63. Andras: a marquis 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.

Andras is spirit 63 of the 72 in the Ars Goetia, the first book of the Lesser Key of Solomon. The 1904 edition by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley calls him a marquis ruling 30 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Andras sows discords.

His entry is the most dangerous in the catalog, with no office but discord and a warning of death. Each part below carries a label for its layer, explained in how to read a spirit page.

At a glance

The 1904 entry

Historical The full entry from the 1904 edition, with footnote numbers and the dash after the heading left out and the heading set in ordinary type:

Andras. The Sixty-third Spirit is Andras. He is a Great Marquis, appearing in the Form of an Angel with a Head like a Black Night Raven, riding upon a strong Black Wolf, and having a Sharp and Bright Sword flourished aloft in his hand. His Office is to sow Discords. If the Exorcist have not a care, he will slay both him and his fellows. He governeth 30 Legions of Spirits, and this is his Seal, etc.

Andras appears “in the Form of an Angel with a Head like a Black Night Raven, riding upon a strong Black Wolf, and having a Sharp and Bright Sword flourished aloft in his hand”. His whole office is one sentence: “to sow Discords”. Then the warning: “If the Exorcist have not a care, he will slay both him and his fellows.” There are no gifts, familiars or teachings to balance it.

Appearance

Historical Andras appears “in the Form of an Angel with a Head like a Black Night Raven, riding upon a strong Black Wolf, and having a Sharp and Bright Sword flourished aloft in his hand.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

Historical The offices of Andras, in the order the 1904 text gives them:

• Sows discords. Reported as history; not taught here.

“If the Exorcist have not a care, he will slay both him and his fellows.” He governs 30 legions.

Source comparison: Weyer and Scot

Historical Weyer, in Scot’s English, gives “Andras” as “a great marquesse,” “seene in an angels shape with a head like a blacke night raven, riding upon a blacke and a verie strong woolfe, flourishing with a sharpe sword in his hand.”

He “can kill the maister, the servant, and all assistants,” and “is author of discords.” Both give 30 legions.

Historical Weyer’s Latin has “capite nycticoraci nigro simili”, a head like a black night raven, the same bird as Stolas’s. The danger is stated as knowledge: “Novit interficere dominum, servum & coadiutores”, he knows how to kill the master, the servant and the helpers. Weyer then calls him “author … discordiarum”, the author of discords. (About Weyer and Scot.)

Name and etymology

Historical Weyer, Scot and the 1904 text all spell the name Andras. It resembles Greek andros, of a man, but no source makes the link.

Seal and images

Historical The seal above is Andras’s as printed in 1904, and by the rules of the Observations it would be made in silver, the metal of his rank. Why seals were worn, why editions draw them differently and how to study one are explained in seals, circle and triangle.

Later tradition Le Breton’s 1863 plate shows a naked winged figure with an owl’s head and a sword, riding a black wolf: the night raven drawn as an owl, as with Stolas.

Later tradition and modern practice

Modern Andras appears frequently in modern games and fiction as a dangerous spirit.

Lore about Andras’s personality, likes or chosen people is modern, not grimoire material; modern approaches explains where such claims come from.

Beginner’s quick reference

Before you burn or handle anything listed for Andras, read incense, plants and offerings.

Practical notes

Andras’s only office is sowing discord, and the text warns he will kill the careless magician. He falls outside the beginner criteria, and I do not teach that office. His entry is the clearest case in the Goetia of a spirit presented as purely dangerous.

In the directory, Andras is not among the 30 spirits that fit the beginner criteria.

Try this: one question to study

Weyer lists three victims, master, servant and helpers; the 1904 text has two, “him and his fellows”. Decide whether anyone was lost in the change.

What next

To compare Andras with other spirits of his rank, read Andrealphus and Cimejes.

Later tradition In the Golden Dawn scheme of the decans, Andras is the night spirit of the third decan of Sagittarius, which belongs to the Ten of Wands; the day spirit of the same decan is Ronove (spirit 27).