No. 02 — Duke

Agares

Master of tongues and terrestrial upheaval, granting language mastery and command over earthbound forces.

Manifestation

Agares manifests as a stately figure mounted upon a pale dragon or crocodile, bearing the countenance of a nobleman in antiquated dress. His presence carries the scent of dry earth and shifted stone. When invoked, the air grows thick with an almost palpable weight—as though the ground beneath your feet has become conscious and attentive. Those in his presence report an uncanny awareness of their own linguistic limitations suddenly dissolving.

His aura crackles with a peculiar energy: simultaneously grounding and destabilizing. The space around him seems to compress, as though language itself becomes a tangible medium he manipulates with ease. His eyes reflect an ancient knowledge of human speech in all its forms, from the commonplace to the forgotten tongues of lost civilizations.

Powers

LINGUIST

Grants fluency in all languages, dead and living, written and spoken

TREMOR

Commands earthquakes and ground displacement with precise control

FUGITIVE

Enables swift escape and pursuit of those who flee

Rank

Duke

Legions

Sphere

Venus

♀

Element

Earth

North / Midnight

Seal

See Grimoire

Notation Below

Powers & Dominion 3 recorded abilities

01 Linguistic Mastery

Agares bestows complete fluency in any language—ancient Sumerian, demotic Egyptian, forgotten dialects. The invocant understands not merely words but the cultural context, idiom, and unspoken meanings beneath each utterance. This extends to animal tongues and the symbolic languages of dreams.

speech knowledge transformation

02 Terrestrial Command

The invoker gains authority over earth itself. Earthquakes obey summons with surgical precision. The ground beneath enemies becomes treacherous; safe passage opens for allies. This power extends to locating treasures hidden in soil and stone, reading geological memory.

earth power revelation

03 Pursuit & Escape

Agares grants supernatural speed and the ability to compel others toward or away from a location. Enemies find themselves drawn inexorably toward the invoker; fugitives vanish into landscapes as though swallowed by the earth itself. Time seems to bend in favor of swift movement.

motion compulsion flight

Deep Lore

Historical Origins

From Mesopotamian Boundary-Keeper to Christian Demon

Agares appears in the Ars Goetia as the second spirit, a rank suggesting significant antiquity in demonological tradition. Scholars trace his lineage to Mesopotamian boundary deities—specifically those spirits associated with the liminal spaces between cultivated land and wilderness. His name may derive from Akkadian roots relating to "upheaval" or "to turn," reflecting both linguistic transformation and geological disruption.

The connection to language mastery likely emerges from ancient Near Eastern associations between territorial markers (boundary stones, stele) and the inscribed word. In cuneiform traditions, the written mark established dominion; Agares preserves this principle as dominion over all forms of linguistic expression.

By the medieval grimoire period, Agares had been fully absorbed into the Christian demonological schema. The Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (1563) and later the Ars Goetia (17th century) preserved his core attributes while recontextualizing them as infernal powers rather than neutral boundary forces.

His association with earthquakes may reflect medieval misunderstandings of tectonic activity—attributed not to natural causes but to demonic intervention. Yet the connection also preserves pre-Christian cosmologies where earth-spirits held genuine authority over geological phenomena.

3000–1500 BCE

Mesopotamian Boundary Spirits

Proto-Agares entities in Akkadian and Sumerian traditions serve as guardian spirits of territory limits and linguistic borders between peoples.

1200–400 BCE

Hellenistic Integration

Greek magical papyri incorporate similar boundary-crossing spirits; the linguistic mastery theme intensifies as Greek scholarship values rhetoric and dialectic.

1200–1500 CE

Medieval Grimoire Codification

Christian demonologists systematize Agares as a formal rank (Duke) with specific legions and powers, preserving ancient attributes while reframing them as infernal.

1563 CE

Pseudomonarchia Daemonum

Johann Weyer's influential text codifies Agares as second spirit; this ordering influences all subsequent grimoires.

Grimoire Variations

How Different Traditions Describe the Duke of Earth and Speech

"Agares, a Duke mighty and terrible, doth grant mastery of all tongues and command of tremors beneath the earth, riding upon a dragon as though the beast were his own will made manifest."

Ars Goetia (Lesser Key of Solomon)

~1670s

"The Second Spirit is a Duke called Agares. He standeth under the power of the East, and commandeth thirty-one Legions of Spirits. He maketh those to run that stand still... and teacheth all manner of Languages..."

Emphasizes the paradox: motion and stillness, teaching distant tongues, causing earthquakes. The Eastern attribution links him to dawn, new knowledge, and revelation.

Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (Weyer)

1563

"Agares is a Duke under the power of the East, commanding 31 legions. He teacheth all languages, and causeth earthquakes and those who stand still to run."

Weyer's version is more concise but establishes the foundational attributes; less elaborate than later Solomonic texts but equally authoritative.

Dictionnaire Infernal (Collin de Plancy)

1818

"Agares, Duke of Hell, teaches all languages in three days. He compels fugitives to return and makes those who stand motionless run with great swiftness. He is depicted as a handsome man mounted on a crocodile."

