Seal of the Sun- Book of the Treasure of Alexander
- Description
Seal of the Sun (Book of the Treasure of Alexander)
“The Seal of the Sun, where you will find Hermes.
This magnificent seal gives authority to whomever will use it and it will cause the eyes of the king to radiate dignity and to reach and accomplish all of his objectives. Whoever uses this seal will not be confronted by anyone and his fame will rise to the height of kings. The time for making this seal is when the Sun occupies the nineteenth degree of Aries.” (Book of the Treasure of Alexander, Poison Edition, edited by Christopher Warnock)
(Image from Persian manuscript of Book of the Treasure of Alexander)
The degree of exaltation is one specific zodiacal degree in which each planet expresses its highest and most perfect nature. Ancient astronomers associated the Sun's exaltation with kingship. The spring equinox was symbolized as a conquering king, when the dark of winter was overcome. The degrees of exaltation have been regarded as exceptionally potent since the Ptolemaic period in Egypt, and possibly much earlier.
The Exaltation of the Sun is the nineteenth degree of Aries (18° in modern charts), the pinnacle of the Sun's life-giving virtues. The Book of the Treasure of Alexander gives it an unusually high priority among many other stringent astrological requirements.
Book of the Treasure of Alexander (BTOA) or Kitab Thakhirat al-Iksander in Arabic, is an overlooked grimoire. Picatrix and Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy are the most popular and well known, but BTOA is unfortunately overlooked and underutilized, partially due to the unusually stringent astrological configurations it requires and its very limited circulation. Many of its astrological talismans can only be made once or twice in a lifetime, and some are difficult to find once in a century. I’ve found that they are often extremely effective if the instructions are followed carefully.
The mysterious history of this grimoire is fascinating. A bit older than Picatrix, the oldest known manuscripts originate in Arabic around 900 CE. The text itself claims to have been discovered hidden in a Byzantine monastery vault by the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mu’tasim during a military expedition against the Eastern Roman Empire. The story says that the original was engraved on sheets of gold leaf in Greek letters by Alexander the Great, containing secret teachings from his tutor Aristotle passed down from Hermes Trismegistus. In the ancient world it was common to attribute occult writings to a revered historical figure, and Greek philosophy was highly prized by Arab thinkers.
Academics largely attribute the book’s authorship to the Sabeans of Harran, who had been an intellectual hub of the region for millennia. A copy of this grimoire was kept in the private library of the Ottoman royalty, possibly even utilized by the seemingly invincible Sultan Mehmet II in his legendary battles.
For an excellent study on the history of the text, this article is highly recommended:
Election
Book of the Treasure of Alexander states the astrological requirements to make the Seal of the Sun:
These talismans were made when the Sun was rising in 18 Aries and the Moon in her domicile Cancer, in the Sun’s hour. The Moon is further strengthened with an applying trine to Jupiter and receives him in his Exaltation.
The image from the book was engraved by hand on this pendant, made of golden pyrite in a sterling silver bezel. The sigil of the Sun was engraved on the peridot.
The Chart
8 April 2022, 06:40 - 07:10 am, Augusta GA
