Heracles – Sun rising in Leo & Moon in Gemini (Hephaestion of Thebes, 400 CE) Lapis Lazuli & Sterling Silver (large)

For Mental Agility, Victory and Strength

“In the Twins [Gemini], and Leo is Heracles”.

- Hephaestion of Thebes, 415 AD, Egypt

Medieval sources on image magic such as Albertus Magnus provide instructions for crafting astrological talismans of Heracles using the constellation Engonasin (“the Kneeler”), located in the signs of Scorpio, Sagittarius and Capricorn. A Hellenized Egyptian astrologer in the Roman period, Hephaestion of Thebes (born in 380), provided an alternative configuration that emphasizes his solar attributes which he says was passed down from “the wise Egyptians and the rest of the ancients”. This was the source used for crafting these talismans which, to my knowledge, are the first of their kind to be made in modern times.

Heracles or Hercules may seem odd for an Egyptian source at first glance. It is important to remember that the Alexander the Great’s campaign (336 – 323 BCE) resulted in the widespread adoption of Koine Greek as a common language from Europe to parts of India. Ancient gods from many different cultures were syncretized, viewed as the same beings known under different names. For many centuries Egypt adopted Greek deities and vice versa. Romans later adopted gods from all over the Hellenized world. By the time Hephaestion of Thebes lived, the already ancient Anatolian mother goddess Cybele had become Magna Mater or “Great Mother”, who was understood to be an archetypal figure from which all mother goddesses derived. This was the melting pot that produced Hermes Trismegistus and the Hermetica.

Heracles is one of the most enduring figures of the ancient world, embodying ideals of heroic strength, moral trials, and reaching the divine through suffering. In Greek mythology he is a Demigod, the son of Zeus and a mortal woman. He was fated from birth to endure persecution, madness, and twelve labors that symbolize the Sun’s journey through the Zodiac. Heracles overcame them to attain immortality and dwell among the gods.

Unlike purely divine Olympians or purely human Heroes, Heracles is a chthonic liminal god who traverses the heavens, earth and underworld, in a somewhat similar fashion to Hekate, the lunar goddess of the crossroads. His origins reach back to the Bronze Age (1600 – 1200 BC), the period that Hesiod named the Age of Heroes. He was adopted across the ancient Mediterranean, from archaic Greece to Hellenistic Egypt, Rome, Phoenician kingdoms, and western Europe. Heracles was a model for strength and virtue, the very best of human potential, and numerous kings claimed to be his descendants such as Alexander the Great.

Heracles wrestling the Nemean Lion, Roman mosaic

Source

Hephaestion of Thebes was a Hellenized Egyptian astrologer who lived in Roman Egypt during the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Around 400-415 AD, the same time that Emperor Theodosius issued his decree ordering the destruction of all pagan temples and making their practices a capital crime in Rome’s provinces, Hephaestion wrote his three volumes on astrology. In the third volume “On Inceptions” he provides instructions for crafting temple statue and sacred images of many ancient gods.

“In the temples one must enthrone the statues (agalmata), after they have been made in the fitting form, and of suitable material, as the wise Egyptians and the rest of the ancients have transmitted, when the Moon is filling and has appeared in her phase.  The powers of such images, when they are completed in harmony with the heavens’ movement, are produced more ‘theōdéstera’ (more god-filled) and ensouled.

“And each of the sacred objects and statues is advantageous to fashion and enthrone while the Moon is in Jupiter’s trigon [triplicity] and while Jupiter is harmonious with her. That is, in the same trigon, and likewise when the Sun has been configured in the same way, and Saturn likewise happens to be in his own trigon.

“And for the rest of the stars [planets] one must in the same way prepare both the sacred objects and the statues. It is auspicious, whenever they themselves are in their exaltations and domiciles, to fashion them, if no malefic stars [planets] opposes.”

(Hephaestion of Thebes Book III 7.13-18)

Hephaestion of Thebes requires a considerable number of factors to be present for the ensoulment of a sacred image. The triplicity rulers according to Dorotheus are considered, as well as the luminary of sect (Sun in day and Moon at night) having a harmonious configuration. The three triplicity rulers signify the beginning, middle and end.

