21. Marax: an earl and 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.

Marax is spirit 21 of the 72 in the Ars Goetia, the first book of the Lesser Key of Solomon.

He is a teaching spirit through and through, with astronomy, the liberal sciences and the virtues of herbs and stones. Each part below carries a label for its layer, explained in how to read a spirit page.

At a glance

The 1904 entry

Historical The full entry from the 1904 edition, with footnote numbers and the dash after the heading left out and the heading set in ordinary type:

Marax. The Twenty-first Spirit is Marax. He is a Great Earl and President. He appeareth like a great Bull with a Man’s face. His office is to make Men very knowing in Astronomy, and all other Liberal Sciences; also he can give good Familiars, and wise, knowing the virtues of Herbs and Stones which be precious. He governeth 30 Legions of Spirits, and his Seal is this, which must be made and worn as aforesaid, etc.

Marax appears “like a great Bull with a Man’s face”. His office is to make men “very knowing in Astronomy, and all other Liberal Sciences”, to give good and wise familiars, and to know the virtues of herbs and precious stones. Mathers’s footnote says some manuscripts write Morax, “but I consider the above the correct orthography”.

Appearance

Historical Marax “appeareth like a great Bull with a Man’s face.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

Historical The offices of Marax, in the order the 1904 text gives them:

• Makes men “very knowing in Astronomy, and all other Liberal Sciences.”
• Gives good and wise familiars, “knowing the virtues of Herbs and Stones which be precious.”

He governs 30 legions. Mathers notes: “In some Codices written Morax, but I consider the above the correct orthography.”

Source comparison: Weyer and Scot

Historical Scot’s Weyer has “Morax, alias Foraii,” “a great earle and a president,” seen like a bull, who “if he take unto him a mans face” makes men “wonderfull cunning in astronomie, & in all the liberall sciences.” Weyer gives 36 legions, the Goetia 30.

Historical Weyer’s Latin is “Morax, aliàs Foraij”, seen “similis tauro”, like a bull, who teaches astronomy when he takes a human face. The Goetia merges the two forms into a bull with a man’s face. Weyer gives 36 legions, the Goetia 30. (About Weyer and Scot.)

Name and etymology

Historical Morax is the older form, and Mathers’s preference for Marax is his own editorial choice. Neither form has an attested meaning.

Seal and images

Historical The seal above is Marax’s as printed in 1904, and by the rules of the Observations it would be made in copper and silver or mercury, the metals of his two ranks. Mercury is toxic, so a modern copy belongs on paper. Why seals were worn, why editions draw them differently and how to study one are explained in seals, circle and triangle.

Later tradition and modern practice

Modern Marax is often named in modern lists as a good spirit for students of astronomy and astrology. Some modern sources spell him Morax, following Weyer.

Lore about Marax’s personality, likes or chosen people is modern, not grimoire material; modern approaches explains where such claims come from.

Beginner’s quick reference

Before you burn or handle anything listed for Marax, read incense, plants and offerings.

Practical notes

Marax fits the beginner criteria well. He is an earl and president, and his offices are astronomy, the liberal sciences, and knowledge of herbs and stones. A question about how to begin studying the night sky would suit a first contact. Practical astronomy needs no spirit: a star chart, a dark sky, and patience are enough.

In the directory, Marax is one of the 30 spirits that fit the beginner criteria.

Try this: one question to study

Compare Weyer’s bull that later takes a human face with the Goetia’s bull with a man’s face, and note how a sequence became a single image.

What next

To compare Marax with other spirits of his rank, read Ipos and Furfur.

Later tradition In the Golden Dawn scheme of the decans, Marax is the day spirit of the third decan of Libra, which belongs to the Four of Swords; the night spirit of the same decan is Ose (spirit 57).