(Berith, from Collin de Plancy's Dictionnaire Infernal: Paris, 1863)

"Berith is a great and a terrible duke, and hath three names. Of some he is called Beall; of the Jewes Berithi; of Nigromancers Bolfry: he commeth foorth as a red souldier, with red clothing, and upon a horsse of that colour, and a crowne on his head. He answereth trulie of things present, past, and to come. He is compelled at a certeine houre, through divine vertue, by a ring of art magicke. He is also a lier, he turneth all mettals into gold, he adorneth a man with dignities, and confirmeth them, he speaketh with a cleare and a subtill voice, and six and twentie legions are under him." (Reginald Scot, Discoverie of Witchcraft, page221)

Mathers added the footnote concerning the assertion in the text that this demon answers truly of questions dealing with the past, present or future: "This hardly agrees with the statement that he is a great liar, and not to be trusted."

There is no mention made in the Lemegeton contained in Sloane MS 2731 of a "certeine houre" during which this demon is to be compelled to be obedient, nor does Mathers refer to a specific hour in his description. However the general information is provided at the back of the grimoire that the Dukes of hell are to be bound to service by the magician at any hour from morning to noon, but only during clear weather.

The days on which the demons may be evoked are the 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 days of the waxing phase of the 28 day lunar cycle. That is to say, demons are to be summoned only on the even days of the waxing phase from new moon to full moon, not during the waning phase, and not on the odd days of the waxing phase. This is symbolically correct provided the demons are to be put to constructive uses; were they to be summoned for acts of evil, it would be done during the waning phase, and the process would be fraught with danger to the magician. These days probably correspond to the traditional astrological planets: Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn. There is no explicit statement as to which hour corresponds with which planet. Even numbers are receptive and feminine by nature.

The ring referred to is said in the Lemegeton manuscript to be of the same type that commanded the demon Beleth. In the description of Beleth is written: "you must have always a Silver Ring on ye middle finger of the left hand held against your face; as they doo yet before Amaimon;..." Amaimon or Amaymon is one of the four great Kings ruling the four quarters of the world, who has under him one quarter of the 72 demons described in the Goetia.

The ring is pictured in the grimoire. The appearance given in Sloane 2731 differs from that presented by Mathers. In the Sloane manuscript it is a plain band with the words of power Anepheneton and Michael inscribed on the outer side, and the supreme word of power Tetragrammaton inscribed on the inner surface, next to the skin. Mathers showed the ring as three concentric circles, the outermost of which bears the name Tetragrammaton, the middle the word Anapha X eton, and the inner circle the word Michael. He stated that it is to be made either in gold or silver.

The concentric circles evidently confused Mathers, who assumed that the ring was really a flat disk with a hole in the center. This is not so. Depicting the ring in the form of concentric circles was merely an artistic convention for representing a three-dimensional object on a flat page. In my opinion, the Sloane 2731 version of the ring, showing two circles, makes better sense than Mathers' drawing, which shows three circles.

The purpose of this ring is to magically divert the flaming, noxious fumes from the mouth of the demon away from the face of the magician. The hand wearing the ring is to be held in front of the mouth when these fumes are present.