#54 · Duke & Earl

Murmur

The 54th of the seventy-two, a duke and earl. Teaches philosophy. In the language of this path, Murmur is a shadow pole — worked only with its angel, Nithael.

What the grimoires say

In the 1904 Goetia, Murmur is a Duke & Earl governing 30 legions. Teaches philosophy; compels the souls of the dead to answer.

A Great Duke and Earl who appears as a warrior riding a griffin (a vulture in some versions), wearing a ducal crown, heralded by ministers sounding great trumpets. He teaches philosophy thoroughly and compels the souls of the dead to appear and answer questions. He commands 30 legions and was partly of the Order of Thrones and partly of Angels.

“The Fifty-fourth Spirit is called Murmur (or Murmus, or Murmux). He is a Great Duke, and an Earl; and appeareth in the Form of a Warrior riding upon a Gryphon, with a Ducal Crown upon his Head. His Office is to teach Philosophy perfectly, and to constrain Souls Deceased to come before the Exorcist to answer those questions which he may wish to put to them. (Goetia 1904 - public domain)”— Mathers & Crowley, The Goetia (1904), public domain

The shadow it carries

Stripped to the bone, Murmur's traditional office turns on philosophy and deep, structured learning. Read plainly, that is a real human force; in the language of this path its raw, unowned form is a shadow pole. Its shadow is what that force does when it runs you from the dark; its gold is the same force — seen, owned, governed.

You never reach for it alone. Its light pole is the angel Nithael; met together, behind protection, Murmur becomes a disowned part of yourself approached while the light is already in the room.

Correspondences

A word of honesty first: almost none of the table below is from the old grimoires. The rank, legions, direction and office are traditional; the planet, day, colour, tarot, incense and the Enn are modern attributions (mostly 20th–21st-century Demonolatry and correspondence compilations), and the sources openly disagree. Use them as a working frame, not as law.

Its modern Enn — a chant from the Demonolatry current, not found in any grimoire:

“Vefa mena Murmur ayer”

Making a connection

Gathered from what practitioners report, put plainly — a starting point, not a rule:

• Sit with the seal above as the first meeting-place: trace it, hold it in the mind’s eye, and let impressions arrive without grabbing at them.
• Set a gentle frame. Keep it simple — a green or red candle, a friday or tuesday, a little incense, a moment of quiet. If you work the Demonolatry current, chant the Enn softly — more like settling than commanding.
• Bring the real theme. Practitioners associate Murmur with necromancy and ancestor work - contacting and questioning the dead for closure or knowledge, gravitas, authority and mastery of a subject (the crown and trumpets). Name what you actually want, and ask — don’t demand.
• Journal before and after, and treat everything as your own experience, not fixed doctrine.

Rank, legions, direction and office are from the public-domain grimoires (Weyer 1577; Mathers & Crowley, The Goetia, 1904). Images are public domain: the 1904 seal. The Enn and the planet/day/colour/tarot correspondences are modern attributions (Demonolatry and compilations), flagged as such; sources disagree, and no copyrighted description or artwork is reproduced. Angel pairing per the Rudd tradition. Take the technique, never the tribe.

“Ask the dead your question and the answer is really about the living.”