The Sky Library · Mansion 26 of 28
Al Fargh al-Awwal
Al-Fargh al-Muqaddam · The First Spout
Span21°25′43″ Aquarius – 4°17′09″ Pisces (tropical)
Determinant starsMarkab (Alpha Pegasi) and Scheat (Beta Pegasi), the forward lip of the Great Square
The first tip of the bucket, pouring toward whoever waits below.
The fore-spout of the water bucket, the leading edge of the Great Square of Pegasus. Agrippa lists it as Alpharg or Phragal Mocaden, the first drawing, and it pours out kindness, joining people together and breaking open what confines them.
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
- union and the love of people
- the health of captives
- the breaking open of prisons
Contraries
It destroys prisons and buildings alike; what it opens it does not shore up.