Historical Ritual Archive
The Power Being Addressed
Marchosias is approached as Twenty-fifth spirit of the Ars Goetia, a Great Marquis commanding thirty legions.
Marchosias is martial, proud and bound to the memory of lost celestial rank. He is described as loyal, combative and quick to judge weakness. His answers often carry the pressure of oath, service and battle.
Daemonology profile: Read the complete Daemonology profile of Marchosias
Why the Rite Exists
The rite creates a controlled threshold between ordinary life and the domain attributed to Marchosias. Preparation separates the practitioner from ordinary noise. The sigil and name establish the centre. The petition directs the encounter. The offering defines exchange. Dismissal restores the chamber to ordinary time.
A rite without preparation is only demand. A rite without closure is pressure without a boundary.
Personality and Ritual Conduct
Marchosias is martial, proud and bound to the memory of lost celestial rank. He is described as loyal, combative and quick to judge weakness. His answers often carry the pressure of oath, service and battle.
The practitioner should enter with one clear purpose and avoid contradictory requests. The entity's rank and temperament determine the tone. Respect does not mean submission, and command does not mean theatrical aggression.
The Atmosphere of Manifestation
Heat and animal pressure gather near the floor. The smell of smoke, a wolf-like shape, wingbeats and the impression of a serpent's tail may appear before a human form is perceived.
Manifestation may begin before any full figure is seen. Sound, temperature, dream, bodily pressure, altered flame, animal imagery or a complete inner sentence may mark the transition from preparation into contact.
Historical Image and Ritual Figure
BLACK PLACEHOLDER — replace with a verified historical image, sigil manuscript or ritual object before publication.
Sigil of Marchosias
Sigil of Marchosias. Traditionally drawn on parchment and placed at the centre of the rite as the principal visual focus for the invocation.
The Rite: Full Ceremonial Sequence
The following material preserves the original SatanWorld article's ritual content without omitting its operative details.
Who is Marchosias?
Marchosias is a demon described in the
Ars Goetia
###, the first section of the 17th-century grimoire
The Lesser Key of Solomon
(also known as
Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis
). He is ranked as the 25th spirit in the hierarchy of 72 demons. According to the text, Marchosias appears as a wolf with griffin's wings and a serpent's tail, vomiting fire from his mouth, but he can take on a more human form at the summoner's request. He is said to be a strong fighter, loyal to Lucifer, and was once an angel who fell during the rebellion. His powers include answering questions about divine and secret matters, providing true answers, and granting the ability to make others obey the summoner. He speaks with a "hoarse voice" and was deceived by the summoner Aleister Crowley in a vision (per Crowley's accounts). To "summon" him means to perform a ritual evocation from this grimoire, which is framed as a command over demonic forces using Judeo-Christian symbols and incantations.
Note
Preparation for the Ritual
The
Ars Goetia
outlines a structured process for evoking spirits like Marchosias. Preparation emphasizes purity, protection, and tools to bind the demon. Here's a step-by-step breakdown based on the grimoire:
Purification and Fasting
###
Fast for 9 days (or at least 3), abstaining from meat, alcohol, and sex to achieve spiritual purity. Bathe in holy water (blessed with salt and herbs like hyssop) and wear clean white linen robes.
Confess sins and perform a banishing ritual, such as the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP) from the Golden Dawn tradition, to clear negative energies.
Tools and Circle Setup
###
Magic Circle
Draw a 9-foot diameter circle on the ground using chalk or flour, divided into quadrants with Hebrew names of God (e.g., Adonai, El, Elohim) inscribed around it. Inside, place a triangle of art (equilateral triangle, ~4 feet sides) pointed away from you, with the demon's sigil inside.
Sigil of Marchosias
Use his specific seal (a complex geometric symbol resembling intertwined lines and crosses—reproducible from Goetia texts). Engrave it on virgin parchment or metal with virgin wax.
Other Items
Black-handled knife (athame), virgin wax candles (4, one per direction), incense (frankincense and myrrh), a Bible or
Key of Solomon
text, and a scrying tool (black mirror or crystal) in the triangle.
Face east, the direction of invocation.
Timing
###
Perform during a waxing moon, ideally on a Tuesday (Mars day, aligning with his martial nature). Start at midnight or dawn. Avoid Fridays or full moons for volatility.
The Summoning Ritual
The evocation follows the grimoire's conjurations, spoken with authority. Stand outside the circle; never step inside until the spirit is bound.
Preliminary Invocation
###
Light candles and incense. Trace the circle and triangle with your athame while reciting: "I conjure thee, O Circle of Art, by the power of the Most High, that thou shalt contain all spirits and demons, and suffer none to pass forth until my will is done."
First Conjuration
###
Hold the sigil and intone the general call to spirits, then specify Marchosias: "I do invocate and conjure thee, O Spirit Marchosias; and being with power armed from the Supreme Majesty, I do strongly command thee, by Beralanensis, Baldachiensis, Paumachia, and Apologiae Sedes; by the most Powerful Princes, Genii, Liachidae, and Ministers of the Tartarean Abode; and by the Chief Prince of the Seat of Apologia in the Ninth Legion, I do invoke thee, and by invocating conjure thee. And being armed with power from the Supreme Majesty, I do strongly command thee, by Him Who spake and it was done, and unto whom all creatures be obedient… Appear thou now before this Circle in a fair human shape, without any deformity or tortuosity. Come thou peaceably, visibly, and affably, now and without delay, manifesting that which I shall desire."
