The Seventy-Two Spirits · 50

Furcas

The Goetia’s only classified knight is an old, white-haired rider with a sharp weapon. Furcas teaches philosophy and argument alongside astrology, palmistry and divination by fire. [1][3]

Goetia 1904

Spirit profile

Rank: Knight [1]
Attributed Office: Teaching philosophy, astrology, rhetoric, logic, palm divination and divination by fire. [1][4][5]
Legion Count: 20 legions. [1]
Description of the Entity

A fierce old man with a long beard and white hair, riding a pale horse and holding a sharp weapon. [1]

An elderly grey-haired, long-bearded rider carries a pointed weapon on a pale horse. — **Artistic interpretation** Furcas

A three-column rectangular frame holds three inner rings, with circles along its bars, two lower crosses and a hanging triangle. — **Source reproduction** Furcas's printed character, figure 57. Goetia, 1904.

The knight’s learned and divinatory arts

Furcas appears as a fierce old man with a long beard and hoary head, riding a pale-coloured horse and carrying a sharp weapon. His office is instruction: philosophy, astrology, rhetoric and logic, together with cheiromancy and pyromancy. The last two are palmistry and divination through fire or flames. Twenty legions are beneath him. [1][4][5]

The edition’s classified list places Furcas alone under Knights. Its metal assignment gives that rank a seal in lead, and the preceding observations give knights the periods from dawn to sunrise or from four o’clock until sunset. [3]

Astronomy in the earlier list

Scot names practical philosophy and astronomy, where the later notice gives philosophy and astrology. [1][2]

Sources and editions

The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King — entry 50: Furcas
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 50; printed p. 25, PDF p. 22
The Discoverie of Witchcraft — Furcas
Reginald Scot (1584); Brinsley Nicholson’s reprint of the first edition (1886), Project Gutenberg transcription. Book XV, chapter II, Furcas; 1886 reprint p. 322.
Goetia — Classified List of the 72 Chief Spirits
S. L. MacGregor Mathers, translated; Aleister Crowley, edited, The Book of the Goetia of Solomon the King (1904), first-edition facsimile. Observations and Classified List; printed pp. 32–33, PDF pp. 29–30
Chiromancy · Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Merriam-Webster online dictionary. Definition: palmistry
Pyromancy · Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Merriam-Webster online dictionary. Definition: divination by fire or flames

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