39. Malphas: 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.

Malphas is spirit 39 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 ruling 40 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Malphas can build houses and high towers.

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 Malphas suits a beginner, the short answer is in the Practical notes below: he is counted among the spirits that fit my beginner criteria, but only partly, as I explain.

At a glance

Historical These are the facts of the entry itself, from the 1904 text and its Observations.

• Number: 39 of 72, in the 1904 order.
• Name and spellings: Malphas in 1904; other spellings: none common.
• Rank and legions: President, 40 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 Malphas’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 Malphas 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 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 Malphas’s seal slowly by hand is also a good study exercise, because you notice lines and circles that the eye skips.

Appearance

Historical Malphas “appeareth at first like a Crow, but after he will put on Human Shape at the request of the Exorcist, and speak 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.

• Can build houses and high towers.
• Can bring to the magician’s knowledge enemies’ desires and thoughts, and what they have done. Reported as history; not taught here.
• Gives good familiars.

He governs 40 legions. “If thou makest a Sacrifice unto him he will receive it kindly and willingly, but he will deceive him that doth it.”

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 “Malphas” as “a great president,” “seene like a crowe,” who “buildeth houses and high towres wonderfullie, and quicklie bringeth artificers togither,” and “throweth downe also the enimies edifications.” He “receiveth sacrifices willinglie, but he deceiveth all the sacrificers.” Weyer has him destroy enemies’ buildings. The Goetia changes this to knowing enemies’ thoughts. Both give 40 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 This spirit has no significant later tradition outside the grimoire sources.

Modern practice and pop culture

Modern Malphas’s building office has made him a modern favorite with architects, builders, and people starting projects. His warning about sacrifice is often quoted by modern writers as a caution against transactional practice.

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): 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): Aries, third decan (20 to 30 degrees); night spirit. 777 decan incense: black pepper (irritating smoke; not for beginners).
• Commonly reported color, incense, and plant (modern UPG; sources copy each other): Color orange; incense storax; plant marigold.
• Associated symbols: Goetia image: a crow; later a man; a hoarse voice; houses and towers belong to his office. 777 Magical Image: the same, with the hoarse voice read as a “sore throat.” Le Breton engraving (1863): a crow in human clothes holding a trowel. Modern Demonolatry/UPG: the seal, used as an altar image.
• Associated offerings: The Goetia says Malphas receives a sacrifice “kindly and willingly, but he will deceive him that doth it,” and does not say what it is; I use no sacrifice. Modern practice, not in the Goetia manuscripts: most often listed, storax; one source adds mulberry and saffron.

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

Malphas is a president, and his building office has no harm in it. But the text says he deceives those who sacrifice to him, and his other office concerns enemies’ thoughts, which I do not teach. He fits the beginner criteria only partly. His entry is a useful lesson about offerings: an offering given as payment invites the bargaining frame I avoid.

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, Malphas is counted among the 31 spirits that fit, with the caution above.

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