Choronzon by Sol Devia

Choronzon, also written as Coronzon, is a demon or spirit first identified in the sixteenth century through the Enochian communications of John Dee and Edward Kelly. Dee referred to Coronzon as “333,” but he did not appear to regard this being as a demon in the later sense. That interpretation became far more dramatic through Aleister Crowley, who called Choronzon the Demon of Dispersion and the Demon of the Abyss.

Choronzon is most famous for the dramatic ritual performed by Crowley and Victor Neuberg in 1909. Crowley claimed that by confronting and conquering Choronzon, he crossed the Abyss and became a full Master of the Temple and Secret Chief.

Whether the events happened objectively, were visionary experiences, or involved a complex altered state of consciousness remains debated. What is certain is that the story became one of the most important and disturbing episodes in modern ceremonial magic.

John Dee, Edward Kelly and the Enochian Current

John Dee and Edward Kelly received a series of angelic and spirit communications in the sixteenth century, later known as the Enochian system. Within these communications, Dee referred to Coronzon, or 333.

For Dee, Coronzon was not necessarily a demon in the later occult sense. The darker, more terrifying image of Choronzon developed through Crowley’s magical interpretation. Crowley placed Choronzon at the threshold of the Abyss: the gulf separating ordinary human consciousness from the higher spiritual grade of Master of the Temple.

In Crowley’s system, Choronzon is not simply a devil. He is the force of dispersion itself: the power that breaks unity into fragments, scatters the self, and prevents the magician from crossing into higher initiation.

Crowley and Neuberg in the Desert

In November 1909, Aleister Crowley and Victor Neuberg travelled to Algiers and then walked south through the desert to Aumale. Crowley believed he had been summoned by the voice of Aiwass, the entity who had dictated The Book of the Law to him, to “call Me.”

Crowley had with him the Enochian Keys of Dee and Kelly, which were used to communicate with angels and spirits. He believed he had received a divine message to use them.

He had already used the nineteenth Key or Call, the most difficult, to access two of the thirty aethyrs, or planes of expanded consciousness. He now decided to access the remaining twenty-eight aethyrs.

Crowley and Neuberg ascended a desert mount. Crowley held a vermilion-painted Calvary Cross with an engraved topaz set in its axis. The topaz was engraved with a rose of forty-nine petals. As the visions unfolded, Crowley dictated them to Neuberg.

They worked through one aethyr a day, except on one day when they performed two. They began with the last-numbered aethyr and worked backwards toward the first.

The Abyss and the Master of the Temple

Many of Crowley’s visions were apocalyptic and heavily symbolic. In the fifteenth aethyr, he underwent an initiation into the magical grade of Master of the Temple. However, this title could be fully realised only by accessing the remaining aethyrs.

Crowley struggled to enter the fourteenth aethyr. After several failed attempts, he stopped.

As he and Neuberg were descending the mount, Crowley was suddenly seized with the inspiration to perform a homosexual magical ritual with Neuberg and dedicate it to Pan, the Greek god of nature. They returned to the summit, inscribed a magic circle in the sand with protective names and words of power, and made a rough stone altar.

Crowley took the submissive role in the sexual act as a way of eliminating ego. This ritual marked a turning point in his view of sex magic. From this point forward, he saw sex as a powerful magical sacrament.

Later that evening, Crowley gained access to the fourteenth aethyr. In his vision, he was told that to become a Secret Chief and Master of the Temple, he had to undergo the complete death of the ego and unite his spirit with the ocean of infinity.

Only in this way could he cross the Abyss.

Choronzon in the Tenth Aethyr

Crowley resumed his work through the remaining aethyrs, receiving symbolic revelations. In the eleventh aethyr, he was warned that the tenth aethyr would require him to make a conscious crossing of the Abyss.

The Abyss was said to be inhabited by Choronzon, described as the first and deadliest of all the powers of evil. Choronzon was said to be a being of complete negation.

In this role, Choronzon represents the final obstacle to spiritual attainment. He is the power that dissolves coherence, mocks truth, breaks identity and scatters the magician into meaningless fragments.

The Ritual at Bou Saada

The ritual for crossing the Abyss took place on 6 December 1909, outside the town of Bou Saada.

Crowley and Neuberg walked into the desert until they found a valley with a floor of fine sand. They formed a circle of rocks, drew a magic circle around it, and then drew a magic triangle. Choronzon was to be invoked into the triangle.

Neuberg sat inside the circle, protected by it, armed with a magical knife and a notebook to record the events. Crowley intended to enter the triangle, which was considered a dangerous act for a magician.

