ZAGAN

§ Introduction

Zagan is listed as the Sixty-first Spirit in the Ars Goetia. He is described with a dual title—King and President—and framed as a spirit whose reputation centers on transformation: turning one substance into another, and turning confusion into cleverness.

§ Grimoire Profile

Rank: King and President
Legions: 33
Attributed office: Transformation, alchemy, wit-sharpening

§ Appearance (Traditional Description)

The Ars Goetia describes Zagan as appearing first as a bull with griffin wings, and later shifting into a human shape. That animal-to-human change is a recurring Goetic motif—an image of instinct refining into speech, strategy, and bargaining.

§ Powers and Attributions

• Making people witty / clever
• Changing wine to water (and the reverse), and similar "swap" transformations
• Converting metals into coin (specifically, coin "of the dominion that metal is of")
• Turning "fools wise" (sharpening judgment)

In modern historical reading, these powers often get interpreted as symbolic technology: metamorphosis, reframing, social alchemy, and the idea that knowledge itself can "transmute" outcomes.

§ Historical and Practical Context

Historically, spirits like Zagan functioned as narrative tools: they embodied anxieties about money, status, and cunning, while also offering a fantasy of mastering change when the world feels unstable.

§ Pop Culture Notes

Zagan appears now and then in modern demon lists and occult-themed media, typically as a "transformer" archetype—less about brute force, more about flipping the state of things.

§ Short Sources

• Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis (Ars Goetia), 17th-century manuscript tradition
• The Lesser Key of Solomon (classified Goetia list), public-domain edition