He reads the heavens as a scribe reads a familiar hand.
The Spirit
Orias — sometimes rendered Oriax — is the fifty-ninth spirit of the Ars Goetia and holds the rank of Great Marquis. In the tradition of the Lesser Key of Solomon he is figured as a lion, though a lion transfigured: he rides upon a strong horse and carries in his hand two great serpents that hiss and coil about his arm. The imagery marks him as a creature poised between beast and horseman, terrestrial power steered by a rider's intelligence, and the serpents underline his association with hidden and sidereal knowledge.
The grimoire counts him among the astral spirits, those whose competence lies in the reading of the sky rather than in war or treasure. Where other spirits promise gold or armies, Orias promises literacy in the language of the stars, a quieter and more scholarly office that later commentators found congenial to the astrological cast of Renaissance magic.
Office
The Goetia states that Orias teaches the virtues of the stars and the mansions of the planets, granting the conjurer knowledge of how the celestial bodies govern earthly affairs. Beyond this astral instruction he is said to transform men, to give dignities, prelacies, and confirmations of the same, and to procure the favour of both friends and foes. He answers, in short, to the ambitions of one who would rise through worldly office by aligning himself with the turning of the heavens.
Attributes
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Number | 59 |
| Rank | Marquis |
| Legions | 30 |
| Appearance | A lion riding a strong horse, its tail a serpent, holding two hissing serpents in his right hand |