Hermetic Magic

Hermetic Magic

The 36 Decans

The word “decan” originally comes from the Greek word dekanos, meaning “ruler of ten.” The decans were the “rulers” of ten−degree segments of the sky, each one−third of an entire zodiacal sign: 12 signs times 30 degrees each equals the whole 360 degree zodiac. Lists and diagrams of the decans appear on the insides of Egyptian coffin lids, where they served to guide the dead to the afterlife. The great insight of decanic (and thus Hermetic) magic, that the decans govern this world and lead to another, can be seen in those inscriptions. The earliest decan list archaeologists have found comes from the 9th Dynasty, around 100 years after Khaibitu−na−Khonsu founded the Cabal. The Greek magi in Alexandria further codified and studied the decans, applying the theories of correspondences that made actual Hermetic experimentation possible. From Alexandria, the decans entered Arabic sorcerous lore, primarily in an early medieval text entitled the Picatrix, after the pseudonym of its author. (Despite centuries of investigation, the Cabal has no idea who “Picatrix” was; his writings hint that he was Atlantean.) The Picatrix served as the hidden blueprint for the works of Agrippa, Ficino, and the other Renaissance magi, and firmly embedded the decans in European astrology.

The Cabal has worked very hard to promote other astrological systems and mire decanic theory in obscurity, with much success. Relatively few specialists, and practically no laymen, can even name the decans, much less use them for “mundane” astrology. Even the names and orders of the decans have been confused −− as far back as the 4th century

A.D., the Hermetic compiler Hephaistion prepared a decan list that almost seems deliberately skewed from the Egyptian

originals, which varied themselves from temple to temple. The Alexandrians, and “Picatrix,” and then the Renaissance

Cabalists, retained the core of the decanic knowledge, however −− the keys to reality itself. The Cabalistic decans appear

below, in alphabetical order by decan name (for an alphabetical reference by magical college, see the Decan Table, p.

00), in the following format:

Decan Name

This section discusses the nature and influences of the decan, and what portions or components of the Material (and the other Realms) with which it especially resonates. Some decans share resonances, much as some magical colleges share spells.

Aethyr: Every decan has a Lord (or Lady), a powerful spiritual entity known as an Aethyr. This section names the Aethyr and gives its traditional appearance in visions or on the Higher Planes.

College: For those decans that correspond with a GURPS Magic college, that college is given here.

3.3.1.1 Correspondences

The heart of Hermetic magic, correspondences tie the emanations of the decans to everything in the universe. Each substance, concept, place, or item resonates more or less strongly with its constituent decans. The most powerful such resonances create correspondences: the “symbolic logic” by which magic operates. GMs should feel free to “personalize” their cosmos (and throw players who own their own copies of the book a curve) by adding, altering, deleting, or otherwise changing these correspondences to suit their own sense of campaign feel.

Places: In these places, magic drawn from this decan may be cast at a bonus, from a +1 for simple correspondence with an otherwise normal location to +3 for particularly old or significant locales. Any and all modifications remain at the GM's discretion.

Materials: Using any of these materials, colors, patterns, substances, etc. in a magical spell−casting drawing upon this decan may increase the sorcerer's chances of success. Common or simple materials may add +1 to the spell's skill roll, rare or difficult ones +2, and legendary or particularly significant ones +3. Enormous quantities or particularly high qualities of any material may provide a further +1 bonus. Any and all modifications remain at the GM's discretion.

Zodiac: The ten degree segment of zodiacal arc subtended by the decan, along with its governing planet. Zodiacal signs and governing planets may also influence magical castings, as may their correspondences. (See the tables of Zodiacal Correspondences, p. 00, and Planetary Correspondences, p. 00, for specifics.)

Agchoniôn

The decan of noise, music, and hearing, Agchoniôn shares some overlap with its neighboring decan, as the air of Isrö vibrates to produce the lilting (or blaring) tones of Agchoniôn. Agchoniôn alone does not convey meaning, however; languages are part of the domain of Naôth (p. 00).

Aethyr: Hahahaal, Lord of Unstable Effort, most often takes the form of a large yellow swan or of a crowd of people

talking in chorus.

College: Sound.

Correspondences

Places: Sonar stations, opera and concert houses (especially La Scala in Milan), wind tunnels or narrow canyons, echo

chambers.

Materials: Bats' ears, dolphin blood, recording tape, seashells, theremin music, parrot feathers, glass shattered by sound,

bright yellow−green.

