The Secret Seal of Solomon

The Goetia describes a privy seal said to have been used by Solomon to bind the spirits and their legions in the vessel of brass and to stamp its lid. The maker must be clean, abstain from women for a month beforehand, and pray and fast for forgiveness. The seal is drawn on virgin parchment at midnight on the day of Mars or Saturn, with the Moon increasing in Virgo, and afterwards it is perfumed with a fumigation of alum, raisins dried in the sun, dates, cedar and lignum aloes. The figure itself, a complex circular sigil, is printed in the 1904 edition. It belongs to the legendary apparatus of the Solomonic cycle that also includes the brass vessel and the ring.

Purpose

In legend this is the seal with which Solomon closed the brass vessel holding the spirits; the text also claims it won him love and protected him in battle.

Timing

Day

Tuesday — the day of Mars

Moon

Waxing (increasing in light)

Season / time

At midnight

Midnight on the day of Mars (Tuesday) or Saturn (Saturday), the Moon increasing between new and full and in Virgo.

Materials

• virgin parchment
• alum
• sun-dried raisins
• dates
• cedar
• lignum aloes

Omitted

The text requires the seal to be written in the blood of a black cockerel. This animal-blood requirement is described for historical understanding only and should not be performed.

Fire safety when burning the fumigation.