Abaddon
Abaddon is a demon who is very closely associated – and often referred to as – the devil. In demonology he is seen as a chief of the seventh hierarchy and carries such lofty nicknames as The Destroyer and, in the Book of Revelation, St. John refers to him as the King of the Locusts. His name has also been considered the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek god Apollyon, a name that was directly associated by early Christians to Satan. Milton references Abaddon as a place – a deep and terrible pit – in his work “Paradise Regained” and, in Revelations 9: 7-11, he is referred to as the archangel Michael.
With such direct connections to the occult, it is no wonder that Abaddon plays a special role in magic, alchemy, and ancient mystery religions. In the former two examples he is called the Destroying Angel of the Apocalypse, and his name is also synonymous for hell and/or the ruler of the underworld and he was the focus of certain rites of passage into mystery schools. Initiates would be drugged in some manner so they would be susceptible to a divine revelation, an often unpleasant experience that was invoked so the individual would have a direct encounter with God. The pit they would be thrown into was referred to as Abaddon, yet another reference to this demon as being the location of hell as opposed to its ruler.
Abaddon’s other associations include the colors brown, green, and blood red; he is associated with winter and the month of January; Saturday is an important day for him; he inspires and is linked to intuition; sacrifice plays an important associative role, as does being challenged. In the Tarot he is the symbol of judgment, represented as an angel who plays a trumpet in the sky while a host of nude men and women on coffins in the open water rejoicing at the sound of his call.
