Greetings Solomonic Mages!
In the Heptameron, we are given directions for the seven Planets, based upon their rulership of the “winds”:
-Saturn: Southwest
-Jupiter: South
-Mars: East
-Sol: North
-Venus: West
-Mercury: Southwest
-Luna: West
Note both West and Southwest are repeated, and the other three cross-quarters are ignored. Meanwhile, Liber Juratus gives us a slightly different list:
-Saturn: Southwest
-Jupiter: North and East (does not say Northeast)
-Mars: East
-Sun: North
-Venus: East and West
-Mercury: West and Southwest
-Luna: West
It is possible the Heptameron‘s list is a corrupted version of this one from Juratus. Therefore, let’s explore the Juratis version and see what clues it gives us:
-Note the South is not mentioned here. However, it is interesting that Juratus states Maymon (aka Amaymon) is the King of the Demons ruled by Saturn, and we know that Amaymon is the King of the South in many of the grimoires (for example, see Agrippa’s “Scale of the Number Four”). Amaymon is therefore associated with Capricorn (ruled by Saturn). In the above list, Saturn is given “Southwest” – but perhaps this could be changed to simply “South.”
-Mars ruling the East makes perfect sense, as it is the ruling Planet of Aries – associated with Oriens.
-Venus says East and West (perhaps because it is both the Morning and Evening Star, at different times of the year). However, since the East is already taken, we could simply choose the West, as Venus is the ruling sign of Libra, thus connected to Paimon. (Note this is what is given by the Heptameron, too.) Here, we can see a clear connection to three of the four Demon Kings of the directions.
Here is the Liber Juratus list again, with the minor corrections:
Saturn: South
Jupiter: North and East (does not say Northeast)
Mars: East
Sun: North
Venus: West
Mercury: West and Southwest
Luna: West
Sadly, there are still several problems here:
1) the North is attributed to the Sun, rather than Luna. If we stick with the associations given by the Demon Kings: Ariton – ruler of the North – is associated with Cancer, ruled by Luna.
2) the West is repeated a second time with Luna.
(and then again with Mercury, see #5).
3) Jupiter has two directions, both of which are repeats from Mars and Sol.
4) Mercury is the only cross-quarter.
5) Mercury also repeats the West yet again.
We could assume Jupiter and Mercury should properly be cross-quarters, easily solving problems 3, 4, and 5:
Saturn: South
Jupiter: Northeast
Mars: East
Sun: North
Venus: West
Mercury: Southwest
Luna: West
And that’s the best we can do without drastically altering the original list. If we want to solve problems 1 and 2 above, we’ll have to continue the same pattern of association with the Ruling Planets of the Signs/Houses. We need to:
1) switch the directions of the Sun and Luna. This would properly put Luna in the North with Cancer/Ariton.
2) replace the Sun not with “West” from the switch with Luna, but assign it to another cross-quarter. (Northwest would at least put it in the proper place for Leo, the Sign it rules.)
Here is the list again – this time with the “not so minor” corrections, so we can no longer call it the Juratus list:
Saturn: South
Jupiter: Northeast
Mars: East
Sun: Northwest
Venus: West
Mercury: Southwest
Luna: North
This gives us something very close to a proper astrological arrangement. If we consider the Planets of the Cardinal Directions set, thanks to their associations with the four Demon Kings and the Cardinal Signs, we can extrapolate from there. Much as we did above to associate the Sun with the Northwest, we can look at the twelve Signs on an actual zodiac chart, and their natural positions in the Houses:
This only suggests one further change to the list: the switching of the directions for Jupiter and Mercury. Jupiter rules Sagittarius in the Southwest, not the Northeast. And Mercury rules Gemini in the Northeast, not the Southwest. Therefore, here is the final list:
The Astrological Association of Planets to the Winds:
Saturn: South (Capricorn)
Jupiter: Southwest (Sagittarius)
Mars: East (Aries)
Sun: Northwest (Leo)
Venus: West (Libra)
Mercury: Northeast (Gemini)
Luna: North (Cancer)
Since there are only seven Planets to fill eight positions around the compass, it leaves one spot empty: the Southeast. However, it is not my intention to fill out all eight compass points at all costs. It is only my intention to find a list of Planetary directional rulerships that is solidly based upon the astrological cosmology of the grimoires. Of course, should I finally discover the true source behind the directions given in either Liber Juratis or the Heptameron, I will be more than happy to amend my conclusions.
