LXI - Barbas

61 - Barbas - Aka Marbas, Varbas, Barbarus (Book of Oberon) - Appears in The Book of Incantations, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, The Book of Spirits, The Book of the Office of Spirits, The Book of Oberon, The Grand Grimoire, Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, and The Lesser Key of Solomon

FROM THE LESSER KEY

The fifth Spirit is Marbas. He is a Great President, and appeareth at first in the form of a Great Lion, but afterwards, at the request of the Master, he putteth on Human Shape. He answereth truly of things Hidden or Secret. He causeth Diseases and cureth them. Again, he giveth great Wisdom and Knowledge in Mechanical Arts; and can change men into other shapes. He governeth 36 Legions of Spirits. And his Seal is this, which is to be worn as aforesaid.

FROM PSEUDOMONARCHIA / DISCOVERIE OF WITCHCRAFT

Marbas, alias Barbas is a great president, and appeareth in the forme of a mightie lion; but at the commandement of a conjuror commeth up in the likenes of a man, and answereth fullie as touching anie thing which is hidden or secret: he bringeth diseases, and cureth them, he promoteth wisedome, and the knowledge of mechanicall arts, or handicrafts; he changeth men into other shapes, and under his presidencie or gouvernement are thirtie six legions of divels conteined.

Original Text: Marbas, alias Barbas, Præses magnus, se manifestans in fortissimi leonis specie, sed ab exorcista accitus humana induitur forma, and de occultis plene respondet, morbos invehit and tollit, promovet sapientiam artiumque mechanicarum cognitionem, homines adhæc in aliam mutat formã. Præest trigintasex legionibus.

FROM THE DICTIONARY INFERNAL

Marbas or Barbas, great president of Hell ; he shows himself in the shape of a furious lion.

When he is in the presence of an exorcist, he will take human form and answers on hidden things. He sends illnesses; gives knowledge of the mechanical arts; changes man in different metamorphoses; he commands thirty six legions

Original Text: Marbas ou Barbas, grand président des enfers;il se montre sous-la forme d'un lion furieux. Lorsqu'il est en présence d'un exorciste, il prendla figure humaine et répond sur les choses cachées.Il envoie les maladies; il donne la connaissance désarts mécaniques ; il change l'hommeen différentes métamorphoses ; il commandetrente-six légions.

FROM THE BOOK OF OBERON

Varbas or Carbas [A good physician] a great prince or king, he appears like a fierce lion, yet when he commeth before him that calleth him, then he taketh one him the form of a man, and he giveth true answers of secret and hidden things, and teacheth to heal sick people, and he excelleth in the teaching of necromancy and causeth to be changed and that from his right physiognomy, and he hath under him 26 legions.

Original Text: 15 Varbas vel Carbas [In margin: A good phisiection.] a great prince or kinge, he appeareth like a fierse Lyon, yet when he commeth before him that calleth him, then he taketh one him the forme of a man, & he giveth trwe aunsweres of seecret & hid thinges, & teacheth to heale sicke people, & he excellth in the teachinge of Nigromancie & he causeth to be chaunged & that from his right phisiognomie, & he hath under him 26 legyons.

Appearance: A lion, but can shift into a human

Subrace: unknown

Abilities: Health/medicine, Illness, Knowledge of Mechanics, Shape-shifting

Legions: 36

Rank: President

Notes:

The name barbas is likely derived from the latin “Barba” meaning beard. There is also a town in Albania called Barbas, but it is likely unrelated.

The initial thing that jumped out at me were Barbas’s association with medicine and disease. The earliest text cited, the book of oberon, makes mention of him being a healer. This trend continues through the rest of the grimoires with the exception of the dictionnaire infernal. Here, de plancy explicitly refers to Barbas with the verb “envoyer” which implies that he causes or administers disease, in the sense that thanatos causes or administers death. He, in a sense, presides over it.

This will be a good place to speculate on the rank of “President” in hell. The oldest citation for Barbas places him as a king or a prince, yet he is described as a President from Weyer on. If we want to know what a president means for hell, we need to know what a president was for Johann Weyer.

Weyer was born in the small town of Grave in the duchy of Brabant (now part of Belgium) in 1515. By 1535 he was a live-in student of Agrippa, as he attended the universities of  's-Hertogenbosch and Leuven. He published de pragestis daemonium in 1536.

At the time, the netherlands were a tense place to be. In 1500, the netherlands were a loose confederacy of about 17 different independent regions, each controlled by their own local lord or merchant family. However, through astute diplomatic marriages, these territories eventually fell under the control of the house of Hapsburg.

In 1506, Charles V became the owner of it all. However, he left in 1515 to go be king of spain, and left control to his regents (his close family) who imposed sweeping reforms that trampled over the individual cultures and rights of the traditional rulers, inciting a heavy anti-spanish sentiment, which would eventually lead to the dutch revolt.

There were essentially two kinds of people who had the title of president at the time: The chancellor of a university, who acts as a sort of prime minister for the colleges governing body, or a legal official from habsburg spain who was here to ignore the perfectly fine informal legal system your dutchy had going.

Not only does this lend additional credence to my theory of hell being a sort of tortuous bureaucracy, but it paints said bureaucracy in an imperialist light. Even to the shades simply existing in the city of limbo, I can see this being a fitting punishment. The small but ever-present anxiety of filling out complex paperwork is almost poetic.

It would make sense for Barbas to administer the medical affairs of hells government offices. I imagine in hell one would still have to take medication for things, an application for a prescription would likely go through Barbas’s office.

Brand of the Medicant - The marked gains heavy resistance to sickness. The marked is able to act as medium for disease. Infection can be siphoned from any living thing the marked touches, held in the body, and injected into any other living thing. If a sickness is held in the body for too long, the marked will begin to feel ill effects that rapidly become worse.