Sefirot
Also: Sephiroth
The plural of sefirah, a central term in Jewish Kabbalah for divine emanations or attributes. Different texts do not always use the term in identical ways.
Reference · Glossary
Glossary
A guide to the words used across this site and in the texts behind it. Definitions describe historical usage, not proven supernatural effects. A term may mean different things in different traditions; the tradition label tells you which sense is meant here.
Looking for a sign rather than a word? Symbols draws the signs of astrology, alchemy and geomancy and links each to what this study says about it.
243 terms · page 11 of 13
Sethian
A scholarly label for a group of related ancient texts that give Seth, the son of Adam, an important place in their mythic lineages.
Sextile
An approximate 60-degree relationship between chart positions, one of the classical aspects.
Short lance
A ritual tool in Key of Solomon. A small spear or pointed tracing tool included with the Key's Mercury-made instruments.
Sidereal zodiac
A zodiac referred to a position among the fixed stars. Different sidereal schemes choose different starting offsets.
Sigil
A drawn sign or character used to name, represent or address a spiritual entity or force in magical texts; construction methods are not universal.
Solomonic pentacle
A ritual tool in Key of Solomon. One of the Key's inscribed planetary emblems, selected for a stated purpose, consecrated, and carried or displayed in the work.
Solomonic sword
A ritual tool in Key of Solomon. A newly prepared, inscribed sword used for protection in the book's operations and, in the circle chapter, for marking boundaries.
Solomonic wand
A ritual tool in Key of Solomon. A hazel rod, present in some witnesses and absent in others, prepared for directing addresses and touching ritual figures.
Sophia
Wisdom personified as a divine figure in several Gnostic narratives. Her role in the origin of the lower cosmos varies by text.
Soteriology
An account of salvation: what one needs liberation from, and how liberation is thought to happen.
Spirit rank
A title such as king, duke, marquis or president assigned to a spirit in the Goetia catalogue. It organizes the text's entries, not a verified hierarchy outside it.
Square aspect
An approximate 90-degree relationship between chart positions; unrelated to the numbered planetary magic squares.
Staff
A ritual tool in Key of Solomon. An elder- or cane-rod paired with the wand in some Key of Solomon manuscripts, but omitted altogether in others.
Sublimation
A laboratory operation in which heated material rises as vapor and is collected after cooling. Alchemists also used the word metaphorically for refinement.
Succedent house
A house following an angular house in the chart's order, a traditional structural class distinct from cadent houses.
Suffumigation
A historical word for perfuming or treating an object or place with ritual smoke; often used in grimoire directions.
Sulfur in alchemy
A combustible material and, in some alchemical theories, a name for a principle involved in how metals behave. It is not always literal sulfur.
Sun
A classical astrology planet. The Sun marks the chart’s centre of gravity: the part of a life that seeks coherence, visibility and purposeful expression.
Syncretism
The combining or reinterpretation of ideas and practices from different religious or philosophical sources; it does not imply that the originals said the same thing.