42. Vepar: a duke 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.

Vepar is spirit 42 of the 72 in the Ars Goetia, the first book of the Lesser Key of Solomon. The 1904 edition by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley calls him a duke ruling 29 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Vepar governs the waters.

His is the only mermaid form in the catalog, and his entry ends with one of its harshest offices. 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:

Vepar. The Forty-second Spirit is Vepar, or Vephar. He is a Duke Great and Strong, and appeareth like a Mermaid. His office is to govern the Waters, and to guide Ships laden with Arms, Armour, and Ammunition, etc., thereon. And at the request of the Exorcist he can cause the seas to be right stormy and to appear full of ships. Also he maketh men to die in Three Days by Putrefying Wounds or Sores, and causing Worms to breed in them. He governeth 29 Legions of Spirits, and his Seal is this, etc.

Vepar is a duke who “appeareth like a Mermaid”. The offices start at sea: to “govern the Waters, and to guide Ships laden with Arms, Armour, and Ammunition”, and to make the sea “right stormy and to appear full of ships”. “Right stormy” is older English for very stormy. Then the entry turns to the body: “he maketh men to die in Three Days by Putrefying Wounds or Sores, and causing Worms to breed in them.” The text uses “he”, despite the mermaid form.

Appearance

Historical Vepar “appeareth like a Mermaid.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

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

• Governs the waters.
• Guides ships laden with arms, armor, and ammunition.
• At request, can make the seas “right stormy” and appear full of ships. Reported as history; not taught here.
• Makes men die in three days by putrefying wounds or sores, “causing Worms to breed in them.” Reported as history; not taught here.

Source comparison: Weyer and Scot

Historical Scot’s Weyer gives “Vepar, alias Separ,” “a great duke and a strong,” “like a mermaid,” guide of the waters and of armed ships, who makes the sea rough and full of ships, and “killeth men in three daies, with putrifieng their wounds, and producing maggots into them.”

Weyer adds, “howbeit, they maie be all healed with diligence,” a line the Goetia drops. Both give 29 legions.

Historical Weyer’s Latin is “similis syreni”, like a siren, the word Scot renders “mermaid”. The wounds are aimed “contra inimicos exorcistæ”, against the exorcist’s enemies, a detail the Goetia omits, and where Scot says they may be healed “with diligence”, the Latin says they are all healed “negotio absoluto”, once the business is finished. Weyer’s alias is Separ. (About Weyer and Scot.)

Name and etymology

Historical Weyer and Scot give the alias Separ, and the 1904 text Vephar. The forms differ by a single letter, a common copying slip, but no meaning is known.

Seal and images

Historical The seal above is Vepar’s as printed in 1904, and by the rules of the Observations it would be made in copper, 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 and modern practice

Modern The mermaid form has led some modern practitioners to approach Vepar as a female spirit of the sea. That reading is modern; the 1904 text uses “he.”

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

Practical notes

Vepar’s offices include storms and deadly wounds. He falls outside the beginner criteria, and I do not teach those offices.

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

Try this: one question to study

Weyer’s “syren” was a bird-woman in Greek myth before it became a fish-woman. Read one short account of the change and decide which Vepar’s entry suggests.

What next

To compare Vepar with other spirits of his rank, read Focalor and Vual.

Later tradition In the Golden Dawn scheme of the decans, Vepar is the night spirit of the third decan of Taurus, which belongs to the Seven of Pentacles; the day spirit of the same decan is Valefor (spirit 6).