Zodiac: Third decan of Aquarius; Venus.

Akhouiy

Akhouiy energizes (if that's the apt term) indolence, drift, ease, and luck, especially “dumb luck” or “fools' luck”. Not

stagnant like Alath, Akhouiy simply “goes with the flow”. Some Orientalist mages claim that Taoist magic is really a

college drawn from Akhouiy.

Aethyr: Vevaliah, Lady of Abandoned Success, appears as an attractive red−headed woman with her hair tied up in a

black velvet band. She also manifests as a collie, a raven, or a large orange carp.

College: None known.

Correspondences

Places: Casinos, resort hotels, some taverns, much of Fa'rie, fountains (with coins).

Materials: Four−leaf clovers, rabbits' feet, upright horseshoes, beer, dice, stones with water−eroded holes through them,

the small bone of a sheep's head, honey, deep orange.

Zodiac: First decan of Pisces; Jupiter.

Akton

Where the decay of Kurtaêl is most often the physical result of natural processes, its counterpart within Akton is

the decadence of the spirit, or the self−created mutilation of soul, culture, or body. Akton instills corruption, debauchery,

both the cruel and queasy joys of sin and its debilitation and ravages.

Aethyr: Naber, Lord of Illusionary Success, appears in many guises; a blonde woman in red, a man in a fur robe on his

knees, a carrion crow or black crane, and a red−eyed gryphon.

College: None known.

Correspondences

Places: Alcoholic wards, whorehouses, crack dens, certain temples in North Africa, slave markets, the edge of the Abyss.

Materials: Vomit, maggots, vitriol, cocaine, wormwood, venereal pus, pale yellow.

Zodiac: Third decan of Scorpio; Moon.

Alath

Alath creates satiety, comfort, rest, the steady state, boredom, stagnation, and stasis. Alath may be another crucial decan

in the “damping out” of magical static or destructive energies where less compatible decans intersect.

Aethyr: Kaliel, the Lord of Rest from Strife, often appears as a fat man riding on a donkey drinking wine. Other times,

Kaliel manifests as an enormous, slumbering bull with the head of a man or leopard.

College: None known.

Correspondences

Places: Old age homes, cold deserts, still tarns, ghost towns.

Materials: Tortoiseshell, square and cuboid shapes, arsenic, ether, morphia or heroin, deep wine−purple.

Zodiac: Third decan of Libra; Mercury.

Alleborith

Some see Alleborith as the essential medium of magical transmission, others as the particulate energies of mana, still

others as an abstraction for that portion of Barsafael and Anostêr which mages have mapped. In base,

however, it is the decan present in magic at its most pure and isolate, the “active” reflection of “passive” Kumeatêl (p.

00).

Aethyr: Mendial, Lord of Power, most often appears as either an azure dolphin or a blue merman with a trident. In both

incarnations, his eyes are golden yellow.

College: Meta.

Correspondences

Places: Magical laboratories, pentacles, Places of Power, ley intersections, mana upwellings, Atlantis.

Materials: Mandrake root, orichalcum, azoth, pyramid shapes, black cat whiskers, water from Atlantis, green

moonstones, pineal glands, bright azure.

Zodiac: Third decan of Capricorn; Mercury.

Anatreth

While Iudal is transition itself, the act of crossing depends upon Anatreth, the decan of movement, evolution,

progress, and speed (fast or slow). Anatreth primarily impels physical movement, but astral or spiritual movement carries

much of Anatreth's impulse within it.

Aethyr: Nithaya, Lady of Swiftness, most often manifests as a blurry image of wings, but sometimes coalesces into a

winged dog, or a human figure with a future and past image “ghosted” onto it.

College: Movement.

Correspondences

Places: Tornadoes, airports, speedways or freeways, lightning strikes, bullet−trains and their tracks.

Materials: Arrows, bullets, cobra venom, hawk or osprey feathers, methamphetamines, henbane, violet.

Zodiac: First decan of Sagittarius; Jupiter.

Anostêr

Some mages theorize that Anostêr, by definition, cannot exist, at least not as the Cabal understands it. It comprises that

which cannot be done, that which cannot be known, the impossible, the unnamable, the reverse face of knowledge and

skill, the void that preceded creation.

Aethyr: Yeichavah, Lord of Effort, traditionally appears as a gray, blind ape or as an enigmatic figure garbed in prismatic

robes, its face hidden by a peacock's fan. Yeichavah appears in many other forms at whim; many mages remain uncertain

that they have actually conversed with (or even summoned) him.

