AnalysisofthePentacleofSolomon By FraterMordecaiShia

AfterseeingamassproducednecklacevariantofthePentacleofSolomon (along withaslewofotherpentacles)inalocalMagicksuppliesshop,itstruckmethatthese wereawasteofmoney. Wrongmaterials,massproducedmanufacturingprocess unrelatedtoproperconstructiontimes,noconsecrationdone,etc.Basicallyanitemmade foranunsuspectingdabblerintheocculttoraiseaquickbuckforthemanufacturerand shopowner. Uponfurtherreflectionhowever,Ialsorealizedmyissueswentdeeperthanthat. Thatmydislikefortheconstructionofthecentralareaofthiscommercialpentaclelead toanevenmorecomplexmystery.Realizingthedrawingusedtoproduce thesewas basedononeofmanyofmanyversionsandvariationsIveseen,thequandarycameto mindthen,whatwastherelationshipbetweenallofthem? Hadthesymbolism constructionevolvedovertime,orhaditsimplysufferedandmutatedfromtranslationto translation?Couldalltheseversionsbeusedtounlockdeepermeaningand understanding? Withthat,Iresoundedtowritedownmyexplorationandanalysisforthebenefit ofmyfellowfratersandsorors.Hopefullyitwillaidthemintheirownfurtherresearch, whetherornottheyagreeordisagreewithsomeoftheconclusionsIvedrawn. Tobeingwith,herewehaveaversioncontainedinseveralmodernbooksand nowmassproducedforsale.ThecentralareainquestionstatesExpus:

ExpusasafullwordisRomanianfor"OnDisplay"or"open"(asintodisplayto the"world"),andRomanianitselfisdescendedfromwhatstermedasVulgarLatin(as opposedtoClassicalLatin).Anintriguingconnection,sinceitisdescribingwhatyoudo withthispentacle. Quiteofteningrimioresthough,wordingisincludedindrawingsthat

aremeanttoconveyusageandconstructionandnotnecessarilypartoftheitemtobe drawn.KeepingthemeaningofExpusandthisfactinmind,asawholeitseemedtobe lackingwhencomparedwiththeexistenceofotherpentacleswithmoredetailedcentral areas.TheHebrewletteringswerealsodoneincorrectlyfromaformationstandpoint (furtherobfuscatingpossiblecomparisonresearchasdemonstratedtowardstheendof thiswriting). Herewehaveanotherversion,thisoneshowingtheletter Enowformingatilted sigilandaseparatewordXpus:

FromHeptameron byPeterDeAbano,Lyon1600.

Theinterestingconnectionhere(suggestedbyJosephPeterson)isthatwordslike XpuswereoftenusedasamedievalshorthandforChrist(Christus),suchasthislisting presentedhere: http://www.hist.msu.ru/Departments/Medieval/Cappelli/CPLLI402.HTM Thisisofcoursesomethingonewouldexpecttobecallingongiventhecontext ofthetranslationandtimeperiod.Howeveritbegsthequestionthenifthisisyetanother layerofcontextualrelationshiplaidontothedrawing,sincethisversionappearsto replaceallHebrewwithLatinletters.

Wenowmoveon toanotherversion,whichdoessimilarlybutattemptstokeep translationsoftheHebrewwords. HerenowwehavetheXclearlyseparatedandpus asaseparateword:

Frenchversionof: TheVeritableClaviclesofSolomon, TranslatedfromHebrewintotheLatinLanguagebyRabbiAbognazar.

Onfurtherresearch,Pus(withthelineabovetheu,whichwouldexplaintheline abovethewordthatisalternatelysmallorlongdependingonthesourceversion)isa Latin wordfor"designationofamaliciousperson": http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3D%2339660 Thispresentsyetanotherinstanceofwhatthepentacleisintendedfor,butnot necessarilyanythingotherthanadescriptiveterm ratherthananactualpart. Interestingly,theseparation(completedwithahexagram centereddot)ofthesigilwith

XandtheLatinwordpuscallsattentionthentoXandthesigilformorepossible clues.

Whenfocusingonthesigilformoreclues,wenoticeithasbeenmovedvertical tomoreresembleanL.Uponfurthercomparison,youllnoticethattheLisactually thesymbolforSaturn:

(left)SymbolforSaturntakenfromJohnDeesAlchemists Egg, MonasHieroglyphica.(Right)symbol takenfrompreviouspentacle.

