Blog, Occult Tarot
Phenex: the Poet
Nov
Phenex: the Poet
“…Phenex is a Great Marquis of Hell and has twenty legions of demons under his command. He teaches all wonderful sciences, is an excellent poet, and is very obedient to the conjuror. Phenex hopes to return to Heaven after 1,200 years, but he is deceived in this hope. He is depicted as a phoenix, which sings sweet notes with the voice of a child, but the conjurer must warn his companions (for he has not to be alone) not to hear them and ask him to put on a human shape, which the demon supposedly does after a certain amount of time.”
Source: Wikipedia
Phenex: The 37th Spirit Of Ars Goetia
Personally, I have assigned Phenex the World tarot card from the Major Arcana due to its association with worldly knowledge. To stay consistent with the Occult Tarot deck however, I will give him the Queen of Cups from the Minor Arcana. It is my intention to draw one card daily for inspiration while hoping that one of the demons will respond to my practice. In this way, I also hope that the demon’s response can provide some measure of guidance for me as a conjuror.
The Cups are often correlated with the element of Water. The element of Water is thought to indicate high levels of emotional influences in the subject – they basically think with their heart instead of using their head to reason logically. There is a vast range of emotions which are capable of influencing the subject when it comes to the Water element. When it comes to this element, there is need for the subject to wrest control of their thought process in order to begin thinking rationally.
Cup Archetypes are generally and emotional lot. They experience strong feelings such as hope, anger, love, or even loneliness. Such emotions always impact on their decision making either positively or negatively depending on the subject. When it comes to the Queen of Cups, the archetypes have to fight their emotions in order to gain control over their destiny. This is necessary in order to attain a stable or mature emotional state while improving their thought processes to reflect logic and rationale.
The Queen of Cups is one of the Court Cards of the Minor Arcana. The card is usually interpreted to mean emotional stability, intuition, compassion, or even a caring nature when it appears upright in a tarot reading. When the Queen of Cups is reversed, it usually implies co-dependency, strong internal feelings, or self-love. I usually call this card the “Nurture Card” because of the maternal instincts of the Queen of Cups that correlate with the element of Water.
The Queen of Cups portrays the queen sitting in an introspective position. She sits atop a throne on the edge of the sea and holds aloft a golden cup. The handles of the cup are crafted to depict angels. Both the queen and the edge of the sea can be seen in the foreground. The cup is closed unlike the majority of cards that can be found in this suit – this perhaps indicates that the thoughts or inflections that the queen is having are borne entirely of her intuition or mental faculties.
The Demon
Phenex is a fallen angel and one of the 72 spirits of King Solomon. He is ranked as a Great Marquis of Hell with dominion over 20 legions of lesser demons. Of the 72 Goetia spirits, Phenex is placed as the 37th demon. As a heavenly spirit, this demon previously belonged to the angelic order of thrones – he hoped to return to heaven after 1,200 years after his fall – the Dictionnaire Infernal states 1,000 years instead. However, this hope was never realized as he remains a dominant figure in the hellish realm.
This demon also goes by other names such as Pheynix, Phoenix, Phoniex, or Phenix. This demon’s origins are difficult to trace due to the scarcity of information regarding his history. That he is placed among the 72 spirits of King Solomon however implies that he has Jewish or Abrahamic origins. He is however mentioned in major renowned grimoires such as the Dictionnaire Infernal, the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum, and the Ars Goetia.
Phenex appears as a phoenix bird. His voice is angelic and even described as being akin to that of a child. The conjuror is advised to avoid listening to the songs that the demon sings upon his manifestation. Upon the conjuror’s request, Phenex is capable of transforming into a human shape. It is advisable that when he manifests, the conjuror should not be alone lest the demon deceives him / her with his angelic singing and childish voice.
Note – the names of the leaders of his legions of lesser demons are given as: Astrat, Gothon, Zulgis, Gizrallat, Ageez, Yirzun, Enidro, Alduin, Salduir, Ramdur, Oleveth, Zulgath, Ergarun, Zargor, Turdas, Xagros, Digrazon, Uminzu, Melvurth, Dastriros, and Istarfi.
The Message
Am I emotionally independent enough?
It is my belief that Phenex is a demon who comes to help the conjuror get ahead in life through teaching him / her superlative knowledge. Through his teaching of the sciences, the conjuror gains a competitive advantage which can be very useful throughout practice. Alternatively, this demon can also be called forth for entertainment purposes because of his acumen in poetry. When path working with Phenex, I focus on his office of teaching because of its obviously greater benefits.
If the Queen of Cups appears upright in my tarot readings, I usually have cause for optimism. This is because it implies that I have either attained emotional stability or I’m caring enough. Alternatively, a reversed reading usually signals lack of emotional independence. Within a week or two, Phenex should improve my emotional state through teaching the intricacies of human emotion. If this does not happen, I usually assume that the opportunity has passed or is yet to come.
Let us know what you think of Phenex and the Queen of Cups tarot card in the comment section below. All the tarot readings and the symbolism contained here are open to your interpretation.
We would love to hear from you!
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenex
https://occult-world.com/phenex/
https://www.biddytarot.com/tarot-card-meanings/minor-arcana/suit-of-cups/queen-of-cups/