College: None known.

Correspondences

Places: Some peculiar rings of stone in New England, an isolated atoll in the Pacific, a mirage city in the Arabian desert,

a hot spring beneath Antarctica.

Materials: The noise of a cat's passage, books never written, blood from a stone, imperceptible colors.

Zodiac: Second decan of Capricorn; Venus.

Arôtosael

This decan drives the cyclic process of creation and destruction in all its facets, from assembling pieces of knowledge to

destroying a city in an atomic blast. Arôtosael most strongly irrupts during the intermediate stages, when enough

components have appeared to make the result apparent, or when the structure will fall with just one good shove.

Aethyr: Nithael, the Lord of Perfected Work, embodies and rules Arôtosael. He often appears as either a pale,

red−headed man in a reddish−purple gown carrying a wooden staff, or as a winged man with a mirrored sword and

helmet. He usually wears a golden ouroborous bracelet.

College: Making and Breaking.

Correspondences

Places: Decisive battlefields, nuclear accelerators, chemical or alchemical laboratories, blacksmith shops, beehives, new

forests, the Sargasso Sea.

Materials: Rams' horn (and anything else in a Fibonacci spiral), flint, clay, radioactives, E above high C, hammers, sage,

murex dye or anything else reddish−purple.

Zodiac: Third decan of Aries; Jupiter.

Atrax

Where Roêlêd protects the body, Atrax nourishes it. This decan is the day−to−day inner strength of things

renewed by sunlight (for plants), food (for animals), or worship (for deities). Atrax shades into health and healing,

though more as a steady state than a dramatic process, and also, naturally, into decay (food, of course, for bacteria and

worms).

Aethyr: Akiah, Lady of Prudence, usually appears in traditional guise as a woman bearing an armload of fruit, grain, or

bread.

College: Food.

Correspondences

Places: Supermarkets or bazaars, farmland, compost heaps, restaurants, gas stations, granaries, some fields in Sicily and

Egypt.

Materials: Bread, salt, woman's hair, storax, saliva, fertilizer, peridots, light yellowish−tan.

Zodiac: First decan of Virgo; Mercury.

Axiôphêth

This decan may serve as another powerful “anchor” for reality. Axiôphêth empowers gravity, weight and mass, and

forces holding things in place, often including oppression for its own sake.

Aethyr: Amael, Lady of Oppression, appears as a woman in an indigo robe seated on the rocks. Occasionally she weeps,

just as often she has her foot on a man's throat and her hand wrapped in his hair.

College: None known.

Correspondences

Places: Underneath tons of rock, sun−baked desert flats, labor camps, prisons, certain mountains in the Pamirs.

Materials: Lead chains, iron weights, ballast from a ship that has traveled around the world, depleted uranium, indigo.

Zodiac: Third decan of Sagittarius; Sun.

Barsafael

This decan is the hidden truth, the subconscious mind, primal unconfessed emotions and unknown strengths. Some

mages theorize that Barsafael underlies all the other decans, while others believe that as the Cabal explores more of the

Realms, Barsafael's essence shrinks (or, possibly, continues to create more unknown territories).

Aethyr: Hechashiah, Lady of Ancient Strength, rules Barsafael. She appears as a woman in crimson and white robes with

one leg uncovered, or as a crimson and white sea serpent.

College: None known.

Correspondences

Places: Deep beneath the ocean or in hidden caves, cities unknown to mankind, dinosaur burial grounds, fragmentary

worlds long forgotten, very old mountaintops in the Appalachians and limestone sinkholes in upper Quebec.

Materials: Ambergris, petroleum, white noise, artesian water, taproots of plants, “U” shapes, crimson.

Zodiac: Second decan of Aries; Sun.

Belbel

The decan of pain and torment, of sharpness and shadow, of shock and loss: few mages explore these many aspects of

Belbel. Many of the ghostly undead (especially shades and shadows) derive their essence from the emanations of this

decan.

Aethyr: Aaneval, Lord of Despair and Cruelty, embodies this decan. Occasionally, he appears as a man with the head of

a raptor bird; other times, as a black dog; still others as a man covered in fish or snake scales.

College: None known.

Correspondences

Places: Torture chambers, death camps, deep in the rainforests where sunlight never falls, widows' walks, the

shadow−burns in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the edges of the Abyss.

Materials: Funeral crepe, surgical steel, rust, ammonia, neurotoxins, dried blood, nettles, purple so dark that it appears

black.

