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The Spellbook · Blessings

The Spellbook · High Magick

Angel of the Day Talisman from the Heptameron

A paper talisman with the name and seal of the weekday's angel from the Heptameron, made in its first hour with prayer, and the history of the seven angels.

  • TraditionHeptameron seu Elementa magica, attributed to Peter of Abano; printed 1559 with Agrippa's spurious Fourth Book; English translation by Robert Turner (1655)
  • ForBlessings, Protection, Wisdom & study
  • DifficultyModerate
  • Time45 minutes, in the first hour of the chosen day
  • WhenOn the angel's own weekday, in the first planetary hour after sunrise, which belongs to that day's planet

The Heptameron, a short Latin handbook of magic attributed to the thirteenth-century physician Peter of Abano, assigns each day of the week a ruling angel: Michael for Sunday, Gabriel for Monday, Samael for Tuesday, Raphael for Wednesday, Sachiel for Thursday, Anael for Friday and Cassiel for Saturday. For each it gives a seal or "character". The book itself uses these angels within conjurations of spirits, which the Spellbook describes only as history. This working takes a gentler, devotional path also followed by later practitioners: making a small talisman bearing the angel's name and seal, consecrated with prayer to God, as a reminder of the day's blessing.

How to do it§

  1. Choose the angel. Decide what the talisman is for and choose the matching day: Michael (Sunday) for vitality and protection, Gabriel (Monday) for the home and dreams, Raphael (Wednesday) for study and travel, Sachiel (Thursday) for prosperity and generosity, Anael (Friday) for harmony and friendship, Cassiel (Saturday) for patience and steadiness. Samael, Tuesday's angel, is identified in rabbinic lore with the angel of death and with Satan, so many makers avoid him and choose Michael instead for courage.
  2. Find the hour. Rise before dawn on that day. The first planetary hour after sunrise belongs to the day's planet; plan to work then, ideally with a waxing Moon.
  3. Prepare. Wash, dress cleanly and tidy your table. If you wish, light frankincense in a censer. Sit quietly and pray the Lord's Prayer or a psalm.
  4. Draw the talisman. With compass and ruler draw a double circle. In the centre, copy the angel's seal exactly as printed in the 1655 English Heptameron. Write the angel's name above it and, in the band between the circles, the name of the day and the sign of its planet. On the reverse you may write a short verse of scripture suited to your intention.
  5. Consecrate it by prayer. Hold the talisman in the smoke and pray to God in your own words, for example: "Lord of hosts, who sends your angels to guard and guide, bless this sign of your servant N. [the angel's name], and let it remind me each day of your care." (This wording is modern.) Do not call on the angel to appear; the work is a prayer, not a conjuration.
  6. Keep it. Wrap the talisman in cloth or an envelope and carry it, or keep it on a home altar. Some renew their prayer on the same weekday each week.
  7. Finish. Let the charcoal burn out under watch. When the talisman is no longer needed, burn it respectfully in a safe place and bury the ash, because it bears holy names.

Origins and history§

The Heptameron ("Seven Days") was first printed in 1559 at Marburg, bound with a Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy falsely attributed to Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. Its attribution to Peter of Abano (c. 1257–c. 1316) is generally regarded as spurious, and it was probably compiled in the fifteenth or early sixteenth century from older material, including the Liber juratus (Sworn Book of Honorius) and other medieval works of angel magic. Robert Turner's English translation of 1655 made it widely available to English readers.

The system of seven planetary angels has older roots. Jewish texts, from 1 Enoch to the medieval Sefer Raziel, assign angels to the heavens, the planets and the days. The Latin West inherited these lists through works such as the Liber Razielis, and they reappear with variations in Trithemius's De septem secundeis (1508) and in Agrippa's Three Books. The correspondences were never fixed: Agrippa's tables sometimes assign Raphael to the Sun and Michael to Mercury, the reverse of the Heptameron, and the Golden Dawn later followed yet other schemes. Claire Fanger and other historians describe this body of literature as a "theurgic" strand of medieval magic in which angels are approached through prayer, fasting and purity.

The talisman form is a later, simplified use of the Heptameron's material by Renaissance and modern practitioners who wanted the benefit of the angels without the risks and moral hazards of conjuration.

Variations§

Some make all seven talismans over a week. Others make the angel's seal into a pendant in the planet's metal: gold for Michael, silver for Gabriel, tin for Sachiel, copper for Anael. A purely devotional form simply says a short prayer naming the day's angel each morning.

Safety and good sense§

Burn incense only in a heat-proof censer, ventilate the room and never leave charcoal unattended. Treat a talisman as a reminder of prayer and resolve. It is no substitute for medical, legal or financial help, and those prone to anxiety about spirits may prefer the purely devotional form.

Sources and further reading§