A Home for the Lost

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. De Occulta Philosophia. 1533.

Sigils of the fixed stars and constellations. In the Hermetic tradition — which holds that hidden correspondences link celestial bodies to earthly phenomena — sigils were signs constructed from geomantic figures. These were patterns generated by making random marks and reducing them to rows of dots. Connecting them in various ways produced a unique shape assigned to a star or constellation and used in talismans and rituals to invoke those bodies' power.

Pictured top to bottom: Caput Algol, Pleiades, Aldebaran, Hircus, Canis Major, Canis Minor, Cor Leonis, Cauda Ursae, Ala Corui, Spica, Alchameth, Elpheia, Cor Scorpii, Vultur Cadens, and Cauda Capricorni.