The question assumes a duel between equals, but the traditions that shaped these two figures never placed them on the same battlefield. Astaroth and Lucifero belong to different hierarchies, different cosmologies, and different centuries of textual development. In the grimoire tradition, Astaroth is a named Great Duke of Hell with a fixed rank, while Lucifero is a later Italian vernacular conflation that has no official position in any classical demonological hierarchy.
Meta Description
Astaroth vs Lucifero: a comparison rooted in grimoire tradition versus Italian folklore. We examine their origins, powers, and whether a confrontation could even occur.
Definition
Astaroth appears in the Lemegeton (The Lesser Key of Solomon), compiled from the 17th century onward, where he is listed as a Great Duke of Hell governing forty legions of spirits. He appears as a hideous angel riding a dragon and carrying a viper, and he answers questions about the past, present, and future.
Lucifero is the Italian vernacular form of Lucifer, the light-bringer. He does not appear as a named spirit in any classical grimoire. His presence in modern occult literature comes almost entirely from Italian folk Catholicism and 20th-century esoteric revivals that conflated the biblical fallen angel with local chthonic deities.
The two figures do not share a single text, a single hierarchy, or a single historical moment. Any confrontation between them has to be staged by the questioner, not by the sources.
Where do Astaroth and Lucifero actually appear?
The earliest grimoire descriptions of Astaroth come from the Lemegeton, which was first printed in 1655 but circulated in manuscript form as early as the 1570s. The text describes him as a treasurer of Hell, a title he shares with Duke Dantalion and Marquis Forneus. He knows liberal sciences and can explain the fall of angels, which is the only direct connection he has to Lucifer’s narrative.
Astaroth also appears in the Dictionnaire Infernal (1818) by Jacques Collin de Plancy, where he is illustrated as a male figure with bat-like wings, a crown, and a serpent. That illustration, widely reproduced, cemented his visual identity in the popular imagination.
Lucifero, by contrast, has no entry in the Dictionnaire Infernal as a separate figure. De Plancy includes Lucifer himself as the emperor of Hell, but the Italian spelling “Lucifero” appears almost exclusively in regional Italian grimoire traditions such as the Clavicola di Salomone (17th-18th century) and in the notebooks of Catholic exorcists who catalogued demonic names for the rite of exorcism. Monsignor Girolamo Menghi, a 16th-century Franciscan exorcist, compiled lists of demonic names in his Flagellum Daemonum (1577), and Lucifer appears there. Lucifero does not.
The textual basis for Lucifero as a distinct entity is therefore thin. He is Lucifer, rendered in Italian, sometimes with folk accretions from the cult of the Luciferi (the light-bringing gods of pre-Christian Italy, such as the Lares Luciferi). For a deeper look at how names shift across languages, see our glossary of demonic titles and ranks.
What does each command?
Astaroth’s jurisdiction, according to the Lemegeton, is the liberal sciences. He makes men invisible, reveals hidden treasures, and answers questions without deception. He governs forty legions of spirits, which places him at the top tier of the Goetic hierarchy but still below the nine named Kings of Hell.
Lucifero’s jurisdiction has never been codified in a grimoire. In Italian folk tradition, he is the fallen angel who rules the damned, the tempter of Christ in the wilderness, and the figure who promised all the kingdoms of the world. His authority is absolute in Christian cosmology but abstract. He does not have legions numbered in the grimoire sense. He has the entire infernal host by theological default.
The difference is one of scale versus specificity. Lucifero commands everything but specifies nothing. Astaroth commands a fixed number of legions and delivers concrete services.
How would a confrontation actually work?
There is no ritual tradition that pits these two against each other. The medieval grimoires do not contain summoning procedures for Lucifer himself in the Goetic sense. The Goetia calls only upon the seventy-two named spirits. Lucifer, along with Beelzebub and Satan, appears in the Lemegeton only in the opening consecrations and conjurations, as a name to be banished or bound, not summoned for service.
If we stage the confrontation anyway, the outcome depends entirely on the ruleset applied.
Under Christian demonology, Lucifero outranks Astaroth absolutely. Astaroth is a Duke. Lucifero is the Prince of Darkness, the Morning Star fallen, the adversary who rebelled directly against God. No hierarchy of demons places a Duke above the Prince. Astaroth would serve Lucifero, not oppose him.
