Sallos, also written Saleos, is the nineteenth spirit of the Ars Goetia. He is a duke with thirty legions, appearing as a soldier wearing a ducal crown and riding a crocodile. The catalogue explicitly describes his appearance as peaceful.[1][2]
A peaceful soldier#
The pairing of military dress with a peaceful disposition distinguishes Sallos from several martial spirits in the list. The crocodile recalls Agares's mount, although Sallos receives a different office and lacks Agares's hawk.
His principal office concerns love between women and men. The entry's short wording does not provide a general doctrine of relationships or a ceremony shared by every later practitioner. It records an aim within the grimoire's larger repertoire of requested effects.[2]
Names and reception#
Saleos and Sallos appear as alternative forms of the name in the work's transmission. The catalogue number and seal help relate the spellings to one entry. They should not be presented as proof of two separate spirits solely because a modern list prints them differently.[1]
Modern devotional descriptions sometimes emphasize the peaceful appearance when interpreting Sallos as a figure associated with affection. That emphasis selects a feature already in the source. Any further claim about a universal romantic ethic, a particular offering, or the spirit's identity in an ancient religion would need a separate source. The historical portrait remains a crowned soldier on a crocodile with a narrowly described office.
See also#
References
- Lemegeton, Goetia: Sallos, 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 19 · Public-domain edition. Offices and appearances are statements in this catalogue. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