Zagan is the sixty-first spirit of the Ars Goetia, bearing the titles king and president and commanding thirty-three legions. He first appears as a bull with griffin's wings and then takes human form. The catalogue connects him with changes in understanding and substances.[1][2]
Wisdom and transformed matter#
Zagan makes people witty and is said to make fools wise. The same entry attributes transformations among water, wine, and blood to him. It also describes metals becoming the coin of the country to which they belong.[2]
The coin detail is more specific than the general transformation of metal into gold. It links altered material with recognizable human currency. The word also has a history of confused readings in English copies, which Peterson's transcription records alongside the source text.[1]
Zagan and Haagenti#
Haagenti shares both the winged bull appearance and related offices involving liquids and metals. The resemblance is substantial, yet the figures have different catalogue positions and titles. A source-based comparison can acknowledge the overlap without simply declaring the names interchangeable.
These transformations are promises of the grimoire. They provide evidence for the imagined capacities of a spirit and the aims represented by the operator. Historical alchemy offers other texts about substances, but a resemblance in subject does not establish that every alchemist worked with Zagan or accepted this catalogue.
See also#
References
- Lemegeton, Goetia: Zagan, 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 61 · Public-domain edition. Offices and appearances are statements in this catalogue. (accessed 2026-10-01) ↩