The metallurgical and symbolic powers of Zagam, king and president of Hell, in the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and Renaissance occult texts
Zagam is listed in several early modern demonological texts, including Johann Weyer’s Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (1577), the Lemegeton (Ars Goetia), and later compilations such as Collin de Plancy’s Dictionnaire Infernal. He is described as a great king and president of Hell, commanding thirty legions of demons.
According to these grimoires, Zagam appears in the form of a bull with griffin wings—a hybrid creature evoking both terrestrial strength and aerial power, commonly found in Renaissance emblematic language. This composite imagery aligns him with other chimera-like infernal beings found in demonological literature, where animal features often serve as allegories for spiritual capacities or domains of influence.
Zagam’s attributes are strongly alchemical and transformational. He is said to possess the ability to:
- Transform water into wine
- Convert blood into oil
- Turn madness into wisdom
- Transmute lead into silver and copper into gold
These powers connect him directly to themes of alchemy, symbolic inversion, and metamorphosis, central concerns in European esoteric traditions of the late medieval and Renaissance periods. His acts echo classical miraculous motifs (such as the transformation of water into wine) while simultaneously aligning with the hermetic pursuit of spiritual and material perfection.
Zagam’s role as both king and president suggests a dual function: one of command and judgment, typical of spirits that operate not merely through force but also through cunning or intellectual transformation. In some interpretations, his capacity to alter mental states—from madness to wisdom—adds a psychological dimension, reinforcing associations with gnosis, revelation, or hidden knowledge.
Though Zagam does not appear in earlier theological writings or folklore, his presence in Renaissance grimoires reflects a period in which magical classification systems flourished, often imitating ecclesiastical and imperial hierarchies. Such texts borrowed terminology from legal, courtly, and academic settings, structuring the infernal realm with ranks such as kings, dukes, and presidents.
In illustrated editions of the Dictionnaire Infernal, Zagam is depicted with his bull and griffin features, though his iconography varies slightly across sources. These illustrations reinforced his reputation not only as a demonic figure of authority but as a personification of transformation, deeply embedded in the symbolic language of European occultism.
Sources:
- Johann Weyer, Pseudomonarchia Daemonum (1577)
- The Lesser Key of Solomon, Book I (Ars Goetia)
- Jacques Collin de Plancy, Dictionnaire Infernal (1818; 1863 edition with illustrations by Louis Le Breton)
- Francis Barrett, The Magus (1801)
- Lawrence M. Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy
- Didier Kahn, Alchimie et paracelsisme en France à la fin de la Renaissance
