GUIDE TO THE TAROT OF THE GOLDEN SERPENT
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
This is a descriptive guide to the images of the Tarot of the Golden Serpent, which I am offering for sale as a full 78 card deck in the Wizard Forums Marketplace.
Product Offering - The Tarot of the Golden Serpent
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I have embedded links to the images in the titles of the cards below. My hope is this should allow the reader to more easily examine the images while using the written descriptions as an assist. I have described each image in the TGS in the most condensed and direct manner I can without deep reflection on their significance. I have also provided subtitles to the Minor Arcana images which I omitted from the printed cards for compositional reasons. There is a lot of symbol stacking in the TGS, and layers of meaning dwell beneath these. While I could write whole essays on each image, I content myself to pointing out the main features so that whoever can follow may find it easier to pick them apart.
I advise the reader of this, if they do not have a deck, to open the links embedded in the titles of the images in a separate browser window. Then you can read the text here and look at the images at the same time. You may also print the text of this guide for your use. In the future I plan to upload an expanded PDF of the guide to the Wizard Forums Library which will be available for download to all users.
With regards to the thematic symbolism of the Golden Serpent itself, there is no specific meaning but rather an embracing of all potential meanings of ophidian symbolism. In each image the Serpents, be they few or many, have dispositions and attitudes that are meant to be suggestive. In addition to the Golden Serpents there are Wings and Chains in every image. Also, symbolism in one card can be found reflected in another. A frequent but not universal character is a Crocodile. Some of the images have Latin and Greek rubrics of which I provide a translation based on the sources I used. A couple of these I have come to question, but I remind myself that their origin is often medieval. Certain meanings are implied and their original sources obscure, pulled from one context and applied to another by the modern author I took them from.
To further help with context of the design and plan of the TGS, I refer the reader to areas of study in the Western Esoteric Tradition such as Hermeticism, Kabbalah, Gnosticism, alchemy and ritual magic. Platonic, Aristotelian and Stoic thought also play a role as foundational to the aforesaid. It should be noted that the overlap and entanglement of these areas of study form a seemingly chaotic organic synthesis of which the TGS is an attempt at reflection. A specific list of my own book readings and studies during the years I composed this Tarot would be too difficult to compile at this time. In fact, the reader should consider that the composition of the TGS was my own study path in trying to make sense of this epic mixture of human thought and spirituality for myself from an artistic angle.
As for use of this Tarot for divination, I propose that the best way to discern the meaning of any given image is to let it speak to you directly and tell its story. Beyond this guide, consultation of any other general manual of traditional Tarot should serve well enough for those using the TGS for divination, though whether this will be harmonious or not I leave as an open question. In the future expanded guide I am working on, I plan to provide more guidance in terms of divination, though in my view and experience the burden of interpretation really is on the reader and their inner sight.
The essence of Tarot is enigma which can unveil the language of hidden forces. When you are using the Tarot of the Golden Serpent, I invite you to contemplate the images and look deeply. Consider these things like doors, but also as mirrors. Be creative in your understanding. “Illuminate the eyes.”
THE MAJOR ARCANA
The Fool is blindfolded and wearing a motley harlequin outfit. He balances on a chain stretched between statues of Horus on the left side facing and Seth on the right. A Golden Serpent wraps around his legs, biting the Fool and injecting its intoxicating venom. He holds a balancing pole with an emblem of the Eye of the Moon on the left end and the Eye of the Sun on the other.
Beneath him and rising out of a bed of roses is a leering black Crocodile gazing upwards with it red eye. From the left hand facing rose rises an alchemical Egg within which is the image of a crawling infant. On right hand side is an Egg with the image of an old man with a walking stick. Crouching on the center rose is a shadowy statue-like Sphinx bearing a scroll displaying the letters SAVT. This is an acronym for the Latin words for Powers of the Sphinx: “SCIRE, AUDERE, VELLE, TACERE”.
This means: “To Know, to Dare, to Will, to be Silent”.
Between the feet of the Fool is a black Egg with fiery wings extending up and outward. Within the Egg is a Diamond roasting in fire. In the background is a blue Lotus flowering and expanding against a receding yellow and white spiral.
The Magus is suspended by the winged sandals of Hermes over a dark sea from which arises a flaming Decagram, a Pythagorean symbol of perfection. On either side of this figure are an ibis and a baboon making the Sign of Silence. The Magus wears a yellow hood over the black void of his hidden face from which emerges a blue Eye. The Greek letter lambda, signifying the Logos, appends to the Eye giving it the form of a Wadjit. He wears a black mantle over a white robe. His skin is red as in the alchemical rubedo. On his chest hangs the Hieroglyphic Monad of John Dee.
With four arms he bears the elemental weapons of Art. Each tool is a synthesis of the astrological triplicities associated with the respective Element. The Wand is composed of arrows signifying Sagittarius, while Leo is the lion’s head and Aries the horns. A Golden Serpent coils around the Wand in the manner of Caduceus. The Cup is composed of Cancer, Pisces and Scorpio. The Sword of Gemini, Libra and Aquarius. The Pentacle is of Virgo, Taurus and Capricorn, This is engraved with the Hebrew letters of the Pentagrammaton and the Latin motto “LABORE ET CONSTANTIA” (“Labor and Constancy”).
Behind him, a Golden Serpent forms a Uroboros, and this shape also represents the Pythagorean Monad. Other Serpent bodies intertwine to suggest the synthesis of forms of more Pythagorean figures such as the Dyad and Triad. Directly behind the head of the Magus against a lotus leaf pattern is a figure suggesting the “Squared Circle”.
The letters of the Tetragrammaton are inscribed and divided within the lines in alternating white and black spaces above and below. The Latin inscription on the dyadic loops is from the Emerald Tablet and translates on the top section as “That which is above is the same as that which is below,” and on the bottom section as “That which is below is the same as that which is above”.
The High Priestess is in the form of the Triple Goddess Hekate, with the intended emphasis on her role in the Chaldean Oracles as World Soul. The Golden Serpent coils Around her waists and over her fish scaled saffron skirts to place its head under her left foot. Her three heads are crowned to suggest various aspects of Intelligence and together are surmounted by 12 stars. In her hands she bears weapons of the bow and arrow, a torch, a curved Sword, a key and a scourge of chains.
Above her heads the is a crescent Moon, its dark portion filled with receding and alternating internal reflections. Etheric wings of Isis spread out from the orb.
On either side are two trees, the left hand facing black and withered, the right white and flowering. From the white tree hangs the Golden Fleece, the prize and price of heroism, and at its base blossom flowers. On the black tree coils the Crocodile of The Fool transformed into a winged dragon, and at its base are scattered skulls.
Before the High Priestess is a crossroads which splits into a fork at her feet. The paved paths are suspended over starry space in which are the constellations of Scorpio and Cancer. In the foreground is arch engraved with the Greek phrase “GNOTHI SAUTON” (“Know Thyself”).
The Empress is pregnant and reclines on a couch in the shape of a swan which is adorned with pink roses and flanked by doves. She wears a green robe lined with ermine and is crowned with jeweled splendor over her flowing luxuriant hair. Of her face only her mouth is visible to suggest the apparent blindness of sensual generation in Nature of which she is a representation. The Golden Serpent coils between her arms, the left one bearing the double bladed Axe of Ishtar. In her right she holds the hand mirror of Venus in which appears the image of her as yet unborn son, Eros.
Through the churning waters of Time the Empress rides upon the back of a starry bull to which her foot is chained to by the neck. In the space beyond is an eternally flowering Rose with the star of Venus in the center. Spiral streams of stars flow out from the petals.
The Emperor sits upon a golden throne composed of rams for arms, winged eagles and a pair of Golden Serpents joined at the mouth around a Blue Eye like that of the Magus. His helmet is crowned and has ram’s horns. He is armored and his robe is red with white ermine. His cloak is purple, his mantle made from fleece of gold. The pendant on his breast is a hexagram of red and blue triangles, in the center of which is the letter T (Tau cross).
In his right hand he holds a solar scepter and resting under his left is a globe from projects an axis to form the overall shape of the symbol of Mars. Above and behind him are four flags with the emblems of double headed eagles, each color of the flags representing the four alchemical stages.
And over all is an imperial emblem of a golden eagle against which is a disk engraved with paired green feathers of Ma’at.
