Ancient Greek terracotta vessel in the shape of a sphinx, 5th century BC. One of 26 similar pieces discovered in a feminine necropolis ("Demeter's priestess") near Phanagoria, Peninsula of Taman, modern Russia
"To attain the Sanctum Regnum, in other words, the knowledge and power of the Magi, there are four indispensable conditions – an intelligence illuminated by study, an intrepidity which nothing can check, a will which cannot be broken, and a prudence which nothing can corrupt and nothing intoxicate. To Know, To Dare, To Will, To Keep Silence – such are the four words of the Magus, inscribed upon the four symbolical forms of the sphinx." - "De Natura ΣFΙΝΨ” (On the Nature of the Sphinx) in Aleister Crowley, Liber Aleph