Zodiac: Second decan of Gemini; Venus.

Bianakith

If man is the measure of all things, Bianakith is the template to which that measure is drawn. Although humanity, as the

primary intermediary between microcosm and macrocosm, encompasses (at least potentially) all the decans, it is within

the medium of meat and bone and desire and thought established by this decan that they must operate.

Aethyr: Mihal, Lord of Perfected Success, appears only in human form. Sometimes, in fact, in two human forms (man

and maiden); other times as a crowned king of perfect form, mien, and carriage.

College: Body Control.

Correspondences

Places: Crowded cities, human−scale statuary, portrait galleries, gymnasia.

Materials: Lungwort, liverwort, elm, river clay, human blood or skin, starfish, GI Joe or Barbie doll or any other

idealized poppet, ivory.

Zodiac: Third decan of Pisces; Mars.

Buldumêch

This decan energizes wealth and treasure, from giving gold its glitter to building stock−market castles in the air. Within

Buldumêch's penumbra lie concepts as arcane as currency arbitrage and as basic as greed.

Aethyr: Murmux, Lord of Wealth, traditionally manifests as an old man leaning on a staff, wrapped in a woolen mantle.

College: None known.

Correspondences

Places: Banks, stock market floors, gold mines, customs−houses, money changers, jewelers, treasure troves.

Materials: Money, anything expensive and hoarded, jackdaw or magpie feathers, cowrie shells, sapphires, toad−venom,

gold.

Zodiac: Third decan of Virgo; Venus.

Charchnoumis

This decan imbues all animal life, bestial thoughts, predation, pack behavior, and such instincts. As a result,

Charchnoumis is a very powerful component of human beings, and provides mana for the majority of lycanthropes and

other animalistic shapeshifters.

Aethyr: Rohael, Lord of Abundance, appears most often as a great bear, but sometimes as a composite beast such as a

chimera or gryphon. When he appears as a human (whether as a camel−driver or a beautiful woman in green), he usually

has a blue head.

College: Animal.

Correspondences

Places: Zoos, slaughterhouses, nature preserves, forests, fresh animal tracks or kills, watering holes, Mount Ararat.

Materials: Fresh animals' blood or skin, bloodstones, fresh game spoor, hunters' weapons, civet−musk, hunting horn

music, anything dark blood−red.

Zodiac: Second decan of Cancer; Mars.

Eneuth

Fire, the untamed element; man's first mystery. As the elemental decan of fire, Eneuth sparks not just the fires of stars

and gas−grills but the lively fires of inspiration and lust, of war and demagoguery.

Aethyr: Yirthiel, Lord of Great Strength, most often appears as a golden man or as a three−headed dragon. He

occasionally leads yellow−orange or red cattle.

College: Elemental Fire.

Correspondences

Places: Bonfires, firestorms, tropical or subtropical deserts at midday, war−torn lands to the south, lava flows, magmatic

caverns, the Plane of Fire.

Materials: Obsidian, asbestos, sulfur, brimstone, fire opals, sodium and magnesium, rocket fuel, ash−wood wands,

cones, olibanum, garlic, mustard, cayenne pepper, orange−yellow.

Zodiac: Second decan of Sagittarius; Mars.

Harpax

This decan sends sap through mighty cedars and spangles the ponds with algae. All things green and growing, both

harmful and healing, have their taproots somewhere in the decan of Harpax.

Aethyr: Vishiriyah, Lady of Harmonious Change, primarily speaks out of wooden musical instruments, but when she

manifests, it is usually as a white dryad clad entirely in blue, red, and yellow flowers.

College: Plant.

Correspondences

Places: Sacred groves, rainforests, algal pools, weed−ridden croplands, hedge mazes.

Materials: Green jade, holly, cedar, woodwind music, amanita mushrooms, ivy, coral, forest green.

Zodiac: First decan of Capricorn; Saturn.

Hephesimereth

This decan is nothing, quite literally. It imbues creation with defeat, emptiness, and loss. Particularly pessimistic mages

believe that eventually every decan will wind up in the sack of Hephesimereth.

Aethyr: Aniel, Lord of Defeat, walks with his head down and his dark red, shapeless, hooded robe over him. Only his

hands emerge from the drapery, holding an empty sack.

College: None known.

Correspondences

Places: Open abandoned pits, former cemeteries with the bodies disinterred, Antarctic frozen desert, the intergalactic

vacuum, places where the ground has been sown with salt.

