31. Foras: a president 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.

Foras is number 31 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 a president ruling 29 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Foras gives men understanding of the virtues of all herbs and precious stones.

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 Foras 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: 31 of 72, in the 1904 order.
• Name and spellings: Foras in 1904; other spellings: Forcas (Weyer, Scot), Furcas (sometimes confused with spirit 50).
• Rank and legions: President, 29 legions.
• Metal of his rank (Observations): mercury.
• Hours for presidents (Observations): “At any time, excepting Twilight, at Night, unless the King whom they are under be Invocated.”
• 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 Foras’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 Foras means mercury. 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. Mercury, the metal of presidents, is a toxic liquid metal: never handle it or try to make anything from it. Copying Foras’s seal slowly by hand is also a good study exercise, because you notice lines and circles that the eye skips.

Appearance

Historical Foras “appeareth in the Form of a Strong Man in Human Shape.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

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

• Gives men understanding of the virtues of all herbs and precious stones.
• Teaches the arts of logic and ethics “in all their parts.”
• If desired, makes men invisible, long-lived, and eloquent. Reported as history; not taught here.
• Can discover treasures and recover things lost.

He rules 29 legions. Mathers notes that “one or two Codices have invincible, but invisible is given in the majority.”

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 has “Foras, alias Forcas,” “a great president,” “in the forme of a strong man, and in humane shape,” who understands herbs and stones, teaches “logicke, ethicke, and their parts,” makes a man “invisible, wittie, eloquent, and to live long,” recovers lost things, and discovers treasures. Both give 29 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 The alias Forcas has caused confusion with Furcas, spirit 50, a knight. They are separate spirits in both Weyer and the Goetia.

Modern practice and pop culture

Modern Modern writers often present Foras as a spirit of ethics and practical wisdom.

Some things said about Foras 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): President: mercury (toxic; never handle it); any time except twilight or night, unless his king is invoked (the wording is unclear).
• Planet (later tradition: Golden Dawn and Crowley’s 777): Mercury.
• Decan and day or night spirit (later tradition: 777): Aquarius, first decan (0 to 10 degrees); day spirit. 777 decan incense: euphorbium (a toxic resin: do not burn or handle it).
• Commonly reported color, incense, and plant (modern UPG; sources copy each other): Color orange; incense storax; plant century plant.
• Associated symbols: Goetia image: a strong man in human shape. 777 Magical Image: the same image. Le Breton engraving (1863): a long-bearded old man on horseback with a staff, under the name Forcas. Modern Demonolatry/UPG: the seal, used as an altar image.
• Associated offerings: Modern practice, not in the Goetia manuscripts: most often listed, storax.

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

Foras fits the beginner criteria. He is a president, his offices center on logic, ethics, and the study of herbs and stones, and he has no office of harm. A question about how to think more clearly about a moral question in your own life, or how to study logic, would suit a first contact. The office of long life is not one I teach. For that, see your doctor.

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, Foras is counted among the 31 spirits that fit.

To compare Foras with other spirits of his rank, read Gaap and Glasya-Labolas. Presidents are a group of 14 in the 1904 Classified List, several of whom hold a second rank. Their metal in the Observations is mercury, and their hour rule is the most confusing sentence in that section. Many presidents have teaching offices: arts and sciences, herbs, logic or astronomy.

How to study this entry

Studying Foras 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.