A good familiar, though he tempts those he serves toward theft.
The Spirit
Valefor — spelled also Valefar or Malaphar — is the sixth spirit of the Ars Goetia and one of its dukes. The grimoire gives him a double character that is rare in the catalogue: he is said to be a good familiar to those who call upon him, a companionable and willing spirit, and yet he is also described as leading his companions toward thievery, so that his good service carries a hazard within it. This ambivalence made him a memorable figure, a spirit whose loyalty came shadowed by the tendency he encouraged.
His form in the tradition is composite and leonine, joining the body of a lion to the head of an ass or a man, one of the many hybrid shapes by which the compilers distinguished the ranks of the invisible court.
Office
The office of Valefor, as the Goetia frames it, is companionship: he attends upon the operator as a good familiar until, the text warns, those who keep his company are drawn into stealing. The grimoire offers him less as a teacher of a distinct art than as a presence — a familiar spirit whose fellowship is genuine but whose influence bends toward theft, so that the caution attends the gift.
Attributes
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Number | 6 |
| Rank | Duke |
| Legions | 10 |
| Appearance | A lion with the head of an ass, or in some accounts the head of a man, or the form of a thief |