In the right hand facing arched window is a volcano, in the vent from which lava flows out is a black alchemical Egg rising under a crooked lighting bolt. In the left arched window are three white towers.
On the grid floor Golden Serpents flank the throne, their hoods expanded. Before the throne is a chain encircling a spirit-blue Phoenix rising from fire. A Sword and compass flank either side.
The Hierophant wears the mask of a bull’s skull, and over its eyes is a Rose with a heptagram around it. He holds a sickle surmounted by a dove in his right hand and a burning branch in his left. He presides over an altar upon which lays open a book with two Greek letters: Alpha and Omega. Hanging on his chest is a tablet upon which are the twelve Zodiac signs. The altar itself is engraved at its top edge with a winged red globe, its base section divided by chains into quadrants with Sphinxes in the typical order of the Enochian Tablets. The chains intersect in the center at the wheel of the Spirit.
Below the altar are steps upon which are engraved the letters the Hebrew alphabet in a manner which refers to the elemental divisions in the Sefer Yetzirah.
Around the Hierophant the Golden Serpent coils around anthropoid figures of six of the traditional planets, each posed in a manner after their nature. The quicksilvery figure of Mercury stands high above on top of the head of the Serpent biting its tail while bearing his staff and a scroll on which is written the Greek word “Logos.”
The Serpent’s head and tail meet around a pair of obelisks and Mosaic style tablets bearing the Roman numerals I through X.
In the background are megaliths of primordial religion and foliage which is autumnal on the left side and blooming on the right.
Further on is an alchemical Mountain against the backdrop of a burning Qliphothic sky of transitioning energies underneath a crescent Moon and Venus and other stars.
The Lovers embrace each other while wrapped by seven Golden Serpents and bound together by a chain and a Lock. Together they hold the golden apple marked by a “K”, the Greek letter kappa for “Kallisti”, a reference to the Judgment of Paris. The Lovers are the Red King and the White Queen of alchemy in conjuctio, here personified with their faces concealed by a helmet and veil respectively.
The Lovers rise out of boiling water and spiral flame bound around by the uroborically postured Crocodile with the ibis of Thoth standing upon its snout.
In the scene behind the Lovers are posed a multi-colored cockatrice on the left side and a white unicorn breathing fire on the other. Both stand on growing crystals at the edge of the starry waters. Beyond is a gated wall closing off the two trees of Eden through which thrusts the Flaming Sword, barring the way of return.
On the towers on either side of the gate are emblems of the Moon as Eye with Mercury on the left, and the Sun as Eye and Sulphur on the right. The two towers raise up flags declaring “ANIMA” and “ANIMUS”.
A White Eagle dripping tears of the red tincture stands on a tower with parapets on the far left. A Red Lion dripping the white tincture from its jaws and claws is on the far right.
In the sky is a white Throne on a burning wheel surrounded by turning angelic wings in a sky of fire.
The Chariot is composed of a Golden Serpent entwining about a great oyster shell bound to an axle and wheels of of fire.
Coming up from the shell are curved crab claws grasping and holding up a globe in which the armored driver bearing the Sword of command has three heads – the central that of Kephra, the left side that of Seth and the right that of Horus wearing the double crown of Egypt. Red and white wings of Isis extend downwards protectively around the globe.
The wheels and central hub of the Chariot form of the sigils of Spirit. From the hub extend chains reaching out to a crescent Moon yoke that binds a Gnome, an Undine, a Salamander and a Sylph into a team that draws the Chariot through the sea of Time.
The figure of Strength is that of Sophia holding open and rising out of the mouth of the fiery lion head of the Chimera. The Chimera is bound up by chains with the Golden Serpent that is also its tail, its fanged head hissing at the aggressive but constricted goat head. The beast struggles with itself on a cracked plain covered with the Qliphothic shells of broken alchemical Eggs fuming with smoke.
On either flank of the Sophic woman are burning Seraphim of wings around burning eyes. In the background is a heavenly celestial fountain symbolizing the overflow of Creation from the Divine Source with heralding trumpets. Angel wings spin around the fountain in concentric circles. At the very edge of the horizon are furious burning clouds as seen in V The Hierophant.
The Hermit is in Plato’s Cave, sitting in a boiling cauldron of skulls made from the body of a Golden Serpent wrapped around three times into a Uroboros.
He wears a black robe of nigredo and isolation over his emaciated ascetic body, Dionysian vines around his neck hold grapes over the dark hollow of his belly. He holds his Lamp before his face, the flame of which is a Yod. In his right hand is a crooked shepherd’s staff which he uses to stir that in which he boils.
Fumes from the cauldron and drops of quicksilver rise around a ladder reaching to the opening at the top of the cave from which supernal light shines down. Over the head of the Hermit is a Raven holding a white Egg in it upward flight.
Around the Hermit are statues of the Nine Muses with their respective emblems, each linked by a continuous chain and casting their shadows on the walls of the cave.
The Wheel of Fortune is a clock with planetary symbols for hands against a spiraling blue back face. Around the edge of the clock the Golden Serpent coils about a thick chain. The whole backdrop is one of mechanical gears and turning springs, some marked with letters of the Hebrew alphabet. At four corners of the clock are four visions of the processes of Time: a time reap and a time to sow, a time for war and a time for peace.
Above, set against a geared-toothed crescent Moon is an upright triangle enclosing an Eye rising from fire. Ten drops of water flank the triangle on either side. Mirroring the upper triangle on the bottom is a black triangle with burning Eye in dark waters against a darker fire and display of skulls. On the right and left are the four elemental weapons in similar Zodiacal triplicity configuration as the Magus, held by angelic winged hands.
Justice is in the form of armored Athena with the green wings and feathers of Ma’at. She wears a black blindfold but on the brow of her helmet is a blue Eye like the Magus. From the top of her helmet burns the “flame of mind” of the Chaldean Oracles. She holds a spear in her right hand, point downward. Her shield is blazoned with a composite symbol of Venus and the scales of Libra which balance a burning heart against the feather of Ma’at.
She steps on the head of the Golden Serpent which entwines in braided circular fashion over burning coals. The encircling chain is locked.
The black and white checkerboard patterns and bands above and behind signify opposing poles of positive and negative energy. The same is true of the alternating female faces with hushing fingers are their lips, their heads coiled about by large and austere Golden Serpents.
The Hanged Man is in inverse suspension from a pillar that symbolizes the Great Mother. With rainbow wings extended down from the top, the pillar is capped with a lotus crown over a blue Eye. It is many breasted and at the center of an ever flowing fountain. On either side are nymphs in fountain basins bearing swans above them that spout water onto the extended hands reaching out from the pillar.
The Hanged Man is mummified, chained and coiled by the Golden Serpent that is devouring him from the feet. His nigredo blackened face bites down on a wrapped scroll sealed with the Greek letter lambda as sign of the Logos.
At the base of the pillar are the wolf heads of Scylla. The Hanged Man himself hangs over the whirlpool of Charybdis. In the foreground is the Crocodile weeping a single tear from its red eye, its body covered in lotuses and vines.
Death is postured as obverse of the III The Empress. The figure of Death has black like Kali, with the grasping claws of a succubus for her feet. She wears a headdress of a White Eagle holding an Ankh in its beak. Her eyes are obscured by whitened flowing hair, her mouth bearing fangs and dripping with blood. Her robe of ermine and green is ripped and soiled with Time. She reclines on a couch in the shape of a scorpion, linked together with bones. This couch sits atop the Pale Horse of the Biblical Book of Revelations, moving past the mist obscured head of the Crocodile through the misty sea of Time now colored as blood.
The Golden Serpent bares its fangs as it drapes across Death’s arms. It coils around a nested pelican feeding its young with its own blood. In the left hand she holds a scythe with a sharpened bone for a blade. In her right hand she holds an Hourglass, the upper half with the Rose of Venus and the bottom with blood. Entangling chains crisscross Death’s form and link the crowned skulls dangling from her couch. Ravens on either side of the scorpion couch perch on both claw and stinger, their wings touching against the background of a fiery Vortex leading Beyond.
Temperance is the figure of Hermes with his body made of quicksilver inside an alchemical Egg. He wears a winged cap and is plays a harp made of a Golden Serpent with two heads and six strings coming out of a glyph of the Sun. Within the Egg are starry figures of the Three Fates spinning a chain wrapped around a burning curved Sword. The Hermetic figure balances on this Sword in a manner like the Fool but moving in the opposite direction. Peacock feathers fill the upper part of the Egg. A hooded figure atop the winged cap represents the Archangel Gabriel blowing his trumpet and holding a scroll with the symbol of Azoth. Above the angel’s head is the Eye of the Moon.
