THE TOWERING DUKE DANTALION, a spirit I initially made contact with many years ago, and one of the more 
memorable first impressions from that time. At that point I had not been very well acquainted with the 
Goetic family, and had only established a working relationship with a small few of them. Duke Dantalion’s 
name comes from the noble dandelion (a name which means “lion’s maw”). Duke Dantalion has become an 
increasingly popular spirit among daemonolators since the mid 2010s, and many speculate has origins as a 
powerful Djinn. In fact it was likely through all the buzz about Dantalion from certain daemonolatry 
communities where his name first passed through my ears, and then kept rattling around in my mind.

This is one of the very first Goetic illustrations I ever did for this series, the first being Buer. I 
had drawn this one all the way back in 2018, and I never imagined at the time that I would eventually 
undertake the daunting ordeal of creating all 72 of these guys several years later. This illustration 
was made for an asset in my game █VFWS that I was working on at the time, where he was stationed in a 
secret area of the game. (If you never found him, you must first collect the spit pickup at the pyramid, 
then you must make your way to the roof of the museum, where you must jump from the roof and into the 
hole at the top of the water fountain. In the museum’s underground area, find the triceratops-headed 
terianthrope and spit in his face. This will anger him, so you must then throw yourself off the map to 
kill yourself where you will end up in HELL, where Dantalion can be found.)

A more recent rendition of Dantalion.

I had been in a sorry state when I first sought out Duke Dantalion, it was 2018, and I had been in a lot 
of turmoil during that time in my life. As it was so many years ago I can no longer relate much to myself 
from that time, and I cannot remember what it was exactly that made me decide to reach out to this Duke in
particular. However, I do remember it had been in a moment of weakness, and I was reaching out to Duke 
Dantalion in an impulsive desperation to solve my woes. This was a mistake for several reasons, and as one 
can imagine it ended with even more woes for me. I would do things differently had I the chance to go back, 
though I don’t regret how it ended… 

To further illustrate why my approach was improper, let me put it this way: I had no rapport with Dantalion, 
I had never so much as said hello to him before, so to conjure this spirit into my home (which was RANCID 
with the wack vibes of depression) and then to petition him to then fix my life was foolish and disrespectful. 
Do not do this to a spirit. If you wish to seek a spirit for help at least create a rapport with them first, 
and then decide if you think this spirit is truly the right one for the job. Show agency by putting in 
your own effort instead of expecting them to do all the work. Make something for them, give them your 
appreciation or an offering of goodwill. I won’t keep harping on this as I hope you get my point, but I wish
to illustrate that there are many things I could have done to make a better impression on Dantalion 
and I had done none of them.

When Dantalion appeared in my space he was immense. One of the physically largest spirits in my memory, 
he occupied a presence that filled most of the room. I can never get used to that feeling of a spirit 
materializing, it makes the hairs on my neck stand on end. It is a feeling impossible to ignore even 
if you were trying to, the undeniable sensation that there is another body there with you, but with 
nothing visibly standing there. It is a palpably uncanny feeling, where the lighting of the room seems 
to change in an imperceptible way and the atmosphere becomes heavy and thick. Dantalion’s energy is 
uniquely overwhelming, in a way like there are many voices crammed in the same space each trying to 
have their voice heard. It is a shouting match of mixed messages that makes it very difficult to hone 
in on any singular one. What I could discern during my initial working with Dantalion, was ageneral mood 
of impatience or disdain emanating from him– A completely valid reaction from him given the circumstance. 
I had been struggling to maintain my focus under the weight of this pressure, and had managed to clumsily 
stammer out my petition before awkwardly closing the ritual. I had promised to do an illustration for him
and give him cyberflesh in █VFWS, so I wasn’t asking him to work for nothing– however I had not done that 
drawing yet so all I had was may word, which I can’t imagine was worth much coming from a total stranger.

After this contact Dantalion eventually dismissed himself as his energy gradually dissipated, and I 
didn’t really make anything more of it. I resumed whatever shitty night I was having and went to bed. I 
might have drawn his image that night, but I really can’t remember. In any case, nothing happened until 
some time later, after I had forgotten the dealing and assumed he didn’t accept my petition. My petition 
was over a matter of love, a really embarrassing and depressing separation that I spent a long time 
pining over-- I had desperately asked Dantalion for his help to bring this woman back. At a later date, 
spontaneously, Dantalion appeared again to me in vision, presumably to follow up on our agreement. 
Looking back I am amazed that he bothered, considering the rude impression I must have made on our first 
meeting. He had an impatient demeanor but he seemed willing to help me and stated as much. He said that 
I would do the deed myself, but that he would guide my hand and show me how to do it. I saw the subject 
of my fixation in my minds eye, and saw a network of threads sprawling from us both. Connecting us, a 
very bright red thread was floating in the wind. Dantalion procured a pair of large, brutal shears, and 
put them in my hands. He told me to cut the string. I had my doubts and was extremely hesitant to do 
this, understanding the consequences very gravely. Despite my resistance, his pressure was immense, and 
with his hand he forced mine. Snip. The thread was cut, its fresh tails flying away in the wind. I came
out of this vision soon after, quite troubled by the implications of what I saw, and continued my day 
with this lump in my gut.

I still pined for that woman, and though we were maintaining correspondence at that point, it soon 
became more and more sparse until I never heard from her again. To this day, I don’t even know if she 
is still alive or where she is. Our circumstances were tangled in such a way that this was the only 
conclusion from the start. I had clung to the hope of some closure, or resolution, and even wished 
for a way to make the impossible work, but no such thing came. Though my heart still ached and bled, 
my experience with Dantalion was enough for me to finally start moving on and to go forward with my 
life. For a while I was very mad at Dantalion, I felt tricked and betrayed by him. However in hindsight 
I think he wisely saw the situation for what it was: a hopeless attachment that was inflicting a 
profound grief that tied me down. And so with surgical precision he gave me the tools to move on, to 
sever myself from that which kept me tied to the past. Despite the embarrassing weakness I first faced 
him with, he still cared enough to help me and provide me with a valuable lesson. Many people sing high 
praises of Duke Dantalion and I understand why people love him so. To this day, I am still terrified of 
this daemon. If you face this spirit, be more respectful than I was, and be prepared for him to provide
you with a solution you may not be willing to take. He does seem to operate on his own idea of what is 
best for your situation, but perhaps this confidence is justified. Despite his callousness sometimes, 
he is truly wise and terrifyingly shrewd, and can absolutely bring the necessary changes to your life 
if you put your trust in him.

Ave Duke Dantalion!

– KK
  

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