Ophionius is a serpentine deity from Greek mythology, often identified with the primordial Titan Ophion. The name derives from Greek ὄφις (ophis) meaning “serpent.” In some traditions, Ophionius is the consort of Eurynome and the ruler of the cosmos before the Olympians, a figure of unformed, chaotic power that later yields to the ordered pantheon.

Position on the Tree of Life

Ophionius corresponds to Path 22, the twenty-second path of the Tree of Life, which connects Kether to Chokmah. This path is attributed to the Hebrew letter Aleph, the Tarot card The Fool, and the element Air. As a symbol on this path, Ophionius embodies the primal, serpentine energy of air—formless, volatile, and prior to all differentiation.

Astrological and planetary correspondence

Path 22 has no direct planetary attribution, being governed by the element Air. However, the row in which Ophionius appears is classified as “Cadent,” a term from Hellenistic astrology referring to the cadent houses (3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th). In this context, Ophionius may be linked to the mutable, transitional qualities of those houses—communication, service, travel, and hidden matters—though the primary correspondence remains elemental.

Historical context

Ophion (or Ophioneus) first appears in Greek cosmogonic fragments, notably in the Orphic tradition. The Orphic Rhapsodies describe Ophion as a great serpent who, with Eurynome, held dominion over the world before Cronus and Rhea overthrew them. Later Neoplatonic and Hermetic writers adopted Ophion as a symbol of the undifferentiated chaos from which order emerges. In the Renaissance, the figure appears in works such as Natale Conti’s Mythologiae, where Ophion is treated as a Titan of the air. Crowley, drawing on these sources, included Ophionius in Liber 777 as a name for the serpent force on the 22nd path, aligning it with the Fool’s journey—the beginning of all things, unbound and full of potential. The variant “Ophionius” may be a Latinized or adjectival form, emphasizing the entity’s quality rather than its personal name.

In Liber 777, Ophionius appears at scale step 22 (Path 22) in the column derived from Col. CXLVII (Cadent). It stands among a series of mythological names—Horus, Apophis, Titan, Proteus—each assigned to a different path, marking Ophionius as the specific serpentine archetype for the airy, cadent current of the twenty-second path.