Morax, also called Marax, is the twenty-first spirit in the Ars Goetia. The entry gives him the titles earl and president and thirty legions. His appearance is a great bull with a human face.[1][2]
Astronomy and natural knowledge#
Morax teaches astronomy and the liberal sciences. The catalogue also says that he provides wise familiars who know the properties of herbs and precious stones. The distinction matters: some knowledge is attributed to Morax's teaching, while some is attached to the familiars he supplies.[2]
These subjects share the learned setting of early modern magic. The movements of the heavens, useful plants, and the properties of stones could be studied within a single account of the world's correspondences. The entry fits that setting without being an ancient scientific handbook.
The bull with a human face#
The mixed appearance is relatively simple compared with the three-headed portraits of Balam and Asmodeus. It joins a powerful animal body to the human feature needed for an intelligible encounter. The seal provides an additional identifying sign distinct from that bodily image.[1]
Morax can be compared with Stolas, whose office also concerns astronomy, herbs, and precious stones. Similar subjects appear under different ranks and forms throughout the Goetia. Keeping the individual descriptions together with their numbered positions makes those repetitions visible without turning the catalogue into a single uniform scheme.
See also#
References
- Lemegeton, Goetia: Morax, 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 21 · Public-domain edition. Offices and appearances are statements in this catalogue. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