BUNE
«Bimé»
DUKE · 30 LEGIONS
The 26th Spirit of the Ars Goetia
Bune is described in the Ars Goetia as a Great and Mighty Duke governing 30 legions of spirits.
His traditional offices include the dead, wealth, wisdom, eloquence and truthful answers.
But the history of Bune is more interesting than the familiar modern description suggests.
-----------✦-----------
HOW BUNE APPEARS
Modern artistic reconstruction based on the textual description; not a historical manuscript image.
The Ars Goetia describes Bune as a dragon with three heads:
Dog · Gryphon · Man
However, these three specific heads are not present in the oldest surviving description of Bune.
-----------✦-----------
THE DOCUMENTARY CHAIN
Livre des Esperitz · c. 1450
Bune already appears as a great duke associated with moving bodies, wealth, wise speech and truthful answers.
The text gives him 35 legions.
There is no dragon and no three-headed form yet.
Johann Weyer · Pseudomonarchia Daemonum · 1577
Weyer describes Bune as a dragon with three heads, with the third resembling a man.
He is associated with the dead, tombs, wealth, eloquence, wisdom and truthful answers.
Here Bune has 30 legions.
Reginald Scot · The Discoverie of Witchcraft · 1584
Scot carries essentially the same description into English.
The dragon and three heads remain, but only the third is identified as resembling a man.
Ars Goetia · Lemegeton
This is where the familiar description finally becomes specific:
Dog · Gryphon · Man
So the Bune most people visualize today is the result of a later stage in the documentary tradition rather than a description unchanged from the earliest source.
-----------✦-----------
THE TWO SEALS OF BUNE
The Lemegeton manuscript tradition preserves two different seals for Bune in Sloane MS 2731, fol. 104r.
The first is the more complex form and is marked as the better one. The second is presented as an alternative.
SEAL I · ★
Sloane MS 2731 · fol. 104r
Mathers–Crowley · 1904 · vector form
Manuscript witness → printed/vector form
✦ ✦ ✦
SEAL II
Sloane MS 2731 · fol. 104r
Mathers–Crowley · 1904 · vector form
The manuscript facsimiles are presented separately from the modern vector reproductions so that the two documentary layers are not confused.
-----------✦-----------
WHAT BUNE IS ASSOCIATED WITH
The dead and tombs
Wealth and riches
Wisdom
Eloquence
Truthful answers
One interesting point is that several of these characteristics are already present in the much older Livre des Esperitz.
-----------✦-----------
THE GOETIC OPERATION
The Ars Goetia does not preserve a completely separate ritual exclusively for Bune.
Instead, Bune is approached through the general Goetic operation used for the spirits of the Ars Goetia.
The historical procedure includes the Magic Circle, the Triangle of Art, the lamen bearing the spirit's seal, the conjurations and, when necessary, the traditional constraints. At the end, the spirit is given the licence to depart.
Importantly, the historical sources do not provide Bune with a unique orientation, obligatory offering or exclusive ritual condition.
-----------✦-----------
THE MODERN ENN
«Wehl melan avage Bune tasa»
This phrase is widely circulated today as Bune's enn.
It should nevertheless be distinguished from the historical grimoires.
It is a modern demonolatry chant, not a formula found in the old Bune manuscripts.
The same distinction applies to many modern offerings, correspondences and devotional practices associated with Bune.
-----------✦-----------
WHY FOLLOW THE DOCUMENTARY CHAIN?
Livre des Esperitz
↓
Pseudomonarchia Daemonum
↓
The Discoverie of Witchcraft
↓
Ars Goetia
The interesting part is not simply knowing what Bune "is".
It is seeing when each characteristic appears.
The dead and wealth are old.
The dragon appears later.
The specific dog · gryphon · man combination appears later still.
Modern demonolatry adds another layer.
Keeping those layers separate makes the history much easier to see.
-----------✦-----------
I'm particularly interested in primary sources:
Have you encountered an older manuscript or edition containing a Bune-specific ritual, rather than the general Goetic operation?
And which of the two traditional Bune seals have you encountered in your own research?
