61. Zagan: a king and 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.

Zagan is number 61 in the catalog of 72 spirits that opens the Lesser Key of Solomon. The 1904 edition by S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley calls him a king and president ruling 33 legions, and the first office it gives him is this: Zagan makes men witty.

He is a king who turns wine to water and fools to wise men, and his offices echo Haagenti’s almost exactly. 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:

Zagan. The Sixty-first Spirit is Zagan. He is a Great King and President, appearing at first in the Form of a Bull with Gryphon’s Wings; but after a while he putteth on Human Shape. He maketh Men Witty. He can turn Wine into Water, and Blood into Wine, also Water into Wine. He can turn all Metals into Coin of the Dominion that Metal is of. He can even make Fools Wise. He governeth 33 Legions of Spirits, and his Seal is this, etc.

Zagan appears “at first in the Form of a Bull with Gryphon’s Wings” and then as a man. The offices are a run of transformations: he makes men “Witty”, turns “Wine into Water, and Blood into Wine, also Water into Wine”, turns “all Metals into Coin of the Dominion that Metal is of”, and “can even make Fools Wise”. The coin clause means money of the realm where the metal is found. He is both king and president, so the Observations give him two metals, gold and mercury.

Appearance

Historical Zagan appears “at first in the Form of a Bull with Gryphon’s Wings; but after a while he putteth on Human Shape.”

Offices in the Ars Goetia

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

• Makes men witty.
• Can turn wine into water, blood into wine, and water into wine. Reported as history; not taught here.
• Can turn all metals into coin “of the Dominion that Metal is of.”
• Can make fools wise.

Source comparison: Weyer and Scot

Historical The Weyer catalog, as Scot renders it, gives “Zagan” as “a great king and a president,” like a bull with griffin’s wings, who in human shape “maketh men wittie,” turns metals into coin, turns water into wine and wine into water, “bloud into wine, & wine into bloud, & a foole into a wise man.”

Scot also turns wine into blood, which the Goetia drops. Both give 33 legions.

Historical Weyer’s Latin turns blood into oil, not wine: “sanguinem quoque in oleum, & contrà”, blood into oil and the reverse. Scot rendered it as wine, and the Goetia follows Scot. Weyer also has “aquam in vinum, & ediversò”, water into wine and the reverse, and ends with “stultum in sapientem”, the fool into a wise man. Both give 33 legions. (About Weyer and Scot.)

Name and etymology

Historical Weyer, Scot and the 1904 text all spell the name Zagan. No meaning is known.

Seal and images

Historical The seal above is Zagan’s as printed in 1904, and by the rules of the Observations it would be made in gold or mercury, the metals of his two ranks. Mercury is toxic, so a modern copy belongs on paper. 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

Later tradition The changing of water and wine has been compared to the miracle at Cana and to the Christian Eucharist. Some read it as a parody, others as a sign of the spirit’s transforming power. These are modern interpretations.

Modern Zagan’s offices, with Haagenti’s (48), are often read in modern writing as alchemical.

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

Practical notes

Zagan holds the rank of king as well as president. His offices of making people witty and wise are not harmful. Because of his royal rank, he does not fit the beginner criteria as strictly applied. If you are drawn to his offices, Haagenti (48), a president with similar offices, may be a better first choice.

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

Try this: one question to study

Weyer’s Latin has blood into oil, Scot and the 1904 text blood into wine. Decide which reading the rest of the list, all about wine and water, made more likely for a translator.

What next

To compare Zagan with other spirits of his rank, read Belial and Balam.

Later tradition In the Golden Dawn scheme of the decans, Zagan is the night spirit of the first decan of Sagittarius, which belongs to the Eight of Wands; the day spirit of the same decan is Glasya-Labolas (spirit 25).