THE BLOODY MARQUIS ANDRAS... Many people are terrified of this spirit, and I can understand why. Once
upon a time I too, felt very guarded around this spirit, refusing to even write its name. After all,
its description in grimoires promises DEATH and DISCORD, dubbing the TERRIBLE MARQUIS ANDRAS as a
'slayer of men'. I have heard people warn that "nothing good comes from working with Andras"-- a
sentiment that stuck with me for a very long time. Yet, when it came time to illustrating this spirit,
and conjuring them for the preliminary inspiration phase, I better understood the nature of Andras.
Indeed, Marquis Andras is a chaotic spirit, however, to limit his nature as a 'tool' or a 'black
magick hitman', would be an unfair reduction of his nature and ultimately, what he can provide.
I have found this spirit to have an affinity for ANGER, in particular, the blinding anger that CAN
bring destruction if allowed to let itself loose. It is an anger I have felt only a few times in life,
it wakes the whole body, and makes the extremities tingle until they go numb. It is a "quiet rage",
that sends shivers throughout the body and creates a feeling of such intense anger that it bubbles over
into euphoria. I would describe this state as very similar to Andras' influence. Yet, there is always
this lucidity and presence of mind to it, where one can sit with the feeling and let it wash over through
its shivers of ecstasy.
Andras himself seems to have a personality completely removed from any expression of malice, or hatred.
Paradoxically, there is a glee and a euphoria to his rage. Just as predation is not an act of hate,
his rage is not something petty or discriminatory-- if anything it is triumph, or sport. As such, he
may indeed fulfill a foolish summoners' request for a 'hit', however this will most certainly end
poorly for the parties involved-- as petitioning Andras to bring death is much like siccing a natural
disaster on someone. While I don't think Andras dislikes this sort of outcome, I think he much more
prefers to work with people through their feelings of rage, as something of a coach for anger management.
In any case, I think the fear around Marquis Andras is overblown, though you should absolutely be afraid
if you are doing something as petty as asking him to kill someone for you-- as he will see through your
weakness and possibly hunt YOU for sport! I also take this point again to say, that, while these spirits
certainly can help us, and give us their tutelage, they are NOT tools, and they have an agency of their
own that will not tolerate being treated as such. I won't clutch my pearls over slinging hexes and
curses for petty reasons (as I did plenty of that during my foolish youth), but speaking from a practical
stance I think doing such a thing as extreme as a death curse RARELY provides a genuine solution to a
problem, and is likely to make things WORSE, even assuming it doesn't backfire spectacularly. Spirits
such as Andras won't be as courteous to give you such a warning however, and many of the goetic spirits
are perfectly happy to enable fools to ruin themselves by granting them their wishes. Through these
harsh consequences there can be wisdom, though you would do better to spare yourself this painful lesson.
Overall, the lesson Andras has to teach is one of DISCERNMENT. Discern where your anger can be targeted
in a way that is constructive rather than destructive. Discerning when it is perhaps necessary to destroy.
Discerning what can be solved only with an extreme measure like a curse, versus what can be solved by
mundane means. Discernment of why you are performing spellwork, and what reason you are doing so.
Discern if the outcome you wish for will truly be helpful, and not just make matters worse.
Curses are an empowering thing, there is a lot of injustice and inequality of power that occurs every day,
and using these tools to meddle with the natural state of things for the sake of bringing balance is
sometimes necessary. However, petitioning the Marquis Andras for a hit is like bringing a nuke to a knife
fight. Most of the time such a request from him is entirely unneccessary, as there are a NUMBER of other
members of the goetia that can enable you to deal with injustice, like SABNOCK, or NABERIUS.
However, when the time comes where Andras is indeed necessary, it is usually at the point where you would
have no other choice, and at such a time you will know.
As a final point, it has come to my attention that the internet star "Hide the Pain Harold" happens to share
a first name with our beloved Marquis. Nomen est omen!
András Arató, the mascot of muted, smoldering discomfort.
May those of you carrying rage find your peace, and may you have the fortitude to hide the pain.
Andras will be right there with you.
