25. Glasya-Labolas: a president and 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.

Glasya-Labolas is number 25 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 and earl ruling 36 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Glasya-Labolas teaches all arts and sciences “in an instant.”

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 Glasya-Labolas 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: 25 of 72, in the 1904 order.
• Name and spellings: Glasya-Labolas in 1904; other spellings: Glasya Labolas (Scot), Caacrinolaas, Caassimolar (Weyer, Scot), Glasyalabolas.
• Rank and legions: President and Earl, 36 legions.
• Metal of his rank (Observations): mercury (as president) or copper and silver (as earl); two ranks.
• Hours for presidents (Observations): “At any time, excepting Twilight, at Night, unless the King whom they are under be Invocated.”
• 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. Glasya-Labolas 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 Glasya-Labolas’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 Glasya-Labolas means mercury or 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. Mercury, the metal of presidents, is a toxic liquid metal: never handle it or try to make anything from it. Copying Glasya-Labolas’s seal slowly by hand is also a good study exercise, because you notice lines and circles that the eye skips.

Appearance

Historical Glasya-Labolas “showeth himself in the form of a Dog with Wings like a Gryphon.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

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

• Teaches all arts and sciences “in an instant.”
• Is “an Author of Bloodshed and Manslaughter.” Reported as history; not taught here.
• Teaches all things past and to come.
• If desired, causes the love both of friends and of foes. Reported as history; not taught here.
• Can make a man go invisible.

He has 36 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 Weyer, in Scot’s English, gives “Glasya Labolas, alias Caacrinolaas, or Caassimolar,” “a great president,” like a dog with griffin’s wings, who gives “the knowledge of arts” and is “the captaine of all mansleiers.” Weyer calls him only a president; the Goetia adds earl. Both give 36 legions. The double name with a hyphen in the Goetia may come from the joining of two names in an earlier source.

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 This spirit has no significant later tradition outside the grimoire sources.

Modern practice and pop culture

Modern The contrast in this entry, instant teaching beside bloodshed, is often discussed by modern writers as an example of the Goetia’s mixed offices. Some modern practitioners approach Glasya-Labolas for fast learning. Others avoid him because of the manslaughter office. Both responses are modern. The winged dog appears in many modern illustrations and in games.

Some things said about Glasya-Labolas 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): As president: mercury (toxic; never handle it); any time except twilight or night, unless his king is invoked (the wording is unclear). As earl: copper and silver; any hour of the day, in woods or other quiet places. The text does not say which rule applies.
• Planet (later tradition: Golden Dawn and Crowley’s 777): Mars and Mercury, one planet for each rank. 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): Sagittarius, first decan (0 to 10 degrees); day spirit. 777 decan incense: “Lign-aloes.”
• Commonly reported color, incense, and plant (modern UPG; sources copy each other): Color orange (sometimes with red); incense storax; plant rosemary.
• Associated symbols: Goetia image: a dog with a gryphon’s wings. 777 Magical Image: the same image. Modern Demonolatry/UPG: the seal, used as an altar image.
• Associated offerings: Modern practice, not in the Goetia manuscripts: most often listed, rosemary and storax, then mullein.

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

Although Glasya-Labolas has a teaching office, the text also names him an “Author of Bloodshed and Manslaughter.” I do not teach that office, and I do not recommend him for a first contact. The beginner criteria ask beginners to avoid spirits whose entries center on harm. When an entry places teaching and killing side by side, choose another spirit. There are many with teaching offices and no such shadow.

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, Glasya-Labolas is not among the 31 spirits that fit.

To compare Glasya-Labolas with other spirits of his rank, read Foras and Botis. 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 Glasya-Labolas 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.