The Egg itself is wrapped and constricted by a Golden Serpent biting its tail. Bound in the Serpent’s lower coils are the elemental weapons in Zodiacal configuration and a large Key in the shape of the glyph of Venus.
Above the Egg is Vortex with spiraling arms posing as the Black Sun. In the upper left corner is Artemis with solar fire wings drawing her bow against the right hand figure of Apollo with lunar watery wings who is also drawing his bow against her. Below are imprisoning bars locking up burning souls that reach out for mercy. At each junction of the bars is a cross shape that matches the key of Venus entwined by the Golden Serpent with the weapons.
The Devil is the figure of Baphomet incorporated with the Chimera. The form of the Archangel Michael blazes with light as he stands between the horns of the goat head. All three heads of the lion, goat and Golden Serpent chew on the naked bodies of traitors.
From the goat’s horns binding chains extend down to form the figure of an inverted pentagram. The chains drape to entangle the orgiastic pile of skeletons of hellish trapped souls with flaming eye sockets. The Devil’s skirt is made of blood-stained ermine and it sits crossed legged with red hooves on the heads of two Crocodiles. The jaws of these gape open to meet around the shining Black Sun. The totality of this section forms a burning Eye.
The landscape behind the Devil is a vast maze of castle walls extending to the erect jagged mountains beyond.
The Tower is composed entirely of Golden Serpents in which chained kings in various postures of agony and rage suffer the torments of the alchemical oven. Red eyes gaze out from the different levels the Tower, projecting the fury within. The top of the Tower is stricken with the cabalistic lightning flash which sends down fiery meteors. Attacking the Tower from above are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Another attack on the Tower from below comes from the army marching towards it.
There are Four spears topped by the figures of blindfolded women standing on lunar crescents and holding the insignia of the Four Enochian Watchtowers enclosed in crossed glyphs of Mars. The banners waving from these spears are colored after the elements, each one with the winged faces lion, bull, human and eagle.
The Star is the figure of dancing twisting woman made of quicksilver enclosed in an alchemical Egg. Her crystalline Cups pour forth two Golden Serpents which face each other in biting attack. Chains form the pattern of a Decagram over a dewy Rose.
Constricting round the Egg and injecting its fangs into is a Golden Serpent, its tale extending down around an ibis being hatched from alchemical Egg filled with fire. More Eggs, each holding a star within, float in a sea which is a mixture of fire and water. Lighting flashes fill the sky beyond.
The Moon is a crescent with face of an eagle in its dark portion the forms the head of a woman surrounded by a pattern of Golden Serpents intertwining with one another. Her hands extend down to the fading orb of Sun setting on an autumnal horizon. Before the figure of the Moon is a circular labyrinth with a golden gate and a fountain at the center. Rudimentary life forms crawl up the steps to gate from the waters below, and the pattern in the bars is the figure of Kephra. Above the fountain is a representation of the “strophalos of Hekate” in the form of a spinning top.
On either side are pillars in the form of an Angel on the right side and a Succubus on the left. The Angel holds an infant and a string of roses which extend down to mother bear guarding her young. Atop her wings is the head of a vulture with the feather of Ma’at. The Succubus on the left side holds a crowned skull and is garlanded with grapes and vines, it’s feet the claws of a bird standing on top of the three headed Cerberus. Atop her wings is the head of the owl of Lilith.
In the waters of the foreground is the mummified Osiris figure of the Hanged Man resting in a boat with the heads of Horus and Seth on either end. Wearing a golden funerary mask, the mummy bears the same scroll as the Hanged Man, and this is chained to the figures of the bear and Cerberus.
The Sun has a face of a lion beaming blinding light. Around the edge of the rays are the heads of Golden Serpents bearing their fangs. Red hands of the Sun extend downward over a Colisseum of light and shadow. On top of the columns on either side of the amphitheater are statues representing the Zodiac signs. At the top of Colosseum steps is an open crystal dome filled with yellow solar light. A winged statue of Hermes stands on the dome, his arms raised and lowered, pointing above and below. Mounted on the smooth sides of the steps below this structure are shaded statues of angels with trumpets.
Within the glowing pavilion is a cubical altar with a rose covered by a golden cross. On top of it is a wire globe with a tilted axis and outer ring. Obscured behind the alter is a rising crescent Moon.
In the foreground is an alchemical Egg in which sits a crowned infant amidst sunflowers under a Black Sun. The child plays with the dismembered pieces of the Hieroglyphic Monad as toys.
Supporting the child’s Egg are the four elemental Sphinxes on guard and sitting on top of a pair of chained Crocodiles joining their jaws at the Lock.
Statues on either side of the Egg show figures in activities of knowledge. On the left side are an alchemist and his “soror mystica” pouring the red and white tinctures into a crucible. Stoking the flames is a shadowed monk with a prod. On the right side is an astronomer with a telescope having the head of both a man and woman. Below them is a praying monk with candles.
An Angel with four hooded heads emerges out of spirals of turning angelic wings. In two of its eight hands it holds a pillar of fire on the far right and a billowing cloud on the far left. The next pair of hands holds a Sword on the right and a trumpet on the left. The Angel’s center hands grip a candelabra of Golden Serpents bearing the Scales of Ma’at. The staff is a composite symbol uniting Sulphur, Mercury, Salt and the Sun and Moon under the shape of the Hebrew letter Shin in which is a blue Eye. The final pair of hands hold a Torah open to the Biblical passage of Exodus 14:19-21, from which are derived the 72 fold name of God which is called in Hebrew the Shem ha-Mephorash.
From the upper wings extend the hands of guardian angels to the burning skeletons below. Out of the mouths of the skulls emerge Golden Serpents rising upwards. All the dead are bound in chains to the Crocodile, but the Angel has cut the Lock with its Sword.
The black figure of the World Soul is entwined by a pair Golden Serpents in the manner of the caduceus and also forming the circle of the Monad. She stands on the back of a Crocodile, moving in an opposite direction from the Fool. With multiple arms she holds chains leading down and binding a pair of Scales. The lowest pair of her arms holds a balancing pole like that of the Fool with the Eyes of the Sun and Moon on either end, but placed on opposite sides. The space behind her is filled with webs of galaxies.
Between the legs of the World Soul the Serpents coil three times around a white Egg from which hatches a Rose. Within the flower is another glowing Egg containing a dark fetus with umbilicus cord attached and a star in its head.
Below and in the foreground is a circle of flame rising on a cracked desert floor. Within the ring of fire are skeletons and fragments of the Zodiac signs. In the center sits the ape of Thoth making the sign of silence while holding an Hourglass with blood. Flanking on either side of the World Soul are the four Sphinxes. Above and beyond is the ever receding point within concentric circles.
THE MINOR ARCANA
The Ace is a more detailed vision of the elemental Wand of the Magus. It fuses the crowned lion head of Leo, the horns of Aries, and three arrows bound with a chain in the manner of a Roman fascii for Sagittarius. Blooming leaves around the arrow catch fire at the base of the lion’s head to make the figure into a torch. Six wings of fire fan outward, holding the Wand aloft over the Vortex. The Golden Serpent forms a caduceus terminating in a large Uroboros at the top. Within this Uroboros is the head of a hawk emerging in spirit-blue fire. Before it is the alchemical symbol of Sulphur (as in Jakob Boehme’s “Sul-Phur”) in red, a white point in the center of the cross.
The Enochian letter Peh (B) is engraved upon a square pendant bound to arrows by chains. Hanging at the bottom is a Lock engraved with VELLE (to Will) and AETERNITAS (Eternity).
Similar in configuration to the Wand, the Cup is the fusion of the triplicity of Water. The claws of Scorpio form the base, its tail wrapping around to the top of the Lock and its stinger releasing a drop of blood. The paired fish of Pisces form the stem. Cancer’s claws reach up to the rim of the cup, and its stemmed eyes peak out on either side of the downward flow of starry Water wherein in emerges a mouth speaking the Logos of Creation. Within the Cup is a whirlpool around the Vortex.
Within the Uroboros is a blooming lotus of Fire expanding outward from the central point of the first Fire. Around this point is a blue circle fusing the three glyphs Sulphur and Mercury as a symbol of the dawning division arising out of Unity.
