The Seventy-Two Spirits · 53

Camio

Also recorded as Caim

A thrush becomes an armed human disputant. Camio gives understanding of birds, cattle, dogs and the voice of waters, while his own answers seem to come in burning ashes or coals. [1]

Goetia 1904

Spirit profile

Rank: President [1]
Attributed Office: Speaking skilfully in debate, giving understanding of birds, cattle, dogs, other creatures and the voice of waters, and answering questions about the future. [1]
Legion Count: 30 legions. [1]
Description of the Entity: A thrush, afterwards a man with a sharp sword, seeming to answer in burning ashes or coals. [1]

A small speckled brown thrush stands beside a brass bowl of glowing coals. — **Artistic interpretation** Camio

A rectangular upper field contains curls, a diamond and crossed stems, with a lower crossed oval, triangle and curved right-hand lobes. — **Source reproduction** Camio's printed character, figure 60. Goetia, 1904.

The thrush and the voice of waters

Camio first appears as a thrush, then takes a man’s form with a sharp sword in his hand. He is a good disputant. His office makes the sounds of birds, lowing cattle, barking dogs and other creatures intelligible, and extends that understanding to the voice of waters. [1]

He gives true answers about what is to come and seems to answer in burning ashes or coals of fire. Formerly of the Angels, the great president now rules thirty inferior legions. [1]

Caim’s burning ashes

Scot calls him Caim and states that he answers in burning ashes. The later account adds coals and the qualifying word ‘seemeth’. Scot also describes him as making the best disputants, rather than simply being a good one himself. [1][2]

Sources and editions

The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King — entry 53: Camio
S. L. MacGregor Mathers, translated; Aleister Crowley, edited, The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King (1904), first-edition facsimile supplied by Keep Silence. Shemhamphorash, entry 53, Camio or Caim; printed p. 26, PDF p. 23
The Discoverie of Witchcraft — Caim
Reginald Scot (1584); Brinsley Nicholson’s reprint of the first edition (1886), Project Gutenberg transcription. Book XV, chapter II, Caim; Nicholson’s 1886 reprint, p. 322.

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