Winged Griffin

What this is

A griffin, lion's body and eagle's wings and head, set at the head of the twenty-third folio. It is the emblem of guardianship and of two natures joined, the strength of the beast married to the vision of the bird. Its verses speak of protection, of treasure watched, and of power that both rules the earth and rises above it.

What it governs

Presides over guardianship, vigilance over treasure, and the union of earthly strength with high vision. Folio 23. It rules the watcher set over what is precious.

Its properties

Its colour is tawny gold and eagle-brown; its number twenty-three; its nature the lion and the eagle in one body. The quality is protective strength, the vigilance that guards what matters and the breadth of view that sees the threat coming. In shadow it is the guardian that hoards, jealousy of what it watches, power that grips rather than protects.

Where else it appears

The same note is the griffin carved over treasuries and tombs as the keeper of gold; the cherubim set with the flaming sword to guard the garden; the lion-eagle that joins the king of beasts to the king of birds, earth and sky in one; the guardian at the threshold of every mystery. One griffin, many gates it keeps.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

It surfaces as the Folio of the Day and as a closing folio, and it is the natural folio for questions of finding treasure, of what is guarded, and of protection. When it heads your day, guard what is precious and look high as well as near; the day rewards the vigilant. In a reading it answers questions of treasure with what-is-guarded-may-be-won and counsels you to be both strong and far-sighted.

Why it matters

It stands twenty-third because what is precious is always watched, and the Winged Griffin is the oracle's emblem of the guardian you must pass or become. It asks you to protect what matters and to lift your view above the immediate ground.

Correspondences

planet

Sun, Mars

element

Fire, Air

zodiac

Leo

number

23

day

Sunday

colour

Tawny gold, eagle-brown

metal

Gold