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Ranks and Terminology

A Goetic notice identifies a spirit by its rank, attributed office, legions and appearance. Some titles overlap, and some appearances change during the account. [1][2]

Titles and overlapping ranks

A rank is a title within the catalogue. Ipos is both Earl and Prince; Murmur is Duke and Earl. The classified list gathers spirits under Kings, Dukes, Princes and Prelates, Marquises, Presidents, Earls and Counts, and Knights. A double title can place one identity in two groups without creating a second spirit. [1]

The office describes the work attributed to that spirit: teaching, uncovering, reconciling, transporting or other actions. The legion count gives the number of companies under its command. These quantities describe the spirit’s retinue, separately from the acts assigned to its office. [1]

An appearance can unfold

Many notices describe a sequence rather than a permanent body. Marbas first appears as a lion and then assumes human shape; Furfur changes from a hart to an angelic form. Mounts, carried objects, voices and attendants add further distinctions. Paimon’s dromedary and musical procession, for example, belong to an arrival larger than the figure of the king alone. [1]

Pentacles and their geometries

Pentacle is the Greater Key’s term for a broad range of written figures. Its designs include letter squares, wheels, crosses, triangles, a human face and a gateway. A pentagram is specifically a five-pointed star, used in the second Venus and first Mercury pentacles. The star is one geometry within the larger class of pentacles. [2]

A number within a group

Mathers gives seven designs each to Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and the Sun, five each to Venus and Mercury, and six to the Moon. A planetary ordinal identifies a place within one of these groups: the first Sun pentacle is a face, while the first Moon pentacle is a gateway. Figure numbers 11–54 give a second, continuous sequence across the forty-four. A planet, ordinal and edition together identify the design being discussed. [2]

Sources and editions

The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King
S. L. MacGregor Mathers, translation; Aleister Crowley, editor, first edition, 1904. Latin heading Lemegeton vel Clavicula Salomonis Regis, printed p. 6; parallel introductory descriptions; numbered spirit catalogue; vessel account, printed p. 31; classified list, pp. 32–33; apparatus and figures 160–161
Full passage · accessed 2026-10-10
The Key of Solomon the King
S. L. MacGregor Mathers, 1889. Preface, including the distinction between the present Key and the Lemegeton; introductions attributed to Add. MS 10862 and Lansdowne 1203; Book I chapter XVIII, printed pp. 58–70; figures 11–54, Plates II–XIII
Full passage · accessed 2026-10-10

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Titles and overlapping ranks

An appearance can unfold

Pentacles and their geometries

A number within a group

Sources and editions