(demon Astaroth from Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal, 1863)

The name Astaroth (sometimes spelled Ashtaroth) probably derives from Astarte, a Canaanite fertility goddess worshipped by the Philistines and at Sidon. For the ancient Hebrews she was the consort of Baal and was identified with Venus when it was the Evening Star in the western sky. She was one of a trio of Canaanite goddesses: Anath, Astarte and Asherah. Astarte may have been called upon by Hebrew women to aid them during the pains and dangers of childbirth. As is so often the case, there is no similarity between the natures of the goddess Astarte and the demon Astaroth, who is described in the Goetia:

"He is a Mighty, Strong Duke, and appeareth in the Form of an hurtful Angel riding on an Infernal Beast like a Dragon, and carrying in his right hand a Viper. Thou must in no wise let him approach too near unto thee, lest he do thee damage by his Noisome Breath. Wherefore the Magician must hold the Magical Ring near his face, and that will defend him. He giveth true answers of things Past, Present, and to Come, and can discover all Secrets. He will declare wittingly how the Spirits fell, if desired, and the reason of his own fall. He can make men wonderfully knowing in all Liberal Sciences. He ruleth 40 Legions of Spirits."

The magic ring was a standard instrument of the magician during the Middle Ages and Renaissance. It is described and illustrated in the most infamous of all grimoires, the Goetia. King Solomon used his own magic ring to seal into a brass vessel the demons he had previously employed to build the Temple, so the ring is of great importance in Solomonic magic. For some odd reason, the ring of the Exorcist is not illustrated on the plates which accompany the published Mathers-Crowley edition of the Goetia. I have here reproduced it from the manuscript version of the work. It was very faulty in the manuscript, requiring me to reconstruct the letters of the names MICHAEL, ANEPHENETON and TETRAGRAMMATON that appear on the ring. If you construct this ring, it would be better to write these names in Hebrew characters. The ring is to be made either of silver or gold. I would guess that the names MICHAEL and ANEPHENETON are to be written on the outside surface, and the name TETRAGRAMMATON on the inside surface.