Q – SIGILS – Alchemical Iconography

Dictionary of Occult – Hermetic and Alchemical Sigils

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QUADRATURE

Ast. Sigil given by SHEPHERD 1971 as an obsolete astronomical symbol for the SQUARE aspect :

QUARTILE See SQUARE.

QUATERNARY

Occ. DEE 1564 gives the sigil

as part of the graphic system underlying his MONAD, relating to rhe four elements (but see also TERNARY and OCTONARY, both of which are related to this form).

A Heries of modern siqils, presented as d logical graphic develqpment, is given by CIRLOT 1962. The cross is ‘spiritual and neutral’ :

Whilst

is ‘the spiritual quaternary acting upon the inferior ternary’. The ‘spiritual, active or dynamic’ principle is

whilst the ‘spiritual, active quaternary acting upon the neutral’ is

The ‘spiritual quaternary in the universe’ is

and the ‘material principle within totality’ :

The ‘two quaternaries – spiritual and material – within the totality’ is

It must be pointed out that those explanations in no way reflect the real occult nature of these sigils f and arts purely modern inventions.

QUEDBARSHENNOTH

Mag. A sigil for the spirit given by HEYDON 1664 to represent the letter Q in the secret writing called ‘Alphabet of Angels and Genii’ :

QUICKLIME

Alc. The calx viva of the alchemists, for which the following sigils are most fequently used :

ONOMASTICON 1574

WORLIDGE 1651

FRANCKLYN 1627

VALENTINE 1671

SIGNA 17C

SOMMERHOFF 1701

BERGMANN 1785

GESSMAMN 1906 records a nomber of mediaeval forms :

BERTHELOT 1885 records a sigil from the Greek alchemical tradition :

ALBERTUS 1974

QUICKSILVER

Alc. whilst this is merely another name for MERCURY, the following sigils have been given specifically under this headings :

WORLIDGE 1671

SHELTON 17C

SOMMERHOFF 1701

DIDEROT 1763

SCHNEIDER 1962

CROSLAND 1962 records a Greek sigil :

See MERCURY, for which the above sigils are also applicable.

QUINCUNX

Ast. An astrological aspect of 150 degrees.

SIMONITE 1890

RAPHAEL 1900

RAPHAEL 1902

DE GIVRY 1931

DE VORE 1947

HADES 1967

QUINTESSENCE

Occ. In its occult sense, the fifth element has been given few sigils, perhaps because iL is the invisible one of the five, and its unstated presence in a sigil combining the ‘visible’ elements is understood (see elements). As an invisible sigil, the quintessence may be regarded as being symbolised in the space an the centre of the sigil for the four elements recorded by SOMMERHOFF 1701 :

HOMER 1723 gives the sigil

as the tenth in the descending series of thc so-called Golden Chain of Homer, symbolic of the ‘Universal Quint essence’ the spirit of which permeates the created world : this could of course be the sigil for the SPIRITUS MUND.

HOMER 1757 gives a variant :