A seal drawn on parchment is not a decoration. It is a compressed set of instructions: which angel to invoke, which element to call, which spirit will answer. The seal of President Botis – a circle crossed by a vertical line, with a curved hook at the bottom – is one of the simplest in the Ars Goetia, yet it encodes a function that sets him apart from nearly every other spirit in the list. Botis is a President and Earl of Hell who appears first as a viper, then as a man with large teeth, and who tells past, present, and future, reconciles friends and foes, and serves under the King. To understand what makes him distinct, we have to place him beside the other sixty-one spirits and see where the differences lie.
The Ars Goetia is the first book of the Lemegeton, a grimoire compiled in the seventeenth century from earlier sources. Its most direct ancestor is Johann Weyer’s Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (1563), which listed sixty-nine demons, not seventy-two. Botis appears in both. The later editions by S. L. MacGregor Mathers (1904) and Aleister Crowley (1904) standardized the rank and seals, but the core description – serpent, teeth, prophecy – remained unchanged.
Why the Serpent Form Matters
The viper is not a random choice. Botis is one of only three demons in the Ars Goetia whose primary appearance is a snake. Vine (45th spirit) appears as a lion holding a serpent in his hand, but the serpent is an accessory, not the form. Buer (10th spirit) has the shape of a star with five legs, no serpent. Orobas (55th) appears as a horse, then in human form. The viper is Botis’s distinctive signature.
Why a viper? In the Solomonic tradition, serpents carry dual meaning. They are creatures of the earth, associated with chthonic wisdom and the underworld. They are also the shape of the serpent in Eden, the deceiver. Botis’s viper form signals that he is a revealer of hidden truths – but also that he must be commanded, not trusted. The teeth, mentioned in every description of his human form, reinforce the same point: the truth he speaks is not gentle.
Hierarchy and Rank: President and Earl
Botis holds two titles. The Ars Goetia lists him as a President and an Earl. Most spirits have one rank. Paimon (9th) is a King. Buer is a President only. Vassago (3rd) is a Prince. The dual rank is rare. It means Botis belongs to two orders: he commands 60 legions as a President (a high rank, under Kings) and also serves as an Earl, a lower order that typically governs 20 to 30 legions. This is not a contradiction. It suggests that Botis can operate at two levels of authority – a tactical commander for specific tasks and a strategic advisor for broader questions.
Compare him to Paimon, who is a King and rules 200 legions. Paimon teaches all arts, sciences, and secret things. Botis’s scope is narrower: he tells past, present, and future, and he reconciles conflicts. Paimon is a generalist; Botis is a specialist in time and relationships.
The Power of Reconciliation
The phrase “reconciling friends and foes” is attached to only a few spirits in the Ars Goetia. Amon (7th) reconciles disputes, but he appears as a wolf with a serpent’s tail. Foras (31st) makes men invisible and gives understanding, but he does not mention reconciliation. Botis’s ability to turn enemies into allies is unique among the Presidents. In practice, this means his seal is often used in rituals aimed at healing rifts, whether between lovers, business partners, or family members. The serpent’s venom becomes medicine.
Comparing Seals: What the Diagrams Tell Us
The seal of Botis is a circle divided by a vertical line, with a curved line that forms a hook at the bottom. It is one of the simplest in the Ars Goetia. Compare it to the seal of Buer, which is a complex star with five points and a central circle. Or the seal of Paimon, which has a central cross and four smaller circles. The simplicity of Botis’s seal is not a sign of weakness. In geomantic terms, a simple line often represents a direct path. Botis’s function is direct: he answers questions about time (past, present, future) and resolves conflicts. The seal does not need complexity.
When we compare the seals of the seventy-two spirits, a pattern emerges. The Kings (Paimon, Bael, Asmodeus, etc.) have the most elaborate seals, often with multiple circles and crosses. The Presidents (Botis, Buer, Morax, etc.) have simpler seals, typically with one or two lines. The Earls (Vine, Andras, etc.) are in between. Botis’s seal, being both a President and an Earl, sits at the intersection of two design traditions.
Common Misconceptions
One frequent error is assuming that because Botis appears as a viper, he is a minor or evil spirit. The viper is not a mark of malevolence; it is a mark of primal knowledge. Another misconception is that Botis’s seal can be used interchangeably with Buer’s because both are Presidents. The seals are not interchangeable. Each seal is a unique key that opens a specific door. Using the wrong seal is like trying to unlock a door with a knife.
A third mistake is thinking that the Ars Goetia is a fixed, unchangeable list. The number of spirits, their ranks, and their appearances vary across manuscripts. The Pseudomonarchia Daemonum has sixty-nine spirits. The Lemegeton has seventy-two. Some editions place Botis as the 14th spirit, others as the 17th. The differences are not errors; they are evidence of a living tradition where each copyist adapted the text to their practice.
FAQ
What rank is Botis in the Ars Goetia?
Botis is a President and an Earl, commanding 60 legions of spirits. He serves under the King Amy.
Can Botis be summoned safely?
Like all Goetic spirits, Botis requires proper preparation: a circle, a triangle, the seal, and the correct timing. The Ars Goetia specifies that Presidents should be called during the daytime, and the summoner must be purified.
What is the difference between Botis and Paimon?
Paimon is a King who teaches all arts and sciences. Botis is a President who specializes in prophecy and reconciliation. Paimon commands 200 legions; Botis commands 60.
Why does Botis appear as a viper first?
The viper is a symbol of chthonic wisdom and hidden knowledge. It signals that Botis’s truth is not gentle – it comes from the earth and the underworld, and it must be handled with care.
The Practical Purpose of Comparison
To compare Botis to other spirits is not an academic exercise. It is a way of understanding which spirit to call for which task. When we need to know the outcome of a court case, we call Botis. When we need to learn the secrets of alchemy, we call Paimon. When we need to heal a chronic illness, we call Buer. The Ars Goetia is a toolkit, and each spirit is a tool designed for a specific job. Botis’s tool is the serpent’s eye: it sees forward and backward, and it can turn an enemy into an ally.
The seal of Botis, the viper, the teeth, the reconciliation – these are not random details. They are the coordinates of a spirit whose function is clear and precise. To mistake him for another is to miss the point of the grimoire entirely.
For a deeper look at the full hierarchy of the seventy-two spirits, see our guide to demonology and the Goetia. To study the symbolic language of the seals, visit our glossary of Goetic symbols. And for a detailed breakdown of how to properly call a President, read our guide to summoning the spirits of the Ars Goetia.