In the void behind are forming nebulous galactic webs.
The Enochian letter on the Pendant here is Na-Hath (H).
The words on the Lock read AUDERE (to Dare) and UNIVERSITAS (Cosmos).
The Sword is the fusion of the airy triplicities. The blade points upwards, its hilt, grip and pommel formed by the figure of the water bearer of Aquarius. The hilt supports the scales of Libra wrapped in chains which also wrap the Sword. On either side of this are Janus-like faces signifying Gemini. Six rainbow wings extend on either side.
Within the Uroboros is a mutation of the glyph as seen in the Cups indicating outward expansion of the Sulphur-Mercury fusion bound by a cross against swirling gaseousness. Curved and straight rays of light from the central point of the glyph extend outward from the Uroboros into starry space.
The Enochian letter on the Pendant here is Graph (E).
The Lock reads SCIRE (to Know) and TEMPUS (Time).
The Pentacle is a Decagram and shows the earthy triplicities. The figure of the winged Black Isis represents Virgo, her arms extended and holding chains by which the figures below her are bound. The head of the bull of Taurus supports the Pentacle from below with winged horns. The goat horns of Capricorn penetrate through the bottom of Decagram, its fish tail wrapping behind and also coming through. In the center of the Decagram is a black alchemical Egg showing a Diamond in fire. This Egg supports the Hieroglyphic Monad above it. The coils of the Golden Serpent writhe behind the bands of the Pentacle’s star and curve upward to form the Uroboros. Within the Uroboros which encircles the wings of Isis-Virgo is the crystalline structure of Salt solidified from the fiery lotus of the Cup through desiccation of the actions of Air from the Sword. Around the edges of the design are myrtle flowers from which arise burning eyes of Awareness.
The Enochian letter on the Pendant here is Drun (N).
The Lock shows TACERE (to be Silent) and GENERATIO (Becoming).
ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE ACES
The Enochian letters on the Pendants are taken from the first column of the Tablet of Union which is derived from the “Black Cross” running between the Watchtower Tablets. In the Tablet order the letters spell E H N B, which designates the spiritual root of letters found on the Court Card Pendants.
Regarding the Locks of all the Aces, the top Latin phrases are a reference to the Powers of the Sphinx. The bottom words refer to the sequence in Brian Copenhaver’s Corpus Hermeticum XI [2]: “God, eternity, cosmos, time, becoming.”
The word “God” is not apparent in the Aces sequence to signify image-less transcendence before all processes, though it can be referred to by E-H-N-B.
“The Hand of God”
The two Wands are vine rods capped with Ram heads upon which flaming Salamanders perch. Bunches of grapes are at the bases of the Wands. They flank a starry hand of Sabazeus with a burning blue Eye in the palm and the three fingers are raised in benediction. A black alchemical Egg sits on the thumb, wrapped in chains. The Golden Serpent coils about the Hand and up from a three stepped platform upon which sits an Altar. Before the hand is a wire globe with various orbits and crescent moons on each end of the axis. On top of the Alter is a winged disk upon which sits a burning Ram. On either side of the Ram two Vortexes turn with alternating arms of flame. At the base of the altar burning pots release smoke from which lighting flashes down at the edges.
“Eros and Psyche”
The two Cups hold veiled Mermaids adorned with flowers, and the bases of the Cups are claws of the White Eagle. Between the Mermaids is an oval Mirror with the image of Aphrodite rising from the sea and covered in leaves. She holds an Hourglass of blood in her right hand and an infant her left arm. Behind her recedes a Vortex. The Golden Serpent coils about and wraps around the shattered alchemical Egg in which the black robed figure of Psyche reclines in ecstasy in the arms of winged Eros, whose body is made of fire. The chain is held together by a Lock with the Greek inscription AGAPE (Love). The whole design is supported by an open oyster shell filled with roses in a sea of foaming bubbles.
“The Lion and the Lamb”
The two Swords are held by winged and armored angelic fists on either side of a burning tree. The trunk of the tree is the shape of a woman’s body and is entwined by Golden Serpents. Interlocking chains connected with the Swords balance four scale pans which hold figures of the Moon in its phases, the crescents on the right and left internally reflecting. On top of the Moons are white doves and behind the highest one is a fiery Vortex.
At the base of the tree lay a sleeping lion on the left and a lamb on the right. Gentle waters flow around the river rocks and there are night shadowed mountains in the background under a starry sky.
“The Demiurge”
The first of the two Pentacles is held up on the shoulders of a bearded and horned paternal Angel in the manner of Atlas. Upon this Pentacle is engraved the Enochian “Table of God” (aka “Nalvage”), and it is enclosed by the Golden Serpent’s body which descends into the reflecting waters below. Overlaying this Pentacle is a Compass wrapped in chains, bound to the Angel. On top of the Compass is attached Kameothic sigil of Jupiter, and in the background is the alchemical Mountain capped in snow. At the base of the Mountain burn the churning fires of the Qliphoth reflecting into the waters.
Reflected into the waters below, the Angel’s image bears up the second Pentacle, but on this one is engraved the wheel of the Zodiac, bound together by a twelve pointed star with a burning Vortex behind it. The heads of two Golden Serpents bearing chains in their mouths swim forward in undulations, their chains are connected beneath the waters to the Atlas Angel. Eggs bearing stars float in the waters upon its waves.
“The Flower of Fire”
The three Wands are bound together by Golden Serpents joined as one, its continuous body forming an undulating triangle with three heads. In the center is a Divine Eye expanding into a Lotus of flame.
The Wands have ram’s heads and are decorated with golden cabalistic lightning flashes. The top Wand has a solar disk with rams horns. Behind it is a spiral of angelic wings against the backdrop of the arms of the Vortex. The left and right Wands have torch flames forming hooded Seraphims in postures of meditative prayer. Below on the far right is a pillar with the crowned head of Horus. Opposite is a pillar with the head of Seth. Iron rings hold chains extending down to the sleeping stone statue of man at the bottom center. This figure is surrounded by broken statues, a bow with quiver and arrows, a lyre, a helmet, and an open book with the figure of Alpha and Omega displayed. The landscape has an alchemical Mountain before which stands a tree on fire and ancient ruins of pillars.
“The Ferment”
Of the three Cups, the largest one in the center is of elaborate design, its rim supported by decorative angels holding trumpets from which Golden Serpents slither out onto a cracked desert floor. Within this Cup is an alchemical Egg bound with chains, and inside it is an Eye emerging from a Rose. It floats in a burning red tincture which is fed by streams of quicksilver spouting from the horn like arms of the Cup. The body of the Golden Serpent undulates in the tincture, and rise up in a tangle around the other two Cups.
These Cups bear sigils of Mercury against red bubbles, and these are modified to reflect the power of the substance in the sense of above and below. Above these sigils are the decorative figures of three hooded angels, the center ones holding chains and the flanking ones pouring vessels of quicksilver into the tincture below.
Out of the frothing Cups rise starry angels bearing a book which states an alchemical phrase on the left page “OBSCURUM PER OBSCURIUS. IGNOTUM PER IGNOTIUS.” (The obscure by the more obscure. The unknown by the more unknown.) On the opposite page is derived phrases from the Emerald Tablet: “SIC HABEBIS GLORIAM TOTIUS MUNDI. IDEO FUGIET A TE OMNIS OBSCURITAS.” (So thou hast the glory of the whole world. The shadows will flee from you).
“The Accounting”
The three Swords are wielded by armored Angels with masks reflecting the temperaments of sorrow, joy and anger. In the triangle formed by the Swords is a Rose with a burning Eye shedding mercurial tears, connected by branches to similar Roses on either side. The Roses bloom from a skull within which fire smolders from the eye sockets and jaws. Golden Serpents writhe in various postures from attack to docility while a black Raven spreads its wings and juts its cawing head over the center Rose.
The mouth of the Crocodile opens as if to devour all. Skeletal hands extend with an open book in which are written a reference to two Bible verses from Ecclesiastes (1:17 and 1:18, KJV) and Kameothic figures of Saturn surrounded by various alchemical sigils. The chains wrapping the Swords terminate in scale pans swinging in mist, the one on the left holding riches, the one on the right holding various food stuffs. All this is against a background of alternately spinning Vortexes.
