Demons for Protection and Banishing

Usually it’s the demons that are being banished or protected against by some other benevolent force, like an angel or a magical aura. But what if I told you that there are some demons that can fulfill these roles even better?

If you are evoking a demon to protect you or to banish an evil entity that is causing you distress, and you perform a proper evocation, that’s exactly what’ll happen. The demon will sweep your life of the negative influences so that you can start afresh.

Demons can ward off spiritual AND physical enemies simultaneously. Unless it is explicitly stated during the ritual, both will be treated the same because demons don’t differentiate between the two. Their protection is all encompassing.

It is true however that concentrating on a specific source of danger, such as a specific person or a specific spiritual entity, will allow the demon to allocate all its influence in one direction, thus providing faster and more effective action. However, unless you are aware of the precise source of danger, “general protection” or “general banishing” is the best thing to request during the evocation.

The main thing that differentiates demons from other protective spirits is their ability to act as punishers. Archangels are purely benevolent and won’t cause harm to the perpetrator, but a demon can be requested to do so.

To maximize your results, also note there are different types of protection, or “specializations” that each demon possesses, so you might be able to find one that is best suited for your situation. Their intricate differences will become clear as you read through this list.

These also happen to be the demons that I most often summon for myself and my clients to clear negative entities (of human and spiritual origin) and keep them at bay for good:

1. Forneus

Forneus is described as a Mighty and Great Marquis who appears in the form of a Great Sea-Monster. His most important power is to cause the summoner to have a good name (reputation) and to become loved by his foes and friends.

So if your reputation is at jeopardy you’d benefit from summoning Forneus. You’d also benefit if you know that your enemies harbor hatred or dislike for you and that you are being targeted by them for emotional reasons such as revenge or envy.

Sometimes you will be targeted for completely rational or at least emotionally neutral reasons. You know the phrase: “Don’t take it personally, it’s just business.” In that case shifting the other parties’ emotions might not be as helpful because they would act the same regardless of how they felt about you.

2. Foras

Foras is a Mighty President who can appear as a strong man during an evocation. His power that concerns us here is the ability to “make men invisible, and to live long.”

Foras is the demon you’d summon if you needed to disappear from the face of the earth. If you were fed up with your situation, needed to escape your enemies and lay low for as long as possible.

Some magicians have interpreted the “live long” part as a power to heal, but this interpretation is mistaken. Foras is not a healing demon, he’s a protector from external threats and should be evoked for that purpose only.

3. Halphas

Halphas is a demon you’ll want to summon if you’re already at war. Great Earl who appears to the summoner in the form of a stock-dove. His power is to “build up Towers, and to furnish them with Ammunition and Weapons, and to send Men-of-War to places appointed.”

There’s a lot to decipher there. Clearly Halphas is a protector, because symbolically and literally towers are protective structures. Furnishing them with ammunition and weapons means that retaliation is included in his protection. In other words, any attack against you would be met with casualties on the other side.

To send “men of-war to places appointed” means that Halphas will make your allies or subordinates loyal, decisive and obedient.

I’ve summoned Halphas for businessmen and leaders who were facing stiff competition and were suffering casualties, monetary and otherwise. Halphas has always been very helpful as a demonic crisis-manager of sorts, an entity that can make turn the tide of war in your favor.

4. Malphas

Malphas is a Mighty President who “can build Houses and High Towers and can bring to thy Knowledge Enemies’ Desires and Thoughts, and that which they have done.”

Again, we see the same symbolism as Halphas, and some commentaries suggest that these are two aspects of the same demon, as their names are also very similar. But their different rank shows them to be two separate entities.

Whereas Halphas is an aggressive protector, Malphas is a more cunning ally, a spy or an infiltrator that can break into the enemy’s camp and find weaknesses for you to exploit. Because we are dealing with spirits here, they aren’t constrained by physical limitations.

Demons like Malphas can read thoughts, emotions and memories of people. If you direct Malphas’ attention to your enemy you can gain useful knowledge about their plans and also weaknesses that can be exploited.

5. Sabnock

Sabnock is one of the more terrifying demons, and he is often evoked solely for the purposes of black magic. He can, among other things, “afflict Men for many days with Wounds and with Sores rotten and full of Worms.”

For the purposes of this article however, we should mention that he can “build high Towers, Castles and Cities, and to furnish them with Armor.” It is worth noticing the subtle differences in these descriptions, because they aren’t arbitrary. Previously we read of demons that can build houses and towers, and with Sabnock we see castles and cities added.

What is the difference between these defensive structures and parameters? Primarily their capacity. Cities and castles are larger structures, meaning that they can protect greater numbers. Those numbers can be in men, or in possessions. An owner of a corporation or a truly affluent men with many investments would be better off summoning Sabnock to protect them due to his greater capacity.

The same would be true in a literal sense for a ruler presiding over a large swathe of land that is being attacked by the enemy. Whenever we read descriptions from ancient and medieval grimoires we should keep in mind that they were written with the very real concerns of their time. But those concerns can morph into their equivalents in another time. This is why the descriptions of spirits have both a literal and symbolic meaning.

6. Vine

Vine should be the first demon you summon in order to identify and eliminate the threat of a wicked spirit or a practitioner of witchcraft. Vine’s main power is to “discover Things Hidden, Witches and Wizards .. and to build Towers, overthrow Great Stone Walls, and make the Waters rough with Storms.”

To overthrow walls means destroying the defenses of the spirit or the magician that is causing you harm. This is necessary in order to cause any effective retaliation to them, if you so choose.

This is conveniently followed by “making the Waters rough with Storms”. Anyone versed in alchemy and initiatory language will know that the Waters symbolize the psyche and emotions. In Jungian language they can also symbolize the collective unconscious.

In any case, the Waters are the psychic and emotional part of existence. Since the spirits and magicians operate on this level of reality, the reason for causing storms (distress, harm) to them on this field of battle becomes obvious.

7. Volac

Volac is the demon you should summon if you suspect betrayal in your ranks. If you are suspicious of friends, family members, business partners or coworkers.

In the Ars Goetia, Volac is described as having the ability to “tell where Serpents may be seen .. the which he will bring unto the Exorciser without any Force or Strength being by him employed.”

The way that Volac acts is very subtle. He creates opportunities for your hidden enemy to blunder and reveal himself. Hence the “without any Force or Strength” line.

So while he doesn’t offer active protection, he can help you eliminate the enemy by identifying him (or her) in an elegant fashion.

Final Thoughts

These are just seven demons that can be summoned for protection and banishing purposes within the tradition of Ars Goetia.

There are a few others that could’ve entered this elite list, most notably Bael. But I wrote about his attributes on several occasions already, and felt it would be more interesting to focus on others.

In any case, these demon have been traditionally summoned, not just by myself but by many other magicians and they’ve proven to be very effective within their respective domains.

If you want me to summon a demonic protector/banisher for you, use my ritual for hire service. We’ll discuss your unique situation as part of the pre-ritual consultation and we’ll decide together on what demon to evoke.

Till next time!