Likely from the Latin furcifer for scoundrel, the powerful infernal Earl leads twenty-six legions of demons—according to the Ars Goetia after Johann Weyer’s late sixteenth century hierarchy and expanded, elaborated by Aleister Crowley and illustrated by Jacques Collin de Plancy—this demon is depicted in the form of a peryton—that is a chimerical winged stag (the hybrid itself created by Jorge Luis Borges in 1957 despite its being imbued with mythological pedigree) and has a reputation for dispensing falsehoods, unless compelled to tell the truth by being bound with a magical triangle.
Once tamed into eloquence, Furfur imparts teachings on secret and divine things, wields tempests and galvanises romance and is summoned with this sigil (see also) and partaking of a quadrant of Virgo corresponds to today through the fifteenth of September.
We quite enjoyed this latest edition of Merriam-Webster’s Word Matters podcast with veteran podcaster (going on fifteen years, from back when I had a couple of Ricky Gervais episodes included on the MP3 playlist on my TomTom GPS navigator) Mignon Fogarty (also known as Grammar Girl) and the panel discussion on an approach that’s neither pedantic, precious nor prescriptive about language but rather focused on inclusivity and clarity as language is not about cultural, class signalling or shibboleths but rather getting one’s message across with minimal distraction for the recipient. That said, we particularly liked learning that one only throws down the gauntlet (a piece of armour meant to protect the wrists and hands) to issue a challenge to a duel whereas one runs the gantlet (from the Swedish gatlopp for a street run) as a form of hazing.