“The Triad”
The three Pentacles are held up by winged hangs with detached burning Eyes. Each Pentacle holds combined figures of pentagrams merged with the three alchemical symbols of Sulphur, Mercury and Salt against triskelion backgrounds. The lowest pentagram is inverted. On the borders of the Pentacles are written in Latin “FIDEM, VERITAS, AMARE”, the Chaldean triad of “Faith, Truth and Love.”
The Pentacles hang before a stained glass window. Golden Serpents flow upward and around the Puzzle of Three Rabbits, their conjoined ears forming a triangle around the providential Eye in rose petals in the center. Above this circle, flanked by Serpents, is the torch bearing Hekate with angelic wings. Before her is an open book declaring “LABORE ET CONSTANITA.”
At the bottom, two frames in the greater window show a blacksmith forging a compass under the Eye of the Sun and a banner bearing the angelic sigil. On the right is a scribe with an open book showing the Alpha and Omega under the Eye of the Moon.
“The Great Work”
The four Wands are in the shape of of Isis with wings and decorated with various jewels. They encircle a shattered alchemical Egg from which a double headed Eagle and black Diamond emerge. The Golden Serpents form a circle around the Egg, their heads flanking the Wands. Shards of the Egg scatter outwards explosively. Below are an array of skulls burning in fire.
“The Bath”
Of the four Cups, three are held by mermaids pouring quicksilver into the fourth Cup. From the boiling and steaming fluid of this Cup emerges an alchemical Egg containing a fetus with a fiery body. The unborn child is flanked by four masks with sleeping expressions and its umbilicus spirals around to disappear into a Vortex. On either side of the Egg are the languid forms of the White Queen on the left and the Red King on the right. Both are chained and bitten by the heads of Golden Serpents. The central Cup is crystalline and decorated with the head of a White Eagle, its base configured like an alchemical oven. Heat and moisture mix within the glass in colors, the fiery portion fed by bellows with angelic sigils upon them. The Golden Serpents intertwine all around, two heads above dripping white tincture from their fangs into the top Cup. In the background are waterfalls feeding into a wavy lake.
“The Intellect”
Four Swords are held by four Sphinxes wrapped in Golden Serpents, their faces and hands alternating white and black. In the center is a waterway bearing along a boat with a mummy resting amidst fiery flowers and holding and oar. The boat has eyes on its prow but is traveling backwards towards the Temple ahead, pushed by the chained Crocodile swimming with it. On the prow is the Eye of the Sun and at its stern, the Eye of the Moon. Chained Crocodiles lay in various postures along the edges of the water. The Gate of the Temple is surmounted by Golden Serpents. Within the Gate where the water flows is a fiery Vortex. In the background are spirit-blue pyramids marked with various sigils, including the angelic ones of the Decan. Further on is a heavenly city and behind it is a greater Vortex.
“The Empty Throne”
The four Pentacles take position around an empty throne made of Golden Serpents. On the top Pentacle is the Tetragrammaton arranged in a tetractrys in a triangle. The Chaldean triad of “Faith, Truth, Love” is engraved on it in Latin. Behind this Pentacle is a stained glass window with geometric patterns and a three pronged crown.
Horus and Seth stand on either side of the Throne as if to advise, their hands in the gesture of benediction and holding chains. The chains hold up a Lock over the seat of the Throne upon which is written in Hebrew AIN. At the base of the throne is an ivory box with the initials TG, signifying “Toz Graecus”. The left and right Pentacles, encircled by Serpents, are engraved with Solomonic talismans. The bottom Pentacle contains the squared circle and sigil of the Sun and is labeled SPERABO, or Hope. This is carried by an Atlas style figure like that of the 2 of Pentacles who is going down steps from the Throne, and dragging chains.
On either side of the steps are monks, one drawing figures in a book while the other studies the Hieroglyphic Monad on a scroll. Gears turn behind the columns of the platform supporting the Throne.
“Might”
Of the five Wands, the center is a three-pronged mace with a White Eagle flying in front of it and shooting forth lighting from its claws. The other four are flails with wolf heads. Golden Serpents with bared fangs strike out against the denizens of the turbulent flames. These are a Crocodile in the center and the “dog faced demons” of the Chaldean Oracles.
Behind is the Vortex surrounded by crystalline patterns.
“The Harpies”
In the bottom Cup is a skeleton drained of blood which has been collected in the other four Cups being carried away by winged Harpies whose hoods represent the alchemical phases. The skeleton is draped in grape vines and Golden Serpents writhe out of the Cup. A pair of Serpents drip blood into two of the Harpy Cups. The bottom Cup has the features of a scorpion, at its base an oven and before this a burning book. In the center of this Cup is the geomantic figure of Rubeus in red gems. Piles of burning books lie all around, stretching into a ruined city beyond. Bloody white trees recall the suicides of hell in the Dante’s Inferno.
“The Experiment”
The five Swords are upon a central table, three strewn in a skewed triangle, two penetrating all the way through the table into a nest of writhing Golden Serpents on a checkered floor. Also on the table is a burning book with alchemical sigils and before it sits a broken Egg filled with salt and a black mask. A hammer used to smash the Egg lays before it, and in front of this is a candle with a flame being blown by the stirred up air of the chamber. Forceps lay to one side and there are chains draping and broken shards of the Egg.
The window behind has been smashed by a branch blown in by a storm. Under the sill of this window is the winged head of a man with unpleasant face. Beyond is a sanguinated crescent Moon over a grave yard. Red curtains billow about the window and leaves fly all around. On either side of the window are shelves with books and alchemical and magical tools. A statue of the winged Hermes stands on the top right shelf making a gesture of “as above, so below”.
On the left hand side snarls a black Dog at the Raven on the right, who is trying to snatch a golden ring off of a jeweled skeleton laying on the floor.
“The Cell”
The five Pentacles hang suspended from above by chains, each bearing geomantic symbols. The chamber itself is a prison cell with a barred window showing an alchemical Mountain beyond. Three prisoners engage in tasks. The prisoner on the left hand side is blindfolded with a walking stick, reaching to a candlestick in the shape of Isis sitting on books. He steps on a Golden Serpent that is trying to strike him. The central prisoner studies a book with a Latin. motto “LABORE IMPROBUS OMNIA VINCIT” (“Hard work conquers all”) while Serpents slither up on either side of him. Next to him is an abacus on which sits a candle. On the right hand side the prisoner holds a bag over his shoulder and bears a candelabra over other bags, the Serpent wrapped around his leg. A small box of jewels with the initials “TG” (Toz Graecus) sits there.
The wall behind has two angels in relief with triangles as heads, the right hand one engraved with the Hebrew letter Ayin, and the left side one with the letter Dalet. Both angels present open hands with eyes in their palms.
In the foreground, coiled by Golden Serpents, are a sleeping Dog with an Hourglass on the left side. On the right side is a Raven with a golden ring in its beak, its claw clutching a skull. In the center is a lamp with a glass shell around which two moths flutter. The floor is of a black and white checker pattern.
“Triumph”
The six Wands lead a procession of armored troops through a Triumphal Arch of Golden Serpents surmounted by a lion’s head with wings. In niches on either side of the arch are vessels containing colored tinctures. Four of the Wands, capped with golden wolf heads and entwined by Serpents, form the staff and apex of the central banner. The cap of the main Wand is wire globe with orbital bands and behind this is a double headed Eagle in heraldic posture. The two other Wands are torches with angelic sigil banners born by regal warrior princes with lion headdresses. These ride on horses with alternating white and black features.
The main banner itself declares OMNIA UNUM EST (All is One) around a triangle with a Solar Eye. The four emblems of the Enochian watchtowers are displayed all around.
“The Fountain”
The six Cups are in a sylvan scene with a great Fountain of Aphrodite who is winged and bears the highest Cup from which flow streams of water. Before her is a lyre made of Golden Serpents and a trumpet. On the left is a faceless queen with her fountain Cup and on the right is a similar King looking toward her. The waters flow into a pond with fire mixed among the waves. Two Serpents undulate forth in the waters while bearing chains. In the foreground an old man with a mask who gazes into the center Cup wherein is a vision of a fetus in a fiery Vortex. Mermaids on either side look upon him, one with a Cup bearing the White Tincture, the other the Red Tincture.
The landscape is of flowering hills with steps leading high upward from the Fountain and supported by columns. Beyond is a mountain range behind which the morning light of the Sun rises.
