the entire Ars Goetia. The only other spirit with a comparable number of animal figures is Astaroth, whose seal includes a serpent and a dragon-like creature. But Astaroth’s animals are positioned differently, and they serve a different purpose: Astaroth reveals the past and future, not stolen goods. Andromalius’s seal is unique in its focus on recovery and justice. It is also worth comparing Andromalius to the spirit Sabnock, who builds high towers and castles. Sabnock’s seal includes an architectural figure, not an animal. The contrast is instructive. Sabnock builds, Andromalius recovers. One creates new structures, the other returns what was lost. The animals on Andromalius’s seal are therefore agents of restoration, not construction.

Common Misconception: The Animals Are Not Zodiacal

A persistent error in online occult forums is the claim that the animals on Andromalius’s seal correspond to zodiacal signs. The serpent is not Ophiuchus. The raven is not Corvus. The hound is not Canis Major. These associations are modern inventions with no support in the primary sources. The Lemegeton gives no astrological correspondences for Andromalius’s seal. The animals are drawn from the spirit’s function, not from the stars. That said, the 17th century grimoire tradition did not operate in a vacuum. Alchemical and astrological symbolism influenced the design of many seals. Some spirits in the Ars Goetia have seals that clearly incorporate planetary squares or zodiacal signs. Andromalius does not. His animals are functional, not celestial.

FAQ

Why does Andromalius have three animals on his seal when most Goetic spirits have one? Andromalius has three powers: discovery, recovery, and punishment. Each animal represents one stage of his operation, making the seal a complete instructional diagram. What does the serpent on the seal do during ritual? The serpent is traced first during invocation to activate Andromalius’s ability to uncover hidden things, including the location of stolen goods or concealed knowledge. Can the seal be used without tracing the animals? The seal can be placed on the altar as a passive focus, but most traditional methods require active tracing of the animals during the evocation to call each of the spirit’s powers in sequence. Is the hound on the seal a familiar spirit? No. The hound is a symbolic representation of Andromalius’s punitive function, not a separate familiar. It does not appear in lists of Goetic familiars from primary sources.

The Animals as a Working System

The Seal of Andromalius is not a static image. It is a sequence of operations encoded in animal forms. The serpent, the raven, and the hound each carry a specific instruction for the spirit, and together they form the complete working of recovery and justice. When we place this seal on the altar, we are not looking at ornament. We are reading a contract written in the oldest symbolic language available: the animals that find, the animals that return, and the animal that holds. For a deeper understanding of how Goetic seals function in ritual practice, see our guide on seal activation methods. If you are new to the Ars Goetia, the glossary entry on Goetic animal symbolism provides the broader context for the creatures appearing in these seals. And for the full list of spirits and their attributed symbols, our demonology and Goetia hub collects everything the library holds on the 72 spirits.