In doing so, Crowley may have become one of the first magicians in the Western magical tradition to offer his own body ritually as a vehicle for the manifestation of a demon.

Before the ritual began, Neuberg swore an oath to defend the magic circle with thoughts, words and deeds. He also swore to use the knife against anything that entered the circle, even Crowley.

The Evocation of Choronzon

Crowley was initially in a “secret place,” out of Neuberg’s sight and hearing. After the invocation, Crowley entered the triangle.

To help Choronzon materialise, Crowley sacrificed three pigeons at the points of the triangle and sprinkled their blood. He was careful not to let any blood fall outside the triangle, because this would supposedly enable Choronzon to manifest in the universe.

When the blood had soaked into the sand, Crowley secretly recited the Call of the aethyr and entered full trance.

Neuberg recorded that he heard a voice imitating Crowley’s voice. It called out barbarous names and then blasphemies.

Visions appeared inside the triangle. First, Neuberg saw the form of a woman prostitute he had known in Paris. She attempted to seduce him, but Neuberg resisted, believing this to be Choronzon in a shape-shifted form. The figure then offered submission, which Neuberg also rejected.

Choronzon next appeared as an old man, then as a serpent, and finally as Crowley, begging for water.

Neuberg held firm inside the circle.

Choronzon’s Nature

Neuberg commanded Choronzon to declare his nature.

The demon replied that he spat upon the name of the Most High. He claimed to be Master of the Triangle and said he had no fear of the pentagram.

Choronzon gave Neuberg words that seemed like great magical secrets, but they later proved worthless. Neuberg interpreted this as a cruel joke played by the demon.

When Neuberg invoked Aiwass, Choronzon claimed to know the angel’s name and declared that Neuberg’s dealings with him were only a cloak for filthy sorceries.

Ordered again to reveal his true nature, Choronzon said that his name was Dispersion and that he could not be defeated in argument.

He then uttered a rapid stream of blasphemies, forcing Neuberg to struggle to record them all.

The Struggle in the Circle

While distracting Neuberg with blasphemies, Choronzon threw sand onto the magic circle. When the outline became blurred, he took the form of a naked man and leapt into the circle, throwing Neuberg to the ground.

The two fought violently. Choronzon tried to tear out Neuberg’s throat with froth-covered fangs.

At last, Neuberg managed to force Choronzon back into the triangle and repair the magic circle.

After this, man and demon continued to argue. Choronzon threatened Neuberg with the tortures of Hell. Neuberg denounced him as a liar.

After a long struggle, Choronzon vanished, leaving Crowley alone in the circle.

Crowley traced the word Babalon in the sand, and the ritual was over. He and Neuberg built a fire for purification and ritually destroyed the circle and triangle.

What Really Happened?

Neuberg maintained that he had literally wrestled with Choronzon, not merely with Crowley possessed by the demon.

Some occultists have suggested that Crowley may have exuded ectoplasm, allowing Choronzon to form a tangible body capable of fighting Neuberg. Another explanation is that the entire experience was visionary.

The truth remains uncertain.

What matters for occult history is that both Crowley and Neuberg believed the ritual had succeeded. They believed that Crowley had conquered Choronzon, crossed the Abyss, and achieved the status of Master of the Temple and Secret Chief.

After this experience, Crowley increasingly saw himself as a teacher and prophet whose mission was to bring the philosophy of The Book of the Law to the world.

The Aftermath

Some of Crowley’s associates believed that the ritual permanently damaged him.

Others claimed that he was possessed by Choronzon for the rest of his life.

Whether one reads this literally, symbolically, psychologically or magically, Choronzon became one of the defining figures in Crowley’s occult mythology. He represents the final resistance of the ego, the terror of spiritual dissolution, the danger of false revelation and the chaos that confronts the magician at the edge of the Abyss.

Choronzon as a Symbol

Choronzon is the demon of dispersion.

He is not simply a horned devil or a spirit of temptation. He is the force that breaks the mind apart, scatters purpose, mocks truth and turns revelation into nonsense.

He represents:

The collapse of identity

The destruction of false ego

The danger of spiritual pride

The chaos of the Abyss

The temptation of false secrets

The fragmentation of consciousness

The final test before higher initiation

In this sense, Choronzon is terrifying because he is not merely external. He is also internal. He is the voice that distracts, deceives, fragments and pulls the seeker away from unity.

To confront Choronzon is to confront the place where the self must either surrender its illusions or be torn apart by them.

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