“The Seal”
The six Swords bound with chains support an Egg within which is the image of the wheel of the Zodiac over a pan of roasting coals. The upper two Swords are wielded by winged angelic hands, more wings spiraling back through the crystalline arch towards a distant Sun in the center of navigational lines drawn in space. Behind the Egg is an ibis, fiery angel sigils in its wings. Below, surrounded by interlocked Serpents is the a Solomonic seal from which Hebrew letters rise
“The Well”
The six Pentacles are engraved with Solomonic talismans of the Moon and are held up by trees with trunks the shape of women’s torsos, Golden Serpents and chains coiling around. Serpents climb up and out of the Well below from which a ladder rises with a climber bearing a key. The edge around the Well is labeled VITRIOL. A paved path from the Well splits off in different directions over flowering grass. A traveler walks the winding path leading to an elaborate Gate with a pattern suggesting two faces like Janus. On the left side of the Gate there is a plow horse grazing and at the step a thinking man sits in the doorway.
Above the Gate is a winged disk upon which two bulls stand facing outward. Beyond is a temple with many terraces supported by columns on top of which is a dome illuminated by the setting Sun and surmounted by a crescent Moon.
“The Wrestlers”
At the top of the steps a charred and burning man wrestles with an Angel of Fire for a Wand with the Eyes of the Sun and Moon on either end. The Angel’s face blazes like the Sun, angelic sigils on its wings. The man is chained at his limbs and stands on an open book with a Latin inscription “VIR SAPIENS DOMINABITUR ASTRIS” (“The Wise Man has conquered the Stars”). The chains that bind the charred man are connected to six skull capped Wands divided on either side of the steps. Golden Serpents slither over the steps among scattered burning books with various sigils. More burning books form the landscape receding into steep smoky crags. Beyond in the sky is a city in spiraling clouds set against the maw of a burning Vortex.
“Eros and Thanatos”
The figure of Eros, wrapped in Golden Serpents, gazes through his mask down on his skeletal reflection as Thanatos in the waters of the central Cup into which Golden Serpent heads drip colored tinctures. This Cup is decorated as a woman’s torso with wings. Scorpion claws form its base and around it a bow, arrows and helmet lay idle.
The other six Cups are arranged on various levels of a mossy sepulcher wall. The top two Cups capture light from above in their waters which is refracted into prismatic shades in the Cups just below. Hooded angelic caryatids form arched windows which show the landscape beyond where can be seen the alchemical Mountain. Golden Serpents flank a compass with lunar crescent band that captures a ray of light and projects it down to the two stone sphinxes facing each other.
Two more sphinxes on either side of the bottom Cup sit behind the mire filled stone Cups decorated with alchemical sigils. On platforms on the wall behind are a Lyre on the right and Book on the left with Alpha and Omega written on the pages.
“Paradox”
Five of the Swords are bound by chains to a Crocodile on a cracked desert floor. The central Sword balances an alchemical Egg containing a Venusian Rose on its pommel while its blade penetrates down into the eye of a black mask. A pair of Golden Serpents bare their fangs as they wrap around the left and right Swords angled against the center Sword. Two crossed Swords lay before the mask, entwined by a Serpent with flicking tongue. The final two Swords are held by armored and masked angels in combat rising from whirls of flame and dust. In the background stand receding rows of statues with the heads of vultures. Above is a maze which stretches across like the sky.
“The Candle of Faith”
The seven Pentacles are arranged in the geomantic sign of Rubeus. Each one is engraved with geomantic sigils derived from the figures of Carcer and Tritistia. Engraved around the Pentacles, in opposition to each other, are the Latin names of the Seven Vices and Virtues. A great Raven perches atop the central Pentacle, and below this is a praying monk holding a candle, bound by chains. Broken statues covered in moss are all around. Golden Serpents coil among the ruins and around the columns made of stone hands supporting the Pentacles on the sides. In the mists beyond are statues in various conflicting and emotional poses, obscured by mist. Further on is a Gate in a wall and through this is a Vortex from which the mists flow into the scene.
“The Furnace”
The eight Wands are all staves with forked ends. Two angels, one robed white and the other in black, use their Wands to carefully balance an alchemical Egg on a burning skulls in the furnace. The chimney of the furnace is topped by a chimney in the shape of a wolf’s head fuming with smoke, two crossed Wands behind it and two erect Wands wrapped as caducei by Golden Serpents.
Behind is a window framed with a red curtain through which can be seen a burning tree before the alchemical Mountain. This scene is beneath a partial eclipse shining through clouds. On either side of the window are arched niches holding statues of angels with heads of the Kerubim and holding Wands.
“The Knowledge of the Waters”
A blackened, emaciated and blindfolded ascetic with a burning heart rises from the waters of the center bottom Cup. This Cup has a furnace as its base and Piscean fish on either side. Angelic hands hold out a red robe and crown for the ascetic as he raises his dry lips to receive a drop of the starry waters of the highest Cup. The top Cup is also held up by angelic hands, and within its waters is the image of a pair of lips referring to the “divine kiss”. The loosening chains around the ascetic flow out from the six Cups held in the coils of the Golden Serpents on the sides. Roses with Burning Eyes gaze out of the foliage around the Cups. Locks with keys inserted dangle around the lowest Cup. In the sky beyond is the fiery Vortex.
“Separation”
The Swords are bound by locked chains and coiled by Golden Serpents across a metal banded wooden door at the top of stone steps. The structure around is a vine covered prison with stone where the White Queen and Red King gaze at each other through barred windows. The Queen holds an Hourglass of blood and the King holds a wire globe. Above the queen is a stained glass window of a White Owl and a crescent Moon. Above the King is a Green Lion and the Sun. The door is surmounted by a relief of an Eagle. In the windows below burning hands reach out from the bars.
“The Bell”
The Pentacles are embedded in the structure of the top of a Bell Tower with minarets on either side. Mounted on the crystalline dome over the bell, is a statue of an angel with two faces blowing trumpets. The Pentacle held up by the angel is engraved with the Hieroglyphic Monad crossed by a line of Salt and around it is inscribed OMINA UNUM EST (All is One.)
The two next lower Pentacles show composite sigils detailing alchemical interactions and the words “Solve” and “Coagula”. The lower five Pentacles are Solomonic Talismans pertaining to the planet Mercury. The bell is labeled “En To Pan” (the One, the All) and is encircled by a Uroboros. A burning book declares an alchemical rubric: TRANSMUTAMINI DE LAPIDUS MORTUIS IN VIVOS LAPIDES PHILOSOPHOCOS (Transform yourselves ye dead stones into living philosophical stones). The city beyond is shadowed by the Sun which is concealed behind the top Pentacle.
“Effort”
The nine Wands are torches, the highest one held by an Angel within a winged mirror. She extends left her hand down to the masked Burning Man below who is kneeling on a cracked desert floor, his body chained to and supporting a wire globe on his back like Atlas. Four Wands lean against him while he grips and braces against two in each hand. Two Wands flank the scene on either side. Vines and Golden Serpents entwine the Wands, one Serpent baring fangs to strike the man’s left foot. On the desert floor are scattered partially buried Eggs with stars in them. Leaning on the knee of the Burning Man is a bow, and next to his other leg is a quiver engraved with the Greek word PISTIS (Faith).
“The Feast”
From the central Cup rises and Angel with a candle and ladle overseeing a dinner scene where various masked figures of different dispositions and dress participate, four of them offering a toast. Each Cup holds wine of starlight from the central Cup, and the meal before each of the figures is of fish. At the base of the central Cup are bunches of grapes, a sliced loaf of bread, an apple, and four candles. Before the center Cup is an open book, and on the left page is a medieval alchemical Greek rubric which according to Evola should translate as: “One is the Serpent, which contains the poison, according to the double sign.” On the right page is a the Alpha and Omega on either side of a Uroboros around a black cross.
Below the table is a Crocodile surrounded by mist and Golden Serpents which rise up along the sides of the scene. Two chandeliers light the scene with candles and behind them bookshelves. Mist drifts in from the window which is draped with a red curtain. The alchemical Mountain in the misty landscape beyond is stricken with the cabalistic lightning flash breaking through clouds.
