Apophis (also Apep, Aapep) is the great serpent of Egyptian mythology, the personification of the undifferentiated chaos that existed before creation and perpetually threatens to engulf the ordered cosmos. The name derives from the Egyptian ‘3pp or ‘3p, likely meaning “the slithering one” or “the great serpent.” In the Pyramid Texts, Apophis is the enemy of Ra, the sun-god, and the nightly battle in the underworld is the central myth of his existence: each night, Ra’s solar barque must navigate the serpent’s coils, defended by the god Set and the magical spells of the deceased king.

Position on the Tree of Life

Apophis corresponds to Path 16, the sixteenth path of the Tree of Life, which connects the sephirah Tiphareth (Beauty) to the sephirah Chesed (Mercy). This path is attributed to the Hebrew letter Vau (ו), meaning “nail” or “hook,” and to the zodiacal sign of Taurus. However, in the Cadent column of Liber 777, Apophis appears as a “Cadent” force—a term from astrological houses indicating a secondary, derivative, or obstructive influence. Here, the serpent represents the resistance to the solar current of Tiphareth, the inertia that must be overcome for the initiate to ascend from the sphere of the heart to the sphere of mercy.

Astrological and planetary correspondence

In the 777 system, Apophis is not directly assigned a planet or zodiac sign in the standard sense; rather, it appears in the column “As Col. CXLVII (Cadent),” which aligns with the astrological concept of cadent houses—those that are weak, hidden, or obstructive. This makes Apophis the embodiment of the “shadow” of the Path of Vau: the fixed, stubborn, and chaotic resistance that the initiate must transmute into the stability of Taurus. In later Hermetic and Thelemic traditions, Apophis is often linked to the destructive aspect of Saturn (the planet of limitation and time) or to the Qliphoth, the shells of impurity that oppose the sephiroth.

Historical context

The earliest known references to Apophis appear in the Coffin Texts (c. 2000 BCE), where he is described as a serpent of the underworld who must be repelled by the deceased. By the New Kingdom, the myth had become codified in the Book of the Dead and the Amduat: Apophis dwells in the cavern of the underworld, his body 450 cubits long, and he is defeated nightly by the god Set, who stands on the prow of Ra’s barque and spears the serpent. The Egyptians performed elaborate rituals to “repel Apophis,” including the burning of wax effigies and the recitation of spells that identified the serpent with all enemies of the pharaoh and the gods.

In the Greco-Roman period, Apophis was syncretized with the Greek Typhon, the monstrous storm-giant who opposed Zeus. This association influenced later Western esotericism: in the Chaldean Oracles and the Hermetica, the serpent becomes a symbol of the “dragon of chaos” that must be slain by the spiritual hero. Aleister Crowley, in The Book of Thoth and 777, explicitly links Apophis to the “serpent of the abyss” and to the formula of the “Dying God” that is resurrected through the overcoming of the shadow. In the Thelemic system, Apophis is the “Great Serpent of the Night” that guards the threshold of the Supernal Triad.

Closing

In the table of Liber 777 at Path 16, Apophis stands as the “Cadent” correspondence of the column, representing the obstructive, hidden, and chaotic force that the initiate must confront and integrate. He is the serpent of the underworld, the adversary of the solar current, and the necessary darkness that precedes the dawn of Tiphareth.