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Things have been busy for me in terms of mundane life but also magical revelation. To help me stay on track I will make a depository of my current astrological, alchemical and magical artwork projects. Though I have a couple of other journals on WF that I hope to follow up on, I intend to make this one my “primary”, so to speak.
By the term “artistic gnosis” I am referring to my own technique of using my art as a means of magical exploration. I consider this synonymous with Kenneth Grant’s “creative occultism”, to which he refers the likes of Spare, Dali, and others. At any rate, I view these works as my own “visual essays” on forces and energies within the occult spectrum. The “gnosis” or knowledge is what I attain in the action of creation, though I admit what I see and feel and show comes through the various filters of my being in this world – the stamp of my personal “wheel”.
For the first three entries I will be showing some of my main current project, the Zodiac Signs and 36 Faces found within their Decans. All of the following images are fairly small, being 9x12in (22.86x30.48 cm), oil paint on flat canvas sheets. I started the series in the year 2009, at around the same time as the Tarot of the Golden Serpent. My hope was that I could complete this series quickly and with simplicity, but this proved to be folly, so I set it aside until completion of the TGS. These astrological images have mutated from multiple reworkings, and may continue to do so in relation to my studies. In fact, I soberly consider what I show now to still be “works in progress”.
I begin this journal while the Moon is in Aries, with four images pertaining to that sign and some commentary. Future entries will conform to astrological timings as I deem appropriate.
ARIES
Here I tried to depict the explosive and rushing force of pure Aries. As a sun sign Aries myself, I enjoyed trying to depict what the astrologer Rick Levine referred to in terms of the energy of the sign as the impulsive action of “Ready! Fire! Aim!”
This above image is actually a very recent addition to the series which began with the images below. I decided that, since I intend to publish a future Tarot style deck based on this work, I might as well include the 12 Signs. This may expand yet further than this.
The following are the three Faces of Aries. Beneath each image is an appended quote from Picatrix Book 2, Chapter 11 that describes the image of each Decan and its associated powers. The edition I am using for this purpose is the translation by Dan Attrell and David Porreca. I do have Warnock's translation in tattered hard copy, which I have been using as one reference while painting these.
ARIES I
"The first face of Aries is Mars, and in it (according to the opinion of a great sage in that science) there ascends the image of a black man, anxious, with a large body, red eyes, holding a chopping axe in his hand, and girded in a white cloth. There is great worth in him. This is the face of strength, nobility, and worth without modesty. This is its form."
Warnock gives him as “restless” and “wealth without shame.”
The Golden Dawn has the figure with a red mantle and holding a sword, the latter which I featured in the first phase of composition. Later I felt the axe more appropriate as it is a more brutal and less elegant weapon which seems to suit Aries energies much more.
According to the GD classification, the angel (or daimon) ruling the 1st Decan is Zazer, whose number from Hebrew gematria is 214.
I have inscribed the name on the figure in Malachim script, and have done this for all the other images to follow. I do not claim that the image and the angel are the same, this is a correspondence I have worked from. My initial thinking is that these names may have a protective value, but a process of identification is probably inevitable and maybe even okay. Regrettable, I have not yet found the origin of these names from which the GD derived them, though I am still looking. In many ways I view the Decans as being like their own houses with depths and denizens and variations within them. They are spaces, vast and deep though confined to zodiacal divisions. However, the Faces as presented are but a starting point for investigation. What else lies further within these spaces, their powers and images, only an intrepid skryer may know.
ARIES II
"In the second face of Aries ascends a woman dressed in green clothes and missing a leg. This is the face of splendor, excellence, value, and rule. This is its form."
Yates initially colored my interpretation with a remark of pity about the woman being crippled. In fact, for some reason nested in my sympathies, her relation of this image impelled me to begin the work of painting the Decans.
A spirit I evoked long after my first “completion” of this showed me a somewhat different interpretation in that the woman was dancing, balanced on one leg with leg drawn up.
Coppock in his appendix gives a description based on the Arabic Picatrix where she is surrounded by jewels and children. This kind of insinuated itself into my mind, at least with regards to the jewels, and I had to do yet another revision before posting this.
