5. Marbas: 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.

Spirit 5 of the Ars Goetia is Marbas. The 1904 edition by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley calls him a president ruling 36 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Marbas answers truly of things hidden or secret.

I read his entry in layers. The old texts come first, later additions second and modern practice last, and every part carries a label so the layers never blur.

If you came here wondering whether Marbas suits a beginner, the short answer is in the Practical notes below: he meets the three beginner criteria I use, though his entry, like most, is mixed.

At a glance

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

• Number: 5 of 72, in the 1904 order.
• Name and spellings: Marbas in 1904; other spellings: Barbas (Weyer, Scot).
• Rank and legions: President, 36 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 Marbas’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 Marbas 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.

No two editions draw every seal the same way. The 1904 seals reflect Mathers’s reading of the manuscripts, and many modern versions online are copies of copies. If you compare, keep track of where each drawing comes from.

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

Appearance

Historical Marbas appears “at first in the form of a Great Lion,” then “at the request of the Master” puts on human shape.

Offices in the Ars Goetia

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

• Answers truly of things hidden or secret.
• Causes diseases and cures them. Reported as history; not taught here.
• Gives great wisdom and knowledge in mechanical arts.
• Can change men into other shapes. Reported as history; not taught here.

He governs 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 Scot’s Weyer gives “Marbas, alias Barbas” as “a great president” in the form of a mighty lion, who in man’s likeness “answereth fullie as touching anie thing which is hidden or secret.” He “bringeth diseases, and cureth them,” promotes wisdom and “the knowledge of mechanicall arts, or handicrafts,” and changes men into other shapes. The Goetia follows Weyer closely. In Weyer, Marbas is third, not fifth, because Vassago and Samigina come earlier in the Goetia.

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 linking of disease and cure in one office is typical of early modern thinking about spirits and illness: a spirit able to cause an illness was thought able to remove it.

Modern practice and pop culture

Modern Modern writers often present Marbas as a spirit of mechanics, engineering, and healing, following his offices. Some modern practitioners describe working with him on technical problems. These are modern applications.

Many modern claims about Marbas, such as his personality, his likes and dislikes, or the idea that he chooses certain people, appear in no grimoire. They grew in modern books and online. You can read them with interest, and you can also leave them aside.

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): Taurus, second decan (10 to 20 degrees); day spirit. 777 decan incense: “Codamoms” (unidentified).
• Commonly reported color, incense, and plant (modern UPG; sources copy each other): Color orange; incense storax; plant chicory.
• Associated symbols: Goetia image: a great lion that later takes human shape. 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, storax and chicory, then anise, cinquefoil, and thistle; one source adds teas and classical music.

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

Marbas is a president, and his office of mechanical arts fits the beginner criteria. His offices of causing disease and changing shapes are not ones I teach. Do not use anything on this site in place of medical care, for yourself or anyone else. A question about learning a craft or skill suits a first contact with Marbas.

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, Marbas is counted among the 31 spirits that fit.

To compare Marbas with other spirits of his rank, read Buer 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

If Marbas interests you, start with study. These steps work for any of the 72.

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.