The Sky Library · Mansion 17 of 28
Al Iklil
Iklil al-Jabhah · The Crown of the Forehead
Span25°42′51″ Libra – 8°34′17″ Scorpio (tropical)
Determinant starsBeta (Acrab), Delta (Dschubba) and Pi Scorpii, arched across the Scorpion's brow
A crown laid on dark water, steadying everything beneath it.
The crown across the Scorpion's forehead, three stars in a neat arc. Agrippa calls it Alchil, the crown of Scorpio, and makes it a mender of circumstance, the mansion that takes what is faltering, a fortune, a love, a wall, and makes it last.
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
- bettering a bad fortune
- making love durable
- strengthening buildings
- the help of seamen
The sidereal frame: this sky also belongs to Anuradha .