After he had dealt with the wind demon Tephras, Solomon ordered another demon to come before him.
And there came seven female spirits, bound and woven together, fair in appearance and comely.
And Solomon, seeing them, questioned them, saying: "Who are you?" And they, with one accord,
said with one voice : "We are of the thirty-three elements of the cosmic ruler of the darkness."
The first said: "I am Deception." And the second said: "I am Strife."
The third: "I am Klothod, which means battle." And the fourth said: "I am Jealousy." The fifth said:
"I am Power." And The sixth said: "I am Error." And the seventh said:
"I am the worst of all, and our stars are in heaven. Seven stars, blue and humble in splendour,
and always together. We are called goddesses, and we live together. We change our abode,
sometimes in Lydia, sometimes in Olympus, and sometimes in a great mountain."
These 7 spirits are said to be the same as the 7 Pleiades of Greek Mythology,
the seven sisters who were companions of the moon goddess and huntress - Artemis,
as well as the daughters of the great Titan - Atlas, and the sea nymph - Pleione.
So Solomon questioned them one by one, beginning with the first,
and going down to the seventh, saying: "What is your purpose?"
And the first said: "I am Deception. I deceive and weave snares here and there.
I fuel and excite heresies. But I have an angel who frustrates me, It is Lamechalal."
Likewise, the second said: "I am Strife, the strife of strifes. I bring timbers, stones,
hangers, and my weapons on the spot. But I have an angel who frustrates me, It is Baruchiachel."
The third said: "I am Klothod, I am Battle, and I cause the well-behaved to scatter
and fall foul one of the other. I have an angel that frustrates me,it is Marmarath.
And the fourth said: "I am jealousy, I cause men to forget their sobriety and moderation.
I part them and split them into parties; for Strife follows me hand in hand. I separate
the husband from the sharer of his bed, and children from parents, and brothers from sisters.
But why tell so much about my hatred? I have an angel that frustrates me, the great Balthial."
The fifth said: "I am Power. By power I raise up tyrants and tear down kings. To all rebels I give
power. But I have an angel that frustrates me, it is Asteraôth. And the sixth said: "I am Error,
O King Solomon. And hear me now, I shall make you to err, as I have made you to err before,
when I caused you to slay your own brother. I shall again lead you into error. I teach men the
art of Necromancy, so that they pry into graves. I lead errant souls away from all devotion to God
Almighty, and many other evil traits are mine. But I have an angel that frustrates me, It is Uriel.
The incident this spirit of error spoke of, referred to Solomon's elder brother, Adonijah, whom Solomon
executed after he became king. It happened that at the death of the eldest sons of David, Amnon
and Abaslom, Adonijah tried to proclaim himself king, for he was next in line for the throne.
But the prophet Nathan, warned David, through his wife Bathsheba, that it was the will of God
that Solomon, the younger son, be made king, and as instructed, David proclaimed Solomon king.
Adonijah was pardoned by Solomon who begged for mercy, but shortly into the future,
Solomon would execute Adonijah over a very trivial matter, and the spirit of error
claims it was she who made him react so strongly and unreasonably.
And so the seventh spirit said: "I am the worst,
and I shall make you worse off than you were; because I will impose the bonds of Artemis.
You shall set me free by the locust, for it is by that means that you shall fulfill
my desire. If one were truly wise, he would not turn his steps towards me.
By her statement, this spirit foretells that the time Solomon shall turn away from God was nigh,
he shall build altars for foreign gods and worship them.
He shall build an altar for the demon Moloch, and offer sacrifices of Locust to him. And It shall
come to pass as the spirit foretold, Solomon would become far worse than he had ever been before.
Solomon wondered deeply at this revelation, and sealed them with the ring of God. But since
they were so considerable and mellow in behaviour, Solomon only commanded them to dig the foundations
of the Temple of God, which was 250 cubits in length. He bade them to be industrious,
and with one murmur of joint protest they began to perform the tasks as commanded.