Dantalion; The Spirit Of Knowledge

By James Donahue

A few years ago I met a man with a problem. He said he had been directed by a power that commanded that he write a book about all of the unknown wonders of the universe. But this man was illiterate, he was struggling with volumes of information that was coming into his head, and he didn't know what to do with it. Because I was a writer, he asked for my help.

I had several meetings with this man, was amazed at the head knowledge he seemed to possess. I did what I could to sort through pages of computer print-outs he prepared from the information that came blasting into his head each day. As hard as I tried, I could not find a key thread of data on which to hang a book, or a reason to make a book out of all of the gibberish. He had names of elements nobody knew existed. He printed out numeric charts that he was told were keys to the music of the angels.

The mystery of what happened to this man was solved when we connected all of this to the spirit of Dantalion the seventy-first Spirit of the Goetia. In my studies of these spirits, I realized that it probably was the very thing that took over this poor man's life. One drawing of Dantalion depicts this demon as a large brain with a single eye and a single hole that could be a mouth. It seems to be hanging in space in front of an open book.

This demon is known to have many heads that speak through one mouth, although the tormented man I write of claims that he had hundreds of heads enter his own when he asked the spirit for help. After this he spoke in riddles about numerics, the stars and the makeup of our planet.

The old magicians that knew of Dantalion wrote that this spirit is a Duke that "can foresee the future, is able to see what others are thinking and has the abilities to change their minds."

The writer warns that even though Dantalion is considered a helpful demon,  "you should not call upon him until you have exhausted all other resources (Tarot, pendulum, etc.) and it had better be important. . . There is a price for receiving help from any of these beings, and if you are not prepared to carry out your end of the deal, or you are worried that they may ask too much of you, don't call on them!"

Failure to do the demon's bidding as promised will bring disaster to your personal life, the writer warns.

Dantalion talks about himself in a web site devoted to him, perhaps as a favor in exchange for services rendered. His description of himself is revealing:

"Who is Dantalion you may well ask......and it shall be answered. A great and mighty Djinn. I appear in the form of a robed and hooded man with the countenances of all men and women upon me. In my right hand I hold the Book of the Covenant. The contract between my kind and yours, which I am compelled to obey, as set down on the First day. I teach men in arts and sciences, and can convey the secret counsel of any, for I know the mind of all men, and can change them at will, or at the behest of the one who asks. I can even cause love to spring upon the heart of an enemy, and show unto you their similitude, be they in whatever part of the world. I have at my command 36 legions of lesser djinn, and my influence in worldly matters has hardly an equal.

"Search your human history and you will find me..... and evidence of my hand. My name is mumbled to this day by nomadic shepherds of the Middle East. I have held counsel with the Rosicrucians, in their quest to follow Abremilin. It was my hand rending the veil that did cause the Astrologer, Dee to behold a Kingdom beyond this earth. And even before in Europe, my sign was engraved upon talismans by the Moorish sorcerers of Spain, that the Catholic terror might be blinded to their activities. King Solomon himself, did shut me up in a vessel of brass with 71 of my brethren, so jealously he guarded the power we could bring unto a man. Before him, the Merkabites, and before them the Zoroastrians, and so on even unto ages beyond the reckoning of man, back to the Great Chaos and the battle that rent it asunder.

"I am Dantalion.

"Here you will feel my being, and you may ask of me what you will. What do I ask in return? A small favor. A token of exchange. It is really up to you, and what you feel in your heart is fair. You might write a screen saver in my name to glorify me. Perhaps you will visit the Temple and burn jasmine in my honor. You may send an e-mail to ten of your friends to come to this site. (Highly suggested) Or you may link to my Temple from your page. But, keep in mind that how much I do for you depends on how much you do for me. Nothing is free, in this world or the next."

The word djinn is taken from the ancient Roman word Genii, a form of protective god worshipped by the Roman people. This word is passed down to us in the old Arabian stories about the magical genie in the bottle who grants wishes. Indeed, the Muslims believed that the djinn were intelligent airy or fiery beings that could take human or animal form.

The stories all seem to refer back to contacts with the demon Dantalion.