Thisclueisimportant,butinhindsightitsnotsurprising.Thevariouspentacles ofSaturnareusedintherealmofspirit/entitycontrol,soitwouldmakesensetoseea symbolforSaturnshowup. Finally,thisbringsustoaHebrewversionofthepentaclefromtheSepher MafteahShelomoh presentedbelow:

SepherMafteahShelomoh(KeyofSolomon), FacsimileandReproductionby HermannGollancz,M.A.,D.Lit. GoldsmidProfessorofHebrew, UniversityCollege,London. 1914

IsayHebrewinquotesbecauseitalsocontainsnonHebrewletterssurrounding thehexagram.Whatisimmediatelyinterestingonthesurroundingcharactersisthatthey differbyonewiththeotherversions:OinsteadofCinthelowerleftcorner.Sincethe othersareobviousintheirtranslation(AGLA=Aleph,Gimel,Lamed,Aleph,whichis shortforAtahGiborLeolamAdoniaorTheLordIsMightyForever,andI=Yud),one hastocenterinontheOasanothertranslationattempt.Inthiscase,thereisnodirect OsoundingletterintheHebrewalphabet,buttheletterVavcantakeonthis characteristicwiththepropervowel somethingthatwouldnothavebeenobviousto outsidetranslators(suchasauthorsthathavemistranslatedyudheyvuvheyasYahweh orJehovah)butwouldbetoaHebrewspeakingone.Sothesecouldbeabbreviationsto yetanotherphrase,butthatisforanotherwriting,aswearemainlyinterestedinthe centralareaforthisarticle. ThisHebrewversiongivesthemostintriguinginsightintothemeaningofthe centerofthispentacle.Withahexagram similarinornamentation totheothersanda completeabsenceoftheotherdescriptivesinthemiddle,italsobegsthequestionofa HebrewconnectioninthemiddleinthiscaseasingleHebrewletter. Tounderstandits significance,weneedtotakealookatamorecommonlyaccessibleKabbalistic talisman. ItsaJewishtraditiontoinscribethegloryofgodonthedoorpostasasignof loveofgod.Honoredintheformofaparchmentscrollwithaprayerofglorycalledthe Shema(calledaMezuzah),itisplacedinacasethatusuallyincludestheHebrewletter Shinonitsface:

TheShinisshortforShaddai(aKabbalisticword)whichitselfisshortfor ShomerDaltotYisraelorGuardianoftheDoorwaysofIsrael.Thisfurtherbreakstoa deeperKabbalisticmeaningwhenitsrealizedIsrael(Isperson,Ra Vision,El god) itselfreferstoSeersofGod,asinsomeonewhohasseenthefaceofgodinthe Gnostic/Mysticsense.Thisword(aswellasthreeotherKabbalisticnamesofgod)are alsowrittenonthebackoftheparchment.Furthermore,KabbalisticallytheMezuzah functionsasanamuletortalisman,protectingthosewhodwellwithin(whethercomingor

going oftentheprayer"MayGodprotectmygoingoutandcomingin,nowand forever"issaid,accompaniedbykissingofthefingersandtouchingoftheMezuzah). Whatdoesthishavetodowiththesigilinthepentacle?Itgivesusagoodlead atitsoriginalintentandcomposition whencomparedthisotherwellknowntalisman. Followingthislead,herewehavethebiblicalHebrewrenditionoftheletterAlpeh:

AndwhatfollowsisthedirectioncomparisonbetweentheHebrewpentaclemystery letterandthebiblical renditionof Aleph:

Thesimilaritiesarealmosttomuch toignore,downtothelowerflair(Alephis traditionallycomposedofanupperandlowerYodandamiddleVuv.) What significancewouldthishave?AlephiskingoverbreathandAir.(InsertmeaningofAir inelements,relatestogod,etc.).AccordingtotheSeferYetzirah,Alephservesasa separatorbetweentheupperandlowerworlds(hencetheupperandlowerYodseparated byaVuv).Furthermore,Alephisthefirstletterofthesupremenameforgodor Elaswellasthephrase(Ehye'Asher'Ehye)orIamthatIam.

Givingthesecontexts,itseemsmostfittingthatAlephisapossibleactualanswertothe mysteryofthecentralareaofSolomonsPentacle.