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.

Here I go through his entry layer by layer: the old text first, then what later centuries added, then modern practice, each part labeled so you can see how old it is.

If you came here wondering whether Zagan 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: 61 of 72, in the 1904 order.
• Name and spellings: Zagan in 1904; other spellings: Zagam.
• Rank and legions: King and President, 33 legions.
• Metal of his rank (Observations): gold (as king) or mercury (as president); two ranks.
• Hours for kings (Observations): “From 9 till 12 o’clock at Noon, and from 3 till Sunset.”
• 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. Zagan holds two ranks, and the text does not say which rule applies to him. 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 Zagan’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 Zagan means gold or 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.

Seals are not identical from one source to the next. The 1904 versions follow the manuscripts Mathers used, and later books and websites sometimes redraw, simplify or mix them. If two seals for the same spirit disagree, ask which edition each one follows.

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 Zagan’s seal slowly by hand is also a good study exercise, because you notice lines and circles that the eye skips.

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

He governs 33 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 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.” Weyer has the change of wine into blood as well, which the Goetia drops. Both give 33 legions.

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 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 practice and pop culture

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

Some things said about Zagan online are not in any grimoire at all: personalities, favorite foods, signs that a spirit has “picked” someone, or birth demons. They come from modern writing and social media. Treat them as one person’s experience, not as facts about the old text.

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): As king: gold; 9 a.m. to noon and 3 p.m. to sunset. As president: mercury (toxic; never handle it); any time except twilight or night, unless his king is invoked (the wording is unclear). The text does not say which rule applies.
• Planet (later tradition: Golden Dawn and Crowley’s 777): Sun and Mercury, one planet for each rank.
• Decan and day or night spirit (later tradition: 777): Sagittarius, first decan (0 to 10 degrees); night spirit. 777 decan incense: “Lign-aloes.”
• Commonly reported color, incense, and plant (modern UPG; sources copy each other): Color yellow or orange; incense frankincense or storax; plant hyssop.
• Associated symbols: Goetia image: a bull with a gryphon’s wings; later a man. 777 Magical Image: the same image. Modern Demonolatry/UPG: the seal, used as an altar image.
• Associated offerings: Modern practice, not in the Goetia manuscripts: most often listed, frankincense, storax, dragon’s blood resin, sage, and dittany of Crete, and stones such as obsidian, jet, and green fluorite.

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

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.

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, Zagan is not among the 31 spirits that fit.

To compare Zagan with other spirits of his rank, read Belial and Balam. Kings are the highest rank among the 72. The 1904 Classified List names nine of them, from Bael to Belial, and they tend to rule the largest numbers of legions. Above them, in the Goetia’s wider world, stand the four kings of the quarters, such as Amaymon, who are not among the 72. The beginner criteria I use leave kings out of a first study, whatever their offices, simply because the text places them at the top of its court.

How to study this entry

Studying Zagan needs only the texts, a notebook and some patience. This is the method I suggest for every entry.

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.