Materials: Dead batteries, dust from an abandoned house, ashes, mistletoe, no color.

Zodiac: First decan of Aquarius; Saturn.

Ieropaêl

Second of the elemental decans, Ieropaêl helps solidly anchor reality as the embodiment and empowerment of earth, soil,

rock, of the very concept of physicality itself.

Aethyr: Hazael, Lord of Material Gain, traditionally appears as a large man holding a jar of oil. Other common guises

include a black centaur and a skin−clad tribesman.

College: Elemental Earth.

Correspondences

Places: Mountain caves, volcanoes, upthrust crags, gravel beds and quarries, city parks, fertile land in the north, the

Plane of Earth.

Materials: Quartz, talc, slate, oak, lichen, worms, narcissus, orbs, dark brown.

Zodiac: Second decan of Virgo; Saturn.

Isrö

Air, at peace and in storms, coheres from the energies of Isrö. Not only zephyrs and hurricanes, but also the “lightning

strike” of genius, the “airy chatter” of gossips, and the “windy oratory” of politicians derive from it.

Aethyr: Rehael, Lord of Science, traditionally appears as a milk−white, winged horse or as a proud king with a long

white beard wearing a white robe. Very occasionally he has manifested as a proud man in a white lab coat holding a

lightning bolt.

College: Elemental Air.

Correspondences

Places: Windstorms, steppes, inside or atop clouds, on balloons or airships, cities atop plateaus in the east, the Plane of

Air.

Materials: Eagle feathers, chalcedony, galbanum, white orchids, helium, bird−bone knives, aspen, pink−white.

Zodiac: Second decan of Aquarius; Jupiter.

Iudal

Boundaries, roads, portals, rivers, bridges, and other liminal and transitional thoughts and things form from the energies

of Iudal. Iudal also emerges in concepts of time, distance, and measurement, and powers bridge−trolls.

Aethyr: Ieilael, Lord of Eventuality, holds a key in every form, while habitually shifting between them. Three common

ones are that of a long−haired man with ox's hooves, a winged man, or a gryphon.

College: Gate.

Correspondences

Places: Bridges, crossroads, doorways (especially post−and−lintel ones), boundary markers, rivers, interdimensional

gates, outdoors during an eclipse, grandfather clocks.

Materials: Keys, two−headed coins, juniper, alexandrites, tobacco, hollow bones, chalk, mirrors, rose−madder, cesium,

cornmeal, amber.

Zodiac: Second decan of Taurus; Mercury.

Kumeatêl

Kumeatêl empowers hidden contention and unknown victory, the ace up a sleeve or the corps held in reserve, as well as

secrets (especially decisive ones), murmurs, and even some aspects of codes, glyphs, and runes. Where Barsafael (p. 00)

is the Unknown, Kumeatêl is the Hidden, the Occult, and thus may be seen to partially embody magic itself.

Aethyr: Elemiah, Lord of Victory, appears in a (literally) legendary number of forms, most characteristically as a

stranger in a blue cloak and slouch hat or as a bearded knight of cruel countenance in unreadable heraldry. In neither

version are his eyes clearly visible.

College: Enchantment.

Correspondences

Places: Secret laboratories or military bases, hidden rooms or passages, labyrinths, lost cities, conspiratorial fastnesses,

pocket dimensions, certain University libraries.

Materials: Artifacts with secrets, the number 13, walnuts, handcuffs, Christmas wrapping ribbon, silk cord, knots with

hidden ends, rose (both the flower and the color).

Zodiac: Second decan of Leo; Jupiter.

Kurtaêl

Death and fear, decay and disease, all fluoresce with the black energies of Kurtaêl. Vampires, mummies, liches, and

many other undead creatures draw upon the power of this decan for their vitality on the material plane, even if they must

take its energies admixed with blood or magic or tana leaves to survive.

Aethyr: Menqal, Lord of Ruin, appears as a corpse in chainmail, as a black horse, or as a harlequin figure without arms, among his many forms. He seldom appears as a skeletal figure in a black cowl and cloak.

College: Necromancy.

Correspondences

Places: Graveyards, terminal wards of hospitals, ruined buildings where people have died, plague pits, tombs, marshes,

necromantic altars in Haiti, Transylvania, and elsewhere.

Materials: Rowan, cypress, myrrh, contaminated syringes, rats, yew, hellebore, onyx, ebony, jet, pitch, anything else

black.

Zodiac: Third decan of Gemini; Saturn.

