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Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic and Alchemical Sigils Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic and Alchemical Sigils FRED GETTINGS ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL, Lenden, Boston and Henley First published in 1981 by Routledge Kegan Paul Ltd 39 Store Street, London WC1E 7DD, 9 Park Street, Boston, Mass. 02108, USA and Broadway House, Newtown Road, Uenley-on-Thames Printed in Great Britain by Lowe and Brydone Printers Ltd ‘Thetford, Norfolk © Fred Gettings 1981 No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except for the quotation of brief passages in criticism British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Gettings, Fred Dictionary of occult, hermetic and alchemical sigils. 1. Occult sciences - Dictionaries 1. vitle 133'.03'21 —-BF1407 80-4212 ISBN 0-7100-0095-2 Contents Introduction Dictionary of Sigils Bibliography Appendices Index of Sigils Antiquissimi Sapientes, quos Graeco sermone Philosophos appellamus, si quae naturac vel artis reperissent arcana, ne in pravorum notitiam devenirent, variis mo@is atque Figuris occultabant. When the wise men of old (whom we call in the Greek tongue 'Philosopners') found any arcana, any hidden things, either of a natural xind, or resulting fram the activities of man, they were accustomed to hide these in various ways and with the aid of figures. They did this in order th ese might not be understood by the wrong kind cf people. CROLLIUS, De Signaturis, sew vera et viva Anatomia Majoris et Minoris Mundi, 1612. Introduction SUR TEXT OF THIS DICTTONARY has been designed as a reference, guide and source-book for those involved in general occult studies. Towards this end it presents, under 1,500 headings, the meanings of over 9,000 sigils which appear in European alchemical, astrological, geomantic and related hermetic sources, along with a unique graphic index by means of which the majority of such sigils may be identified. deraticns Before setting out the scope, plan and practi relating to this dictionary, it might be as well for me to explain why T have chosen the relatively rare word sigil to designate the graphic forms dealt with in the text, when the layman might well be ter ed to words as symbols, signs or even glyphs. The word symbol is not. sufficiently specialised for my purpose, since it carries a literary as well as an iconographic connetation anything may be a symbol ¢ anything else, provided that an analogy is @rawn, or sone explanation for the symbolising given. Thus, the mediaeval bestiary could take the apparently absurd symbol of the vulture as representative of the Virgin Mary, simply because it was currently lieved that a vulture brought forth its young partheno- genetically. Without a literary explanation, tacit or otherwise, alongside such a symbol, then the meaning would be cbscure, and in the example given if not heretical, then at least obscene. only very rarely does a literary explanation stand between the sigils and their ‘meanings* and even then only in the various ‘graphic systems' (see for example the entry under ORIGIN), for which adequate bibliographic reference is given DICTIONARY OF OCCULP, HERMETIC AND ALCHBMICAL SIGILS within the entry, For example, the curious sigil WP is one of the forms for VIRGO, and has been accorded a certain literary tradition which links it with the Virgin Mary: in the entry T have made reference to this possible graphic etymology, from the initials mv (Maria Virgo). even though in my opinion this etymology is entirely fanciful. The point here is that the ‘vulture’ symbol requires literary explanation, the sigil for virgo does not, though such an explanation may throw Light on its origin or purpose as a sigil. ‘he word sign has a very wide application, ranging from gestures and tokens made by the body, to a whcle battery of devices designed for the purpose of communication. As a word, therefore, it has connotation far beyond the special sense of ‘occult! or ‘graphic! which T certainly wish to imply within this dictionary. Additionally, the word sign in this general sense may be easily confused with the word in its special astrological application: the sign of the zodiac is one of the twelve divisions of the ecliptic band, and not, as is sometimes erroneously supposed, the ‘graphic symbol’ used to denote one of these zodiacal divisions. Thus, the arc of thirty degrees (tropical) between Cancer and Virgo is the sign of the zodiac LEO: a picture of a lion may well be intended to be a symbol of this zodiacal Leo, but the graphic form is actually the sigil for Leo. ‘The word glyph is sometimes used in occult contexts, but in its proper application it should be restricted to sculpture and architecture, for it is supposed te refer to symbols appearing in relief work. Tn the nineteenth century a number of words were derived from ‘glyph* relating to the relief processes in the printing industry; perhaps this alone should provide grounds for rejecting the word from the present context. There is no doubt that certain glyphs have become sigils ~ this a teewofinanydoctult aigitatiderivedtrem the gyptinwhberdgiyphteat For example, the hieroglyph ANKE and its component RU, undoubtedly both Sie Tea) Sts Wee BeaeenCivaea ae SELERGENe, cpmnen rosie Pe gna These general observations may indicate why I have felt compelled to y NPE adopt the word s 1 in the face of apparent competition from other words. INTRODUCTION In fact, its very derivation, from the late Latin sigiilum, encourages its use within an occult context, for this word appears frequently in mediaeval magical contexts, and has even been used specifically for certain astrological symbols and devices which were supposed to be amuletic in power. Further, the word in the eighteenth century did carry the specialised meaning of ‘a small image’. Since most of the graphic forms in this dictionary are to some extent amuletic ~ that is, charged with power - and many are ‘small images of cosmic processes, in almost every case Linked with the occult, then the word sigil connotes very well the field to which I have restricted myself here. Having explained the key word of the title for this dictionary, T must now deal with its intended readership. 