15. Eligos: 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.

Eligos is spirit 15 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 duke ruling 60 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Eligos discovers hidden things.

His entry is one of the clearest knightly images in the catalog, and a single word in it shows how copying changed the picture. 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:

Eligos. The Fifteenth Spirit in Order is Eligos, a Great Duke, and appeareth in the form of a goodly Knight, carrying a Lance, an Ensign, and a Serpent. He discovereth hidden things, and knoweth things to come; and of Wars, and how the Soldiers will or shall meet. He causeth the Love of Lords and Great Persons. He governeth 60 Legions of Spirits. His Seal is this, etc.

Eligos appears as “a goodly Knight”, that is, a handsome one, carrying a lance, an ensign (a flag) and a serpent. His offices concern hidden things, the future and war, specifically “how the Soldiers will or shall meet”, and causing “the Love of Lords and Great Persons”. For a sixteenth- or seventeenth-century reader, the favour of the powerful was a practical matter of patronage and office.

Appearance

Historical Eligos appears “in the form of a goodly Knight, carrying a Lance, an Ensign, and a Serpent.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

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

• Discovers hidden things.
• Knows things to come, and “of Wars, and how the Soldiers will or shall meet.” Reported as history; not taught here.
• Causes the love of lords and great persons. Reported as history; not taught here.

Source comparison: Weyer and Scot

Historical The Weyer catalog, as Scot renders it, gives “Eligor, alias Abigor,” “a great duke,” a “goodlie knight, carrieng a lance, an ensigne, and a scepter.” The Goetia has “a Serpent” in place of the scepter, likely a copying change. Weyer has him procure “the favour of lords and knights.” Both give 60 legions.

Historical Weyer’s knight carries “lanceam, vexillum et sceptrum”, a lance, a banner and a sceptre. The Goetia’s serpent may be a misreading of the sceptre. The Latin also says he wins favour “apud omnes dominos et milites”, with lords and soldiers alike. (About Weyer and Scot.)

Name and etymology

Historical Weyer gives Eligor alias Abigor. Collin de Plancy’s dictionary uses Abigor as the main name, which is why the spirit appears under that heading in nineteenth-century books.

Seal and images

Historical The seal above is Eligos’s as printed in 1904, and by the rules of the Observations it would be made in copper, 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, titled Abigor, shows a rider holding a sceptre on a winged, horned mount.

Later tradition and modern practice

Later tradition The name Abigor appears in later demonologies, including Collin de Plancy’s, as a separate demon of war.

Modern Modern writers often present Eligos as a spirit of strategy, leadership, and career advancement.

Lore about Eligos’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 Eligos, read incense, plants and offerings.

Practical notes

Eligos is a duke. His offices are divination about war and gaining favor with powerful people. He does not fit the teaching criteria, though his offices are not in themselves harmful to others.

I do not teach work to influence particular people. If you are curious about strategy as a subject of study, a question framed that way would be the most appropriate approach.

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

Try this: one question to study

Compare the three objects Eligos carries in Weyer and in the 1904 text and decide which change matters most for the image.

What next

To compare Eligos with other spirits of his rank, read Zepar and Bathin.

Later tradition In the Golden Dawn scheme of the decans, Eligos is the day spirit of the third decan of Leo, which belongs to the Seven of Wands; the night spirit of the same decan is Balam (spirit 51).