Opus 45. Codex Venricus Engravings (2013)

In 2012, Jurii Kirnev asked the artist Gordon Napier to create a series of illustrations for his grimoire The Five Keys of the Black Book of Venrik (also styled Codex Venricus). The images were conceived as symbolic works meant to awaken higher faculties of consciousness and encourage artistic and magical contemplation rooted in Hermetic alchemy.

Kirnev shared with Napier a detailed account of his mystical experiences and the symbolic system behind the book, while giving the artist full creative freedom. The resulting illustrations combined Kirnev’s esoteric emblems with Napier’s own visual language, forming a unified symbolic tapestry.

Together they also designed the coat of arms of their private brotherhood, the Order of Venricus, whose name derives from a reversal of Kirnev’s patronym. After their release, the illustrations gained recognition among occult enthusiasts and later appeared in films, video games, and other areas of popular culture. The most widely known of them is the Third Key. Even when used without understanding their original intent, such appearances still serve the same purpose: to stimulate imagination and the sense of the mystical.