Gusion
Gusion is the eleventh of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of Duke, associated in the text with knowledge of matters past, present, and future.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
In Mathers' edition (1904), Gusion is described as appearing in the form of a Xenopilus (at times rendered in translations as a form resembling a baboon). The text describes him as able to answer all questions asked of him, whether about things past, present, or to come, and associates him with the ability to discern the meaning of any matter.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, published with commentary by Aleister Crowley, Gusion holds the catalog's eleventh position and is described as a Duke, commanding a number of legions of spirits according to the text. He is listed with the attribute of knowing the past, present, and future, giving knowledge concerning the honor of all men, and reconciling friendships when they have broken down.
Interpretation — Dr. Rudd's Tradition (manuscript, c. 1650)
The manuscript attributed to Thomas Rudd, predating Mathers' edition by roughly two and a half centuries, documents a related but distinct version of the catalog — in it, each of the 72 spirits, including Gusion, is paired with a corresponding angel drawn from the Kabbalistic Shem HaMephorash system (72 divine names), a restraining/governing structural element absent from Mathers' edition. The precise identification of the angel associated with Gusion in the Rudd manuscript is 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 entities summoned by the authority of a higher divinity, but as archetypal masks for psychological currents of the practitioner's own consciousness, integrated in service of self-deification. In this reading, Gusion's attributed ability to answer any question and discern the meaning of any matter is reinterpreted as an archetype of inner intuition and self-knowledge, while his role in reconciling broken friendships is read as a symbol of reintegrating fragmented aspects of the practitioner's own psyche.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- What does the Ars Goetia text say about Gusion's appearance?
- According to Mathers' edition, Gusion appears in the form of a Xenopilus, rendered in translations as resembling a baboon.
- How does Dr. Rudd's manuscript describe Gusion differently from Mathers' edition?
- Rudd's manuscript, predating Mathers' edition, adds to each spirit, including Gusion, a corresponding angel drawn from the Shem HaMephorash system — a layer of Kabbalistic correspondence absent from the better-known Mathers/Crowley version.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Gusion 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 reinterpret the Ars Goetia's spirits as psychological archetypes of intuition and self-knowledge — 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).