He opens the speech of birds and the ways of the hidden.
The Spirit
Barbatos is the eighth spirit of the Ars Goetia and a great duke of the infernal hierarchy. The grimoire associates his appearance with the sign of the sun in Sagittarius, and describes him as coming attended by four noble kings and their companies of troops — a martial and ceremonious arrival befitting his rank. He is one of the spirits whose lore reaches back into the earlier demonological writings, appearing in the sixteenth-century catalogues that fed into the Lesser Key.
His most celebrated attribute is the understanding of the voices of animals, a gift with deep roots in folklore and legend, where knowledge of the speech of birds and beasts marks the sage or the favoured hero.
Office
The Goetia holds that Barbatos gives understanding of the songs of birds and the sounds of other creatures, such as the barking of dogs. He reveals treasures that have been concealed by enchantment, tells of things past and to come, and reconciles friends and those in power. His office thus binds together the understanding of animal speech, the recovery of hidden treasure, and the mending of relations — a spirit of secret knowledge and of concord alike.
Attributes
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Number | 8 |
| Rank | Duke |
| Legions | 30 |
| Appearance | Appears when the sun is in Sagittarius, in the company of four noble kings with their troops |