The angel ruling the 2nd Decan of Aries is Behahemi, whose number is 62.
At this point I would like to note that my initial attempts at the Faces were based on the images presented by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which can also be found reproduced in Crowley’s 777 and Skinner’s Tables. After years of wrestling I decided to at least try to steer my course as faithfully as possible toward the Picatrix images, and there is a bit of personal history to that which is a bit much to recount right now. Some of the variants from the GD I kept because of the amount of work it would take to amend then, or I thought they were just cooler. At the same time I knew I had to make them my own by adding my own visionary touches, and this seems very much in line with the traditions of depicting the Faces. I am still hoping to find their source. As I noted above, Coppock’s work presented further complications with his appendices of comparisons of the Decans.
ARIES III
"In the third face of Aries ascends an unsettled man, holding a golden bracelet in his hands and dressed in red clothes, desiring to do good yet incapable. This is the face of subtlety, subtle craſts, novelties, instruments, and the like. This is its form."
GD gives that he has golden bracelets on his wrists, which is what I depicted. Agrippa that he is holding a hoop of gold, which can be found in the Palazzo de Schifanoia.
The angel ruling is Satander, whose number is 323.
On the three Faces, I offer this brief explanation for those who do not know. For each astrological sign there are three divisions of 10 degrees called “decans”, “decanates” or even “decades”. Each decan has a “Face”, or image much like the Zodiac sign has an image which broadly represents its energies. The Faces themselves have both an astrological and magical value. That is, the Faces can be used in chart interpretation or as talismans or the for evocation of spirits, among other things. There are many variants of the Faces stretching back to ancient Egypt, many of these so varied as to be difficult to compare in terms of commonality.
In addition, each Face has a planetary ruler which follows a certain pattern of ordering. There are quite a few variations of these orderings, each with its own logic rooted in the cultures that used them. Picatrix 2, 11 starts with Mars, then the Sun and Venus for the Decans of Aries. In the next chapter, however, another set of variations is given “according to the Hindus”.
The Picatrix 2,11 order is also the same used as corresponding to the Minor Arcana according to the Golden Dawn. Also, the Rider-Waite-Smith Minors can also be viewed as depictions of the Decans, modified to Waite’s taste through the hand of Smith. This order I recently noticed is also indicated in the GD version of the Enochian Watchtower Tablets.
Austin Coppocks 36 Faces of the Zodiac gives a good summary history with appended charts for comparison.
In relation to ritual magic, the Decan spirits appear before King Solomon and warn him that they may not be commanded by him. The Decans are also referred to as part of the cosmic order in the Corpus Hermeticum and Gnostic texts such as the Pistis Sophia and the so-called Books of Jeu.
Another note that in the early development of the series I was thinking in terms of a seasonal pattern. This proved kind of tough in some later images, but I am still revising. In the case of Aries I, the initial awakening of Aries energies at the end of winter. Aries II shows the effort of new life striving to break through the spring thaw, though I think that it signifies an indicator of “Aries burnout”. Aries III shows the sudden rush of activity to take advantage of the thaw via a farming allegory. This pattern continues somewhat, though the seasonal emphasis is mainly in the early signs. A consideration with regards to traditional astrology is that its focus has mainly been on the Northern Hemisphere.
In 777, the Decans are listed as being "Angular, Cadent, and Succedent." These terms are generally referred to the House Systems of astrology, and determine a type of energetic make up. For simplicities sake, Aries I as Angular would be the fresh appearance of the energy at its strongest. In the Cadent phase (Aries II) it weakens, and in the Succedent phase (Aries III) it begins transformation into the next astrological Sign.
In closing this entry, I would like to say I conceive of this effort on WF as a kind of real expedition through vision. The aim and end of this effort of “my artistic gnosis” is a kind of map making, a personal quest for the source of what I like to call “The Astral Nile”. On the deeper meaning of this phrase I may elucidate later, but for now I wish to express thanks to WF and its members for your attention and appreciation.