Marderô

This decan energizes rebellion against comfort, and anger at injustice −− as well as violent reaction born from fear of

chaos and disorder. Marderô also drives mutations, changes born of crisis and stimulus, and the concept of the

opportune disaster.

Aethyr: Hokmiah, Lord of Sorrow, appears as a man with a lion's face, occasionally enthroned but more often pacing

angrily with a whip.

College: None known.

Correspondences

Places: Revolutionary battlefields or massacres, police stations, some government buildings, meteor craters, disaster

sites.

Materials: Hammers, sickles, human blood, pepper, tear gas, axes, five−pointed stars (but not pentagrams), gunpowder,

rhino hide, white−flecked azure.

Zodiac: Second decan of Libra; Saturn.

Methiax

Where Arôtosael assembles and disassembles matter, concepts, and energies, Methiax creates them. Or, rather,

creates creation itself. Since (magically even more than mathematically) the final appearance of all matter is inherent

within its smallest fragments, the impulse of creation is also the impulse of form, Methiax shapes both realities and

dreams without regard for any difference that mundanity might insist exists. Some shapeshifters and phantasms draw

mana from this decan.

Aethyr: Chabuiyah, Lady of Love, rules Methiax most often as a white centaur garlanded with leaves, though occasionally she appears as a crowned, maidenly Muse.

College: Illusion and Creation.

Correspondences

Places: Artist's studios, movie theaters and movie sets, counterfeiter's dens, certain very old vineyards in Greece and

Turkey, hallucinations and hallucinogenic spaces, induced dream states, Fa'rie, copy centers and scriptoria.

Materials: Pyrites, zircons, flashbulbs, eggs, pomegranate seeds, fractals, holograms, hallucinogens, fog or anything else

gray.

Zodiac: First decan of Cancer; Moon.

Naôth

What Iudal is to the material experience, Naôth is to the conceptual one −− the creator and sustainer of

communication, language, imagery, symbolism, and teaching. Not only the media of communication but the urge to

communicate arise from Naôth, which connects everything on many levels.

Aethyr: Mebahel, Lady of Peace Restored, appears as a woman reading a book, occasionally bearing a bloody spear.

College: Communication and Empathy.

Correspondences

Places: Radio stations, printers, shared telepathic experiences, shared or archetypal dream states, universities, a few

select bars, certain bookshops in London and Paris.

Materials: Vervain, bay leaves, “V” shapes, stringed instruments or their strings, blue−gray.

Zodiac: First decan of Libra; Venus.

Nefthada

This decan impels pleasure and delight, enabling thrills physical and mental. Often Nefthada is only perceptible at single,

almost painfully perfect moments: the meadow under a rainbow, the first bite of steak, the second swallow of cognac −−

but its influence is in all those things forever.

Aethyr: Nelokiel, Lord of Pleasure, traditionally takes on the guise of a well−formed man on a richly−caparisoned camel

or in a luxurious tent.

College: None known.

Correspondences

Places: Almost nowhere, save for perfect moments in time or space; some English and Japanese gardens achieve

correspondence with Nefthada on a continuing basis, as do a very few building interiors.

Materials: Champagne, star sapphires, morning dew, bright green.

Zodiac: Second decan of Scorpio; Jupiter.

Ouare

This decan governs constructs, machines, alloys, and vehicles. Although Ouare's college was one of the most recently

codified (by the Heronians in the 2nd century A.D.), it is coeval with all the other decans, as far as the Cabal can

determine. Some animate golems, cyborgs, and revenants take mana from this decan.

Aethyr: Heroch, Lord of Success Unfulfilled, usually embodies this decan as a bronze clockwork lion, a mermaid (most

often as the figurehead on a warship), a swarthy man with metal−and−ivory teeth, or a chariot−driver with serpents for

legs.

College: Technology.

Correspondences

Places: Garages, metallurgical laboratories, inside moving vehicles, virtual−reality matrices, the Autobahn.

Materials: Gears and clockwork, plastic, microchips, brass, aluminum, olive−green or any artificial dye such as aniline.

Zodiac: Third decan of Taurus; Saturn.

Phoubêl

This decan would seem to embody the Manichaean contradiction, that light cannot exist without darkness to define it.

Phoubêl deals equally with both, and thus also with vision, blindness, and irreconcilable conflict.

Aethyr: Yelayel, Lord of Strife, appears alternately clad in noble splendor on the back of a lion or caparisoned in rags

riding a gray horse.

