Agares: Escape from the Self

By taking a step into the unknown, the Magus breaks the established stereotype according to which his destiny is to be a victim and prey.

And, of course, no one will let him go easily.

Besides the obstacles raised along his Way, a powerful force of inertia comes into play, striving to return the traveler to a cozy, familiar shelter.

This force seeks to restore the mind to a victim’s state and takes form as the Great Eastern Demon Agares.

Lemegeton describes this demon as follows:

“The Second Spirit is a Duke named Agreas (Agreas) or Agares (Agares). He rules in the East, appears as a courteous old man, riding upon a crocodile with a hawk on his wrist, and he is very meek at his appearance. He makes those that stand to run, and brings back the fugitives. He teaches all languages and the tongues of the past. He has power to deprive both Spiritual and Secular titles, and moreover he causes earthquakes…”

The demon’s principal weapon is his persistently unobtrusive, seemingly respectable lie.

Drop by drop, minute by minute, his voice convinces the traveler that he must “return,” of the senselessness of the Way the traveler has chosen, of the warmth and comfort of “familiar pleasures.”

A thousand arguments, each more logical than the last, and a thousand explanations and justifications arise from nowhere in his mind to make him abandon the struggle and leave the Way.

At first, the traveler usually doesn’t realize that he is about to desert; on the contrary, the “inner voice” convinces him that the “withdrawal” is correct, that rest is necessary, and finally, by “stepping aside” he will grow, and similar illusions.

The image that arises when the mind contacts Agares conveys the nature of this demon quite precisely: the “seemly old man” appears because the demon’s arguments seem logical and wise, almost irrefutable. The hawk on his hand is the tamed flight of thought imposed by him (the demon’s clenched hand signifies power over the “hawk”), the intellect’s faculty under his control; this is also attested by the demon’s eastern, airy nature. The chief field of action for Agares is intelligence itself; like Astaroth, he drives the mind into logical dead-ends and forces it to flee from battles and struggles behind various so-called rational masks. The crocodile the demon rides symbolizes a force that suppresses impulse, the predatory nature of all the “respectability” of Agares’s arguments.

Whenever, refusing the battle and turning away from the Orlög, no matter what arguments justify this flight, the Magus falls into Agares’s trap.

Another characteristic action of Agares is his ability to “cause earthquakes,” or, in de Plancy’s words, “to make the spirits of the earth dance.” In the language of the grimoire this means the demon’s influence on the physical nature, the bodily component of a person: the replacement of mental activity by physical activity and becoming trapped in it.

The “teaching of languages” the demon conducts signifies the false certainty he instills — the impression he dictates that “everything is clear” — and, again, is aimed at suppressing in those enslaved by Agares the impulse of the mind to move toward freedom and growth.

For the Magus it is crucial not to fall into this demon’s traps. To do this, he needs balance between his thinking and feeling aspects; the Magus must not rely too heavily on the “arguments” that surface in his mind, but must test and balance them with the wisdom of the heart.

The measure of progress, of advancing to strength and freedom for the Magus is not an “understanding” of that movement, not the thought that he is “moving in the right direction,” but the living fire in his heart, which keeps him from turning aside or fleeing from the raging elements. Only by pushing forward through storms and tempests, without retreating or surrendering, can the Magus emerge victorious from the battle called life.