Shax
Shax is the 44th of the 72 spirits catalogued in the Ars Goetia, the first section of the Lemegeton. He is described with the title of Marquis according to the text. In different editions and manuscripts his name also appears spelled Chax or Scox.
Last reviewed: 2026-07-20
Historical fact
In Mathers' edition (1904), Shax is described as appearing in the form of a stork, speaking with a hoarse and subtle voice. The text narrates that he is able to take away the sight, hearing, or understanding of any person at the manuscript operator's request, to steal money from a king's house and return it after 1200 years, and to fetch horses — documentary descriptions of the traits the text narrates for the spirit, not indications of use. The manuscript also notes that he discovers hidden things not guarded by wicked spirits.
Interpretation — Solomonic Tradition (Mathers/Crowley, 1904)
In Mathers' edition, published with commentary by Aleister Crowley, Shax holds the catalog's 44th position and is described as a Marquis, commanding 30 legions of spirits according to the text. He is characterized in the manuscript as a good familiar spirit, though the text itself notes that he tends to lie about most matters unless certain conditions described in the ritual are met — a manuscript note regarding the spirit's attributed reliability, not usage guidance.
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 Shax, 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. No reliable record of the specific angel name Rudd's manuscript assigns to Shax was found among the sources consulted for this entry; the general pairing practice is documented by researchers such as Joseph Peterson.
Interpretation — Luciferian Tradition (modern interpretation)
Modern Luciferian authors, chiefly Michael W. Ford (in works such as The Luciferian Goetia), reinterpret the 72 spirits not as external entities subordinate to a higher divine authority — the Solomonic model — but as archetypal masks representing functions of the practitioner's own psyche, to be recognized and integrated in service of self-deification. In this reading, Shax's attributed ability to take away someone's sight, hearing, or understanding is reinterpreted as the symbolic stripping away of superficial or conditioned perceptions, making room for a more authentic form of inner sight; his tendency to lie, qualified by certain conditions in the manuscript itself, is read as an archetypal call for the practitioner's own critical discernment toward what is revealed to them.
This section presents one tradition's interpretation, not a verifiable fact.
Frequently asked questions
- What form does the text attribute to Shax?
- According to Mathers' edition, Shax appears in the form of a stork, speaking with a hoarse and subtle voice.
- Does the text describe Shax as trustworthy?
- The manuscript classifies him as a good familiar spirit, but notes he tends to lie about most matters unless certain conditions described in the text itself are met — a documentary characterization, not practical guidance.
- Is the Luciferian reading of Shax 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).