He answers truly of things hidden, and of disease and its cure.
The Spirit
Marbas — also called Barbas in some manuscripts — is the fifth spirit of the Ars Goetia and the first to hold the rank of president. He belongs to the class of spirits whose offices lean toward knowledge, healing, and the mechanical and natural arts rather than toward war or dominion. The tradition assigns him a plain reputation for truthful answering, which set him among the spirits an operator might consult for reliable information rather than persuasion or force.
His remembered appearance is theriomorphic: he shows himself first as a great lion, and at the operator’s command takes the shape of a man. This transformation from beast to human form recurs throughout the early ranks of the catalogue and marks the spirit’s willingness to treat with the summoner on comprehensible terms.
Office
The Goetia states that Marbas answers truly concerning hidden and secret things, causes and cures diseases, and imparts knowledge of the mechanical arts. He is further said to be able to change men into other shapes. His office therefore joins medicine, concealed knowledge, and craft — a spirit of the healing and making arts, consulted equally for the cause of an illness and for its remedy.
Attributes
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Number | 5 |
| Rank | President |
| Legions | 36 |
| Appearance | A great lion, taking the form of a man when the operator so commands |