«Bimé»
DUKE · 30 LEGIONS
The 26th Spirit of the Ars Goetia
Bune is described in the Ars Goetia as a Great and Mighty Duke governing 30 legions of spirits.
His traditional offices include the dead, wealth, wisdom, eloquence and truthful answers.
But the history of Bune is more interesting than the familiar modern description suggests.
-----------✦-----------
HOW BUNE APPEARS
Modern artistic reconstruction based on the textual description; not a historical manuscript image.
The Ars Goetia describes Bune as a dragon with three heads:
Dog · Gryphon · Man
However, these three specific heads are not present in the oldest surviving description of Bune.
-----------✦-----------
THE DOCUMENTARY CHAIN
Livre des Esperitz · c. 1450
Bune already appears as a great duke associated with moving bodies, wealth, wise speech and truthful answers.
The text gives him 35 legions.
There is no dragon and no three-headed form yet.
Johann Weyer · Pseudomonarchia Daemonum · 1577
Weyer describes Bune as a dragon with three heads, with the third resembling a man.
He is associated with the dead, tombs, wealth, eloquence, wisdom and truthful answers.
Here Bune has 30 legions.
Reginald Scot · The Discoverie of Witchcraft · 1584
Scot carries essentially the same description into English.
The dragon and three heads remain, but only the third is identified as resembling a man.
Ars Goetia · Lemegeton
This is where the familiar description finally becomes specific:
Dog · Gryphon · Man
So the Bune most people visualize today is the result of a later stage in the documentary tradition rather than a description unchanged from the earliest source.
-----------✦-----------
THE TWO SEALS OF BUNE
The Lemegeton manuscript tradition preserves two different seals for Bune in Sloane MS 2731, fol. 104r.
The first is the more complex form and is marked as the better one. The second is presented as an alternative.
SEAL I · ★
Sloane MS 2731 · fol. 104r
Mathers–Crowley · 1904 · vector form
Manuscript witness → printed/vector form
✦ ✦ ✦
SEAL II
Sloane MS 2731 · fol. 104r
Mathers–Crowley · 1904 · vector form
The manuscript facsimiles are presented separately from the modern vector reproductions so that the two documentary layers are not confused.
-----------✦-----------
WHAT BUNE IS ASSOCIATED WITH
The dead and tombs
Wealth and riches
Wisdom
Eloquence
Truthful answers
One interesting point is that several of these characteristics are already present in the much older Livre des Esperitz.
-----------✦-----------
THE GOETIC OPERATION
The Ars Goetia does not preserve a completely separate ritual exclusively for Bune.
Instead, Bune is approached through the general Goetic operation used for the spirits of the Ars Goetia.
The historical procedure includes the Magic Circle, the Triangle of Art, the lamen bearing the spirit's seal, the conjurations and, when necessary, the traditional constraints. At the end, the spirit is given the licence to depart.
Importantly, the historical sources do not provide Bune with a unique orientation, obligatory offering or exclusive ritual condition.
-----------✦-----------
THE MODERN ENN
«Wehl melan avage Bune tasa»
This phrase is widely circulated today as Bune's enn.
It should nevertheless be distinguished from the historical grimoires.
It is a modern demonolatry chant, not a formula found in the old Bune manuscripts.
The same distinction applies to many modern offerings, correspondences and devotional practices associated with Bune.
-----------✦-----------
WHY FOLLOW THE DOCUMENTARY CHAIN?
Livre des Esperitz
↓
Pseudomonarchia Daemonum
↓
The Discoverie of Witchcraft
↓
Ars Goetia
The interesting part is not simply knowing what Bune "is".
It is seeing when each characteristic appears.
The dead and wealth are old.
The dragon appears later.
The specific dog · gryphon · man combination appears later still.
Modern demonolatry adds another layer.
Keeping those layers separate makes the history much easier to see.
-----------✦-----------
I'm particularly interested in primary sources:
Have you encountered an older manuscript or edition containing a Bune-specific ritual, rather than the general Goetic operation?
And which of the two traditional Bune seals have you encountered in your own research?
