In Agrippa we read:
But Fire is twice more thin then Aire, thrice more movable, and four times more bright: and the Aire is twice more bright, thrice more thin, and four times more moveable then Water. Wherefore Water is twice more bright then Earth, thrice more thin, and four times more movable.
Oftentimes we are left frustrated when it seems a spirit has not accomplished what we asked of it, but we must pay attention to the fact that different spirits by the very nature of what they do work at different speeds. There is no way around this; the physical world is subject to the nature of time which even the spirits must obey when they are manifesting anything in it.
For the spirits of the Ars Goetia, then, this is a simple matter in principle. The spirits in this hierarchy are of an elemental nature fiery, airy, watery, or earthy and find themselves accordingly subject to the respective kings Amaymon, Oriens, Paimon, and Ariton. With the kings themselves what Agrippa said is most obvious: for all his power, Paimon is unlikely to be able to accomplish any request overnight, while Amaymon can bring you what you ask on the fly. If we were to take what is written above literally (which we shouldnât), then the latter would work 12 times faster than the former. The pay-off for all this is that the more time is needed for a change to occur, the longer it will also take for that change to itself give way to further change. Itâs a matter of stability, so to speak, and why the works of âhotâ spirits can blow up in your face. Ariton and his spirits work in terms of years, but build edifices that last lifetimes.
So, too, for the spirits under them. One can take love magic as an example: a very fiery spirit like Sitri can yield temporary results within minutes, while a watery one like Vuall will give create a relatively lasting effect that will take weeks to manifest. Obviously, the spirits of water work on the deeper emotions, while those of fire work on the transient passions, and we should all know how swiftly the later change while the former can last for years!
The tricky bit here is of course knowing which spirit is under which king. But thatâs another story.
I offer my information on âGoetic spiritsâ [i]as is]/i] as practical advice. Iâm not interested in debating any of these points with self-appointed traditionalists or modern subjectivists, but if you have genuine questions that wouldnât require writing a book to address, Iâll do my best to try and answer them.