Olympic Spirits

The Olympic Spirits are celestial intelligences believed to inhabit the firmament and the planetary spheres. Rather than belonging to the infernal hierarchies of traditional demonology, they are presented as governors of cosmic forces who oversee both the natural operations of the world and certain forms of magical work.

Their most influential description appears in the Arbatel of Magic, an anonymous sixteenth-century grimoire shaped by Christian theology, Renaissance magic and planetary philosophy. The text portrays the universe as an ordered spiritual system in which divine authority descends through celestial governors, planetary powers and countless subordinate spirits.

According to the Arbatel, the universe is divided into 196 Olympic Provinces. The first printed edition gave the number as 186, but this is generally regarded as a printing error that was corrected in later editions. These provinces are divided unequally among seven great governors, each associated with one of the seven classical planets.

The Olympic Spirits are not merely rulers of distant celestial regions. Each governs particular forces within the human world, including knowledge, medicine, wealth, warfare, beauty, transformation, longevity and the secret operations of nature. Through their planetary offices, they were believed capable of teaching hidden arts, granting familiar spirits, revealing treasures and assisting the magician in extraordinary works.

The Arbatel places unusual emphasis on spiritual office rather than pronunciation. It states that a magician does not need to pronounce the spirit’s name perfectly, nor should unnecessary names be invented or forced upon it. Instead, the operator should call upon the spirit by its appointed office and use only those names that have been revealed or confirmed by the spirit itself.

This principle may explain why later occult writers recorded different spellings, titles and descriptions for the Olympic Spirits. Their names vary between manuscripts and editions, while the details of their powers sometimes shift according to the writer, translator or magical tradition involved.

Despite these variations, the seven planetary governors remain the central figures of Olympic spirit magic.

Governors

In the Arbatel, the seven governors and their offices, powers, functions, and characters are:

Aratron. Aratron rules 49 Olympic Provinces and governs things that are influenced by Saturn. He teaches Alchemy, Magic, medicine, and the secrets of invisibility. He confers Familiars, fertility, and longevity. Aratron can transmute coal into treasure and treasure into coal and can change any living thing into stone. He reconciles subterranean spirits with humans (see Elements). He should be invoked on Saturday in the first hour of the day, using his character given and confirmed by himself.

Bethor. Bethor rules 42 provinces and all affairs influenced by Jupiter. He comes quickly when evoked. He confers familiars and can extend life to 700 years, providing it is in accordance with the will of God. Bethor assists in finding large treasures. He reconciles the spirits of the air to humans so that they will give true answers in divination, transport precious stones, and concoct miraculous medicines.

Phaleg. Phaleg rules 35 provinces and things governed by Mars. He is especially helpful in military matters and can help a soldier or an officer advance in his career.

Och. Och rules 28 provinces and is a spirit of perfection. He extends life to 600 years with perfect health, confers excellent familiars, and concocts perfect medicines. He is the ultimate alchemist and is able to transmute any substance into the purest metals or precious jewels. He bestows gold and a purse “springing with gold.” Whoever possesses his character will be worshipped as a god by the kings of the world.

Hagith. Hagith rules 21 provinces and venereal matters. He confers faithful serving spirits. He converts copper into gold and gold into copper. Whoever possesses his character will be adorned with beauty.

Ophiel. Ophiel rules 14 provinces and all things influenced by Mercury. He teaches all arts, including the ability to change quicksilver (mercury) instantly into the Philosopher’s Stone. He confers familiars.

Phul. Phul rules seven provinces and all things governed by the Moon. He transmutes all metals into silver, heals dropsy, and confers spirits of water to serve humans in a visible form. He prolongs life to 300 years.

The governors are served by kings, princes, presidents, dukes, and ministers, all of whom have legions of inferior Olympic Spirits working for them.

Evocation and Dismissal

The Arbatel gives instructions for evoking the governors. The evocation should be done on the day and in the hour of the planet associated with the governor and with the following Christianized prayer:

O Eternal and Omnipotent God, who hast ordained the whole creation for Thy praise and Thy glory, as also for the salvation of man, I beseech Thee to send Thy Spirit N., of the Solar Race [or appropriate designation] that he may instruct me concerning those things about which I design to ask him [or that he may bring me medicine, etc.]. Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done, through Jesus Christ, Thine only-begotten Son, who is our Lord. Amen.

The spirit should be engaged for no more than an hour. It is discharged with the following:

Forasmuch as thou camest in peace and quietness, having also answered unto my petitions, I give thanks unto God, in whose Name thou camest. Now mayest thou depart in peace unto thine own order, but return unto me again, when I shall call thee by thy name, or by thine order, or by thine office, which is granted from the Creator. Amen. [Then add:] Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou art upon earth; therefore let thy words be few. For a dream cometh through a multitude of business, and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words.—Eccles. v. 3, 4.

The Celestial Hierarchy of the Arbatel

The Olympic Spirits occupy an unusual position within Western ceremonial magic. They are powerful planetary intelligences, yet the Arbatel repeatedly insists that they remain subject to the authority of God. The magician is not instructed to threaten, imprison or torture them through barbarous commands. Instead, communication is framed through prayer, humility and recognition of a divine cosmic order.

This distinguishes the Arbatel from more coercive grimoires. Its system presents magic as a sacred relationship between humanity, the celestial spheres and the Creator. The successful magician is expected to possess discipline, reverence and wisdom rather than relying solely on complicated names, threats or theatrical ceremonies.

The promise of the Olympic Spirits is immense. They are said to possess knowledge of alchemy, medicine, invisibility, planetary mysteries, treasure, longevity and the transformation of matter itself. Yet the text also warns against arrogance, uncontrolled ambition and careless speech before spiritual powers.

That warning remains central to the tradition. The Olympic Spirits are not fantasy characters to be collected like names from a catalogue. They represent a complete Renaissance system of planetary magic in which every spirit, province and operation forms part of a greater celestial structure.

Reading a few paragraphs about the Olympic Spirits will not give you command of the planetary mysteries.

Inside the Occult World Mystery School, you can study ancient grimoires, ceremonial magic, planetary intelligences, spirit hierarchies, alchemy and the hidden traditions that shaped Western occultism. You will learn how texts such as the Arbatel fit into the wider history of magic instead of stumbling through disconnected fragments copied across the internet.

Stop pretending that curiosity is the same as knowledge. Stop collecting seals, spirit names and rituals you do not understand. The occult rewards discipline, not spectatorship.

Join the Occult World Mystery School and enter the grimoire tradition with purpose. The celestial gates will not open for those who remain outside merely reading about them.