44. Shax: a marquis 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 44 of the Ars Goetia is Shax. The 1904 edition by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley calls him a marquis ruling 30 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Shax takes away the sight, hearing, or understanding of any man or woman at the command of the magician.

His entry is full of warnings, and its oddest line promises to return stolen money after 1,200 years. 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:

Shax. The Forty-fourth Spirit is Shax, or Shaz (or Shass). He is a Great Marquis and appeareth in the Form of a Stock-Dove, speaking with a voice hoarse, but yet subtle. His Office is to take away the Sight, Hearing, or Understanding of any Man or Woman at the command of the Exorcist; and to steal money out of the houses of Kings, and to carry it again in 1,200 years. If commanded he will fetch Horses at the request of the Exorcist, or any other thing. But he must first be commanded into a Triangle, or else he will deceive him, and tell him many Lies. He can discover all things that are Hidden, and not kept by Wicked Spirits. He giveth good Familiars, sometimes. He governeth 30 Legions of Spirits, and his Seal is this, etc.

Shax appears as a stock-dove with a voice “hoarse, but yet subtle”. His first office is to “take away the Sight, Hearing, or Understanding of any Man or Woman”, and the second is theft from “the houses of Kings”, with the money carried back “in 1,200 years”. He must be “commanded into a Triangle, or else he will deceive him, and tell him many Lies”, and he gives familiars only “sometimes”. It is one of the few entries that tells the reader not to trust the spirit’s own help.

Appearance

Historical Shax appears “in the Form of a Stock-Dove, speaking with a voice hoarse, but yet subtle.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

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

• Takes away the sight, hearing, or understanding of any man or woman at the command of the magician.
• Steals money out of the houses of kings, “and to carry it again in 1,200 years.”
• Fetches horses or anything else, if commanded.
• Can discover all things hidden, “and not kept by Wicked Spirits.”
• Gives good familiars, “sometimes.”

He “must first be commanded into a Triangle, or else he will deceive him, and tell him many Lies.” He governs 30 legions.

Source comparison: Weyer and Scot

Historical Scot’s translation of Weyer gives “Shax, alias Scox,” “a darke and a great marquesse, like unto a storke,” who takes away sight, hearing, and understanding, and steals money from kings’ houses. As with Halphas, Weyer’s stork becomes a stock-dove.

Historical Weyer’s Latin adds a full sentence on his unreliability: “licet se obsequuturum exorcistæ promittat, non tamen in omnibus facit”, though he promises to obey, he does not do so in everything. He is “Mendax … nisi in triangulum introducatur”, a liar unless he is brought into the triangle, and his familiars are good “si non fuerint deceptores”, if they are not deceivers. As with Halphas, Weyer’s bird is “ciconiæ”, a stork. (About Weyer and Scot.)

Name and etymology

Historical Weyer gives “Chax, aliàs Scox”, Scot “Shax, alias Scox”, and the 1904 text Shaz or Shass. No meaning is known.

Seal and images

Historical The seal above is Shax’s as printed in 1904, and by the rules of the Observations it would be made in silver, the metal of his rank. Why seals were worn, why editions draw them differently and how to study one are explained in seals, circle and triangle.

Later tradition Le Breton’s 1863 plate, titled Scox, shows a stork with a horse before a Gothic city, joining Weyer’s bird to the office of fetching horses.

Later tradition and modern practice

Later tradition Nothing in the later demonologies adds to the Goetia’s picture of Shax.

Modern Some modern writers treat Shax as a spirit for finding lost things, following one office. The text’s warning that he lies unless constrained is often overlooked.

Lore about Shax’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 Shax, read incense, plants and offerings.

Practical notes

Shax’s first office is to take away people’s senses and understanding, and the text says he lies unless constrained. He falls outside the beginner criteria, and I do not teach those offices.

In the directory, Shax is not among the 30 spirits that fit the beginner criteria.

Try this: one question to study

Count the warnings in this entry about lies and unreliability, then compare the number with Weyer’s Latin.

What next

To compare Shax with other spirits of his rank, read Sabnock and Phenex.

Later tradition In the Golden Dawn scheme of the decans, Shax is the night spirit of the second decan of Gemini, which belongs to the Nine of Swords; the day spirit of the same decan is Barbatos (spirit 8).