“The Golden Dawn was founded in London in 1888, notable for admitting women alongside men. It was a secret society that studied metaphysics and the occult, so they believed the tarot was a path to personal development. As an act of initiation, new members were required to paint their own tarot decks. This was the reason Golden Dawn member A. E. Waite made his deck—a deck that was later published by Rider and Co.”

Rosa pauses for another moment, giving me the chance to reflect that this deck-creating practice obviously wasn’t the only tradition Perilli followed. Perhaps this Golden Dawn Order was also what inspired his own fledgling secret society?

“As they say, the more personal something is, the more universal it becomes,” Rosa continues. “The idea of solving our greatest mysteries with the deeply personal is baked into the very core of the tarot. After all, the word Arcana itself means ‘mysteries,’ or ‘secrets.’ Major mysteries, minor secrets—both coming from the Latin word Arcanum, with roots in the term Arcere.”

Click here

“I think our new friend Apollo is right,” Rosa begins. “The key to cracking this code is going to be about symbolism. The artist who made this puzzle believed in the power of symbols. Why the devil wouldn’t he? They’re the strongest communicative tool we have, outside words. In this hierarchy, first we have signs, which tell us simple directions. Then we have emblems, which capture qualities.”

Rosa pauses, pointing to the golden letter on her belt: H, for Hermès—a logo as emblem, capturing a brand.

“Symbols, on the other hand, capture the universal truths. Alphabets and numbers might count, but I’m talking icons. Sigils, like the cross. The triangle. The crown. The wolf and the sheep. The sun, the moon, and the star.”

Rosa runs her fingers across her own pentacle pendant necklace. “Humans react to symbols on instinct. They stir up our emotions, they conjure images. Symbols tell stories. It’s why this equation, this combination of symbols, is about Perilli’s story as an artist. After all, artists use symbolism more than anyone—except, of course, for religions. Symbols transcend death, they are sturdier than their creators ever could be. And here at Chills Coven, we know nothing captures symbols quite like the tarot, as a spiritual work of art.

“So, Apollo, I think you’re right,” Rosa concludes. “If we crack how the numeric symbolism tells the story of how Perilli saw the Pentacle King’s nature as an artist, we’ll solve the equation.”

“I don’t know as much about the tarot,” I lie, hating every word. “But I am a psych major. Freud, Jung, and Rorschach also used symbols as analytical tools, like archetypes drawn from our collective consciousness.”

I finish and Rosa sets her gaze on me, not saying a word. It’s unnerving.