Satan and Moloch are two distinct yet conjoined figures in the Qliphothic hierarchy, representing the most exalted and destructive forces of the unbalanced sephirah. The name Satan derives from the Hebrew śāṭān (adversary), while Moloch (also Molech) comes from mōleḵ (king), a Canaanite deity associated with child sacrifice. In the context of the Qliphoth, they are not separate entities but a single dual-natured prince embodying the ultimate inversion of divine will.

Position on the Tree of Life

This pair corresponds to the first step (Keter) of the Qliphothic Tree, the crown of the unbalanced sephiroth. Just as Keter is the highest emanation of the divine, Satan and Moloch represent the apex of the demonic realm—pure, undiluted opposition to the light. In the Qabalah, this position is often called the "unbalanced Keter" or the "crown of the Qliphoth," where the primal unity of God is mirrored by a primal unity of evil.

Historical context

The pairing of Satan and Moloch as a single Qliphothic prince is a relatively late development in Western esotericism, crystallized in the tables of Aleister Crowley’s Liber 777 (1909). Earlier traditions treat them separately. In the Hebrew Bible, Satan appears as a prosecuting angel in the court of God (e.g., Job 1–2), while Moloch is a foreign god whose worship is strictly forbidden (Leviticus 18:21). Medieval demonologists such as Johann Weyer (Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, 1563) list Moloch as a prince of hell, but Satan is more often a title or a generic adversary. The Goetia (the first book of the Lemegeton) includes Moloch as a duke (often conflated with the demon “Marbas” or “Mammon”), while Satan appears only as a name for the chief adversary. In the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the Qliphoth were systematized, and Crowley’s 777 assigned Satan and Moloch to the highest Qliphothic sphere, drawing on earlier Kabbalistic texts such as the Zohar (which describes the Sitra Ahra or “Other Side”) and the writings of Isaac Luria. The pairing emphasizes the dual nature of the Qliphothic crown: Satan as the active adversary, Moloch as the consuming king—together they embody the ultimate rejection of divine order.

In Liber 777, Satan and Moloch appear as the Princes of the Qliphoth at step 1 (Keter), paired with the “Three Zeros” (0) at the same level and with other princes at lower sephiroth: Lucifuge at Chesed (4), Belphegor at Tiphereth (6), and Adramelek at Hod (8). This placement underscores their role as the root of all Qliphothic forces, the source from which all other unbalanced emanations descend.