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.

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 Shax 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: 44 of 72, in the 1904 order.
• Name and spellings: Shax in 1904; other spellings: Shaz, Shass (1904), Scox (Weyer, Scot), Chax.
• Rank and legions: Marquis, 30 legions.
• Metal of his rank (Observations): silver.
• Hours for marquises (Observations): “From 3 in the afternoon till 9 at Night, and from 9 at Night till Sunrise.”
• 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 Shax’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 Shax means silver. 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 Shax’s seal slowly by hand is also a good study exercise, because you notice lines and circles that the eye skips.

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

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 “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. The 1904 heading misprints the name as “Shan.”

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

Modern practice and pop culture

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.

Many modern claims about Shax, 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): Marquis: silver; 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., and 9 p.m. to sunrise.
• Planet (later tradition: Golden Dawn and Crowley’s 777): Moon.
• Decan and day or night spirit (later tradition: 777): Gemini, second decan (10 to 20 degrees); night spirit. 777 decan incense: cinnamon.
• Commonly reported color, incense, and plant (modern UPG; sources copy each other): Color purple; incense jasmine; plant purslane (toxic to cats).
• Associated symbols: Goetia image: a stock dove; a hoarse, subtle voice; horses belong to his office. 777 Magical Image: the same, with the hoarse voice read as a “sore throat.” Le Breton engraving (1863): a long-billed, stork-like bird with a horse and towers, under the name Scox. Modern Demonolatry/UPG: the seal, used as an altar image.
• Associated offerings: Modern practice, not in the Goetia manuscripts: most often listed, jasmine; one source adds galangal and vetiver.

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

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.

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, Shax is not among the 31 spirits that fit.

To compare Shax with other spirits of his rank, read Sabnock and Phenex. Marquises are the second largest group, 15 in the 1904 Classified List. Their metal is silver, the metal of the Moon, and their hours run from the afternoon through the night to sunrise. Their offices are as mixed as any rank’s: some teach, some find things, some cause harm.

How to study this entry

If Shax 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.