“The Root”
Seven of the nine Swords dismember a flowering and screaming mandrake. The Swords are bound to it and metal banded wagon wheel by entangling chains. Two Swords on either side hold the wheel in place. Golden Serpents seethe through the wheel in postures of attack against each other. A Raven snatches a flower from the mandrake’s head while a dog in the background howls mournfully. The floor is checkered black and white. Behind and above the mandrake is a window flanked by two columns topped with wolf heads. An apple marked with “K” sits on the sill upon which is engraved a double headed Eagle. In the scene beyond the window, two men start to cut down an apple tree, the last one left among a forest of stumps.
The shelf on the left side of the window contains an emblem of Isis with wings, a globe and a candle. The lower shelves hold implements of the sciences. The bottom shelf holds the skeleton of the Fool holding a key in the shape of Venus. On the right shelf, which is partially obscured by the Raven’s wing, are the emblem of Seth, implements of torture and some flasks with tinctures. On the bottom is an ivory chest with a Lock.
“The Astral Nile”
Of the nine Pentacles, the top two on the right and left are engraved with composite symbols of the Alpha an Omega overlaying triangles of Fire on the left and Water on the right and crossed by lines to indicate the emblem of alchemical Salt. The lower Pentacles are all engraved with figures of the planetary Kameas. These are held in place by columns made of hands bound by wrapping chains. The pair of Golden Serpents on either side coil but do not touch the columns as they raise their heads, bearing their fangs.
In the top center is a mirror with the figure of Diana drawing her bow to shoot upwards, surrounded by floating masks in mist. Behind her is a vortex ringed with fire. The colonnade beneath the mirror recede as an astral river of blue and green flows outward. A boat with a rowing monk sitting in fire makes its way up this river. The boat has eyes, and also the Egyptian figures of Ka and Ba on each end. The stellar gaseous background is of crisscrossing chains above and gears below.
“Gnosis”
Six of the ten Wands are flails stacked against to a monk with praying hands over a locked box labeled “Pandora” in Greek letters. The four Wands on either side are spiked maces topped with wolf heads which bind the monk with chains. The altar behind the monk holds book with a picture of Prometheus in punishment. The other page has the Greek alchemical rubric which translates as: “Nature delights in Nature, Nature dominates Nature, Nature devours Nature.”
The stain glass windows behind show scenes in sections. In the center panel is a cross around a vortex with the four banners of the Enochian watchtowers. Below this is Midas surrounded by treasure and flames reaching with grief for the daughter he has just turned to gold. On the right side is Sisyphus pushing a wheel of the spirit up a slope under a wrathful Eye shooting forth lightning. The left shows Tantalus in water, reaching for grapes, surrounded by fire. The lower sections of the windows show gorgon heads and beneath these are blackened hands trapped in flames.
“The Oasis”
The top Cup is held by winged angelic hands and holds the image of a Rose as it drips down waters blown out by fiery divine lips above. Clouds of fire billow around against a twilit sky. The Cup directly below the top one exists as a reflection in the mirror waters flowing out from the pyramid city which extends to the mountains.
On either side are the remaining eight Cups with clawed bases from which overflow tangled chains, all held up by Golden Serpents. Four mermaids lounge around a sleeping warrior in armor who is clutching his bow. One mermaid holds a harp and makes a Sign of Silence. An open book resting against the warrior’s quiver of arrows shows the image of a red scarab beetle.
“Downfall”
The blood-stained Swords are bound by chains in chaotic pattern to the skeletonized figure of the Fool. This figure holds up a crown broken into two pieces as it lays on steps leading up to a dais over which is a broken arch. On the dais is an Hourglass with winged two-faced emblem, in which the top portion in the glass shows a river of blood winding through a desert, dripping into a sea of blood in the glass below. Above this is a pair of tipping scales with bloody pans that are disturbed by a Raven with spread wings and holding a golden ring in its beak. Golden Serpents are on either side of the dais, their jaws open and fangs dripping blood into the scale pans. Ruined walls with windows and broken statues covered in sickly vegetation form remnants of the structure which used to enclose the dais. Beyond is a maze landscape leading to the distant and shadowy alchemical Mountain under the blazing Sun with a staring Eye.
“Rectification”
The Pentacles surround an alchemical Egg holding a fetus made of emerging flame that is surrounded by the dismembered elements of the Hieroglyphic Monad and masks under a Vortex. The Egg itself is in the clutches of the Chimera which has dark wings of fire. It’s central lion head is of green fire as are its claws. On it’s right is the head of a goat charred and seething with flame. On the left its Golden Serpent’s head striking out as its coils around the Egg and the Pentacles below. The surrounding terrain is of multi-colored crystals and gems. The top Pentacle is engraved with a composite sigil of the triangle of Fire and Sulphur, Salt and Mercury fanning around from the center. The rest of the Pentacles are engraved in the “Alphabet of Paracelsus” to spell out YALTABAOTH, a name of the ignorant creator god in Gnosticism. At the very top the angelic hands of Sophia extend downwards.
ADDITIONAL NOTE ON THE MINORS 2 – 10:
Each of the images numbered 2 through 10 has the sigils of the 72 Shem ha-Mephorash angels embedded in them. These are paired by the Zodiac Decan associations of the cards, the assignments indicated in the italic section of “The Powers of…”, referring to the planet in Zodiac sign.
THE COURT CARDS
All of the court card images have a uniform arrangement. Each court figure is contained in an alchemical Egg supported by winged Sphinxes representing the four classical elements and their combinations such as “Fire or Water” or “Air of Earth”. The Lions are Fire, the Eagles are for Water*, the Human-like heads for Air* and the Bulls are for Earth.
Between the Sphinxes at the center bottom are Enochian Watchtower Tablet quadrants associated with the same elemental combinations. Each tablet is surmounted by a letter from the Tetragrammaton as assigned to an element in association with the Suit: Yod = Fire, Heh = Water , Vau = Air and the final Heh = Earth . Each figure also has the relevant Enochian letter from the tablet of Union as a pendant on their chest, or engraved on a Pentacles in the Earth suit. The Golden Serpents are postured suggestively around the Eggs to indicate various emotional aspects.
*A Golden Dawn assignment which I have found alchemical-astrological reasons to agree with. For instance, is the White Eagle as totem figure of the highest manifestation of the energies of Scorpio, which is Fixed Water and a “bestial sign”. The human head for Aquarius reflects its nature as a “human sign”.
The King holds a Wand coiled in gold and capped by a mixed symbol of Sulphur, a Circle of Niter and a Scorpion. His helmet is shaped like a lion and its crown supports a spirit-blue eagle, lightning shooting down from its wings. He wears red plate armor decorated by Golden Serpents. His lower body is made of swirling fire. In his left hand he holds an Ankh suspended from a chain which drapes across to the Wand. Around him are Salamanders twisting upwards in a heraldic pattern.
The Enochian letter on his Pendant is Tal (M).
His Enochian Tablet is Fire of Fire, surmounted by the Tetragrammaton letter Vau.
The King holds his Cup around which a Golden Serpent coils and a chain drapes across to his other hand. His left hand holds a piece of parchment on which is written in the Alpha and Omega and a Latin alchemical rubric: “NON EST SIMILUS MIHI FONS AQUA. DIVES ET PAUPERES SANO ATQUE ADIUVO SED TAMEN PLENUS SUM VENENO.” (“Nothing is like my water. Rich and pour gain health from it though it is full of poison.”)
Behind him is a raging sea filled with ecstatic Mermaids. His mantle and robes are a mix of aquatic regality and jewels. He wears two masks, the white one on the front of his head and the other black on the back side. Atop his crown is a Peacock with fanning tail tipped with flames. Lighting flashes across the stormy sky behind.
The Enochian letter on his Pendant is Un (A).
His Enochian Tablet is Fire of Water, surmounted by the Tetragrammaton letter Yod.
In his right hand, the King holds his Sword entwined by a Golden Serpent and in his left he holds a censer. His helmet is of an eagle mask covering his white bearded face and red skin. His triple tiered crown supports an electric double headed Eagle, an Egg with a Vortex between its two heads. His red robe is covered with golden alchemical sigils and his armor is of metal scales. Around him flutter Sylphs with fiery wings bearing masks. Streams of air mixed with fire swirl around.
His Enochian letter on his Pendant is Mals, (P).
His Enochian Tablet is Fire of Air, surmounted by the Tetragrammaton letter Vau.
The King holds his Pentacle which around which are coiled Golden Serpents that also entangle his body. His helmet is that of a bull with crown surmounted by a Raven spreading its wings. A crescent Moon looms behind, shining over twilit misty forest. His body is bound by chains and Locks and from his left hand is suspended a white horn with golden bands. Around him a retinue hooded Gnomes carry various tools of workmanship.
