The Sky Library · Mansion 13 of 28
Al 'Awwa
Al-'Awwa · The Barker
Span4°17′09″ Virgo – 17°08′34″ Virgo (tropical)
Determinant starsBeta, Eta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon Virginis, curved along the Virgin's wing
A small chorus in the Virgin's wing, calling good things homeward.
A bend of five stars read as a howling dog, or as the Virgin's wing. Agrippa lists it as Alhaire and counts it among the most generous stations, open-handed toward travellers, farmers and the imprisoned alike.
The Spirit of the Mansion
the square of Jupiter, 34 in every line
a small fire keeps the sill; on the far side, the pin at the heart of the plate answers a touch
Agrippa and the Picatrix transmit different names for the mansion spirits; both are given.
What the number square means
The grid is a kamea, one of the planetary magic squares from Agrippa's second book; every planet has one, from Saturn's three by three to the Moon's nine by nine. In a true square every row, every column, and both diagonals add to the same number, and Jupiter's adds to 34 in every line. Count any line and see. Practitioners engraved these on talismans as the planet's signature written in number, and the gilded cell marks this mansion's own number.
Elections in this mansion
- benevolence and gain
- voyages
- harvests
- the freedom of captives