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You have probably arrived at this page because you were researching the meaning of
Jimmy Pages Zoso symbol, which appeared on the cover of the fourth Led Zeppelin album.
You have come to the right place. On this page I will provide details of the source of the
symbol and why Jimmy Page selected it. There has been lots of weird speculation about
what the symbol means, such as the three-headed dog (Cerebus) that guards the gates to
hell. No idle speculation here; just the facts and references so you can look the
information up yourselves and draw your own conclusions.

If you wish to leave any feedback please do so on the comments page (menu top right).

This research was originally published on the inthelight.co.nz website.

Led Zeppelin IV album

The four symbols that appear in the site header was also the name of the fourth Led
Zeppelin album, being one symbol for each band member (plus a fifth symbol for Sandy
Denny who sung backing vocals on The Battle of Evermore track).

Jimmy Pages symbol = Saturn (ruler of Capricorn astrology sign)

Robert Plants symbol = Truth or Courage

John Paul Jones symbol = confidence and competence

John Bonhams symbol = the Trinity, or Father-Mother-Child

Sandy Dennys symbol = an old symbol for the Godhead

Where did the symbols come from?

When Jimmy Page was asked what his symbol meant he said that the band members
selected them from a standard reference book of sigils (a sigil is a symbol used in
magic) and suggested that interested people should go and look them up in a standard
reference text. Page used to own a second-hand bookshop called the Equinox (4 Holland
Street, Kensington, London no longer open) which specialised in books from the occult.
He clearly had better access to these standard reference books than us, because when
I started searching I had great difficulty finding any books with any symbols and sigils
that looked even vaguely similar to the symbols above. With some research it proved
possible to find the symbols for Plant, Jones and Bonham (and Sandy Denny), but Pages
symbol was elusive and this lead to greater speculation about its magical significance.
There are books with the symbols in them but they are hard to find and it is easier if you
live in France and can speak French.

Zoso Symbol
The symbol does not spell the word Zoso, but this is a good name for referring to it. This is
what I believe Mr Page did in his young days. Jimmys astrological sun sign is Capricorn,
and if you know your astrology you will know that Capricorn is ruled by the planet Saturn.
Jimmy wanted a symbol for Saturn and he found a selection in a textbook (some possible
options will be listed shortly). Now, Jimmys first guitar was a 1959 Futurama Grazioso
that his parents bought for him when he was 12
years old. One of the Saturn symbols in the text
books looks a little bit like zioso of Grazioso.
Perhaps this was why this particular Saturn
symbol caught his eye. I do not personally
believe there is any deeper meaning than this, but there are many people out there who
do. They origins of the symbol go back to at least 1521, and almost certainly earlier (to the
1300s), but what the structure and form of the symbol originally meant (if anything) has
been long lost in the sands of time.

The most accessible text to find these symbols is Grimoires et

Rituels Magiques, by Francois Ribadeau Dumas, published by P
Belfond in Paris in 1972 (and 1998). ISBN 978-2714436047 or
2714436048. (A Grimoire is a textbook on magic). Pages
symbol can be found on page 127, in Chapter 10 entitled Dragon
Rouge (the Red Dragon) the secrets of the Scientist Artephius.
Here are the pages where the symbols can be found (look at
the bottom of page 127):

The French text simply says that Saturn rules over the lives of mankind, extending or
terminating it and making life happy or painful.

The Dumas text easiest reference book to locate, but there are others and it is likely that
Page had a copy of Le Dragon Rouge (the Red Dragon). If you go looking for this book, note
there are several called Le Dragon Rouge and they are quite different books. The book you
want is shown below, and the collection of symbols appear on page 51. This book is rare
and expensive (selling on eBay for several hundred Euros), but you will note that the
collection of symbols for the planet Saturn is identical to that published in the Dumas
book above.

This 1850 version of Le Dragon Rouge is a reprint of and earlier 1521 text The Red Dragon
and The Black Hen, including the secrets of Artephius, the secrets of Cleopatra and how to make
yourself invisible.

There is another possible reference text that Jimmy Page had, which was brought to my
attention by Mr Joseph Peterson from esoteric archives. Below is page 31 from a rare 19th
century dictionary of symbols called Le Triple Vocabulaire Infernal Manuel du Demonomane , by
Frinellan (a pseudonym for Simon Blocquel), published by Lille, Blocquel-Castiaux, 1844.
You may find second hand copies of this rare book but expect to pay several hundred
Euros for them on eBay.
The collection of symbols for Saturn are slightly different to the texts above, but the Zoso
symbol stands out clearly. This book is hard to find, but is available for viewing in the St
Pancras reading room in London, and scanned copies can be obtained through the British
Library imaging service (shelf mark number 08632.de.3). The text is in French, and Mr
Petersons helpful translation of the relevant text from page 30 states:

Characters. The majority of talismans owe their virtues to the sacred characters that
the ancients regarded as a sure defence. The famous ring of Solomon, who subjected the
geniuses to the will of this king magician, owed all its force to the Kabbalistic characters.
(For these characters see the following page). The works which treat on this matter are:
the Clavicles, the Red Dragon, Enchiridion, the Treasure of the old man of the Pyramids , etc.

