Samael is the eighth Qlipha, the shadow of Hod, the sphere of Splendor. Its name is read as "the poison of God", a false splendor of deceit and lies.
In the scheme followed here it is ruled by Adramelech, a god of the Sepharvites named at 2 Kings 17:31 as one to whom children were burned in sacrifice, a figure later absorbed into Christian and grimoire demonology as a high-ranking demon, in some classifications one associated with pride or false honors. This shadow Samael is not to be confused with the planetary archangel Samael of Mars, who bears the same name and is a far older and more ambivalent figure in Jewish tradition, appearing in rabbinic and later Kabbalistic literature both as the accusing angel who tests Job and, in some strands, as a consort of Lilith; the qliphothic Samael narrows that older, more complex figure to a single shadow role opposite Hod. Spellings and rulers of the shells vary by source; the material is presented academically.
Hod is attributed to Mercury, the planet of intellect and communication, and Samael's poison and false splendor are read as Mercury's clarity turned to deliberate deceit, speech and reasoning used to mislead rather than to inform.
Sources Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd editionMichael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik (eds.) with The Golden Dawn: The Original Account of the Teachings, Rites, and Ceremonies of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, 6th editionIsrael Regardie