Botis
Botis is the seventeenth of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the dual title of Great President and Earl, said in the text to appear first in the form of an ugly viper before assuming a human shape.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
Botis is one of a small number of entries in the Ars Goetia catalog carrying two titles at once — Great President and Earl — rather than a single rank. In Mathers' edition (1904), the text describes him as appearing at first in the form of an ugly viper, then, at the exorcist's command, taking a human shape marked by great teeth and two horns, and carrying a bright and sharp sword.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, Botis holds the seventeenth position in the catalog and is described with the dual title of President and Earl, commanding 60 legions of spirits according to the text. The source attributes to him the telling of things past and things to come, and the reconciling of friends and of foes — attributes the text frames as related to knowledge and mediation, distinct from the martial or courtly attributes given to several neighboring entries.
Interpretation — Dr. Rudd's Tradition (manuscript, c. 1650)
Thomas Rudd's manuscript, predating Mathers' 1904 edition by roughly two and a half centuries, documents a related but distinct version of the catalog in which each of the 72 spirits — Botis included — is paired with a corresponding angel drawn from the Kabbalistic Shem HaMephorash system (72 divine names), functioning as a structural restraining counterpart absent from Mathers' edition. The specific angelic correspondence assigned to each entry in Rudd's tradition has been documented through the research of scholars such as Joseph Peterson, whose editions catalog the Rudd manuscripts' pairings in detail.
Interpretation — Luciferian Tradition (modern interpretation)
Modern Luciferian authors, chiefly Michael W. Ford (in works such as The Luciferian Goetia), reinterpret the Ars Goetia's 72 spirits not as external entities to be commanded under a higher divine authority — the Solomonic model — but as archetypal masks representing stages or psychological currents within the practitioner's own consciousness, integrated in service of self-deification. In this reading, Botis's transformation, appearing first as a viper and then assuming human form with a sword, is read as the archetype of inner evolution — the shedding of instinctual, reactive impulses in favor of a sovereign human form guided by discernment — while his ability to reconcile friends and foes is reframed as the integration of opposing forces within the practitioner's own psyche.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Why does Botis hold two titles?
- The Ars Goetia catalog lists him with the dual rank of President and Earl rather than a single title — one of only a handful of entries in the text structured this way; the sources do not explain the reasoning behind the double rank.
- Do Mathers' edition and Dr. Rudd's manuscript describe Botis the same way?
- In a related but not identical way. Rudd's manuscript, predating Mathers' edition, adds a corresponding angel to each spirit — a layer of Kabbalistic correspondence absent from the better-known Mathers/Crowley version.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Botis as old as the Mathers and Rudd traditions?
- No. It's a modern interpretation, developed mainly from the 2000s onward by Luciferian authors such as Michael W. Ford, who reframe the Ars Goetia's spirits as psychological archetypes for self-development — a contemporary symbolic reading, not a historical manuscript like Mathers' or Rudd's.
Sources
- S. L. MacGregor Mathers (trans.), Aleister Crowley (ed.). The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King (1904).
- Joseph H. Peterson (ed.). The Lesser Key of Solomon (2001).
- Thomas Rudd (manuscript), ed. Adam McLean. Dr. Rudd's Treatise on Angel Magic (c. 1650 (2007 ed.)).
- Michael W. Ford. The Luciferian Goetia (2007).