Marchosias is the thirty-fifth spirit in the Ars Goetia. He is a marquis with thirty legions, initially appearing as a wolf with griffin's wings, a serpent's tail, and fire issuing from his mouth. The text later gives him a human form.[1][2]
Fidelity and fighting#
Marchosias is described as a strong fighter and, in the manuscript account, faithful in carrying out the operator's business. He also gives true answers to questions. The entry grants him a disposition as well as a collection of offices.[1]
This fidelity distinguishes him from spirits whose descriptions emphasize deception. Malphas and Shax, for example, receive explicit warnings. The Goetia's threatening imagery therefore does not predict a uniform attitude toward the operator: the fiery winged wolf can be described as loyal.
The hope of return#
The catalogue remembers Marchosias as belonging to the order of Dominations. It reports his hope of returning to the seventh throne after twelve hundred years. The statement is put within the legendary relationship between the spirits and Solomon.[2]
That hope supplies a small narrative about the figure's place in a fallen angelic world. It does not promise the reader that every demonological source accepts the possibility or timetable of restoration. Phenex receives a comparable hope of return, making the pair useful for studying how this theme survives within the catalogue.
See also#
References
- Lemegeton, Goetia: Marchosias, 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 35 · Public-domain edition. Offices and appearances are statements in this catalogue. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