Rank: Duke · Legions: 30 · Element: Water · Direction: South · Enn: Serena alora Sallos aken
Sallos, written also Saleos or Zaleos in the older books, is the nineteenth spirit of the Ars Goetia — a great and mighty Duke who governs thirty legions of spirits. He appears in the form of a gallant soldier riding upon a crocodile, with a ducal crown upon his head, and the grimoires add a single word that sets him apart from nearly all his fellows: he is peaceable. His office is love: he causes the love of women toward men and of men toward women, kindling mutual affection and the gentle drawing-together of hearts. In Sallos the seeker meets the peaceable Duke of love — a mighty spirit of gentle and dignified accord, whose crowned rider masters even the fierce crocodile and rides it in peace, and whose gift is not the fever of passion but the calm, harmonious, mutual love that draws two hearts together. He is approached, in the reverent tradition, not to compel any unwilling heart but as a fosterer of gentle and mutual love freely shared, and of peace and harmony between those who love.
He descends to the modern practitioner through the long chain of grimoires, his name written as Sallos, Saleos, or Zaleos. He appears among the dukes of the infernal hierarchy in Johann Weyer's Pseudomonarchia Daemonum of 1577, and was carried over as the nineteenth spirit when that material was gathered into the Ars Goetia, the first book of the Lemegeton or Lesser Key of Solomon in the seventeenth century. Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and Aleister Crowley fixed the modern English text in their edition of the Goetia in 1904, and Jacques Collin de Plancy kept his memory among the spirits of his Dictionnaire Infernal. Across all of these the account holds firm: the great and mighty Duke, the crowned and gallant soldier riding a crocodile, peaceable in nature, who causes the mutual love of men and women, ruling over thirty legions of spirits. He is remembered, wherever he appears, as the peaceable Duke of love.
The grimoires are precise and vivid about how Sallos comes: as a gallant soldier, riding upon a crocodile, with a ducal crown upon his head. Each part of this image carries meaning, and the whole is a study in mastery. The gallant soldier is a figure of martial strength and noble bearing; the crocodile is one of the oldest emblems of primal, dangerous power — the fierce reptile of the ancient rivers, a creature of appetite and force; and the ducal crown is the sign of his high rank and dignity. That the gallant rider should sit crowned and calm upon so fierce a mount, and be called peaceable, is the heart of his image: here is fierce and primal power wholly mastered and borne in peace. The crocodile ridden gently is the very picture of what Sallos gives — the taming of the fierce into the gentle, of raw force into dignified accord, of passion into peaceable love.
Sallos holds the rank of Duke — in the Goetic hierarchy a high office of nobility and command — and the grimoires name him a great and mighty one, ruling over thirty legions of spirits. Yet in the same breath they call him peaceable, and this pairing is telling. His might is not the might of strife but of a strength so complete that it has no need of violence; his greatness expresses itself in gentleness. To call upon this Duke is to summon a powerful yet peaceable presence, a crowned and mighty lord whose strength is turned wholly toward the gentle and harmonious work of love.
The office for which Sallos is known is the kindling of love. The grimoires say plainly that he causes the love of women toward men and of men toward women — and it is worth marking that his love runs in both directions, a mutual affection rather than a one-sided compulsion. He draws hearts gently toward one another, kindles mutual fondness, and fosters the tender accord in which two come to love. In the reverent modern understanding this love is approached above all with a care for the freedom of those it touches: the fostering of gentle and mutual love between willing hearts, the deepening of a fondness freely and mutually shared, and the drawing-together of a love that is real and reciprocated — rather than the compelling of any particular person against their own free will.
What most distinguishes Sallos among the spirits, and above all among the love-bringers of the Goetia, is his peaceableness. Where a fiercer spirit kindles the fever of passion, Sallos brings a gentle and harmonious love; where another might stir desire, he fosters calm accord and tender fondness. His is the love that is dignified and at peace — the mature affection that rests easy, the harmony of two hearts drawn gently together without strife or storm. This peaceable nature reaches beyond the kindling of love into the keeping of it: he is a spirit of concord, sought not only to bring love but to bring peace and harmony where there has been discord, to calm strife between those who love, and to restore the gentle accord in which love thrives. In him the fierce crocodile is ridden gently, and the fever of passion gives way to the deep, calm warmth of a peaceable love.
Because Sallos's office touches the love and freedom of others, he is a spirit to be approached with a clear conscience, and the reverent tradition holds to this with care. The kindling of love is not, rightly understood, the compelling of an unwilling heart, for love that is forced is no love at all, and to override another's free will is both a wrong against them and a corruption of the gentle accord Sallos is meant to foster. His mutual love, which runs in both directions, is by its very nature a love freely returned; the reflective practitioner therefore turns his work toward the fostering of love that is real and willing — toward one's own openness to a gentle love, toward the drawing-together of hearts that freely incline toward one another, and toward the deepening and calming of a bond freely and mutually shared. His gift, rightly used, nurtures a love that is gentle, mutual, and true; it does not force what is not freely given.