1 have designed the text in such a way that it will be valuable to both specialists and general workers in fields directly or peripherally related to occultism. In particular, it is intended for those whose research brings them into contact with occult ox hemetic texts, ancient or modern ~ for historians of the occult, for astrologers, for those interested in the "history of ideas', for art students and art historians. the book needs no justification so far as historians of the eccult are concerned: without doubt. there is a great need for such a work as this. 1 cannot pretend that the specialist will meet with many sigils from his own field with which he is not already familiar, but one may be certain that he will find in the dicti how zy some indication sigils familiar to him were seen and interpreted in related fields outside his own specialisation. This much is guarantee@ simply because I have endeavoured to use the sigils recorded by specialists in a wide range of occult and hermetic areas. A specialist in alchemical fields cannot avoid having some passing tance with astrological sigils, for example, but it is unlikely that the full wealth of astrological sigils will have been appreciated by such a specialist. Again, a specialist in astrology, or the history of astrology, may well be surprised to discover the extent which the development of astrological sigils has been bound ap with the prevailing veligious and cccult notions concerning the nature of symbolism. Such ideas as these are intimated in the bibliographic DICTIONARY OF OCCULT, HERMBTIC AND ALCHEMICAL SICILS sources given alongside the pres ation of the sigils. Practical astrologers are, by the very nature of their subject, required to have sone knowledge of the history of their art, and to be aware of something of the ‘graphic theory’ underlying the sigile they use. This dictionary will be of great value to such individuals, for it will reveal sonething of the variety and wealth of astrological sigils and of related graghic theories of symbolism. At the same time, this text may offer a serious challenge te the superficial ‘histories of astrology’ a "histories cf the occult! which, under different authorship and title, but with mach the same moribund content, appear each year with depressing regularity, These sigils, and the sources from which they are abstracted, indicate that the history of ast logy and the occult is not e. Those who would wish to at all what the superficial historians supp combat this nonsense could do no better than conmence with a study of certain of the source-book material given in support of the sigil forns esented here. I know from experience that it is difficult to be a practical astrologer, or interested in the h tory ef the subject, without becoming fascinated by the inner meanings of the sigils, which speak a language at once arcane and cosmic, reminding one of the definition of a synbol given by HAASE 1975 as ‘essentially purposive... it points to some Higher Order for whose characteristics it is a ind of abbreviation’ The bibliographic sources give more o} en than not hints and guesses at the ‘Higher Order", at the inner meaning, though in this field, perhaps moze than any cther, one must have he eyes to see, and the mind to under- stand. Those individuals whe find thenseives interested in what is nowadays called ‘the history of ideas’, but which in earlier days was called merely ‘history’ (on the faiz assumption at men were motivated precisely by ideas, and not merely by ‘social' cr ‘economic! pressures}, cannot fail to find this dictionary useful, for w derlying many of the sigils one finds traces of an ancient wisdom, expressed in a graphic precision which is surprising. tionally, @ Lines of thought expressed in the combinations of sigils and bibliographic reference will provide a fertile ground £6! further research into the history of lo IWPRODUCTION albeit ideas in graphic forms. A useful history of the influence of graphic expression has still to be written, and it would be encouraging to think that the indications set out in this dictionary might contribute to such a work. The study of ocoult sigils often has the effect of pulling together cer in literary themes with the artistic expression associated with them, For example, the influence of John Dee's curious MONAD bs on subsequent. graphic theory is considerable, and a grasp of the Englishman's influence on Boehm use s, so ably studied by PREHER 1717, and introduced to modern scholarshiz by MUSES 1951, might indicate to the historian lines cf thought by which the ideas and painterly expression of Willian Blake might be approached in a new and valid way. Several of the ideas relating to secret and heretical influences in the history of art set out in GETTINGS 1976 took their origin ‘om a study of si = notably the discoveries relating te the Taurean-Piscean symbolism in that remarkable basilican church of gan Miniato use of the dual al Monte, in Florence, and the curioi sls) and (_ in the Rosicrucian symbolism of St. Pierre, in Geneva. Such examples could easily be multiplied - especially in regard aeval and Renaissance works of art. Such an observation reminds us that art students, and especially those ine art students who find themselves interested in arcane matters ~ a most common thing in the modern climate - will find this collection o: sigils a stimulating source for research and experiment. I need hardly say that students of graphics have for a long time been in ne book in order that they might grasp something of the ich grephic tradici even modern which underlies the history of their subject, a1 symbolism. | Not only the sigils themselves, but also the supportin bibliography - especially these titles which deal with graphic theories - will provide stimulus for further research, and perhaps contribute further to the devel: of a graphic th y of forms. The general historian requires a dictionary such as this for reasons ch scarcely requize discussion - the book is designed precisely to aid in the deciphering and amplification of obscure historical documents. ‘he art historian is, chaps unwittingly, desperately in need of a book al