34. Furfur: 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.

Furfur is number 34 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 26 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Furfur never speaks truth “unless he be compelled, or brought up within a triangle.”

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 Furfur 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: 34 of 72, in the 1904 order.
• Name and spellings: Furfur in 1904; other spellings: Furtur.
• Rank and legions: Earl, 26 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 Furfur’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 Furfur 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 Furfur’s seal slowly by hand is also a good study exercise, because you notice lines and circles that the eye skips.

Appearance

Historical Furfur appears “in the Form of an Hart with a Fiery Tail.” Brought into the triangle, he “will take upon himself the Form of an Angel.” Bidden, he speaks “with a hoarse voice.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

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

• Never speaks truth “unless he be compelled, or brought up within a triangle.”
• Willingly urges love between man and woman. Reported as history; not taught here.
• Can raise lightnings, thunders, blasts, and great tempestuous storms. Reported as history; not taught here.
• Gives true answers of things secret and divine, if commanded.

He rules 26 legions.

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 translation of Weyer gives “Furfur” as “a great earle, appearing as an hart, with a firie taile,” who “lieth in everie thing, except he be brought up within a triangle.” Weyer has him make “love betweene man and wife,” a narrower phrase than the Goetia’s “Man and Woman.” The storms and answers match. Both give 26 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 fiery-tailed stag is one of the more memorable images in the Goetia. Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire Infernal (1863 edition) illustrates Furfur as a winged stag with clawed forelegs; the fiery tail is not shown.

Modern practice and pop culture

Modern Modern writers sometimes approach Furfur for weather magic or for relationships. Both are modern applications of offices the text frames as dangerous.

Some things said about Furfur 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): Pisces, first decan (0 to 10 degrees); day spirit. 777 decan incense: thyme.
• Commonly reported color, incense, and plant (modern UPG; sources copy each other): Color red; incense dragon’s blood; plant cypress.
• Associated symbols: Goetia image: a hart with a fiery tail; later an angel; a hoarse voice. 777 Magical Image: the same image. Le Breton engraving (1863): a winged stag. Modern Demonolatry/UPG: the seal, used as an altar image.
• Associated offerings: Modern practice, not in the Goetia manuscripts: most often listed, cypress and dragon’s blood resin.

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

Furfur is said to lie unless constrained in the triangle, and his offices include storms and love work. The beginner criteria would not suggest this spirit for a first contact. The approach I describe uses no triangle and no constraint, which is one reason I do not recommend spirits that the text says will deceive without them.

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, Furfur is not among the 31 spirits that fit.

To compare Furfur with other spirits of his rank, read Halphas and Raum. 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 Furfur 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.