Furcas is the fiftieth spirit in the Ars Goetia, a knight commanding twenty legions. He appears as a severe elderly man with a long beard, mounted on a pale horse and carrying a sharp weapon. His offices are predominantly intellectual.[1][2]
A knight who teaches#
The catalogue lists philosophy, astronomy, rhetoric, and logic, followed by chiromancy and pyromancy. The last two concern divination through the hand and through fire. Their presence beside philosophy shows the range of subjects brought together under learned magic.[2]
Furcas is unusual in receiving the title knight in the familiar Goetic hierarchy. His mounted appearance fits that title, but the office is not chiefly warfare. Eligos, another armed rider, is more directly concerned with battles and the favor of powerful people.
Hair or gray hair#
The physical description contains a small but revealing textual difference. Peterson's notes compare a reading about a hairy head with earlier wording about gray or white hair. An elderly figure can be pictured from either description, but the words reached that image through different readings.[1]
The entry's seal accompanies the named knight as a separate sign. Its teaching list can also be compared with Foras's logic and ethics and Stolas's astronomy. These are overlapping offices, each attached to a distinct figure rather than a single comprehensive curriculum assigned uniformly to every spirit.
See also#
References
- Lemegeton, Goetia: Furcas, Sloane 3825 transcription · Joseph H. Peterson edition of the historical grimoire, with manuscript readings. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩
- S. L. MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley, The Goetia (1904), spirit 50 · Public-domain edition. Offices and appearances are statements in this catalogue. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