An Introduction to Quinarian Astrology
The 72 Names of God from Athanasius Kircher's Oedipus Aegyptiacus, 1652-54
Quinarian astrology incorporates elements of Babylonian and Hellenistic astrology, Qabalistic angelology, and Solomonic demonology into one unified and cohesive system. Each quinary is presided over by an angel and a demon who bestow their influence, attributes, and significations on any planet, part, or angle found within its cusps.
Let me break it down piece-by-piece…
The quinaries are the seventy-two 5° arc segments of the zodiac. If you divide the 360° ecliptic into 72, you produce the 5° quinaries. Each 30° sign is divided into six quinaries. The quinaries were first alluded to in a 3rd century BCE Babylonian document known as the Salmeschiniaka, which referred to five-day periods that subdivided the year.
Hold onto that thought for a minute…
In the book of Exodus, Moses is said to have parted the Red Sea. Medieval qabalists posit that he accomplished this thaumaturgical feat by employing the angels of the Shem HaMephorash, or “Explicit Name” of God. The names of these angels are derived from a qabalistic exegesis on three verses (19-21) of Exodus 14, each of which contain 72 letters. When these verses are read boustrophedonically (as the ox plows the field), they yield 72 three-lettered columns. Each of these three letters form the root of an angelic name, after adding -iah or -el. These are the names of the 72 angels of the Shem HaMephorash and they have been associated with the seventy-two 5° arc segments of the zodiac.
Now, hold on to both of those thoughts for a minute…
The Ars Goetia is one of the five books of an early-modern grimoire known as the Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis. The Ars Goetia contains a “spirit catalogue” consisting of – you guessed it – 72 goetic demons. This catalogue has been in development since the apocryphal Testament of Solomon (circa 2nd century CE) and into the European grimoire tradition. The 72 demons of the Ars Goetia have been associated with the seventy-two 5° arc segments of the zodiac.
The Circle of Solomon and Triangle of Solomon from The Goetia The Lesser Key of Solomon the King (1904)
Okay, now let’s put the whole picture together…
The Shem angels and the goetic demons have been fitted into the zodiacal scheme of the Babylonian quinaries. The first angel, Vehuiah, and the first demon, Bael, are aligned with 0° Aries, the beginning of the zodiac. They continue to wrap around, 5° each, until an angel/demon pair is assigned to all seventy-two quinaries.
This system may be used in all manner of astrological and magical operations, from natal and horary astrology to theurgic ritual and talisman production.
The philosophical implications of quinarian astrology are quite vast and somewhat challenging. Normally, astrological inquiry takes place in the Terrestrial and Celestial Worlds (to familiarize yourself with astrological cosmology, see this blog post). Planets in signs and houses tell us something about events and phenomena in the sublunary sphere, “below the Moon.” In quinarian astrology, however, we are applying astrological methodology to the Intellectual World. This is a noetic astrology, dealing with angels who are mathematical entities (per Iamblichus, Agrippa, Dee, et. al.). They are abstractions, dwelling in the Platonic realm of the Forms and Ideas. The angelic domain is what you could call metaogdoadic - i.e., it is “beyond the Ogdoad,” which is the “Eighth” sphere of the fixed stars and zodiac. Quinarian astrology applies astrology’s elemental, planetary, and stellar delineation methods to the angelic dimension. This is unprecedented, as far as I am aware.
About five years ago, I began to study traditional astrology (Hellenistic, Medieval/Perso-Arabic & Renaissance) and astrological magic in earnest. I had some experience and familiarity with modern astrology, the grimoire tradition, and Western Esotericism in general for the preceding ten years or so. Several years ago, I decided to look at my natal chart and consider the influence that the quinarian angels and demons had on my planetary placements. I have never seen the practice written about before. I’m not saying no one had ever done it before – but I am saying no one had left any record of the practice. This is when I decided to assemble the system into a practicable technique.
I have written about quinarian astrology in The Mountain Astrologer magazine (Lamb. “The 72 Quinaries.” The Mountain Astrologer. 1st Annual, 2023 Yearbook, no. 225. 18-21.) and I have a full manuscript outlining the history, theory and practice of the astrological quinaries being published by Inner Traditions in late 2024. The book is tentatively titled The Astrological Shem HaMephorash: The 72 Quinarian Keys to Occult Astrology.
When I pitched the thesis of my manuscript to Inner Traditions, their acquisitions editor said “I can’t believe this isn’t a book already.” It’s hard to believe that no one had ever left any record of using the significations of the Shem angels and the goetic demons in astrological delineation, but that appears to be the case.