Lucifer: Princeps
by Peter Grey
Lucifer: Princeps is a seminal study on the origins of the Lucifer mythos, the first in a two volume work. The fall of Lucifer, and that of the rebel angels who descended upon the daughters of men, comprise the foundation myth of the Western occult tradition. Princeps is a study of origins, a portrait of the first ancestor of witchcraft and magic. In tracing the genealogy of our patron and prince, the principles that underlie the ritual forms that have come down to us, through the grimoires and folk practices, are elucidated.
The study draws on the extensive literature of history, religion and archaeology, engaging with the vital discoveries and advances of recent scholarship. A concomitant exegesis of the core texts conjures the terrain and koiné of the Ancient Near East, the cradle cultures and language of his nascence. Of critical importance are the effaced cultures and cults that lie behind the Old Testament polemics, viz. those of Assyria, Ugarit and Canaan, as well as Sumeria, Egypt and Greece; they provide the context that give meaning to what would otherwise be an isolated brooding figure, one who makes no sense without being encountered in the landscape.
Intended to be the definitive text on the origins of Lucifer for practitioners of magic, Princeps spans wingtip to wingtip from the original flood myth and legends of divine teachers to the Church Fathers, notably Augustine, Origen and Tertullian. The tales of the Garden of Eden, the Nephilim, of the fall of Helel ben Sahar and the Prince of Tyre, the nature of Azazel, and the creation of the Satan are drawn beneath the shadow of these wings into a narrative that binds Genesis and Revelation via the Enochian tradition.
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Table of Contents
A History of Error
Formulation of the Curse
The Dawn Breakers
The Shining One
Holy Mountain
Scorched Heavens, Burned Earth
A King in Search of a Crown
The Invisible God
A Goat for Azazel
The Serpent in the Garden
Fall and Flood
The Key
A Mass of Blood and Feathers
Children of Enoch
The Cloven Hoof
Appendix
The Principate of Fallen Angels
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Frontispiece: Satan Arousing the Rebel Angels. William Blake, c.1808.
Standard Hardcover Edition - Limited to 800 copies
200 pages. Bound in verdant green silk, cropped dust jacket, emblazoned with a gold serpent, embossed black endpapers.
Paperback Edition
200 pages. Sewn paperback, printed on 120 gsm paper.
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Press, reviews, endorsements
“Indeed, re-reading Princeps after so many years, I was struck once more by the depth and thoroughness of its scholarly apparatus and the soundness of its arguments. Princeps provides a dependable exposition of the origins and development of the Luciferian tradition – a “history of error” as Grey describes it – expertly navigating its labyrinth of false passageways, mistranslations, dubious genealogies and a logic of similarities rather than demonstrable identities; one that nevertheless renders a richly woven fabric of humanity’s profoundest spiritual and magical imaginings.”
Peter Mark Adams for Paralibrum - read the full review here
“…you cannot unread this book.”
Gordon White for Rune Soup - read the full review here
“Lucifer: Princeps is a beguiling and not-easy read, cleaving close to Biblical sources in an attempt to closely trace the most significant instances of the Lucifer figure, in what also serves as a preamble volume for Grey’s upcoming, Lucifer: Praxis.
With scholarly precision and an impatience for romanticised reimaginings of Lucifer and all he stands for, neither is Grey dismissive of the figure he considers to be the repository of Western witchcraft. Instead, as he writes in the introductory chapter (aptly titled ‘A History of Error), “My aim is to be effective in sorcery, rather than be ensorcelled”.
Teodor Reljić - read the full review here
Book Review by Foolish Fish - watch on YouTube here
Interview with Peter Grey on the SittingNow channel - watch on YouTube here
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About the Author
Peter Grey is a writer, and the co-founder of Scarlet Imprint. He is the author of The Red Goddess (2007), which has inspired the resurgence of interest in Babalon, the goddess of Revelation. His Apocalyptic Witchcraft (2013) has been called the most important modern book on witchcraft, placing it in the mythopoetic context of the sabbat and in a landscape suffering climate and ecological collapse. His collected writings, from 2008–2018, are published in The Brazen Vessel (2019) with those of Alkistis Dimech. His notable work, The Two Antichrists (2021), is a return to the Babalon and Antichrist workings of Jack Parsons and his eclipsed sodality The Witchcraft. His Lucifer: Princeps (2015) is a study of the origins of the figure of Lucifer; followed up by his most recent work; its second instalment Lucifer: Praxis (2025).
He has spoken at private and public events and conferences worldwide to both practitioners and academics. These have included Occulture, the Occult Conferences in Glastonbury and London, Treadwell’s Bookshop, the Esoteric Book Conference in Seattle, Flambeau Noir in Portland, the Psychology, Art and the Occult conference in London, Here to Go II in Norway, the Trans-States conference in Northampton University, the Magic and Ecology conference for CRASSH at Cambridge University and Pagan Federation events. He can be heard on podcasts including Rune Soup, Secret History of Western Esotericism Podcast, Right Where you are Sitting Now, Thelema Now, Spirit Box, Quarantine Sessions with Jake Kobrin, Against Everyone with Conner Habib, Grimerica, Witches and Wine, Thoth-Hermes, and Rendering Unconscious.
Peter lives with his lover Alkistis Dimech in Cornwall on the edge of the Lizard peninsula, where he surfs in the cold Atlantic, walks the ancient land and pursues his magical practice.
