20. Purson: a king 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 20 of the Ars Goetia is Purson. The 1904 edition by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley calls him a king ruling 22 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Purson knows all things hidden and can discover treasure.

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 Purson 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: 20 of 72, in the 1904 order.
• Name and spellings: Purson in 1904; other spellings: Curson (Weyer, Scot), Pursan.
• Rank and legions: King, 22 legions.
• Metal of his rank (Observations): gold.
• Hours for kings (Observations): “From 9 till 12 o’clock at Noon, and from 3 till Sunset.”
• 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 Purson’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 Purson means gold. 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. Copying Purson’s seal slowly by hand is also a good study exercise, because you notice lines and circles that the eye skips.

Appearance

Historical Purson’s appearance “is comely, like a Man with a Lion’s face, carrying a cruel Viper in his hand, and riding upon a Bear.” Before him go “many Trumpets sounding.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

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

• Knows all things hidden and can discover treasure.
• Tells all things past, present, and to come.
• Can take a body either human or aerial.
• Answers truly of all earthly things, both secret and divine, and of the creation of the world.
• Brings forth good familiars.

He has 22 legions, “partly of the Order of Virtues and partly of the Order of Thrones.”

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 In Scot’s English, Weyer gives “Purson, alias Curson,” “a great king,” with a lion’s face, a “most cruell viper,” a bear, and trumpets. The offices match. Both give 22 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 The name Curson resembles Corson, one of the four kings of the quarters in the Goetia’s Observations. Some writers have suggested a connection. It is unproven.

Modern practice and pop culture

Modern Purson’s offices of knowledge about the creation of the world have made him popular with modern practitioners interested in cosmology and esoteric philosophy.

Many modern claims about Purson, 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): King: gold; 9 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to sunset.
• Planet (later tradition: Golden Dawn and Crowley’s 777): Sun.
• Decan and day or night spirit (later tradition: 777): Libra, second decan (10 to 20 degrees); day spirit. 777 decan incense: “Bofor” (unidentified).
• Commonly reported color, incense, and plant (modern UPG; sources copy each other): Color yellow; incense frankincense; plant orchid.
• Associated symbols: Goetia image: a lion-faced man riding a bear, a viper in his hand, with trumpets sounding. 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, frankincense and orchid, then 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

Purson is a king. His offices are knowledge, divination, and treasure, not harm, but the text treats kings as the most powerful spirits. The beginner criteria would not suggest this spirit for a first contact. Read his entry as history, and if you are drawn to questions of cosmology, Marax (21) or Stolas (36) may suit a first contact better.

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, Purson is not among the 31 spirits that fit.

To compare Purson with other spirits of his rank, read Beleth and Paimon. Kings are the highest rank among the 72. The 1904 Classified List names nine of them, from Bael to Belial, and they tend to rule the largest numbers of legions. Above them, in the Goetia’s wider world, stand the four kings of the quarters, such as Amaymon, who are not among the 72. The beginner criteria I use leave kings out of a first study, whatever their offices, simply because the text places them at the top of its court.

How to study this entry

If Purson 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.