De Plancy adds temporal specificity (three days) and shifts the mount from dragon to crocodile, emphasizing both transformation and the aquatic/earthly threshold.

Book of Abramelin

15th century manuscript

"The spirit Agares serveth in the Art of Running, causing swift motion, teaching the understanding of all tongues, and making earthquakes at thy command."

Abramelin tradition frames these powers as techniques or "arts," emphasizing practice and mastery rather than supernatural gift. More pragmatic approach to invocation.

III

Cultural Legacy

Agares in Literature, Art, and Modern Occultism

LITERATURE & OCCULT FICTION

The Polyglot Demon

In modern occult fiction, Agares represents the intellectual demon—the spirit invoked not for dominion but for understanding. Authors like Austin Osman Spare and Phil Hine emphasize his role in linguistic magic and sigil-craft, where the written word becomes a binding force. Contemporary grimoire authors present Agares as a patron of translation work and cross-cultural understanding, inverting the medieval fear of foreign tongues into a celebration of linguistic bridge-building.

TONGUE

QUAKE

GEOLOGY & NATURAL PHILOSOPHY

Medieval Earthquake Attribution

Before seismology, Agares served as an explanatory principle for earthquakes. Medieval theologians debated whether such events were divine punishment or demonic interference—with Agares frequently invoked as the culprit. This attribution gradually faded with 18th-century scientific advancement, yet persists in folk traditions where seismic activity is attributed to spiritual disturbance or unbalanced elemental forces.

MODERN OCCULTISM

Linguistic Magic & Communication

Contemporary practitioners invoke Agares for clear communication, language learning, and diplomatic negotiation. Chaos magic sigil-craft frequently incorporates Agares-correspondences for intentionality around speech and understanding. Some modern systems position him as an ally for those working with psychopomp work, accessing linguistic knowledge of spirits and departed souls who speak languages of the dead.

ELDER

Ritual Traditions

Four Approaches to Summoning and Petitioning Agares

Solomonic Ceremonial

Traditional grimoire approach using the circle, triangle, and full Solomonic seals. Invocant stands in the eastern quarter (Agares' attributed direction), speaks his name in Hebrew and Latin, and presents offerings of copper or silver coins. The summoning requires the recitation of Psalm 141, which addresses the threshold between worlds. Agares appears within the triangle and responds to specific petitions written in the language one wishes to master. This method emphasizes hierarchy, proper equipment, and absolute precision in naming.

Grimoire Purist

Minimal-equipment approach using only the Ars Goetia text itself. Practitioner reads Agares' corresponding seal from the grimoire, traces it in salt or chalk, and speaks the demon's name aloud while holding intention for linguistic mastery or passage. This method treats the written seal as a sufficient anchor point and relies on the intrinsic power of the ceremonial language and the demon's own agreement (established in the original grimoire compact). More efficient than full Solomonic work; preferred by those emphasizing will over pageantry.

Psychological Model

Modern approach treating Agares as an archetypal intelligence within the practitioner's own consciousness. Through meditation and active imagination, one visualizes Agares as an inner guide who embodies linguistic mastery and boundary-crossing. This method frames invocation as a dialogue with one's own integrative potential—accessing dormant language capabilities, understanding, and agility. No external circle required; the work occurs entirely in visionary space, with results manifesting as genuine cognitive shifts and improved communication ability.

Modern Devotional

Contemporary practice emphasizing relationship and reciprocity. Practitioners leave offerings (copper, fresh bread, handwritten notes in foreign languages) at thresholds or boundary places. They speak with Agares as a mentor-spirit rather than a subject to command, sharing intentions for understanding and movement. Work is ongoing and non-transactional; results emerge through sustained engagement rather than single rituals. This approach honors Agares' ancient role as a boundary-keeper and integrates modern values of consent and collaboration.

"All language is boundary-work: the speaker distinguishes self from other, known from unknown, order from chaos. Agares teaches that to master language is to master these distinctions themselves."

Across all traditions, successful work with Agares hinges on recognizing that his powers are not arbitrary supernatural intrusions but expressions of deep correspondences. Language genuinely alters consciousness—learning a new tongue rewires neurological pathways and opens new possibilities for thought. Movement and stillness are not external effects but reflections of will and intention made manifest. The earthquake is both literal (in esoteric cosmology) and metaphorical (the trembling of old certainties). A practitioner who works with Agares must embody this logic: speak with precision, move with purpose, and understand that every utterance establishes a boundary and crosses it simultaneously.

Classification

RankDuke — sovereign authority

Legions31 — spirits under direct command

PlanetVenus — ♀

MetalCopper — Cu

ElementEarth

SummoningFriday

SealRequired — inscribed on lamen or parchment

Invocation

Agares, duke of dusty throne and tongue,
Grant me the speech of ages long outworn,
Make solid earth obey what must be sung,
And swift my feet when danger is reborn.

Agares responds most readily to those who speak his name in a language other than their native tongue—a test of linguistic humility and a declaration of intent to master communication across all boundaries.