Xpus? What Does Xpus Mean?

The Hexagram of Solomon found in the Goetia of Solomon had many versions before it made its way into the Lemegeton. In some of those other books and manuscripts you will see the mysterious word "Xpus".

Here is the Hexagram of Solomon as it appears in the Heptameron:

Here it is in Les Veritables Clavicules de Salomon:

You can also see Xpus in Tractatus de nigromatia [necromancy]: 16th centuryMun.A.4.98:

Note that the Xpus in this last diagram is beneath a form of the Tetragrammagon which would later be incorporated into the Hexagram of Solomon found in the Goetia of Solomon (see THIS POST).

So, what does Xpus mean?

The answer is found in that line above the word. You are looking at a Latinized Greek word. CHRISTUS

The first two letters are Chi and Rho.

A medieval convention for marking a contraction was to place a line over the word starting where the contraction begins and ending where the contraction ends. Some writers were more precise than others. So, remember, X pus is a contraction for Xpistus and is pronounced "Christós" or "Christus", but never "Eckspoos".