A 17th-century German magician once copied a spirit’s seal onto a lambskin square, placed it inside a brass locket, and wore it against his bare chest for forty days. He never wrote down what happened next. That seal, the one assigned to Glasya-Labolas in the Ars Goetia, survives in multiple manuscript versions, each drawn with the same geometric insistence: a six-pointed star, a crescent, a central cross, and the name of the spirit written in a script that no longer belongs to any living language. The Seal of Glasya-Labolas is the ritual signature of the 25th spirit of the Goetia, a Great President who commands thirty-six legions and governs knowledge of past, present, and future. Its design encodes the spirit’s rank, jurisdiction, and the specific conditions under which a practitioner may safely call it.
The seal is not decoration. It is the contract.
What Is the Seal of Glasya-Labolas, Exactly?
The seal is a composite diagram, usually drawn on virgin parchment or engraved on a metal lamella, that serves as the spirit’s unique identifier in ceremonial magic. In the Goetic tradition, no spirit appears without its seal. The seal is the lock and the key: it binds the spirit to the circle, limits its movement, and compels it to answer truthfully. Glasya-Labolas’s seal contains a six-pointed star (the hexagram), a crescent moon, a cross, and the spirit’s name written in a cipher sometimes called the “Passing of the River” or the “Angelic Script.” The exact arrangement varies between manuscripts, but the core elements remain stable across the four centuries of surviving copies.
The seal belongs to the Ars Goetia, the first book of the Lesser Key of Solomon, a grimoire compiled in the 17th century from earlier Solomonic texts. Glasya-Labolas is listed as the 25th spirit, a Great President who appears “in the form of a dog with wings like a griffin.” The seal is the visual counterpart to that description: the hexagram represents the spirit’s authority over the celestial spheres, the crescent its connection to the lunar cycles of manifestation and dissolution, and the cross the point of intersection between the spirit’s realm and the operator’s.
Where Does the Seal Come From? A History of the Manuscripts
The earliest known depiction of Glasya-Labolas’s seal appears in the manuscript Sloane 3825, held at the British Library, dated to approximately 1640. This manuscript, compiled by an unknown hand, contains the first complete version of the Ars Goetia as we know it. The seal in Sloane 3825 is drawn in brown ink, the hexagram slightly uneven, the crescent tilted at an angle that later copyists would standardize. The spirit’s name is written in a cipher that the manuscript calls “the Characters of the Kings of the East.”
A second key manuscript, Harley 6483 (circa 1670), shows a more refined version. The hexagram is now perfectly symmetrical, the crescent sits upright, and the cross has been moved from the center of the star to a position above it. This is the version that Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers would later use for his 1904 edition of the Lesser Key of Solomon, which became the standard text for English-speaking practitioners. Mathers, a co-founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, added his own annotations to the seal, interpreting the hexagram as a symbol of the macrocosm and the crescent as the spirit’s dominion over the astral plane.
The seal’s design draws on earlier Jewish angelic sigils found in the Sefer Raziel HaMalakh (13th century) and the Sword of Moses (10th century). The hexagram, the crescent, and the cross appear together in medieval Jewish amulets long before they entered the Goetic corpus. The Goetic tradition adapted these symbols, giving them a new function: not protection from spirits, but control over them.
What the Seal Actually Means: Symbolism and Structure
The seal is a map of the spirit’s jurisdiction. Every line, every angle, every letter carries a specific function.
The hexagram (the six-pointed star) represents the union of opposites: fire and water, spirit and matter, the above and the below. In Goetic magic, the hexagram is the symbol of the spirit’s ability to move between the divine and the material worlds. Glasya-Labolas, as a Great President, holds authority over thirty-six legions, and the hexagram’s six points correspond to the six directions of space (north, south, east, west, zenith, nadir) that the spirit can traverse.
The crescent moon sits at the top of the seal in most versions. It signifies the spirit’s connection to the lunar cycle, specifically the waning moon, which in Goetic practice is the phase for binding and compelling. Glasya-Labolas is said to “give the knowledge of all arts and sciences,” and the crescent represents the receptive, intuitive knowledge that comes through dreams and visions rather than rational study.
The cross appears either at the center of the hexagram or above it. In the Sloane 3825 version, the cross is inside the star, its arms touching the inner vertices. In the Harley 6483 version, the cross stands above the star, as if crowning it. The cross is the point of contact, the place where the operator’s will intersects with the spirit’s nature. It is also a remnant of the Christian framework within which the Goetic grimoires were written: the cross binds the spirit in the name of Christ, even though the spirit itself predates Christianity.
The spirit’s name is written in a cipher that varies between manuscripts. In Sloane 3825, the name appears as a series of angular characters that resemble Hebrew but are not. In later copies, the name is written in the “Angelic Script” attributed to the 16th-century occultist John Dee, though Dee’s script was developed after the earliest Goetic manuscripts. This inconsistency suggests that the cipher was not fixed: each copyist adapted the script to their own understanding, and the seal’s power was thought to reside in the intention of the drawing, not the precise shape of the letters.
