The Winged Lion is the traditional emblem of Saint Mark among the group of the four evangelists. Abbé Julio draws on this image of strength to accompany a request for protection when a person feels threatened. Its engraving should be read together with the verse surrounding it: the theme is trust despite danger.
This pantacle belongs to a family that also includes Luke’s Winged Bull, the Angel associated with Matthew, and John’s Eagle. Their iconographic origin is shared, but Julio assigns them different applications.
Essential points
| Tradition | Emblem of Saint Mark |
|---|---|
| Figure | Lion with wings |
| Applications | Courage in the face of danger and hostility |
| Reference | Abbé Julio, 1908, notice 39 |
Reading the symbolism
The lion conveys an image of power, while the wings recall the spiritual character of the evangelical emblem. This combination does not represent a fabulous beast without context: in Christian art, it usually designates Mark.
The notice explicitly identifies the lion with Saint Mark. The verse placed around it contrasts trust with fear in the face of a crowd besieging the person who prays. The animal and the wings bring together the strength and spiritual dimension of this request.
The inscription speaks of trust in the presence of those who besiege the person praying. It is the relationship between the verse and the animal that makes Julio’s choice of symbol understandable.
History and traditions
The four living beings from the visions of Ezekiel and Revelation contributed to the formation of the iconography of the evangelists. Their association developed in Christian exegesis and art long before Julio’s publication.
The author of the Secret Book reuses this familiar language to construct a collection of pantacles whose uses remain individualized.
The link between the lion and Mark became familiar in Gospel manuscripts, church sculptures, and representations of the four living beings. This association belongs to a history of Christian art that predates Julio’s collection by a long time. It explains why the lion has wings: it represents a celestial figure associated with the transmission of the Gospel, not an animal species the author intended to describe.
In its application, Julio is less concerned with the lion’s physical vigor than with courage tested in the face of a multitude of adversaries. The inscription gives this strength a religious direction. It speaks of trust when a person feels surrounded or threatened. This precision distinguishes the sign from the Shield, which is oriented toward preserving a community during conflicts, and from the Dragon, devoted to dangers represented by hostile animals.
Attributed effects
Julio attributes to it protection in public calamities, pressing dangers, and situations in which a person feels surrounded by enemies. These are the religious applications described in the notice.
Calamities, perils, and hostility are at the center of the notice. Julio associates the lion with the moral strength and trust needed to resist fear.
He does not describe the sign as an invitation to deliberately expose oneself to danger or as a means of dominating others.
Usage according to Julio
The text invites one to wear the sign with faith and trust. The practical advice in the book places this wearing within a framework of blessing, consecration, and prayer. The figure is not accompanied by any particular planetary ritual.
The item belongs to the blessed and consecrated pantacles presented by Julio. No ceremony involving an animal or additional astrological rule is indicated.
The study benefits from comparing the verse with the representation, and then with the other three evangelical emblems.
Understanding what distinguishes the figure
The Winged Bull is linked to fertility, the Angel of Justice to fairness, and the Eagle to spiritual missions. The Winged Lion thus retains its own protective purpose.
The source and variants
Abbé Julio, The Secret Book of Great Exorcisms and Blessings, Vincennes, published by the author, 1908. Explanation and application no. 39, p. 435. Practical advice on blessed and consecrated items: pp. 462–463.
Classic directory numbering: 12 of 44. This numbering differs from the inventory of engravings in the old volumes.
Read the notice in the 1908 edition
Image: historical reproduction distributed by Oracles.ch. The reproduction does not make it possible to identify its edition precisely; it is preserved at its native resolution, without redrawing the characters or artificial enlargement. The text of this page is based on the 1908 notice.
