Furcas: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Goetic demon}}

{{about|the mythological demon|another demon and President of Hell also called "Forcas"|Foras}}

{{Portal|Religion}}

[[File:Ill dict infernal p0296-280 forcas demon.jpg|Image of Furcas from [[Collin de Plancy]]'s [[Dictionnaire Infernal]]|thumb|275x275px]]

In [[demonology]], '''Furcas''' (also spelled '''Forcas''') is a [[Knight]] of [[Hell]] (the rank of Knight is unique to him), and rules 20 [[wikt:Legion|legions]] of [[demon]]s.<ref>[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5754923d/f290.image Collin de Plancy. ''Dictionnaire Infernal''. Paris, 1863, p. 280.]</ref><ref name="esoteric">[http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/goetia.htm#furcas Furcas] Esoteric Archives</ref> He teaches [[Philosophy]], [[Astronomy]] ([[Astrology]] to some authors), [[Rhetoric]], [[Logic]], [[Chiromancy]] and [[Pyromancy]].

Furcas (also known as Ren Vacca) is depicted as a strong old man with white hair and a long white beard, who rides a horse while holding a sharp weapon (pitch fork).

{{blockquote|Furcas is a knight and commeth foorth in the similitude of a cruell man, with a long beard and a hoarie head, he sitteth on a pale horse, carrieng in his hand a sharpe weapon, he perfectlie teacheth practike philosophie, rhetorike, logike, astronomie, chiromancie, pyromancie, and their parts: there obeie him twentie legions.|[[Johann Weyer]] (1583)<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060519182635/http://www.deliriumsrealm.com/delirium/articleview.asp?Post=154 Article view @ DileriumRealm.com]</ref>}}

Notably, the 1563 edition says Forcas is an alias of the demon [[Foras]], but in the 1583 edition of ''Pseudomonarchia Daemonum,'' Forcas is established as a unique demon separate from [[Foras]]. According to a translation by Joseph H. Peterson:

{{blockquote|Foras [*Forras], alias Forcas is a great president, and is seene in the forme of a strong man, and in humane shape, he understandeth the vertue of hearbs and pretious stones: he teacheth fullie logicke, ethicke, and their parts: he maketh a man invisible, wittie, eloquent, and to live long; he recovereth things lost, and discovereth [discloses] treasures, and is lord over nine and twentie legions.|[[Johann Weyer]] (1563)<ref>[http://www.esotericarchives.com/solomon/weyer.htm#par29 § 29. Furcas] Esoteric Archives</ref><ref>Weyer, Johann. ''Pseudomonarchia Daemonum'' p. 8, {{ISBN|9780557050598}}</ref>}}

The [[etymology]] of his name may be derived from the [[Latin]] word ''furca'', meaning fork,<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/morphindex?lang=la&lookup=furca&bytepos=44411783&wordcount=2&embed=2&doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059 Furca (''Latin''); fork]</ref> or from [[Greco-Roman]] also meaning a [[sepulchre]] (tomb).<ref>[http://ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/0569.html Furca from the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities] AncientLibrary.com</ref>

{{Reflist}}

==Sources==

*S. L. MacGregor Mathers, A. Crowley, ''[[The Goetia|The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King]]'' (1904). 1995 reprint: {{ISBN|0-87728-847-X}}.

{{Demons in the Ars Goetia}}

{{Demons in Pseudomonarchia Daemonum}}

[[Category:Goetic demons]]

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