Shichiriron is the Order of Spirits of the Moon on the 18th Path of the Tree of Knowledge, known as the ‘Binders’ or ‘Entanglers.’ The name breaks into shichir (associative root: ‘shackle,’ ‘fetter,’ or ‘chain’) and the standard angelic suffix -iron (as in Thagiriron, Adimiron, etc.), yielding a literal meaning of ‘those who fetter.’ In the Qliphothic hierarchy, Shichiriron embodies the constrictive, possessive side of lunar energy—the emotional coils of ancestry, dependence, and subconscious manipulation that trap the soul in cycles of guilt and obligation.

Position on the Tree of Life

Shichiriron is the Qliphoth of Path 18, which on the Tree of Life connects the sephirah Hod (Glory, intellect, the conscious ordering of images) to Binah (Understanding, the great mother). In the Inverted Tree, this path becomes a channel for the binding networks of astral light. Its position links the crystallized images of Hod with the formless womb of Binah, giving rise to the lunar and nephritic ‘spirit-spiders’ that weave the webs of karma and heredity.

Astrological and planetary correspondence

Path 18 is attributed to the zodiacal sign Cancer (the crab, the house of the moon) and, in broader Qliphothic tables, to the moon’s influence through the ecliptic. The planetary attribution is the moon in its adverse aspect—not the reflective silver of Yesod, but the dimming, clinging half-light that breeds phantoms, emotional debts, and the ghosts of the dead. Spiritually, Shichiriron corresponds to the toxic forms of the maternal instinct: protection turned to smothering, memory turned to grievance, nurturing turned to conditional obligation. The blind, backward-moving Cancer-soul of this order anchors consciousness in the past.

Historical context

Shichiriron first appears in Western occultism in the Goetia-derived grimoire The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage (circa 14th–15th century), translated and edited by S.L. MacGregor Mathers in the late 19th century. In that system, Shichiriron is named as the second of the Eight Princes of Evil, ruling the ‘spirits of the moon’ and commanding one of the legions under the four Crown Princes (Lucifer, Leviathan, Satan, Belial). MacGregor Mathers, in his notes on Abramelin, glosses the name as ‘the order of lunar spirits.’

Aleister Crowley later incorporated this Qliphothic order into the elaborate schema of Liber 777, placing it at the 18th step of the inverted scale. In his commentary, he aligns Shichiriron with the ‘Qliphoth of those who bind’ and associates it with the nightmares of the moon as opposed to the purified lunar current of Yesod. The order appears again in Kenneth Grant’s Nightside of Eden, where he expands the symbolism to include ‘the binding of the astral light into ancestral memory.’

The name itself is likely a Hellenized or Hebraized hybrid; the suffix -iron appears repeatedly in Qliphothic names (Thagiriron, Shalehbiron, Necheshiron) and probably derives from the Hebrew ’iron (‘watchful ones’ or ‘watchers,’ as in ‘Irin of Daniel 4). The root shichir is more obscure; some commentators connect it to the Hebrew shechel (‘besiege,’ ‘entangle’) or to the Aramaic shachār (‘bind’).

Position in Liber 777

In the table of the Orders of Qliphoth (Column VIII of Liber 777), Shichiriron occupies the cell for Path 18, between Thagiriron (Path 17, Tiphereth) and Shalehbiron (Path 19, Path of Geburah). Its numerical index is 18, coinciding with the Hebrew letter Cheth (the fence, enclosure, Cancer) and the divine name attributed to the moon, Elohim Tzabaoth (in the slum-column). In practice, this cell represents the ‘minimum viable presence’ of Shichiriron: a name, a rank, and a path-number, sufficient for the magician to invoke or banish the spirits of the lunar klipah according to the schema of the 777 tables.