Ananael (The Secrets of Wisdom) 
Reblogged this on Sanctuary of Horus Behdety.
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Dear Aaron Leitch, I know this is unrelated to the article, but I’d greatly appreciate a response from you: Do you know the origin of Archangel Gabriel? If possible, to what pagan deity can said spirit be traced? There’s very clear evidence that Michael is derived from Reshef Mikal, but where did Gabriel come from?
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So far as I have been able to find, he is original to the Israelites. His name (Gevurah + El) seems to fit with ancient Jewish legends that show him defending Israel in a rather harsh manner. He once incinerated an entire army that was set to attack the city, was one of the angels who destroyed Sodom and Gemmorah, etc. By the time we reach Christianity, he has become the primary Messenger of God, bringing news of Jesus’ birth to Mary, and later dictating the Koran to Muhammad. That role might have developed from his involvement with Daniel and his visions, and from there we might assume that is how he became associated with the Moon in later occult texts.
He doesn’t appear to have been a Pagan God before his appearance in Israel, and doesn’t seem to have adopted any of his functions or symbolism from any Pagan God. At least anything I can find so far…. His first appearance seems to have been in the Book of Enoch, so there is some possibility of Babylonian influence on his origins. But, if so, the record has been lost to date.
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Dear Aaron Leitch, I have another question (sorry if this is not the correct place to post questions to you, I’ve no idea where else to post): How would you practically differentiate angels from demons? Let me give you a hypothetical scenario: let’s say you cannot rely on spirit catalogs or the name of the spirit to deduce whether or not it’s classified as an angel or a demon. How would you in practice differentiate if it was a demon or an angel? Is there any difference in the way angels and demons operate when producing results, in your experience? Is there any difference in the inner states they evoke in you when present (i.e a demon puts you in an X mood/gives X feelings, and an angel gives you a Y mood/gives Y feelings)?
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There is very little distinction between an angel and a demon. “Demon” descends from an old word that simply meant “god”. The only real difference is that some of these beings live in the heavens (celestial beings, which we often call angels) and some of them live below the Lunar sphere here on (or under) the Earth (which we often call demons). So the real distinction is between celestial and terrestrial (or celestial and chthonic). But many of these beings have associations with both realms, so different texts might classify the same entity as one or the other. In the end, they are all the same “species” of being.
As far as how each one appears and interacts with you, that will depend entirely on the entity and which aspect of the entity you are calling. The terrestrial spirits are more earthy and tend to have more human-like emotions, while the celestial spirits can often be aloof.
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Would you say it’s fair to say that (some) spirits of the Western European grimoires are jinn/djinn? Aside from the Graeco-Egyptian influence, there is also an Arabic influence on said grimoires. For example, the 7 aerial spirits of the Heptameron being Western interpretations of the 7 jinn kings of the days of the week. Then the strong presence of Amaymon/Maymon in the grimoires who seems to be derived from Maymoon Abu Nukh. And it’s not even just a name connection; the offices fit and also planetary and elementary correspondences: both are attributed to Saturn and Earth. There’s also the fact that, if you were to ask practitioners from the Middle East and North Africa, they would refer to these spirits as jinn. What I’m getting at here is, would you personally say that jinn/djinn is a more appropriate term for these spirits as opposed demons, which is a misleading and frankly a loaded word? Thanks for answering my previous two questions by the way.
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It’s simply a difference in terms. “Demon” originally meant “deity”. Later, it took on the more general meaning of “spirit” or “intelligence.” (Note that Agrippa refers to the Holy Guardian Angel as the “Holy Demon.”) In general, the spirits of the grimoires are simply the Western equivalent to Jinn. Though, more specifically, the grimoires refer to Jinn (beings of smokeless fire) as “Salamanders.”
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