Beneath the plain office of love-bringing lies the deeper thing Sallos teaches: the dignity and peace of a mature love. Passion flares and storms; the love Sallos fosters is the calm and steady warmth that endures beyond the storm, the accord in which two hearts rest gently together. The crocodile ridden peaceably is its image — the fierce and primal energy of desire not denied but mastered, borne with dignity, and turned toward gentleness rather than tumult. To seek Sallos is to seek this: not the fever alone but the peace, not the storm but the steady warmth, not the compulsion but the free and gentle accord. It is among the quieter and more dignified of the gifts of the Goetia, and among the most conducive to a love that lasts.
Within demonolatry and the modern left-hand path, Sallos is honoured as the peaceable Duke of love — a spirit of gentle, mutual affection and of harmony, approached with respect and a clear conscience. The reverent practitioner does not regard him as a slave to be coerced by threats, as the older exorcists' rites would have it, but as a mighty yet gentle being to be met with sincerity and a care for the freedom of all whom love touches. He is widely held to be warm and peaceable with those who come to him honestly, and especially close to those who seek a gentle and mutual love, or who would bring peace and harmony to a bond troubled by strife. To work with Sallos in this spirit is to gain a peaceable ally in the matters of the heart — one who fosters love that is gentle and mutual, and lends his calm to a love in need of peace.
The journey from the medieval and renaissance grimoires to the modern altar has changed how Sallos is approached without much changing who he is said to be. The old rites framed every Goetic spirit as a danger to be bound within a triangle and compelled by divine names, and turned his love-bringing toward the raw will of the operator. The modern reverent practitioner, by contrast, comes to Sallos with the seal, the Enn, and an honest wish — most often for one's own openness to a gentle love, for the drawing-together of willing hearts, or for the bringing of peace and harmony to a bond, and always with a care for consent and free will. The forms have softened, and an ethic of consent has come to the fore; the spirit described is the same crowned and peaceable rider who has fostered gentle love for four centuries and more.
In contemporary demonolatry Sallos is approached through his seal and his Enn — the chanted phrase Serena alora Sallos aken — by which practitioners open the way to him and hold his presence near. He is called upon for the opening of one's own heart to a gentle love, for the drawing-together of willing hearts in mutual affection, for the deepening of a fondness freely and mutually shared, and for the bringing of peace and harmony to a bond troubled by strife. Those who keep company with him describe a presence that is warm, calm, and dignified — a sense of a crowned and gentle rider, of a mighty strength borne in peace, of a quiet warmth drawing near. He rewards sincerity, gentleness, and a clear conscience about the freedom of others, and he asks that his gift be used to foster love that is gentle, mutual, and willing, never to compel it.
What endures across every telling is the peaceable strength of him. Sallos is love made gentle and dignified: the crowned rider who masters the crocodile and bears it in peace, the bringer of mutual affection, the fosterer of harmony and calm accord. He is mighty where many spirits are fierce, gentle where many are stormy, and close to one of the sweetest of human hopes — to love and be loved gently, mutually, and in peace. He asks for sincerity, gentleness, and a clear conscience about the freedom of others, and to those who bring them he is, by the steady witness of the grimoires and of those who work with him still, a great and mighty Duke: the peaceable rider who fosters a love that is gentle and mutual, and lends his calm to the keeping of it.
The grimoires describe Sallos as a gallant soldier riding upon a crocodile, with a ducal crown upon his head, and they add that he is peaceable. The image is a study in mastery: the gallant soldier of martial strength and noble bearing; the crocodile, one of the oldest emblems of fierce and primal power, the reptile of the ancient rivers; and the ducal crown of his high rank and dignity. That so fierce a mount should be ridden calmly, and the crowned rider called peaceable, is the heart of him — fierce and primal power wholly mastered and borne in peace. Those who work with him today describe a presence that is warm, calm, and dignified — a sense of a crowned and gentle rider, of a mighty strength borne without strife, of a quiet warmth.
Enn: Serena alora Sallos aken
Working with Sallos is the meeting of the peaceable Duke of love — a great and mighty spirit whose gift is gentle, mutual affection and the bringing of harmony to a bond. His is a strength so complete that it needs no strife, turned wholly toward the gentle work of love, and it is rightly directed toward one's own openness to a gentle love, toward the drawing-together of willing hearts, and toward the calming and deepening of a bond freely shared — never toward the compelling of an unwilling heart. He comes as a crowned rider who masters the fierce crocodile and bears it in peace, and he answers those who come to him with sincerity, gentleness, and a care for the freedom of all whom love touches. What follows is a guide to that relationship: how to approach the Duke, how to foster gentle and mutual love with a clear conscience, and how to seek from him peace and harmony in a bond.
