The Almanac · Calendars & tools
Rituals · Liber XXVIII · Solomonic Magic
Construction of the Pentacles of Venus
Key of Solomon, Book I ch. 18 and Plates (Mathers 1889)
Venus receives five pentacles in Mathers' plates. They are engraved on copper, the metal of Venus, or drawn in green on virgin paper, in the day and hour of Venus. Their figures combine Hebrew names, the names of the angels of Venus and verses of Scripture on love and union. Following the general rules of chapter 18, the maker works in purity and secrecy, burns the incense of the Art, and afterwards keeps the pentacle wrapped in silk. The book presents these figures as bringing favour and friendship. Love operations in other chapters of the Key, which Mathers partly expurgated, are separate from these pentacles and are not part of this entry.
Purpose
The five Venusian pentacles are described as obtaining grace, honour and affection, and as calling the spirits of Venus.
Timing
- Day
- Friday — the day of Venus
- Planetary hour
- An hour of Venus, reckoned from local sunrise and sunset
- Moon
- Waxing (increasing in light)
Ch. 18 requires the pentacles to be made in the days and hours proper to their planet. Book I ch. 2 favours the Moon increasing in light for any work of construction and forbids beginning anything while the Moon is conjoined with the Sun.
Materials
- Copper plate (the metal of Venus)
- or virgin paper/parchment written in green
- incense of the Art
- silk cloth for wrapping
Tools
- burin or graver of the Art (for metal)
- pen and ink of the Art (for paper)
Omitted
Book II ch. 17 describes "virgin parchment" as made from the skin of a young animal flayed with ritual words; this is recorded for historical understanding only and should not be performed. Ordinary paper is the text's own lesser alternative.
Fire safety when burning incense.