His Pentacle is engraved with the Enochian letter Un (A) surrounded by the sigils of Spirit, Fire and Earth.
His Enochian Tablet is Fire of Earth, surmounted by the Tetragrammaton letter Yod.
The Queen sits upon a throne of glowing molten lava against a backdrop of volcanic flows and emerging Salamanders. In her right hand she holds a Wand with coiling Golden Serpent and chain topped by a globe containing a vortex. As with all the Queens to follow, in her left hand she holds up the “Flower of Fire” (aka, Flower of Mind), a concept from the Chaldean Oracles. Both her arms are coiled by s and she stretches a chain between them. She wears a lioness mask with the horns of Aries, her crown of s supporting a multi-colored cockatrice. Her exposed skin is red and her ornamental clothing is jeweled. On the last step of her throne is a chained alchemical Green Lion.
The Enochian letter on her Pendant is Gisa (T).
Her Enochian Tablet is Water of Fire, surmounted by the Tetragrammaton letter Heh.
The Queen is enthroned on steps of flowing water, her upper body of starlight and her lower half of fluidically merging into waterfall throne. In her right hand she holds her Cup and in the left the Flower of Fire while her arms are entwined by Golden Serpents. Her face is veiled so that only a green Wadjit for her eye can be seen. Her crown is of s forming into a bee hive from which drips sweet honey. Small birds or iynxes (wrynecks) flutter on either side of the crown, holding red ribbons. Her crest is of peacock feathers surrounded by blooming flowers. Waterfalls mixed with vegetation flow down behind her while mermaids raise their hands in worship of her.
The Enochian letter on her Pendant is Med (O)
Her Enochian Tablet is Water of Water, surmounted by the Tetragrammaton letter Heh.
The Queen sits on a throne which melts into nebulous clouds of snow. Around the Sword in her right hand is coiled a Golden Serpent. Her left arm is likewise coiled while her hand holds up the Flower of Fire. Her helmet is that of a bird of prey partly concealing her green face. A multi-colored Vulture broods on top of her crown. Her armor is Saturnine, black and engraved with Golden Serpents. Frozen sylphs bearing gloomy masks flank her on either side.
The Enochian letter on her Pendant is Un (A).
Her Enochian Tablet is Water of Air, surmounted by the Tetragrammaton letter Heh.
The Queen sits on a white and gold throne, the posts of which on either side are capped by carved obsidian emblems of Isis on the left and Nepthys on the right. The Queen’s right hand supports her Pentacle around which a pair Golden Serpents wrap. From this hand hangs an Hourglass with sand dripping in transmutation into blood. In her left hand she holds up the Flower of Fire. She is veiled and from her crown hangs cloth with the phases of the Moon. Her mantle is made of crow feathers and atop her crown sits a crowned crow looking backwards. Offerings of harvest are being set on the steps of the throne by hooded Gnomes. Other Gnomes gather fruit from orchard trees while in the background can be seen cultivated fields under a partly cloudy sky.
On the Queen’s Pentacle is the Enochian letter Drun (N) surrounded by the symbols of Spirit, Water and Earth.
Her Enochian Tablet is Water of Earth, surmounted by the Tetragrammaton letter Heh.
The Prince is mounted on a thrashing black Crocodile and is violently taming it with binding chains. His Wand is a vine rod torch with which he burns the beast into submission. His helmet is that in the shape of a hawk, surmounted by a Phoenix of flame. His red plate armor is jeweled with a roaring lion face on the waist. Salamanders dart violently around from the churning flame and smoke.
The Enochian letter on his Pendant is Gon (I, Y or J).
His Enochian Tablet is Air of Fire, surmounted by the Tetragrammaton letter Vau.
The Prince rides a Hippocampus with a Unicorns’ horn. His body is black and covered in fiery curvilinear lines. In his left hand he holds a Cup in which a Golden Serpent is dripping red fluid from its fangs. In his right he holds a book with the figure of Azoth on one side and an inverted figure of White Sulphur in the other. From his neck chains extend to bind globes with Vortexes inside. Golden Serpents coil around the globes inject their fangs. The Prince wears a black mask, his crown surmounted by an ibis. Ecstatic Mermaids dance in the churning sea of bubbles around him. One Mermaid whispers into the Prince’s left ear.
The Enochian letter on his Pendant is Veh (C, K).
His Enochian Tablet is Air of Water, surmounted by the Tetragrammaton letter Vau.
The Prince is mounted on a multi-colored griffin. He is either drawing his Sword from his scabbard or sheathing it. In his other hand he holds a bound scroll. His helmet is in the shape of a hawk surmounted by a green falcon. His armor is of black scale mail. Around are mask bearing Sylphs in turbulent clouds bearing open books marked by planetary symbols. The final book on the right is closed and bears the sigils of the squared circle, “TG” (the initials of Toz Graecus) and the word “CLAVES” (“Keys”).
The Enochian letter on his Pendant is Pal (X).
His Enochian Tablet is Air of Air, surmounted by the Tetragrammaton letter Vau.
The Prince is mounted on the three headed dog Cerberus, guardian of the Underworld. The dog is bound by chains pulled by Gnomes that are dragging it out of a mound of earth and gems. Golden Serpents coil around Cerberus and the Pentacle. The Prince’s armor is black and polished and he wears a puritan style mantle and cloak. On top of his helmet and crown is a crowing rooster against the backdrop of a mountainous mining operation.
Engraved on the Prince’s Pentacle is the Enochian letter Un (A) along with the figures of Spirit, Air and Earth.
His Enochian Tablet is Air of Earth, surmounted by the Tetragrammaton letter Vau.
The Princess’s body is made of flame and she stands upon the back of a glowing hot Salamander with its young nesting among simmering crystals. She holds a vine rod Wand from which is suspended a lamp and a banner declaring “VELLE” (“Will”). She is veiled and her hair is of writhing Serpents. On her crown is an owl spreading its wings. Behind her is flame and budding flowers of fire that as yet have no eyes.
The Enochian letter on her Pendant is O (Med).
Her Enochian Tablet is Earth of Fire, surmounted by the final Heh of the Tetragrammaton.
The Princess is a mermaid with a rainbow tail, her upper body made of quicksilver and covered in flowers. Her Cup is crystalline and she holds a wedding ring in her left hand. Her eyes are veiled and atop her crown and hair of Golden Serpents is a swan of white and black feathers, before which is a green butterfly. A nimbus of pearls surrounds her head. Mermaids swim up from a blue flowering lotus, and beyond are a range of colored crystals.
The Enochian letter on her Pendant is Tal (M).
Her Enochian Tablet is Earth of Water, surmounted by the final Heh of the Tetragrammaton.
The Princess is armored and stands on a crescent Moon with harpy feet. From the Sword she presents hang chains which drape to her hands. Her armor and skirt are elaborated with lightning bolts of swift action and fury. Upon the hem of her skirt is the word “SCIRE” (“to Know”). Golden Serpents form her hair and entwine her arms. Over her helmet descend a pair of shrikes bearing a thorny branch on which a caterpillar and butterfly have been impaled. She is surrounded by sylphs holding masks and rising from the dust of the cracked desert floor.
The Enochian letter on her Pendant is Don (R).
Her Enochian Tablet is Earth of Air, surmounted by the final Heh of Tetragrammaton.
This Princess is a Priestess of the Mysteries holding a candle over her Pentacle with interlocking fingers. Her veil and robe are white, and her crown is made of antlers upon which two doves nest. Golden Serpents form her hair. Her skin is pitch black and her hoofed foot steps forward on the head of the Golden Serpent that wraps around her body. In the background Gnome priests with candles have descended a ladder from rocky wooded heights and are walking into a cave leading to the Underworld. The alchemical Mountain is on the horizon.
The Enochian letter on her Pentacle is Gisa (T) and this is shown along with the sigils of Spirit and Earth.
Her Enochian Tablet is Earth of Earth, surmounted by the final Heh of the Tetragrammaton.
CONCLUSION
I hope that this guide will prove useful to those who possess Tarot of the Golden Serpent card decks and to those who are interested in my work. I have tried my best to make this descriptive guide as easy as possible to follow within the parameters of my own creative flux.
I offer deep thanks to those who have purchased decks and to all Wizard Forum members for your support.
