Sigil of Zagan
At a glance
- Entry
- 61 of 72
- Rank
- King and President
- Legions
- 33 in the text
Description in the text
Zagan is said to make people witty or wise. The source also attributes to him unusual transformations of wine, water, blood, and metals into coin.
Read entry 61 on page 42 of the 1916 edition
Appearance
A bull with griffin wings, later taking human form.
Topics attributed to this entry
- Wisdom
- Transformation
- Alchemy
Reading this entry
Zagan is both king and president, first a bull with griffin wings and then a human figure. He is said to make people witty or even turn fools wise. The entry’s other offices concern conversion: wine into water, blood into wine, water into wine, and metals into a coin of their own dominion. This last claim is about coinage in the passage, not simply turning every metal into gold.
The reciprocal liquid changes echo Haagenti, but Zagan adds blood, coin, and the improvement of judgment. The text provides no process by which any transformation occurs. Thirty-three legions and a seal finish the account. Preserving the exact list of changes helps readers distinguish what the source says from the flattened modern label “alchemy demon,” which would miss its interest in wit and currency.
Read entry 61 on page 42 of the 1916 edition or compare the 1904 transcription.
A closer reading of entry 61
What the numbered text says
Zagan has two titles, king and president, and the passage shifts from a winged bull to human form. Its attributed changes run through liquids in a chain that is easy to misstate: wine to water, blood to wine, and water to wine. Metals become coin of their own dominion rather than simply gold. The prose frames these conversions beside changes in human judgment, making people witty and fools wise. The source does not describe an experiment or outcome that would verify any of these transformations.
About the printed seal
Number 61 is on the fifth printed frontispiece. The plate establishes which sign the 1916 edition pairs with Zagan’s dual rank, but its lines do not document a chemical process, a coin denomination, or a bull’s anatomy. Those belong to the passage’s distinct kinds of claim.
Compare another entry
Compare entry 57: Ose. Ose’s transformation claim changes a person’s form and belief about it. Zagan’s includes substances, coinage, and wit. Both can be filed under change, yet the targets and the text’s degree of detail are markedly different.