The scorpion stings with its tail, and for this reason it has been called a backbiter, a false and deceitful thing. Calmet, in his Dictionary of the Bible, declares the scorpion to be a fit emblem of the wicked and the symbol of persecution. The dry winds of Egypt are said to be produced by Typhon, who imparts to the sand the blistering heat of the infernal world and the sting of the scorpion. This insect was also the symbol of the spinal fire which, according to the Egyptian Mysteries, destroyed man when it was permitted to gather at the base of his spine (the tail of the scorpion).The red star Antares in the back of the celestial scorpion was considered the worst light in the heavens. Kalb al Akrab, or the heart of the scorpion, was called by the ancients the lieutenant or deputy of Mars. (See footnote to Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos.) Antares was believed to impair the eyesight, often causing blindness if it rose over the horizon when a child was born. This may refer again to the sand storm, which was capable of blinding unwary travelers.

Hence taketh its original that the devil is called [Rev. xii. 9] the old serpent; and also, that there are adders and serpents in this corrupted...

Whence also the Egyptians did not entrust the mysteries they possessed to all and sundry, and did not divulge the knowledge of divine things to the...

In this revolution the planet Mars came to be, whose power stands in the bitter fire-crack, for Mars is a tyrant, rager, raver and stormer, like a...