He adds that they should be crafted when the exaltation or domicile ruler is present in the god’s sign, which is standard for a planetary election. The significators must not make hard aspects with the malefics, Saturn and Mars, and be made with suitable material.

Hephaestion’s work pairs well with the writings of Julianus of Laodecia. Around 480 CE, Julianus wrote a short treatise on the use of astrological elections or inceptions, meaning “beginnings” or the moment in which a temple statue is ensouled. He was a pagan philosopher and member of the New Academy and likely studied there while Proclus was head of the school. His treatise was written during the reign of Justinian, who effectively outlawed the New Academy in the Eastern Roman Empire and caused many philosophers to flee to Persian territories. This is believed to have been the cause of the Academy founded in Harran, which later provided much of the material that became the Ghayat al Hakim or Picatrix.

From a historical standpoint, these two texts are significant because they both predate Catholicism as the state religion of Rome. Hephaestion lived in Egypt when it was a province of the Western Roman Empire and Julianus in Athens, part of the Eastern Roman empire.

Like many works of Hellenistic astrology, these are short compared to medieval sources. The recommended astrological considerations are numerous and stringent, and place a notable emphasis on doryphory, also called attendants or spear-bearers as well as the sect (day or night). Nocturnal charts are used for chthonic (underworld) gods and diurnal for the celestial. Both recommend that the Moon in night charts and Sun in day charts aspect at least one planet for support.

“Sweats (life) will be [produced] if the gods are chthonic, with Selene, Aphrodite, and Zeus testifying (bearing witness) to one another, and let Kronos also testify to them in harmony….with male gods….the same rule applies to all.”

Julianus recommends that the Moon, Venus and Jupiter aspect each other and Saturn lend his support for nocturnal gods and goddesses of the underworld, and to apply this principle for the diurnal gods. The Moon aspecting both benefics ensures that the most benevolent astral influences are imprinted into the image, and Saturn will not hinder it. These astrological configurations complement those of Hephaestion. When paired with the more thorough details found in Picatrix, they are a fascinating look at one of the most heavily suppressed branches of knowledge from the ancient world.

Heracles and the Nemean Lion, by Peter Paul Reubens (1632)

HERACLES: SOLAR GOD, CONSTELLATION AND INTERMEDIARY

Leo, the sole rulership of the Sun, expresses Heracles’ solar strength, invincibility, and visible triumph. He defeats the Nemean lion and attains his skin to wear in the first of twelve labors, which dramatizes the Sun’s twelve-month journey through the ecliptic. The Sun rising in Leo emphasizes authority, courage, vitality, and visibility. After slaying the Nemean Lion he wears its skin permanently, protecting him against weapons of iron and bronze and giving him the lion’s immense strength and other qualities he draws upon in the rest of his dangerous journey. The Sun in Leo is a source of vitality and life. Medieval and Renaissance grimoires like Picatrix and Agrippa’s Second Book of Occult Philosophy contain numerous talismans for improving its owner’s health and strengthening the body’s natural defenses against sickness.

The mythology of Gemini, the Twins, is associated with Castor and Pollux, the former being mortal and the latter a half-god fathered by Zeus. They sailed with Jason and the Argonauts and used their individual strengths and weaknesses to help the other. Pollux, the demigod, was incredibly strong and specialized in boxing and close combat. Castor, on the other hand, was a skilled horseman and tactician, using mental agility and specialized skills. Together they embodied physical and mental strength and became liminal gods like Hekate and Hermes, able to traverse both Olympus and Hades. 

Heracles was also born with a mortal twin brother, Iphicles. Like Pollux, he was half Olympian and fathered by Zeus, a divine being participating directly in the world of matter, enjoying its pleasures and suffering its trials. His twin Iphicles, naturally weaker than his brother, was brave and unusually pure of heart. He helped Heracles overcome many of his trials and symbolizes the best of human nature. Heracles was born with incredible strength but was still mortal, often utilizing his mind to overcome many challenges where brute strength didn't work. Mental agility is a characteristic of Gemini. 