These 19th century texts were referencing earlier works, and Mr Robert Ansell of the fulgur
site brought the 1557 Cardan text to my attention. Jerome Cardan was 16th century
mathematician who had some passing interest in hermeticism and the occult. Cardans
Father was a friend of Leonardo da Vinci, and whilst Cardan had a passing interest in
astrology (he got into trouble for doing a horoscope for Jesus Christ) and hermetisicm, he
was foremost a mathematician and he considered the writings of Artephius to be
nonsense!

Cardan compiled a book in 1557 called De rerum varietate, in which Chapter 91 was entitled
Ars magica Artefii et Mihinii (The magical art of Artefius or Artephius and Mihinius). The set
of symbols for the planets appear on page 789 of a 1580 reissue of De rerum varietate and
the symbols can also be found in a 1663 publication Complete Works (Opera Omnia) on
page 313:
An easier book to source is Fred Gettings Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic and Alchemical
Sigils by Fred Gettings, published in 1982 by Routledge & Kegan Paul, ISBN 0-7100-0095-
2. You will find the Saturn symbols on page 201, noting that the symbols in Gettings
dictionary are his own line drawings they are not Cardans originals.

So in summary for Jimmy Pages Zoso symbol, Page wanted a symbol for Saturn, the
planetary ruler of his astrological sun sign Capricorn. We arent certain exactly which
reference book he used, but the collection of Saturn symbols dates back to at least the
1300s and he chose the Zoso one most probably because it reminded him of the name of
his first Grazioso guitar. I dont know too much more about Artephius and I dont promise
that understanding these symbols will bring eternal life and prosperity! If you want to
investigate further what the structure of the Saturn symbol may mean then please check
out the speculation page.

Pages interest in astrology also resulted in the

embroidery of his ascendant and moon symbols (the
sun, ascendant and moon are the three most
important astrological signs) on some of his
performance attire (trousers shown in the picture
opposite).

The symbols on the right of his trousers from top to

bottom are Capricorn (Jimmys sun sign), Scorpio
(Jimmys ascendant) and Cancer (Jimmys moon
sign).

Other band members symbols

This page is mainly about Jimmys Zoso symbol, but lets briefly cover the symbols chosen
by the other Led Zeppelin band members as these are more easily found.

Robert Plants symbol is the feather of Maat, the Egyptian goddess of

justice and fairness, and is the emblem of a writer (as in one who
composes song lyrics). It can be found in The Sacred Symbols of Mu by
Colonel James Churchward. It is in Chapter V, on pages 142 and 143. This is
not a common symbol, but it does turn up in both Egyptian and Red Indian
texts. When asked about his symbol, Plant said:

My symbol was drawn from the ancient Mu civilization, which existed about 15,000 years ago as
part of a lost continent somewhere in the Pacific Ocean somewhere between China and Mexico. All
sorts of things can be tied in with the Mu civilization, even the Easter Island effigies. These Mu
people left stone tablets with their symbols inscribed into them all over the place in Mexico, Egypt,
Ethiopia, India, China and other places, and they all date from the same time period!

The feather, a symbol on which all sorts of philosophies have been based and which has a very
interesting heritage. For instance, it represents courage to many Red Indian tribes I like people
to lay down the truth.

No bullshit. Thats what the feather in the circle is all about.

The symbols of John Paul

Jones, John Bonham and
Sandy Denny (whos symbol
appears at the end of Battle of
Evermore on the Led Zeppelin
IV album cover) can be found
in The Book of Signs by Rudolf
Koch (published by The
Limited Editions Club, London,
1930) pages 32 and 33 have
the symbols for John Paul
Jones and John Bonham, and
Sandy Dennys symbol can be
found on page 5.

John Paul Jones symbol is one used to exercise evil spirits, with the note that a clumsy
person would be unable to draw them. This infers that such a person is confident and
competent in their abilities.
John Bonhams symbol also appears on The Hierophant Tarot
card symbolising Osiris-Isis-Horus (Father-Son-Holy Ghost trinity),
and is also remarkably similar to the logo on Ballantine Ale Moving in
the best circles (purity, body, flavour).

The meaning behind Sandy Dennys symbol is more of a mystery than Jimmy Pages
symbol an old symbol for the Godhead. Beyond this nothing more is known

Swan Song Logo

The Led Zeppelin record label was Swan Song. A Swan Song is a dying dirge. Fables tell
that swans are able to foresee their approaching death, and they sing a beautiful,
melodious song just before the fateful event. This isnt true, but the legend can be traced
back to Chaucer in the fourteenth century, and the ancient Greeks also wrote of the ability
of swans to sing. The use of the swan song phrase in English dates back to at least 1831.

The man with wings (and no genitals) that was used as the
Swan Song logo on the records came from a painting by
William Rimmer from 1869/1870. The original painting can be
found in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and it is called
Evening (The Fall of Day) . I have had many debates about who
the picture is. The consensus seems to be that it represents
the God Apollo in anguish, falling at the end of the day.
Another theory is that it is Lucifer rising as in bringer of
light, Venus, the morning star. Unfortunately, William
Rimmer didnt leave us any clues and the figure doesnt appear similar to any of the
traditional ways in which Apollo or Lucifer (or Icarus or any other possible explanation)
are depicted but that is what art is all about. So we can continue to speculate but the
Apollo theory is the most prevalent.

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