A being with three heads—a bull’s, a man’s, and a ram’s—joined to a serpent’s tail and the webbed feet of a goose. It rides a dragon, carrying a lance and banner. This composite figure is the Magical Image assigned to Path 28 on the Tree of Life in Liber 777, Column CLVII. No single classical text describes it in full; it is a modern Hermetic synthesis, designed to concentrate the specific qabalistic forces of this Path.

Position on the Tree of Life

Path 28 is the 28th path of the Tree of Life, connecting the sephirah Netzach (Victory, sphere of Venus) to Hod (Splendor, sphere of Mercury). It is assigned to the zodiacal sign Scorpio. In traversing this Path, the magician moves from the emotional, expansive energy of Venus to the analytical, communicative realm of Mercury, passing through the fixed, watery, and intensely transformative sign of Scorpio.

Astrological and Planetary Correspondence

The three heads of the figure directly reflect Scorpio’s triadic nature. The bull’s head corresponds to the fixed, earthy, and stubborn aspect of the sign (the bull being the symbol of Taurus, the fixed earth sign opposite Scorpio’s own fixed water); the man’s head represents intellect and will; the ram’s head is the cardinal, aggressive fire of Aries, the sign opposite Scorpio on the zodiacal axis. Together, they signify Scorpio’s ability to hold, to understand, and to strike. The dragon is the traditional steed of the Path’s ruler—Mars, the ancient planetary lord of Scorpio—and also represents the raw, unbound creative-destructive force that the Path channels. The serpent’s tail alludes to the Ouroboros, the cycle of death and rebirth central to Scorpionic transformation, while the goose’s feet anchor the image to the earth, suggesting that even this aerial, dragon‑borne vision must be grounded in practical manifestation.

Historical context

The image does not appear in any known grimoire, medieval bestiary, or classical myth. Instead, it is a product of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, whose members—especially Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers and later Aleister Crowley—compiled the tables of Liber 777 (first published 1909). These tables systematised the correspondences of the Tree of Life, drawing from Jewish Qabalah, Renaissance magic, astrology, alchemy, and classical mythology. For each Path, they devised a Magical Image intended to be a composite symbol for meditation and ritual visualisation, concentrating the Path’s essence into a single, striking form.

The elements here are drawn from several traditions. The three heads are reminiscent of the three‑headed guardians in Greek myth (Cerberus) and the triadic forms of Hecate, but adapted to represent the three decans or modes of Scorpio. The serpent’s tail echoes the Ophidian iconography of the Gnostic traditions and the alchemical serpent that consumes itself. The goose’s feet are a curious addition, likely derived from the Egyptian god Geb (the goose‑headed earth‑god), placing the figure in the context of earth and fertility despite its Scorpionic water. The lance and banner are standard military attributes in medieval angelic and knightly imagery, signifying victory over lower forces; here, they declare the magician’s conquest over the fixed, watery nature of Scorpio.

In the 777 schema, this image is the concentrated magical tool for Path 28—a visualised emblem of the synthesis of Netzach, Hod, and Scorpio. The magician who works with this figure is to understand that the Path demands a fusion of love (Netzach), intellect (Hod), and transformative power (Scorpio). The three heads represent the threefold nature of the will that must be harmonised; the serpent’s tail is the kundalini force rising; the goose’s feet are the firm footing in the material world; the dragon is the vehicle of that transformation; and the lance and banner are the instruments of victory over the lower self.