College: Light and Darkness.

Correspondences

Places: Tropical beaches, outdoors at sunrise or sunset, tanning salons, cathedrals, stone circles, fireworks shows.

Materials: Heliotropes and other tropical flowers, flashlights, cinnamon, “X” or cross shapes, laurel and hazelwood, black−and−white (or black−and−red) checkerboard patterns.

Zodiac: First decan of Leo; Sun.

Phthenoth

Impelling cleansing, restoration, and healing both physical and metaphorical, Phthenoth brings about the renaissance of

body and spirit throughout reality. Repair of machines, of course, is the province of Ouare (p. 00), although areas of

overlap may exist for some golems and homunculi.

Aethyr: Shaliah, Lady of Material Happiness, may appear in many guises, but is almost always seen as a young, noble

woman regardless of garb or impedimenta (which only very occasionally include the caduceus).

College: Healing.

Correspondences

Places: Hospitals, the island of Cos, spring meadows after a rain, arches, Avalon.

Materials: Balm, pure water, apples, watered wine, chicken soup, potash, Greek (“+”) crosses, lavender.

Zodiac: Second decan of Pisces; Moon.

Roêlêd

This decan imbues walls with their strength, thorns with their sharpness, shields with their glancing curves, antibiotics

with their efficacy. Along with defense and guardianship, Roêlêd drives alertness, preparation, wisdom of experience,

and that “sixth sense” that tells you you're being watched. Many wraiths, and some trolls, derive their mana from this

decan.

Aethyr: Mahashiah, Lord of Valor, appears as a muscular, dark−feathered warrior holding a shield (often with a

rattlesnake on it) and stabbing spear, or occasionally as a knight in armor or a watchman with a whip.

College: Protection and Warning.

Correspondences

Places: Anywhere under surveillance or electric−eye grid, castles and fortresses, missile silos and radar stations,

firebreaks, guardposts.

Materials: Owl or raven feathers, oxhide, “M” shapes, dragon's blood, unicorn horn, sirens, tiger−lilies, Kevlar, chain

links, bronze (both the metal and the color).

Zodiac: Third decan of Leo; Mars.

Ruax

This decan creates strength of will, connects perceptions to the mind, and governs sanity, drunkenness, the hotter

emotions, sleep, and the material phenomena of dreams (although their content may fall within another decan).

Aethyr: Deneyal, Lady of Dominion, rules Ruax. She usually appears either as a dark, physically−imposing giantess or

queen clad in a white robe. Either form possesses fiery red eyes. Deneyal also occasionally appears as a songbird or a cat.

College: Mind Control.

Correspondences

Places: Television studios or showrooms, hypnosis clinics or performances, drug parlors and opium dens, asylums,

personal dreamscapes, memory palaces, and certain lamaseries in Central Asia.

Materials: Cathode−ray tubes, spirals, poppies, downward−pointing arrows, cerulean blue.

Zodiac: First decan of Aries; Mars.

Sahu

The decan of the giants, Sahu impregnates concepts and activities such as archery, hunting, and herding as well as their

physical associations such as mountains, forests, grasslands and other wild spaces. For some reason, this decan also

manifests in high stone walls; possibly as an analogy to mountains.

Aethyr: Orvandal, Lord of Material Trouble, appears as a giant, naked save for a belt and bow. His color ranges from

blood−red to forest−green to basaltic black.

College: None known.

Correspondences

Places: Mountainsides, the walls of Mycenae and Machu Picchu, the Kenyan high veldt, imposing statues or stone

structures such as Mount Rushmore or the Sphinx and Pyramids of Giza.

Materials: Basalt, sequoia wood, subsonics, arrowheads, sinew, fresh animal blood, opals and anything else red and

black.

Zodiac: First decan of Taurus; Venus.

Saphathoraél

This decan covers not only physical water (and more generally liquids), but conceptual water as well; that which “flows

easily” or “is hard to pin down.” Like the other elemental decans, it likely plays a key role both underpinning physical reality and in blending conceptual reality so that humans can perceive it without massive dissonance.

Aethyr: Muumiah, Lord of Blended Pleasure, appears most often not as some great marine creature but as a sailor with

two dogs (one green and one blue). Occasionally he holds a serpent (or a stream of water) in one hand.

College: Elemental Water.

Correspondences

Places: Oceans, lakes, ships, reservoirs, wells and oases, ice rinks, sewers, islands to the west, the Plane of Water, the

Pearl−Bright Ocean.