A final and important note is that all my works are dedicated to the Powers that guide me. Though I do not name them, they are not anonymous. They live in my brush strokes and everything else I do and create. My work is my praise and offering to them.
By the term “artistic gnosis” I am referring to my own technique of using my art as a means of magical exploration. I consider this synonymous with Kenneth Grant’s “creative occultism”, to which he refers the likes of Spare, Dali, and others. At any rate, I view these works as my own “visual essays” on forces and energies within the occult spectrum. The “gnosis” or knowledge is what I attain in the action of creation, though I admit what I see and feel and show comes through the various filters of my being in this world – the stamp of my personal “wheel”.
For the first three entries I will be showing some of my main current project, the Zodiac Signs and 36 Faces found within their Decans. All of the following images are fairly small, being 9x12in (22.86x30.48 cm), oil paint on flat canvas sheets. I started the series in the year 2009, at around the same time as the Tarot of the Golden Serpent. My hope was that I could complete this series quickly and with simplicity, but this proved to be folly, so I set it aside until completion of the TGS. These astrological images have mutated from multiple reworkings, and may continue to do so in relation to my studies. In fact, I soberly consider what I show now to still be “works in progress”.
I begin this journal while the Moon is in Aries, with four images pertaining to that sign and some commentary. Future entries will conform to astrological timings as I deem appropriate.
ARIES
Here I tried to depict the explosive and rushing force of pure Aries. As a sun sign Aries myself, I enjoyed trying to depict what the astrologer Rick Levine referred to in terms of the energy of the sign as the impulsive action of “Ready! Fire! Aim!”
This above image is actually a very recent addition to the series which began with the images below. I decided that, since I intend to publish a future Tarot style deck based on this work, I might as well include the 12 Signs. This may expand yet further than this.
The following are the three Faces of Aries. Beneath each image is an appended quote from Picatrix Book 2, Chapter 11 that describes the image of each Decan and its associated powers. The edition I am using for this purpose is the translation by Dan Attrell and David Porreca. I do have Warnock's translation in tattered hard copy, which I have been using as one reference while painting these.
ARIES I
"The first face of Aries is Mars, and in it (according to the opinion of a great sage in that science) there ascends the image of a black man, anxious, with a large body, red eyes, holding a chopping axe in his hand, and girded in a white cloth. There is great worth in him. This is the face of strength, nobility, and worth without modesty. This is its form."
Warnock gives him as “restless” and “wealth without shame.”
The Golden Dawn has the figure with a red mantle and holding a sword, the latter which I featured in the first phase of composition. Later I felt the axe more appropriate as it is a more brutal and less elegant weapon which seems to suit Aries energies much more.
According to the GD classification, the angel (or daimon) ruling the 1st Decan is Zazer, whose number from Hebrew gematria is 214.
I have inscribed the name on the figure in Malachim script, and have done this for all the other images to follow. I do not claim that the image and the angel are the same, this is a correspondence I have worked from. My initial thinking is that these names may have a protective value, but a process of identification is probably inevitable and maybe even okay. Regrettable, I have not yet found the origin of these names from which the GD derived them, though I am still looking. In many ways I view the Decans as being like their own houses with depths and denizens and variations within them. They are spaces, vast and deep though confined to zodiacal divisions. However, the Faces as presented are but a starting point for investigation. What else lies further within these spaces, their powers and images, only an intrepid skryer may know.
ARIES II
"In the second face of Aries ascends a woman dressed in green clothes and missing a leg. This is the face of splendor, excellence, value, and rule. This is its form."
Yates initially colored my interpretation with a remark of pity about the woman being crippled. In fact, for some reason nested in my sympathies, her relation of this image impelled me to begin the work of painting the Decans.
A spirit I evoked long after my first “completion” of this showed me a somewhat different interpretation in that the woman was dancing, balanced on one leg with leg drawn up.
Coppock in his appendix gives a description based on the Arabic Picatrix where she is surrounded by jewels and children. This kind of insinuated itself into my mind, at least with regards to the jewels, and I had to do yet another revision before posting this.
The angel ruling the 2nd Decan of Aries is Behahemi, whose number is 62.