How the Seal Is Used in Practice
The seal is not a passive symbol. It is a tool, and its use follows strict protocols.
The practitioner draws the seal on virgin parchment (parchment made from the skin of an unborn animal, never used before) using black ink mixed with the practitioner’s own blood, or with consecrated ink made from soot and gum arabic. The drawing must be done during the hour of the spirit, which for Glasya-Labolas is the third hour of the night (approximately 9 PM to 10 PM, adjusted for the season). The seal is then placed inside the triangle of art, the triangular space outside the circle where the spirit is compelled to appear.
The triangle of art is itself a protective device. The seal sits at its center, and the spirit manifests within the triangle, never crossing into the circle where the operator stands. The operator holds a second copy of the seal, either on a lamella worn against the skin or on a piece of paper folded and placed inside the left shoe. This second seal is the operator’s anchor: it prevents the spirit from overwhelming the practitioner’s mind.
The seal is also used for scrying. In this method, the practitioner draws the seal on a piece of black silk, places it over a bowl of water, and gazes at the reflection of the seal in the water. The spirit appears in the water, speaking in a voice that the practitioner hears as a whisper or a thought. This method is considered safer than direct evocation because the spirit never fully enters the material world.
How the Seal Compares to Other Goetic Seals
Every spirit in the Goetia has a unique seal, but the seals follow patterns based on the spirit’s rank. Kings have seals with crowns and scepters. Dukes have seals with swords and serpents. Presidents, like Glasya-Labolas, have seals with hexagrams and crescents. The seal of Glasya-Labolas is structurally similar to the seal of Buer (the 10th spirit, a President) and the seal of Forneus (the 30th spirit, a Marquis). All three use the hexagram as the central element, but each adds a distinctive secondary symbol: Buer’s seal includes a wheel, Forneus’s includes a serpent, and Glasya-Labolas’s includes the crescent and cross.
The seal of Glasya-Labolas is unusual in its use of the crescent. Only two other Presidents in the Goetia have crescents on their seals: Orobas (the 55th spirit) and Amy (the 58th spirit). This suggests that Glasya-Labolas, Orobas, and Amy share a lunar quality that the other Presidents lack. In practice, this means they are easier to contact during the waning moon and are more receptive to requests involving hidden knowledge rather than material gain.
What People Get Wrong About the Seal
The most common misconception is that the seal is a protective amulet. It is not. The seal binds the spirit, but it does not protect the operator from the spirit’s influence. The protection comes from the circle, the triangle, and the operator’s own spiritual preparation. Wearing the seal as a pendant without performing the full ritual is like holding a loaded gun without knowing how to aim it.
A second misconception is that the seal must be drawn exactly as it appears in the manuscript, down to the millimeter. The manuscripts themselves contradict this: the seal in Sloane 3825 differs from the seal in Harley 6483, and both differ from the seal in the 1904 Mathers edition. The seal’s power comes from the operator’s intention and the ritual context, not from the precision of the lines. A seal drawn with trembling hands during the correct hour is more effective than a perfect copy drawn at noon on a Tuesday.
A third misconception is that the seal is a universal key to Glasya-Labolas’s knowledge. The seal opens the door, but the operator must have the skill to walk through it. The spirit will answer truthfully, but the operator must know how to interpret the answer. Glasya-Labolas speaks in symbols and visions, not in plain language. The seal is the invitation, not the conversation.
FAQ
Can I draw the seal of Glasya-Labolas on paper and carry it for protection? No. The seal is a binding tool, not a protective amulet. Carrying it without ritual preparation may attract the spirit’s attention without the protections of the circle and triangle.
Do I need to use virgin parchment, or can I use regular paper? Regular paper works for learning and study. For actual evocation, virgin parchment is traditional because it has never been used for any other purpose, making it a pure vessel for the seal’s energy.
Is the seal of Glasya-Labolas the same in every grimoire? No. The seal varies between manuscripts. The Sloane 3825 version has the cross inside the hexagram, while the Harley 6483 version has the cross above it. Both are valid.
Can I use the seal for scrying without evoking the spirit? Yes. Scrying with the seal is considered a safer method than full evocation. Place the seal under a black cloth and gaze at it in a dimly lit room. The spirit may appear in your mind’s eye rather than in physical space.
The seal of Glasya-Labolas is a tool of precision, not a talisman of vague power. It demands preparation, discipline, and a willingness to sit with the unknown. For those who work with the Goetic spirits, the seal is the first step and the last anchor. It is the line drawn between the operator and the abyss.
For a deeper understanding of the Goetic hierarchy, see our guide to the 72 spirits of the Goetia. To explore the symbols used in spirit seals, visit the glossary of occult sigils. And for a detailed breakdown of the triangle of art and its construction, read how to set up a Goetic evocation space.