46. Bifrons: an earl 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.

Bifrons is number 46 in the catalog of 72 spirits that opens the Lesser Key of Solomon. The 1904 edition by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley calls him an earl ruling 6 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Bifrons makes one knowing in astrology, geometry, and other arts and sciences.

Here I go through his entry layer by layer: the old text first, then what later centuries added, then modern practice, each part labeled so you can see how old it is.

If you came here wondering whether Bifrons suits a beginner, the short answer is in the Practical notes below: he does not meet the three beginner criteria I use, and I explain why.

At a glance

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

• Number: 46 of 72, in the 1904 order.
• Name and spellings: Bifrons in 1904; other spellings: Bifrous, Bifrovs (1904).
• Rank and legions: Earl, 6 legions.
• Metal of his rank (Observations): copper and silver.
• Hours for earls (Observations): “Any hour of the Day, so it be in Woods, or in any other places whither men resort not, or where no noise is.”
• 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 Bifrons’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 Bifrons means copper and silver. 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.

Seals are not identical from one source to the next. The 1904 versions follow the manuscripts Mathers used, and later books and websites sometimes redraw, simplify or mix them. If two seals for the same spirit disagree, ask which edition each one follows.

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 Bifrons’s seal slowly by hand is also a good study exercise, because you notice lines and circles that the eye skips.

Appearance

Historical Bifrons “appeareth in the Form of a Monster,” but “after a while, at the Command of the Exorcist, he putteth on the shape of a Man.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

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

• Makes one knowing in astrology, geometry, and other arts and sciences.
• Teaches the virtues of precious stones and woods.
• Changes dead bodies and puts them in another place. Reported as history; not taught here.
• “Lighteth seeming Candles upon the Graves of the Dead.” Reported as history; not taught here.

He commands 6 legions, one of the smallest numbers in the catalog (Mathers notes that it “should probably be 60”).

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 The Weyer catalog, as Scot renders it, gives “Bifrons” as “seene in the similitude of a monster,” who in man’s image makes one “woonderfull cunning in astrologie, absolutelie declaring the mansions of the planets,” and in geometry, understands herbs, stones, and woods, moves dead bodies, and “seemeth to light candles” on graves. The Goetia drops herbs. Scot gives 26 legions, the Goetia 6.

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 The name Bifrons, Latin for “two-faced,” recalls the Roman Janus but no source links them.

Modern practice and pop culture

Modern The candles on graves have been compared in modern writing with will-o’-the-wisps and corpse lights of folklore. That comparison is modern.

Some things said about Bifrons online are not in any grimoire at all: personalities, favorite foods, signs that a spirit has “picked” someone, or birth demons. They come from modern writing and social media. Treat them as one person’s experience, not as facts about the old text.

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): Earl: copper and silver; any hour of the day, in woods or other quiet places.
• Planet (later tradition: Golden Dawn and Crowley’s 777): Mars. For earls, 777 gives Mars, following the 1904 editor’s note, rather than the Venus and Moon of their copper and silver.
• Decan and day or night spirit (later tradition: 777): Cancer, first decan (0 to 10 degrees); night spirit. 777 decan incense: camphor (irritating smoke; not for beginners).
• Commonly reported color, incense, and plant (modern UPG; sources copy each other): Color red; incense dragon’s blood; plant basil.
• Associated symbols: Goetia image: a monster; later a man. 777 Magical Image: a monster. Le Breton engraving (1863): a grinning, bodiless face. Modern Demonolatry/UPG: the seal, used as an altar image.
• Associated offerings: Modern practice, not in the Goetia manuscripts: most often listed, basil and dragon’s blood resin; one source adds caraway, pine resin, amethyst, and pearl.

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

Bifrons is an earl, and his offices of astrology, geometry, and the study of stones and woods match the teaching part of the beginner criteria. His offices concerning the dead are not ones I teach, and you should never disturb graves. A question about geometry or the study of woods would suit a first contact.

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, Bifrons is not among the 31 spirits that fit, because the entry as a whole goes beyond teaching.

To compare Bifrons with other spirits of his rank, read Raum and Halphas. Earls, or counts, are a group of ten in the 1904 Classified List, and most of them hold a second rank as well. The Observations give them two metals, copper and silver, “alike equal,” and ask that they be worked in woods or quiet places where no one goes.

How to study this entry

Studying Bifrons needs only the texts, a notebook and some patience. This is the method I suggest for every entry.

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.