Someone asked me for this, so I decided to post it here for everyone.
From the Book of Oberon (AKA Book of Magic, Folger Library)
“Saint Cyprian, Friar Bacon, Friar Bungi, Friar Lumbard, and others say that Lucifer, Beelzebub, Sathanas, Minos, Asmodeus, Lamathan, Balberith, Balphegore, Baal, and Cerberus be chief rulers of hell, saving Tantavelarion, the emperor of hellish spirits.”
In List form –
Tantavelarion
Lucifer
Beelzebub
Sathanas
Minos
Asmodeus
Lamathan
Balberith
Balphegore
Baal
Cerberus
The only guy missing from this list is Astaroth, which brings your Chief count to 11. 11 Chiefs plus an Emperor puts you at 12, which makes since when you remember that the demons used to be considered to be associated with specific stars and constellations.
Sathanas is given as Sathanachi in the Key of Solomon and Satanachia in the True Grimoire.
Cerberus is Resbiroth in the KOS and Nebiros in TG. Similar variants occur with the others. (For example Minos is Minoson, etc)
My point is that before 1700 there were two interconnecting but distinct Hierarchies, one “Demonic” or “Infernal” and another of Air Spirits, with the Planetary Hierarchy above them all. These hierarchies are remarkably consistent until around the 18th and 19th centuries when lodge publications started changing them.
In my experience, the spirits omitted from more modern and heavily promoted grimoires like the Golden Dawn publications are the ones that freely give out mind-fuck big picture information you aren’t supposed to know, or give you more immediate access to certain kinds of power.
SO
The old-fashioned hierarchy went more or less like this—
Macrocosm
Source (The ALL, God, etc)
Planetary Spirits (Olympicks, Planetary angels and demons, etc)
Microcosm - Lesser Lights/Constellations–
Air Spirits (Intelligences, Angels, the 4 King hierarchy, fairies)
Hell Spirits (Fallen Angels, Unbalanced Intelligences, Elementals)
The last two are muddled and interconnected with kind of an “Everybody is everybody else” thing going on. There seem to be varying factions with different interests and agendas, but it’s not clear.
When I first met Satan he told me he permeated all spirits - he could grant access to all of them, but he had no control over anything human or living. The old books say he dwells in a “strange air” and has knowledge of all the spirits of the Air. When I spoke to Sustugriel (TG) he said that all of the spirits were aware that there was this higher awareness called Satan above and permeating them all, but that he SEEMED to be letting them live on their own, and did not appear to be controlling them, but even they weren’t sure. I got the feeling they were a little nervous about this, but it was more or less denied. And, of course, there has always been that old insistence that Satan was Emulating God - and aren’t we all aware of the Spirit of which we are an incarnation and of source above that, and aren’t we all equally uncertain whether or not we truly have free reign or are being subtly shaped and directed?
Anyway, it’s all very interesting but what’s MOST interesting is the way the same information occurs over and over in different spellings and phrasings.