Although Hephaestion is using only the tropical zodiac, there is another interesting layer of ancient star lore here. The constellation Orion can be seen kneeling below the Twins constellation, next to the starry river Eridanus. Hera’s breast milk splashed across the sky when she nursed the infant Heracles and formed the stars of the Milky Way.  For many people before the Common Era, Orion the Hunter was Heracles. Some traces are still frequently seen in depictions of Orion holding a lion’s skin and wielding a weapon. 

Orion the Hunter, circa 1825 (Wikimedia Commons)

Hyginus in the first century wrote of this constellation, “Some say that this is Orion, others that it is Heracles.” (Astronomica 2.34) Hephaestion does not indicate that this was a factor for the use of Gemini, and in his time Orion would not have aligned as strongly with tropical Gemini. But it is fascinating, and the influence of Orion is highly compatible.

According to medieval sources on constellation talismans, the images of Orion and Heracles are both said to confer victory and strength. Giorgio Anselmi (1386–1449), an Italian physician and scholar, wrote in “On the Images of the Eighth Celestial Sphere” that an image of Orion,

“has great power in litigations, and surmounting adversities, and making one victorious in battle; it provides aid to commanders and makes armies renowned.” (Similitude of Nature, translated by Brian Johnson)

INTERMEDIARY AND ARCHETYPAL SOUL

Heracles is an intermediary figure because he symbolizes all human souls’ descent into matter. The twelve labors are allegories for the Sun’s annual path through the heavens. The Sun itself was the direct, visible incarnation of the divine in the world of matter. Each human being has within themselves a microcosmic Sun that functions as a gateway to the higher spiritual faculties if awakened. This is how the myth was understood by Platonist philosophers and theurgists. According to Proclus,

“The labors of heroes signify the purifications of the soul and its struggles against generation.” (Commentary on the Republic I.171)

Sallustius, the philosopher who served as a close advisor to Emperor Julian, wrote,

“The ascent of Heracles signifies the soul’s return to the gods.”  (On the Gods and the World 4)

Election Standard

“In the Twins [Gemini], and Leo is Heracles”.

“And each of the sacred objects and statues is advantageous to fashion and enthrone while the Moon is in Jupiter’s trigon [triplicity] and while Jupiter is harmonious with her. That is, in the same trigon, and likewise when the Sun has been configured in the same way, and Saturn likewise happens to be in his own trigon.

Hephaestion of Thebes places considerable emphasis on the triplicity rulers much like Dorotheus of Sidon five centuries before him. During his life, three triplicity rulers were considered. Two rulers and a participating ruler came into use in the medieval period. He describes the most optimal astrological conditions to use, simple and straightforward, and the reader must find a time that matches it closely enough. This is how Julianus wrote his text on ensouling temple statues with astrological timing. The Moon and significator must not apply to a square or opposition with a malefic. The Luminary of Sect should ideally make applying aspects to benefics and/or their triplicity rulers whenever possible. At a minimum, the triplicity rulers of the significator’s sign should not be severely afflicted.

In this case, the Sun is the significator, rising in Leo in the day and hour of the Sun. The Moon is applying to sextile the Sun from Gemini with no afflictions of any kind, fulfilling the main requirements given by Hephaestion of Thebes. 

The Sun is in the fiery trigon and acts as the first diurnal triplicity ruler. The second is Jupiter, which is exalted in Cancer. The third, Saturn, is retrograde but placed in the fiery sign of Aries, aspecting Leo by sign but not applying to the Sun. A minor bonus is the Moon aspecting Jupiter and Venus by antiscia.

All in all, this election was as good as I could have hoped to find.

How They Were Made

Sterling silver, lapis lazuli, and brass were engraved by hand with the image of Heracles fighting the Nemean lion. Silver is an excellent choice for practically every type of talisman, partly because of its reflective qualities. I thought brass was also well suited because of its golden hue, similar to the fur of a lion and to some extent the Sun’s light. I chose lapis lazuli not only for its beauty but because of its strong likeness to the sky. Its unique shades of blue, combined with pyrite flecks of gold and silver, bear a strong resemblance to the Sun’s rays and the stars. Images were modeled on classical Greek and Roman depictions of Heracles holding the Nemean Lion's pelt. The name Heracles is engraved in Koine Greek. They were suffumigated with frankincense and Sun incense made from a recipe in Liber Razielis.

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17 August, 2025   07:00 AM