At this point I would like to note that my initial attempts at the Faces were based on the images presented by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which can also be found reproduced in Crowley’s 777 and Skinner’s Tables. After years of wrestling I decided to at least try to steer my course as faithfully as possible toward the Picatrix images, and there is a bit of personal history to that which is a bit much to recount right now. Some of the variants from the GD I kept because of the amount of work it would take to amend then, or I thought they were just cooler. At the same time I knew I had to make them my own by adding my own visionary touches, and this seems very much in line with the traditions of depicting the Faces. I am still hoping to find their source. As I noted above, Coppock’s work presented further complications with his appendices of comparisons of the Decans.
ARIES III
"In the third face of Aries ascends an unsettled man, holding a golden bracelet in his hands and dressed in red clothes, desiring to do good yet incapable. This is the face of subtlety, subtle craſts, novelties, instruments, and the like. This is its form."
GD gives that he has golden bracelets on his wrists, which is what I depicted. Agrippa that he is holding a hoop of gold, which can be found in the Palazzo de Schifanoia.
The angel ruling is Satander, whose number is 323.
On the three Faces, I offer this brief explanation for those who do not know. For each astrological sign there are three divisions of 10 degrees called “decans”, “decanates” or even “decades”. Each decan has a “Face”, or image much like the Zodiac sign has an image which broadly represents its energies. The Faces themselves have both an astrological and magical value. That is, the Faces can be used in chart interpretation or as talismans or the for evocation of spirits, among other things. There are many variants of the Faces stretching back to ancient Egypt, many of these so varied as to be difficult to compare in terms of commonality.
In addition, each Face has a planetary ruler which follows a certain pattern of ordering. There are quite a few variations of these orderings, each with its own logic rooted in the cultures that used them. Picatrix 2, 11 starts with Mars, then the Sun and Venus for the Decans of Aries. In the next chapter, however, another set of variations is given “according to the Hindus”.
The Picatrix 2,11 order is also the same used as corresponding to the Minor Arcana according to the Golden Dawn. Also, the Rider-Waite-Smith Minors can also be viewed as depictions of the Decans, modified to Waite’s taste through the hand of Smith. This order I recently noticed is also indicated in the GD version of the Enochian Watchtower Tablets.
Austin Coppocks 36 Faces of the Zodiac gives a good summary history with appended charts for comparison.
In relation to ritual magic, the Decan spirits appear before King Solomon and warn him that they may not be commanded by him. The Decans are also referred to as part of the cosmic order in the Corpus Hermeticum and Gnostic texts such as the Pistis Sophia and the so-called Books of Jeu.
Another note that in the early development of the series I was thinking in terms of a seasonal pattern. This proved kind of tough in some later images, but I am still revising. In the case of Aries I, the initial awakening of Aries energies at the end of winter. Aries II shows the effort of new life striving to break through the spring thaw, though I think that it signifies an indicator of “Aries burnout”. Aries III shows the sudden rush of activity to take advantage of the thaw via a farming allegory. This pattern continues somewhat, though the seasonal emphasis is mainly in the early signs. A consideration with regards to traditional astrology is that its focus has mainly been on the Northern Hemisphere.
In 777, the Decans are listed as being "Angular, Cadent, and Succedent." These terms are generally referred to the House Systems of astrology, and determine a type of energetic make up. For simplicities sake, Aries I as Angular would be the fresh appearance of the energy at its strongest. In the Cadent phase (Aries II) it weakens, and in the Succedent phase (Aries III) it begins transformation into the next astrological Sign.
In closing this entry, I would like to say I conceive of this effort on WF as a kind of real expedition through vision. The aim and end of this effort of “my artistic gnosis” is a kind of map making, a personal quest for the source of what I like to call “The Astral Nile”. On the deeper meaning of this phrase I may elucidate later, but for now I wish to express thanks to WF and its members for your attention and appreciation.
A final and important note is that all my works are dedicated to the Powers that guide me. Though I do not name them, they are not anonymous. They live in my brush strokes and everything else I do and create. My work is my praise and offering to them.