>Astaroth (also Ashtaroth, Astarot and Asteroth), in demonology, is the Great Duke of Hell in the first hierarchy with Beelzebub and Lucifer; he is part of the evil trinity. He is a male figure most likely named after the Near Eastern goddess Astarte
>The name "Astaroth" as a male demon is first seen in The Book of Abramelin, purportedly written in Hebrew c. 1458, and recurred in most occult grimoires of the following centuries. Astaroth also features as an archdemon associated with the qliphoth (adverse forces) according to later Kabbalistic texts, as he rules over the qlipha of Jupiter, known as Gha'agsheblah
>Dutch demonologist Johann Weyer also described Astaroth in his Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (1577) thus: "Astaroth is a great and a strong duke, coming forth in the shape of a foul angel, sitting upon an infernal dragon, and carrying on his right hand a viper", who also claimed to rule 40 legions. Also, he had to be approached by the conjurer with a magical ring on account of his stinking breath. He is similarly referred to in the 17th-century work The Lesser Key of Solomon. He also makes an appearance in the notorious "Grimorium Verum" (True Grimoire), as the infernal principality which rules the Americas
Look at Astaroth's sigil. It's a Pentagram. A Pentagram is formed by the Planet Venus (Roman name for greek goddess Aphrodite).
>The cult of Aphrodite was largely derived from that of the Phoenician goddess Astarte, a cognate of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar, whose cult was based on the Sumerian cult of Inanna. Aphrodite's main cult centers were Cythera, Cyprus, Corinth, and Athens. Her main festival was the Aphrodisia, which was celebrated annually in midsummer. In Laconia, Aphrodite was worshipped as a warrior goddess. She was also the patron goddess of prostitutes, an association which led early scholars to propose the concept of "sacred prostitution" in Greco-Roman culture, an idea which is now generally seen as erroneous
>In various cultures, Astarte was connected with some combination of the following spheres: war, sexuality, royal power, healing and - especially in Ugarit and Emar - hunting; however, known sources do not indicate she was a fertility goddess, contrary to opinions in early scholarship
>Originally a symbol of the Roman goddess Venus, it was associated with several deities and worshiped by different cultures. The symbol is found in nature, like the shape that the planet Venus makes during the apparent retroaction of its orbit. It is one of the most used pagan symbols in ceremonial magic because it represents the four elements (water, earth, fire and air) coordinated by the spirit, being considered a very efficient talisman
>The planet Venus describes a perfect pentagram across the ecliptic plane of the sky every eight years. Successive inferior conjunctions of it are repeated in an orbital resonance very close to 13:8 (Earth orbits 8 times for every 13 orbits of Venus), creating a sequence of pentagrammic precession
>The Venus Callipyge, also known as the Aphrodite Kallipygos (Greek: Ἀφροδίτη Καλλίπυγος) or the Callipygian Venus, all literally meaning "Venus (or Aphrodite) of the beautiful buttocks", is an Ancient Romanmarble statue, thought to be a copy of an older Greek original. In an example of anasyrma, it depicts a partially draped woman, raising her light peplos to uncover her hips and buttocks, and looking back and down over her shoulder, perhaps to evaluate them. The subject is conventionally identified as Venus (Aphrodite), though it may equally be a portrait of a mortal woman
>Ancient Greece knew the beauty pageants, it is known that the Callipyge festivals were celebrated in honor of Aphrodite, the celebration consisted of a beauty pageant in which women exposed their buttocks to be judged, hence the term Callipyge, the one with beautiful buttocks
>The origin of the cult of this Aphrodite would be the following. The ancient legends say that the two daughters of a relatively prosperous farmer in Siracusa (Italy), beautiful, cheerful and of sharp wit, bet one Sicilian summer evening on the beauty of their buttocks to see which of them was worthy of the first prize. For this they agreed to show it to a passerby and have him decide who was the winner
>The girls lived on the outskirts of the city, so they had to wait a long time to find the appropriate judge. At last a young man with broad shoulders and a neat tunic appeared on the slope of the road. At the precise moment when he reached where they were and saw them, Helena lifted her tunic and, smiling, looked down at her buttocks
>So when Aspasia told him about the bet and in turn showed him her own buttocks, he could no longer think of anything but Helena’s ass. Of course you voted for it. In fact, he fell in love with her, so much so that when he returned to the city he told his younger brother what had happened. The younger brother went to the outskirts of town as soon as he could to see the girls. It turns out that he fell in love with the younger sister, even long before he was lucky enough to see her bare buttocks
>The boys plead with their father to allow them to marry the girls, and the father could not deny them when he saw the girls. They married, and the girls became famous for their assets, and were called The Fair-Buttocks. Since they had become rich and famous, they founded a temple to Aphrodite in thanks, and it was dedicated to he aspect of the goddess relating to beautiful butts, and the temple was then manned only by women with beautiful rear-ends
Yes goy. I know. I know. The connection stems from the very first warrior deity. The serpent wrapped around the forearm a direct echo of Krishna, and before that an ancient god of some other forsaken and lost continent. Older and far grimmer than any grimoire you can muster. So tell me. What is your point in all this psychobabble?
Brody Barnes
There's an obscure game that I really like named "Giten Megami Tensei" that has them both.
>In 199X, Tokyo was destroyed by ICBMs, resulting in a nuclear holocaust. Some people with foresight had built underground shelters and survived the Great Cataclysm, while demons began to rampage on the ground. People in the underground shelters still need to defend against demon invasion, and thus an organization called Devil Busters have formed. Around 20 years passed, and a new generation has grown up in the shelters...
>The demons, such as Abaddon of Ikebukuro, Ipos of Roppongi, Asherah of Shinagawa, and others occupy their own spheres of power, each competing for supremacy. Nevertheless, humans can be found all over, living sternly. In eastern Tokyo, the Baal and Ishtar Cults appeared, which worshipped and were protected by demons. The militant Baal Cult in particular focused on conquering weaker demons and expanding its areas of influence. Under these circumstances, the mutants and indigenous demons of Japan (the Kunitsukami) were pushed into the surrounding areas. In Shibuya, the Messians gathered under a spiritual barrier, worshipping the Creator God and befriending the angels. However, they are still unable to maintain power, and the angels seem content with quietly observing the demons in Tokyo. In addition, in Yamanashi, Yokohama, and Tama, a resistance opposing the demons is arising; now, an armed organization known as the Pentagramma is advancing through Tokyo
