Flauros
Flauros is the sixty-fourth of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of Duke according to the text. In several editions and manuscripts his name also appears spelled Hauras or Havres — one of many spelling variations common to the catalog's names.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
In Mathers' edition (1904), Flauros is described as initially appearing in the form of a terrible, strong leopard, later taking, at the operator's command per the text, human shape with flaming eyes and a fierce countenance. The manuscript attributes to him true answers of things past, present, and to come — but records that outside of certain conditions described in the text, he would tend to deceive the questioner in these accounts.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, published with commentary by Aleister Crowley, Flauros holds the catalog's sixty-fourth position and is described as a Duke, commanding 36 legions of spirits according to the text. The manuscript also attributes to him the role of preventing the operator from being tempted by other spirits — an unusual protective attribute among the catalog's descriptions, which generally emphasize knowledge, transformation, or territorial dominion.
Interpretation — Dr. Rudd's Tradition (manuscript, c. 1650)
The manuscript attributed to Thomas Rudd, predating Mathers' edition by roughly two and a half centuries, pairs each of the 72 spirits in the catalog — including Flauros — with a corresponding angel drawn from the Kabbalistic Shem HaMephorash system (72 divine names), as a structural restraining/governing counterpart, an element absent from Mathers' edition. The consulted sources offer no reliable confirmation of which specific angel name Rudd assigned to Flauros; the general pairing practice, however, is well documented in Joseph Peterson's research on the Rudd manuscripts.
Interpretation — Luciferian Tradition (modern interpretation)
Modern Luciferian authors, chiefly Michael W. Ford (in works such as The Luciferian Goetia), read the Ars Goetia's 72 spirits not as external powers subordinate to a higher divine authority, but as inner processes of self-knowledge available to the practitioner. In this reading, Flauros's transformation — from a terrible leopard into a human figure with flaming eyes — is interpreted as the process of integrating raw instinctual force into a conscious, directed will. His textual tendency to deceive outside certain conditions is read as a symbolic reminder that self-knowledge demands rigor and discernment, not naive acceptance of easy answers. His role of preventing the operator from being tempted by other spirits, meanwhile, is reinterpreted as the archetype of the sovereign will that protects the practitioner's own psychological integrity against dispersive external influences.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- Are Flauros and Hauras the same spirit?
- Yes. Flauros, Hauras, and Havres are variant spellings of the same name, found in different manuscripts and printed editions of the Ars Goetia — a spelling variation common to several of the catalog's 72 spirits.
- What form and attributes does the text associate with Flauros?
- According to Mathers' edition, he initially appears as a terrible, strong leopard, later taking human shape with a fierce countenance. The manuscript attributes to him answers about past, present, and future, along with the role of preventing the operator from being tempted by other spirits.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Flauros 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).