The fourth spirit of the Ars Goetia and the first Marquis in the catalogue. Samigina appears first as a small horse or ass, then transforms into human form at the conjurer's request. He teaches the liberal arts and sciences, and performs a unique function among all Goetia spirits: he gives account of the souls of those who have died in sin — a necromantic dimension that no other spirit in the hierarchy shares in quite the same way.
Samigina's appearance follows a two-stage process unique among the early spirits of the Goetia. He first appears as a small horse or ass — an animal form — and only transforms into human shape when the conjurer requests it. This initial animal form is not a disguise or a test but Samigina's natural first mode of manifestation, the form he assumes when crossing from his realm into the conjurer's space.
The horse and the ass carry quite different symbolic weights in Western tradition. The horse is the animal of nobility, speed, power and the sun — the mount of heroes and gods. The ass is the animal of humility, endurance and hidden wisdom — the animal that carried Christ into Jerusalem, that spoke to Balaam (connecting to the spirit Balam of the Kings), that appears in myth as the form taken by those who have been transformed or revealed. That Samigina appears as either — small horse or ass — suggests he operates across both registers: the noble and the humble, the swift and the patient.
The transformation to human form on request is significant. It means the conjurer must actively engage with Samigina — must speak to him and ask for the transformation. This small ritual of request establishes a relationship of respectful dialogue from the first moment of the encounter.
The Fourth Spirit is Samigina, a Great Marquis. He appeareth in the form of a little Horse or Ass, and then into Human shape doth he change himself at the request of the Master. He speaketh with a hoarse voice. He ruleth over 30 Legions of Inferiors.
— Ars Goetia, Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis, 17th centurySamigina governs two seemingly unrelated domains — the liberal arts and sciences on one hand, and the souls of the sinful dead on the other. This combination is less paradoxical than it initially appears. Both domains concern the transmission of knowledge across boundaries: the liberal arts transmit human knowledge across time and between minds; communication with the souls of the dead transmits knowledge across the boundary between life and death. Samigina governs the movement of knowledge across thresholds.
The souls in purgatory: Samigina's connection to souls detained in purgatory places him in direct contact with the Catholic theological framework of the time when the Goetia was compiled. Purgatory is the intermediate state between death and heaven — where souls who died in a state of sin but not beyond redemption are purified before entering paradise. Samigina's ability to give account of these souls suggests he operates in this intermediate realm — the borderland between life and final death — rather than in the infernal depths. This is consistent with his initial horse/ass appearance: a being of threshold and transition rather than of the depths.
The liberal arts — artes liberales — were the classical curriculum of the free citizen: the skills needed to participate fully in intellectual and civic life. They formed the foundation of Western education from antiquity through the medieval university. Samigina teaching the liberal sciences means he transmits access to the entire tradition of human intellectual culture as it was understood in the period of the Goetia's compilation.
Samigina is invoked by scholars, students and those engaged in serious intellectual work — his liberal arts teaching encompasses the full range of traditional learning. He is also sought in necromantic workings — particularly where the practitioner has reason to believe that a deceased person's soul is in a troubled intermediate state and seeks information about their condition.
His two-stage appearance — animal then human — means that working with Samigina requires patience and active engagement. He does not arrive ready to teach; he arrives in a form that must be invited to transform. This mirrors the process of learning itself: knowledge does not arrive in finished form but must be invited to reveal itself through active engagement.