A marginal figure in demonological tradition with no role in canonical grimoires
Zubba is referenced in French demonological tradition as the name of a demon, though no narrative, function, or iconography is attached to the figure. The name appears in encyclopedic entries or secondary lists, where it is typically followed by a cross-reference to the general category of “Demons”, suggesting its inclusion is indexical rather than substantive.
Zubba does not appear in major grimoires such as:
- the Lemegeton (Ars Goetia)
- Pseudomonarchia Daemonum by Johann Weyer
- Dictionnaire Infernal by Collin de Plancy (no entry under this name)
- Book of Abramelin
- or other structured demonological systems used in Renaissance ceremonial magic or early modern occult philosophy
The name may represent a variant spelling, scribal error, or invented name, a common phenomenon in 19th-century compilations where exotic-sounding demon names were sometimes added without attested historical sources. It is also possible that Zubba originated as a misreading of Semitic or magical names found in amulets, glossaries, or marginal notes, later incorporated into demon lists without context.
Such names, lacking description or citation in ritual texts, serve more as evidence of the expansion of demonological catalogues in early modern and Romantic-era occultism than of living traditions of magical practice. The absence of Zubba from iconographic sources, magical seals, or ritual instructions reinforces its marginality in the broader demonological corpus.
Zubba thus remains a non-canonical name, preserved in lists but not in lore.
Sources:
- Collin de Plancy, Dictionnaire Infernal (Paris, 1818; 1863)
- Gustav Davidson, A Dictionary of Angels, Including the Fallen Angels
- Richard Kieckhefer, Forbidden Rites: A Necromancer’s Manual of the Fifteenth Century
- Frank Klaassen, The Transformations of Magic: Illicit Learned Magic in the Later Middle Ages and Renaissance
- Egil Asprem, The Problem of Disenchantment: Scientific Naturalism and Esoteric Discourse, 1900–1939