Come to Sallos as you would come to a gentle and noble lord whose strength is turned toward peace — with respect, sincerity, and a clear conscience about the love you seek. He is not a spirit to be summoned idly or for the ensnaring of another, for his office touches love and the freedom of hearts, and his peaceable nature answers best to those who come gently and honestly, seeking a love that is mutual and real. Approach him with respect for his mighty yet peaceable strength, calm and sincere, and be clear in conscience that you seek to foster a love freely shared rather than to compel it. The relationship with him is built upon gentleness, honesty, and a care for the freedom of others, and what is begun in sincerity he tends to meet in kind.
Prepare a clean and quiet place where you will not be disturbed, and prepare yourself with a calm and open heart. Many practitioners cleanse themselves and the space beforehand and set out his seal as the single focus of the working. Some bring to the working things in keeping with his gentle and dignified nature — a soft-coloured candle, an emblem of love or of peace, a token of the bond they wish to foster or to calm. Settle your breathing and your heart, and bring with you a clear and honest sense of what you seek: your own openness to a gentle love, the drawing-together of willing hearts, or the bringing of peace to a bond troubled by discord. Above all, come clear in conscience that you do not seek to compel any unwilling heart.
Open the way to Sallos by setting your attention upon his seal and reciting his Enn — Serena alora Sallos aken — slowly and steadily, letting the chanted words carry your intent and call his presence near. Repeat the Enn until you feel the air of the working change: a gathering warmth, a calm and dignified presence, a sense of a gentle strength drawing near. Do not rush this; let his warm, peaceable presence gather and settle before you bring the matter of your heart before him, for the work with Sallos is a work of gentleness, best begun with a calm and open heart.
The truest and most fitting of the works to undertake with Sallos is the fostering of gentle, mutual love. To seek this, ask him not to bend a particular unwilling person to you, but to open your own heart to a gentle love, to draw toward you the willing hearts that freely incline your way, or to nurture and deepen a mutual fondness already begun. His love runs in both directions, a love freely returned, so ask him for the drawing-together of hearts that incline toward one another and for the gentle accord in which love grows. This is his gift rightly used — toward a love that is mutual, gentle, and willing — and it is the work he answers most warmly.
Because Sallos is peaceable above all, one of the truest works to undertake with him is the bringing of peace to a love troubled by strife. To seek this, name the bond you would calm and the discord that troubles it, and ask him to bring his peace and harmony to it — to calm the strife, soften the hardness, and restore the gentle accord in which love thrives. This is his own particular gentleness turned toward the keeping of love, and it is well sought by those whose love is real but has grown stormy. Then do your own part in the making of peace — to soften your own hardness, to meet the other with gentleness, to seek accord rather than victory — for he lends his calm to those who mean to keep the peace themselves.
Because Sallos's gift touches the love and freedom of others, its right conduct must be held clearly in mind. Do not seek to compel any particular person to love you against their will; love forced is no love, and to override another's free heart is a wrong against them and a corruption of the gentle accord you invoke. Turn his gift toward your own openness to love, toward the drawing-together of willing hearts, toward the deepening of a mutual fondness, and toward the bringing of peace to a bond freely shared, and let the outcome with any other person rest upon their own free heart. This is not a mere caution appended to the work but the very spirit of working rightly with the peaceable Duke.
Practitioners describe the signs of Sallos's presence and favour in warm and calm terms fitting to a peaceable spirit. There may be a gathering gentle warmth, a sense of calm and dignified presence, a feeling of peace settling over the working. In the days that follow some report a new openness and gentleness in their own heart, an unexpected softening and drawing-together with a willing other, a deepening of tender fondness in a bond freely shared, or a calming of strife and a return of accord where there had been discord. Keep a written record of what comes during and after the working — the warmth, the softenings, the turns toward accord in the days that follow — for his gentle love grows quietly over time.
Work with Sallos honestly, gently, and above all with a clear conscience about the freedom of others. Turn his gift toward your own openness to love, toward the drawing-together of willing hearts, toward the deepening of a mutual fondness, and toward the bringing of peace to a bond, and never toward compelling an unwilling heart. Seek his peace in the spirit of genuine accord rather than to win or to dominate a partner, and meet your own longing for love with gentleness and self-respect. Carry the love he fosters with the same peaceableness he embodies, without possessiveness or storm. Come to him always in good faith, honest in the love you seek and careful of the freedom of all whom it touches — for he is a great and mighty Duke who answers gentleness and right conscience with warmth and peace, and the attempt to force love with a gift that quietly withdraws.