62. Volac: 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 62 of the Ars Goetia is Volac. The 1904 edition by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley calls him a president ruling 38 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Volac gives true answers of hidden treasures.

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 Volac 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: 62 of 72, in the 1904 order.
• Name and spellings: Volac in 1904; other spellings: Valak, Valu, Ualac (1904), Valac (Weyer, Scot), Volach.
• Rank and legions: President, 38 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 Volac’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 Volac 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 Volac’s seal slowly by hand is also a good study exercise, because you notice lines and circles that the eye skips.

Appearance

Historical Volac “appeareth like a Child with Angel’s Wings, riding on a Two-headed Dragon.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

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

• Gives true answers of hidden treasures.
• Tells where serpents may be seen, and brings them to the magician “without any Force or Strength being by him employed.”

He governs 38 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 “Valac” as “a great president,” who “commeth abroad with angels wings like a boie, riding on a twoheaded dragon,” and answers of hidden treasure and where serpents may be seen, “which he delivereth into the conjurors hands, void of anie force or strength.” Weyer gives 30 legions, the Goetia 38.

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 later demonologies add little to this entry.

Modern practice and pop culture

Modern The name Valak gained wide fame through The Conjuring 2 (2016) and its spin-off The Nun (2018), in which a demon named Valak appears as a nun. The film character is a modern fiction and bears no resemblance to the winged child of the Goetia. Weyer’s phrase “void of anie force,” meaning the serpents are rendered harmless, is sometimes read in modern writing as an office of protection against snakes.

Many modern claims about Volac, 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): Sagittarius, second decan (10 to 20 degrees); night spirit. 777 decan incense: “Foi Lori” (unidentified).
• Commonly reported color, incense, and plant (modern UPG; sources copy each other): Color orange (sometimes with yellow); incense storax; plant sesame.
• Associated symbols: Goetia image: a child with angel’s wings riding a two-headed dragon. 777 Magical Image: the same image. Le Breton engraving (1863): the same winged child on a two-headed dragon. Modern Demonolatry/UPG: the seal, used as an altar image.
• Associated offerings: Modern practice, not in the Goetia manuscripts: most often listed, storax and sesame; one source adds basil and advises keeping offerings simple and businesslike.

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

Volac is a president whose offices concern treasure and serpents. Neither is a teaching office, and neither is harmful in the text. He does not fit the beginner criteria well. Never handle wild snakes. If you are curious about the film, remember it is fiction.

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, Volac is not among the 31 spirits that fit.

To compare Volac with other spirits of his rank, read Amy and Ose. 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 Volac 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.