Materials: Fish, the blood of drowned men, aquamarines and beryls, pearls, teardrop shapes, chalices, lotuses, ferns,

kelp, Irish whiskey, the color blue.

Zodiac: Third decan of Cancer; Venus.

Sphandôr

This decan manifests both as the sensorium and as the intellect, perhaps best understood as the passive counterpart to

Ruax' mental processes. In addition to things sensed and things thought (including arts and humanities),

Sphandôr permits intuition and divination.

Aethyr: Umibael, the Lady of Shortened Force, appears as a snake, a wolf with a snake's tail, a woman leading a roan

mare and stallion, or a man with a surveyor's rod.

College: Knowledge.

Correspondences

Places: Computer rooms, hexagonal spaces, paintings or images of eyes, theatrical stages (especially the Globe), libraries

(especially Alexandria).

Materials: Agates and cat's eyes, musk, hexagons, fennel, ringing bells, russet−red.

Zodiac: First decan of Gemini; Mercury.

Tepsisem

Much as Phoubêl immanentizes both light and darkness, Tepsisem gives rise to beauty and to its loss, and thus to

transience and impermanence; steady diminution rather than the catastrophes of Marderô.

Aethyr: Livoyah, Lady of Loss, appears as a middle−aged woman in red, a scarlet fire−sprite, or a swift horsewoman on

a red horse.

College: None known.

Correspondences

Places: Museums, art auction houses, badly−maintained (but once attractive) buildings, eroding statues.

Materials: Works of art, rouge, acid rain, faded photographs, broken mirrors, velvet, sandalwood, cut hibiscus or lilies,

scarlet.

Zodiac: First decan of Scorpio; Mars.

Decan	College	Zodiacal Position	Planet	Sephirah
Charchnoumis	Animal	Cancer 2nd	Mars	Binah
Bianakith	Body Control	Pisces 3rd	Mars	Malkuth
Naôth	Communication and Empathy	Libra 1st	Venus	Chokmah
Isrö	Elemental Air	Aquarius 2nd	Jupiter	Tiphareth
Ieropaêl	Elemental Earth	Virgo 2nd	Saturn	Yesod
Eneuth	Elemental Fire	Sagittarius 2nd	Mars	Yesod
Saphathoraél	Elemental Water	Cancer 3rd	Venus	Chesed
Kumeatêl	Enchantment	Leo 2nd	Jupiter	Tiphareth
Atrax	Food	Virgo 1st	Mercury	Malkuth
Iudal	Gate	Taurus 2nd	Mercury	Tiphareth
Phthenoth	Healing	Pisces 2nd	Moon	Yesod
Methiax	Illusion and Creation	Cancer 1st	Moon	Chokmah
Sphandôr	Knowledge	Gemini 1st	Mercury	Hod
Phoubêl	Light and Darkness	Leo 1st	Sun	Geburah
Arôtosael	Making and Breaking	Aries 3rd	Jupiter	Chesed
Alleborith	Meta	Capricorn 3rd	Mercury	Chesed
Ruax	Mind Control	Aries 1st	Mars	Chokmah
Anatreth	Movement	Sagittarius 1st	Jupiter	Hod
Kurtaêl	Necromancy	Gemini 3rd	Saturn	Malkuth
Harpax	Plant	Capricorn 1st	Saturn	Chokmah
Roêlêd	Protection and Warning	Leo 3rd	Mars	Netzach
Agchoniôn	Sound	Aquarius 3rd	Venus	Netzach
Ouare	Technology	Taurus 3rd	Saturn	Netzach
Akhouiy	none known	Pisces 1st	Jupiter	Hod
Akton	none known	Scorpio 3rd	Moon	Netzach
Alath	none known	Libra 3rd	Mercury	Chesed
Anostêr	none known	Capricorn 2nd	Venus	Binah
Axiôphêth	none known	Sagittarius 3rd	Sun	Malkuth
Barsafael	none known	Aries 2nd	Sun	Binah
Belbel	none known	Gemini 2nd	Venus	Yesod
Buldumêch	none known	Virgo 3rd	Venus	Malkuth
Hephesimereth	none known	Aquarius 1st	Saturn	Geburah
Marderô	none known	Libra 2nd	Saturn	Binah
Nefthada	none known	Scorpio 2nd	Jupiter	Tiphareth
Sahu	none known	Taurus 1st	Venus	Geburah
Tepsisem	none known	Scorpio 1st	Mars	Geburah