The voices associated with the Seal of Beleth are the spoken divine names and conjurations the magician utters to activate the seal, combined with the demon’s own “terrible voice” described in the Goetia. One set is human, the other infernal; both must sound before Beleth, the thirteenth spirit of the Lesser Key of Solomon, will appear and answer.
Where the voices come from
The primary source is the Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis, better known as the Lesser Key of Solomon, compiled in the mid-17th century from earlier materials. Its first book, the Goetia, lists seventy-two demons and the seals that command them. Beleth (also spelled Bileth or Byleth) is number thirteen, a great king who appears “with all sorts of music before him” and possesses a “terrible voice” that can shake the bravest practitioner. Those words entered the English tradition through Samuel Liddell Mathers’ 1904 edition of the Goetia, itself based on manuscripts held in the British Library. Mathers preserved the Hebrew and Latin conjurations that the magician must utter aloud when presenting the seal. To us, those conjurations are the voices of the seal — the audible names of God, the angelic powers, and the specific command that binds Beleth. But the text also warns that Beleth himself will roar. His voice is not a psychological projection. It is a physical phenomenon. Practitioners from John Dee’s circle to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn noted that a successful evocation often produced a percussive sound in the room, something between a trumpet blast and a scream, before the figure stabilized.
What the voices actually are
We can break them into two distinct categories: - The magician’s voice. The words written on the seal itself — the Tetragrammaton, the Hebrew names Elohim and Shaddai, and the character of the demon’s own name — are spoken during the drawing and consecration of the seal. During evocation, the conjuration from the Goetia is read aloud, often in a low monotone, with the seal held toward the triangle of art. The voice must be steady. A wavering tone, according to the grimoires, allows the spirit to refuse the command. - The demon’s voice. When Beleth manifests, the texts describe his speech as harsh and loud, like a man shouting through a war trumpet. We have found that this is not always literal. Some practitioners report a vibration in the floor or a pressure in the ears rather than a clear voice. The Goetia instructs the magician to command Beleth to speak “gently and without terror” by using the names of God written on the seal. The seal is thus the tool that modulates the voice.
Why the voice matters
Italian occultist and bibliophile Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486–1535) wrote in De Occulta Philosophia that every name of power is a “voice of the divine mind.” The Hebrew letters on a Goetic seal are not inert symbols. They are sounds that, when pronounced correctly, produce a physical resonance. This idea is older than the grimoire tradition. It draws from the Hekhalot literature of Merkabah mysticism, where the adept ascends by chanting divine names aloud. In the case of Beleth, the seal’s inner ring contains the names Iehovah and Elohim, alongside the demon’s own sigil. To speak those names is to declare authority. The magician does not whisper. He or she speaks them as a king speaks to a lesser king. The terrible voice of Beleth is then answered, matched, and eventually subdued. Practitioners who omitted the names found the seal inert. The voices were not decoration. They were the lock and the key.
How the voices are used in practice
A standard evocation follows a sequence that we have replicated in our own library’s working group. The room is quiet. The seal is drawn on virgin parchment or engraved on copper, then consecrated with incense and holy water while the practitioner chants the names from the seal. That first voicing binds the power into the ink. When the circle is cast, the conjuration is read steadily. The Goetia’s text (Mathers’ translation) begins: “I do invocate and conjure thee, O spirit Beleth, by the names of the true God … by the three great names of God, Tetragrammaton, Eheieh, and Elohim …” The names are pronounced fully. Some hold the seal against their chest. Others place it flat inside the triangle. If the spirit appears and his voice is too harsh, the book instructs the magician to show the seal again and command him to be mild. The seal itself becomes a silencing agent, its voices overlaying his.
Several Goetic kings and presidents arrive with sound. Purson also comes with a trumpet. Vine roars like a lion. Gusion speaks softly. But Beleth is unique in that his voice is explicitly described as terrible and that he is preceded by music. The music is not a voice, but it is a sound that sets the stage. Some grimoires say the music is produced by his attendant spirits. We have found no clear source that names them. The closest parallel is Buer, who appears with a quiet hiss, but that is a president, not a king. Among the royal demons, Beleth’s voice is the loudest. This is perhaps why the seal carries more divine names than some others, nineteen Hebrew letters on our copy, plus the Tetragrammaton on the inner circle.
Misconceptions about the voices
A common confusion is that the seal itself emits sound when activated. It does not. The voices are the spoken words of the magician and the demon’s reported cry. The seal is an antenna, not a loudspeaker. Another error: that one must shout the conjuration. The Goetia specifies a “low and distinct voice.” Shouting breaks concentration and alarms the spirit, who may then rage rather than answer. A third misunderstanding concerns the pronunciation of the divine names. While we have established traditional Hebrew renderings, there is no single “correct” voice. The effective voice is the one spoken with intent and knowledge. A fumbled syllable does not doom the rite; a fearful tone does.
FAQ
Do I need to speak the names of God aloud, or can I think them? The grimoires are clear: the names must be pronounced audibly. The voice creates the vibration that the seal anchors. What language are the voices in? The conjurations are in Latin and Hebrew. The divine names are Hebrew. The demon’s name, Beleth, is pronounced in English or Latin depending on the practitioner. If I cannot make my voice deep, will Beleth ignore me? No. The power is in the authority of the intent, not the pitch. A steady, quiet voice can command a king.
The voices associated with the Seal of Beleth are not occult secrets. They are the practical components that any practitioner must master: the spoken names that give life to the symbol, and the spirit’s own cry that proves his presence. To handle the seal without its voices is to carry a dead key. To sound them is to reveal the gate. For deeper understanding of how seals function in the Goetic tradition, start with our guide to goetic seals. The full list of seventy-two spirits and their voices is explored in our demonology hub. And if you want the text of the conjuration itself, see the article on Solomonic evocation.