Constraint if He Delays
###
If no appearance after 10-15 minutes, repeat with increasing intensity, adding curses or threats: "O thou wicked and disobedient Marchosias, because thou hast not obeyed nor regarded my commands… I do curse thee into the depths of the Bottomless Pit, there to remain until the Day of Doom."
Appearance and Binding
###
He may manifest visually (in the triangle), audibly, or via signs (e.g., animal sightings, dreams). Demand he take a human form and swear obedience on the sigil.
State your request clearly (e.g., "Marchosias, teach me the secrets of [specific knowledge]"). He must affirm with "This is my seal; by it I am bound."
License to depart: "Go thou now in peace unto thy place; harm none, and be thou friendly unto me."
Closing
###
Extinguish candles counterclockwise. Erase the circle. Bury or burn the sigil. Perform LBRP again.
Additional Notes from Sources
Duration
The spirit serves for the ritual's length (hours to days) but must be dismissed properly to avoid backlash.
Warnings in the Text
The Goetia stresses using divine names (e.g., Tetragrammaton) for protection; failure invites deception or harm.
Ritual Architecture
Separation
Bathing, silence, fasting, abstinence, darkness or isolation signal that ordinary time has been left behind. The preparation should be coherent rather than assembled from random gestures.
Construction of the Chamber
Candles, incense, circle, salt, water, metals, herbs, stones and offerings organize the room around the office of Marchosias. Each item should perform one function.
Establishing Contact
The sigil, name, chant or enn becomes the visual and verbal axis of the operation. Repetition narrows attention until the chamber feels organized around one intelligence.
The Petition
The petition should contain one principal request, one boundary and one completion condition. Ambiguous wishes invite expansion.
Recognition of Presence
The central phase begins when the atmosphere changes in a sustained way. Pressure, heat, cold, altered flame, internal speech, animal forms or dreamlike imagery may mark the crossing.
Offering and Exchange
The offering represents reciprocity. It may carry the entity's color, office, appetite or symbolic domain. A promise should never be made casually.
Dismissal and Return
The operation ends only when Marchosias is thanked or dismissed according to the preserved method. Candles are extinguished safely, the chamber aired where appropriate and the result written before sleep or distraction changes memory.
Instruments and Their Symbolism
The sigil acts as the visual body of the name. The candle establishes color, rank and duration. Incense gives density to the air. Salt or the circle defines limits. Water reflects and carries emotional force. Metal, stone, herb or coin embodies office.
More objects do not automatically create more power. A crowded altar can divide attention.
Timing and Correspondence
Where several systems appear, one coherent system should govern the operation.
Manifestation Signs
Signs associated with Marchosias include:
- a sustained shift in the chamber's emotional pressure;
- dreams repeating the spirit's form or office;
- unusual candle movement without a matching draft;
- sounds, smells or bodily sensations consistent with the entity;
- a complete phrase arising inside thought;
- external events beginning to mirror the petition;
- fear, attraction or resistance intensifying at the moment of contact.
A repeated pattern across chamber, dream and aftermath carries greater weight than one isolated sign.
The Frightening Edge of the Rite
Loyalty under Marchosias can harden into warfare against every doubt. The seeker may mistake conflict for proof of devotion.
The deepest danger is transformation that feels useful. The practitioner may begin to imitate the spirit's temperament, organize life around the petition or interpret every event as part of the operation.
Failure Patterns
Failure appears when preparation is abandoned, the request changes repeatedly, symbols are mixed without purpose, panic replaces attention, impossible offerings are promised or the practitioner refuses to close because no dramatic apparition appeared.
Failure can also appear as excess success: the requested current enters ordinary life faster than expected.
Boundaries of the Petition
The petition should state what is requested, where the result may operate, what form the result may take and what event marks completion. Knowledge can destroy innocence. Protection can become isolation. Transformation can become instability. Treasure can become obsession.
The wording is therefore part of the danger.
Completion and Aftermath
The rite is complete when the petition has been spoken, the exchange acknowledged, the presence dismissed and the chamber returned to ordinary order.
Record the date, timing, preparation, tools, words, signs, dreams, first external movement, emotional changes and fulfillment of any promised offering.
The aftermath belongs to the rite. Results may arrive as opportunity, conflict, warning, sudden knowledge, disappearance of an obstacle or an intensification that reveals the true shape of the request.
The Inner Ordeal
The rite of Marchosias is also an ordeal of resemblance. The chamber reveals where the spirit's office already exists inside the seeker's life.
The frightening moment is often recognition rather than apparition. The seeker discovers that the request has already shaped behavior before the first candle was lit.
The Return to Ordinary Life
After closure, eat, drink, wash, change clothing, step outside or speak with another person. These acts declare that ritual time has ended.
Do not repeat the operation immediately because silence feels uncomfortable.
Final Warning
Loyalty under Marchosias can harden into warfare against every doubt. The seeker may mistake conflict for proof of devotion.
Do not leave the altar active indefinitely. Do not continue chanting after dismissal. Do not add a second petition during closure.