Samigina

Samigina, also called Gamigin, is the fourth spirit in the Ars Goetia. The catalogue describes a marquis commanding thirty legions, first appearing as a small horse or ass and then taking human form at the operator's request. His voice is hoarse.^[1][2]

Learning and the dead#

Samigina's two principal offices are teaching the liberal sciences and giving an account of souls that died in sin. The second locates the entry within the Christian language of the grimoire, where the condition of the dead has moral and theological significance. It is more specific than the broad modern label of a spirit of knowledge.^[2]

The movement from an animal appearance to a speaking human form also matters. The entry presents a staged encounter in which the operator requests an intelligible appearance before asking questions. Samigina's small initial form contrasts with the imposing horses and mounted soldiers found elsewhere in the catalogue.

Names in the manuscripts#

Gamigin and Samigina are alternative spellings in the work's transmission. They identify the same position in the familiar seventy-two-spirit list, not automatically two different beings. The spelling chosen for a seal or invocation should be documented with its source edition.^[1]

Murmur offers a useful comparison because his entry explicitly attributes the calling of deceased souls to him. Samigina's wording concerns an account of their condition. Reading both descriptions prevents several different offices relating to the dead from collapsing into one interchangeable category.

See also#

• Murmur
• Demonology
• Lesser Key of Solomon

This encyclopedia covers traditions beyond the High Satanic Church. Church doctrine is identified as such when it appears.