2. Agares: a duke of the Ars Goetia

How to read the labels Historical what the old sources say. Later tradition what later writers added. Modern modern practice and my own notes.

Spirit 2 of the Ars Goetia is Agares. The 1904 edition by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley calls him a duke ruling 31 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Agares makes those who stand still run, and brings back runaways.

I read his entry in layers. The old texts come first, later additions second and modern practice last, and every part carries a label so the layers never blur.

If you came here wondering whether Agares suits a beginner, the short answer is in the Practical notes below: he meets the three beginner criteria I use, though his entry, like most, is mixed.

At a glance

Historical These are the facts of the entry itself, from the 1904 text and its Observations.

• Number: 2 of 72, in the 1904 order.
• Name and spellings: Agares in 1904; other spellings: Agreas, Agarus.
• Rank and legions: Duke, 31 legions.
• Direction: the text places him in the East.
• Metal of his rank (Observations): copper.
• Hours for dukes (Observations): “From Sunrise till Noonday in Clear Weather.”
• In Weyer’s catalog (1577): yes, as the source comparison below shows.

The Observations also say to work only when the Moon is 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 or 14 days old. These rules show how the Goetia imagined its spirits, as officials with office hours. You do not need them to read the entry, and the facts table above gives the short version.

The seal (1904)

Historical The seal shown above is Agares’s seal as printed in the 1904 edition, in a faithful vector drawing of that public-domain printing. The Observations ask for each seal to be made in the metal of the spirit’s rank, which for Agares means copper. In the text’s world the seal identifies the spirit and protects the magician; several entries say it is worn on the breast as a lamen.

No two editions draw every seal the same way. The 1904 seals reflect Mathers’s reading of the manuscripts, and many modern versions online are copies of copies. If you compare, keep track of where each drawing comes from.

Modern Looking at a seal does nothing on its own; it is a drawing in an old book. Modern practitioners almost always draw seals on paper rather than casting them in metal. Copying Agares’s seal slowly by hand is also a good study exercise, because you notice lines and circles that the eye skips.

Appearance

Historical Agares comes up “in the form of an old fair Man, riding upon a Crocodile, carrying a Goshawk upon his fist, and yet mild in appearance.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

Historical These are all the offices the 1904 text gives him, in the order it gives them.

• Makes those who stand still run, and brings back runaways.
• Teaches all languages “presently,” that is, at once.
• Has power to destroy dignities, both spiritual and temporal. Reported as history; not taught here.
• Causes earthquakes. Reported as history; not taught here.

He “was of the Order of Virtues” and rules 31 legions. He is “under the Power of the East.”

Offices of harm or compulsion are part of the historical record, and reporting them is not endorsing them. For how offices work across the 72, see ranks and offices.

Source comparison: Weyer and Scot

Historical Scot’s Weyer calls Agares “the first duke under the power of the east” and describes him almost word for word as the Goetia does: “a faire old man, riding upon a crocodile, and carrieng a hawke on his fist.” The wording follows Scot’s English closely here, as it does throughout the catalog. Scot’s mistakes give the clearest evidence: where he turned Weyer’s “thirty” into “three” for Focalor, some Goetia manuscripts copy his error. Weyer also gives the order of Virtues and 31 legions.

Weyer’s catalog appeared in 1577 and Reginald Scot translated it into English in 1584. Comparing the two with the 1904 text shows how much the Goetia owes to them, and where it changed or added things. More in Weyer and Scot.

Later tradition

Later tradition In Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire Infernal, Agares appears as an old man on a crocodile with a hawk, following the text.

Modern practice and pop culture

Modern The crocodile and hawk have been read by some modern writers as Egyptian imagery, but there is no evidence that the compilers intended it. Modern practitioners often associate Agares with language learning, following his teaching office. Some also connect him with “bringing back” lost situations. Claims about his preferred offerings or colors are modern and vary by source.

Many modern claims about Agares, such as his personality, his likes and dislikes, or the idea that he chooses certain people, appear in no grimoire. They grew in modern books and online. You can read them with interest, and you can also leave them aside.

Beginner’s quick reference

Each line below is labeled by layer, so you can see how old each piece is.

• Rank metal and hours (Goetia): Duke: copper; sunrise to noon, in clear weather.
• Planet (later tradition: Golden Dawn and Crowley’s 777): Venus.
• Decan and day or night spirit (later tradition: 777): Aries, second decan (10 to 20 degrees); day spirit. 777 decan incense: “Stammonia” (unidentified; may refer to a toxic plant: do not burn it).
• Commonly reported color, incense, and plant (modern UPG; sources copy each other): Color green (sometimes with red); incense sandalwood; plant carnation (toxic to cats).
• Associated symbols: Goetia image: a mild old man riding a crocodile, with a goshawk on his fist. 777 Magical Image: the same image. Le Breton engraving (1863): an old man riding a crocodile. Modern Demonolatry/UPG: the seal, used as an altar image; one practitioner’s blog adds the tiger.
• Associated offerings: Modern practice, not in the Goetia manuscripts: most often listed, sandalwood, myrrh, and red sandalwood.

Incense means smoke. If you burn any, use a stick or cone with a window open, no charcoal indoors, and none at all in a home with pet birds or anyone with asthma. A plant listed here is a correspondence, not something to eat or burn, and a plant without a warning is not automatically safe. Modern offering lists copy one another, so “most often listed” means widely copied, not confirmed. Water, light, time or a note of thanks is always enough.

Practical notes

Agares’s office of teaching languages fits the beginner criteria, and he is a duke, not a king. His other offices include destroying dignities and causing earthquakes, which I do not teach. A question about language study would suit a first contact. If you choose him, do not ask him to “bring back” a person, which would be work on another’s will.

The beginner criteria I use have three parts: the spirit is not a king, at least one office is teaching, and the entry does not center on harm, deception or compulsion. In the directory, Agares is counted among the 31 spirits that fit.

To compare Agares with other spirits of his rank, read Valefor and Barbatos. Dukes are the largest group in the Goetia. The 1904 Classified List counts 23 of them, and their offices range from teaching languages to causing storms. A duke sits below kings and princes in the court the text imagines, and in the Observations dukes have the shortest hours: from sunrise to noon, in clear weather.

How to study this entry

If Agares interests you, start with study. These steps work for any of the 72.

1. Read the offices above in order and write each one in your own words.
2. Compare the 1904 wording with Scot’s English in The Discoverie of Witchcraft (Book 15, chapter 2), which is free to read online.
3. Copy the seal by hand, slowly, and note anything you missed at first glance.
4. Keep a two-column log: what the text says on the left, and what you have read online or feel about it on the right.

Then go back to all 72 spirits and read a neighbor or two. The entries make more sense side by side than alone.