Carifas: Duke of the Western Quarter

Carifas is a demon named in the Ars Theurgia, the second book of the seventeenth-century grimoire commonly known as the Lesser Key of Solomon. Within this magical hierarchy, Carifas belongs to the retinue of the infernal Emperor Amenadiel and holds the rank of duke.

In the Henson translation of the Ars Theurgia, Carifas is associated with the western direction, placing him within a carefully ordered system in which spirits are organised according to rank, allegiance and orientation. This directional correspondence is not incidental, because the Ars Theurgia presents its spirits as members of elaborate courts whose positions reflect a supernatural structure governed by infernal princes and emperors.

Carifas is said to command three thousand eight hundred and eighty lesser spirits, demonstrating that his rank is not merely honorary. He functions as a powerful subordinate within Amenadiel’s hierarchy and possesses authority over a substantial host of spirits who answer to him.

What makes Carifas particularly notable is that although the grimoire describes hundreds of dukes serving Amenadiel, only a small number are named individually. Carifas is one of only twelve dukes whose names are specifically preserved in the text, giving him a more prominent place within the surviving demonological tradition than many of the unnamed spirits belonging to the same court.

The Ars Theurgia differs in tone from many grimoires concerned with demons because its spirits are frequently presented less as embodiments of abstract evil and more as members of vast supernatural governments. Rank, command, direction and obedience become central themes, and Carifas appears within this system as an infernal noble whose identity is defined largely through his allegiance to Amenadiel and his authority over the spirits beneath him.

For students of demonology, figures such as Carifas are important precisely because they reveal how complex the magical hierarchies of early modern grimoires could become. The demonological universe was not imagined as chaotic. It was organised through courts, titles, commands and chains of authority that mirrored earthly systems of rulership while placing them within an invisible world.

If names such as Carifas fascinate you, then reading isolated descriptions is only the beginning. The real depth of demonology lies in understanding the grimoires themselves, the hierarchies they describe, the magical systems in which these spirits appear and the way figures such as Amenadiel, his dukes and their subordinate hosts fit into a much larger occult structure.

The Occult World Mystery School is where you move beyond collecting demon names and begin studying demonology as a serious esoteric discipline. If you want to understand the Ars Theurgia, infernal hierarchies, spirit classifications and the grimoires that shaped Western demonological tradition, then stop skimming the surface and enter the Demonology teachings of the Occult World Mystery School. Study the spirits, study the texts, study the systems, and learn what the old magicians were actually trying to reveal.