Under Goetic grimoire logic, the spirits are not loyal to each other. They can be compelled by the magician to attack or bind one another. The Lemegeton provides no mechanism for demon-on-demon combat, but the Ars Theurgia Goetia describes spirits who are “of a contrary nature” and who can be set against each other by the operator. In that context, Astaroth’s forty legions are a concrete force, while Lucifero has no legions assigned to him in the text. Astaroth might win through specificity.
Under modern post-Satanist frameworks, particularly those derived from Anton LaVey’s The Satanic Bible (1969), Astaroth and Lucifero are both symbolic archetypes. LaVey listed Astaroth among the four Crown Princes of Hell (alongside Lucifer, Leviathan, and Belial) in the Infernal Names. This places them as equals, not adversaries. A confrontation becomes meaningless because they represent different aspects of the self: Lucifero as pride and enlightenment, Astaroth as earthly knowledge and pleasure.
Which traditions actually venerate them?
The cult of Astaroth has a continuous lineage in folk magic across Europe, particularly in France and Spain. In the Basque region, he was syncretized with the goddess Mari and given the name Astoa, a figure who rode a giant ram and taught the arts of magic. The 13th-century De Laude Novae Militiae by Bernard of Clairvaux condemned the worship of Astaroth in the Holy Land by pagan tribes.
In the Luciferian tradition of the 19th and 20th centuries, Astaroth was paired with Astarte in the System of Transcendental Magic by Éliphas Lévi (1856), where he represents the astral light corrupted. Lévi grouped Astaroth with Mars and the goat of Mendes, creating the modern image of the Baphomet.
The cult of Lucifero in Italy has a different genealogy. The Lucentini heretics of the 14th century were accused of worshipping Lucifer as the true god, a charge likely invented by their accusers. The Grotta della Madonna della Bruna in Matera contains inscriptions from the 16th century that blend Lucifero with local water spirits. In the 20th century, the Fratellanza Luciferiana (Luciferian Brotherhood) emerged in the 1960s in Turin, blending Thelema, Gnosticism, and Italian folk Catholicism. They venerated Lucifero as the liberator, not the adversary.
Neither tradition ever imagined a confrontation between these two figures. They serve different functions. For a broader overview of how demonic hierarchies are structured, see our guide to demonology and the Goetic tradition.
Common misconceptions
“Astaroth is a female demon.” This comes from confusion with Astarte, the Phoenician goddess. Astaroth in the Lemegeton is consistently described as male. The Dictionnaire Infernal illustration shows a male figure. Modern Luciferian traditions sometimes feminize him, but the primary sources do not.
“Lucifero is more powerful than Astaroth.” Only if power is measured by theological rank. In practical grimoire magic, Astaroth answers questions and reveals knowledge. Lucifero has no practical function except as an object of veneration or banishment. A magician who binds Astaroth gains a useful ally. A magician who summons Lucifero risks evacuation of the circle, and the grimoires warn against it.
“They are the same entity.” No. Astaroth derives from the Hebrew Ashtoret and the Canaanite Athtart, a goddess of war and love. Lucifero derives from the Latin lucifer, meaning light-bringer, a title of the planet Venus in its morning appearance. Their etymologies share the morning star only by coincidence, not by lineage.
“A confrontation between them is described in the grimoires.” It is not. No medieval or Renaissance grimoire contains an account of Astaroth fighting Lucifero. The question is a modern one, born from video games, tabletop role-playing systems, and internet fan hierarchies.
FAQ
Could a magician compel Astaroth to attack Lucifero? The Lemegeton does not provide rituals for making one demon attack another, but the Ars Theurgia Goetia describes spirits of contrary nature that can be set against each other with the proper seals and conjurations.
Is Lucifero in the Goetia? No. The seventy-two spirits of the Goetia do not include Lucifer or Lucifero. He appears only in the opening prayers as a name to be bound by the divine power. For a complete list of the seventy-two, see our glossary of Goetic spirits.
Which one is more dangerous to summon? Astaroth. He is described as a liar who will corrupt the answer if the magician falters. Lucifero, according to the grimoires, cannot be summoned at all because his name is reserved for banishment only. The danger with Lucifero is not a bad answer but an uncontrolled presence.
Closing
The question of who prevails between Astaroth and Lucifero reveals more about the questioner’s framework than about the entities themselves. Astaroth belongs to the grimoires, concrete and serviceable. Lucifero belongs to cosmology, vast and textual. They do not duel. They do not even share a room. For those who work with either, the choice is not about power but about function. To understand how these figures relate to the broader hierarchy, explore our guide to demonology and the Goetic tradition, or consult the glossary of demonic titles and ranks for a clearer map of who commands what.