33. Gaap: a president and prince 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.

Gaap is spirit 33 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 president and prince ruling 66 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Gaap makes men insensible or ignorant.

On this page I read his entry the way I read every spirit, layer by layer. First comes what the old texts say, then what later writers added, then what modern practitioners do, each with a label so you can always tell which is which.

If you came here wondering whether Gaap 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: 33 of 72, in the 1904 order.
• Name and spellings: Gaap in 1904; other spellings: Tap (Weyer, Scot), Goap (as a king of the quarters).
• Rank and legions: President and Prince, 66 legions.
• Metal of his rank (Observations): mercury (as president) or tin (as prince); two ranks.
• Hours for presidents (Observations): “At any time, excepting Twilight, at Night, unless the King whom they are under be Invocated.”
• Hours for princes (Observations): “Any hour of the Day.”
• 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. Gaap holds two ranks, and the text does not say which rule applies to him. 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 Gaap’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 Gaap means mercury or tin. 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 differ between manuscripts and editions. The 1904 drawings follow the manuscripts as Mathers read them, and other editions, websites, jewelry and tattoos often show different versions. When you compare two seals, note which edition each comes from before deciding which is “right.”

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

Appearance

Historical Gaap appears “when the Sun is in some of the Southern Signs, in a Human Shape, going before Four Great and Mighty Kings, as if he were a Guide to conduct them along on their way.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

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

• Makes men insensible or ignorant. Reported as history; not taught here.
• Makes them knowing in philosophy and all the liberal sciences.
• Can cause love or hatred. Reported as history; not taught here.
• Can teach how to consecrate things belonging to the dominion of Amaymon.
• Can deliver familiars from the custody of other magicians.
• Answers truly of things past, present, and to come.
• Can carry men speedily from one kingdom to another.

He rules 66 legions and “was of the Order of Potentates.” In the story of the vessel he is one of the four chiefs.

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 Weyer, in Scot’s English, gives “Gaap, alias Tap,” “a great president and a prince,” who appears in a “meridionall” (southern) sign, and in human shape is the guide of the four principal kings. Weyer adds a long note: certain necromancers offered sacrifices and burnt offerings to him, claiming an art from Solomon. Weyer calls this false, saying it came rather from Ham, son of Noah, whom he names the first necromancer.

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 Goap appears in the Goetia’s Observations as one of the four kings of the quarters, ruling the South or West depending on the source. Whether Gaap and Goap are one spirit is debated.

Modern practice and pop culture

Modern Modern writers sometimes treat Gaap as a spirit of travel and transformation.

What you will not find in any grimoire: a personality, a favorite color or food, signs that he has “chosen” you, or a birth chart that makes him your spirit. Those ideas come from modern books, forums and social media. They can be meaningful to the people who use them, but they are not history, and none of them is something you have to believe.

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): As president: mercury (toxic; never handle it); any time except twilight or night, unless his king is invoked (the wording is unclear). As prince: tin; any hour of the day. The text does not say which rule applies.
• Planet (later tradition: Golden Dawn and Crowley’s 777): Mercury. This differs from 777’s usual pattern for a president and prince, which would give Mercury and Jupiter. This is how the 1909 printing gives it.
• Decan and day or night spirit (later tradition: 777): Aquarius, third decan (20 to 30 degrees); day spirit. 777 decan incense: rhubarb.
• Commonly reported color, incense, and plant (modern UPG; sources copy each other): Color orange (sometimes with blue); incense storax; plant moss.
• Associated symbols: Goetia image: a human form walking before four great kings as their guide. 777 Magical Image: “Like a guide.” Le Breton engraving (1863): a horned, bat-winged demon, crouching. Modern Demonolatry/UPG: the seal, used as an altar image; one practitioner’s blog adds the raven and the leopard.
• Associated offerings: Modern practice, not in the Goetia manuscripts: most often listed, storax and moss, then balsam. One source, repeated by another, names tobacco as a favorite; tobacco is toxic and is never used here.

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

Gaap holds two ranks and is listed among the four chiefs of the vessel. His offices include making men ignorant and causing hatred, which I do not teach, and his office of taking familiars from other magicians is a kind of interference. Not a first-contact choice under the beginner criteria.

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, Gaap is not among the 31 spirits that fit.

To compare Gaap with other spirits of his rank, read Foras and Malphas. 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

You can learn a great deal about Gaap without any ritual at all. These are the steps I suggest for any spirit.

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.