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The Spellbook · Prosperity

The Spellbook · Solomonic Magic

The Fourth Pentacle of Jupiter for Riches and Honour

How to make the Fourth Pentacle of Jupiter from the Key of Solomon, 'to acquire riches and honour': its angel Bariel, the psalm verse, timing and history.

  • TraditionClavicula Salomonis (Key of Solomon), Italian and French manuscripts of the 16th–18th centuries; S. L. MacGregor Mathers's edition (1889)
  • ForProsperity, Success
  • DifficultyModerate
  • Time1 hour, in the day and hour of Jupiter
  • WhenThursday, in the hour of Jupiter; the Key adds 'when he is in the sign of Cancer', which happens for about a year in every twelve

Of the forty-four pentacles in the Key of Solomon, the Fourth Pentacle of Jupiter is the one most often made for wealth. In S. L. MacGregor Mathers's edition of 1889 its virtue is stated plainly: it "serveth to acquire riches and honour, and to possess much wealth". Its angel is named as Bariel, it is to be engraved on silver in the day and hour of Jupiter, and around its edge runs a verse from Psalm 112 about wealth in the house of the righteous. Unlike the planetary magic squares of Agrippa, it is a devotional seal: divine and angelic names framed by scripture.

How to do it§

  1. Study the figure. Find the Fourth Pentacle of Jupiter in the plates of Mathers's edition of the Key of Solomon. Note the central figure with its Hebrew names and the name of the angel Bariel, and the Hebrew of Psalm 112:3 around the rim, which the King James Version renders: "Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever."
  2. Choose the time. Choose a Thursday, preferably with a waxing Moon, and use the planetary hours table to find an hour of Jupiter. If Jupiter happens to be in Cancer, as the Key prefers, so much the better, but few makers wait twelve years.
  3. Prepare yourself. The Key insists on cleanliness and a clear conscience. Wash, dress in clean clothes, tidy the table, and if you wish light frankincense or mastic on charcoal. Sit quietly and pray in your own words for an honest livelihood.
  4. Draw the pentacle. With compass and ruler draw a double circle. Copy the central figure, names and characters exactly, then write the verse around the band between the circles, in Hebrew as on the plate or, if you prefer, in your own language. Work slowly; the Key treats careless copying as fatal to the work.
  5. Consecrate it. Pass the finished pentacle through the smoke. Mathers's text consecrates the pentacles with prayers and psalms; you may read Psalm 112 aloud and then ask God, in whose names the pentacle is made, to bless it for the welfare of your household and work.
  6. Wrap and keep it. The Key directs that pentacles be wrapped in silk. Keep it with your accounts, at your workplace, or carry it in a pocket or bag.
  7. Finish. Put out the charcoal safely once it has burned down. A paper pentacle that has served its purpose is burned respectfully, because it bears divine names, and the ash is buried.

Origins and history§

The Clavicula Salomonis circulated in many manuscripts from the fifteenth century onward, in Latin, Italian, French and later English, and has no single authoritative text. Its pentacles descend from the legend of Solomon's seal ring, by which the king was said to command spirits, a story known from the Testament of Solomon and from Jewish and Islamic lore. In the manuscripts the pentacles serve two purposes at once: they protect the operator during the conjurations of the first book, and each has its own virtue, from protection to love, wealth or the discovery of treasure.

Mathers prepared his English edition from seven manuscripts in the British Museum, published in 1889, and redrew the pentacles for the plates. He corrected their Hebrew where he could, and scholars note that his arrangement, including the grouping of pentacles by planet, reflects his own editorial choices as well as the manuscripts. Joseph H. Peterson and others have since compared versions and shown how much the figures vary. The Fourth Pentacle of Jupiter's use of a psalm verse is typical: many pentacles carry scripture, reflecting the grimoire's Christian and Jewish frame, in which the magician acts by God's power rather than by the stars alone.

The timing rule, Jupiter in Cancer, follows the astrological doctrine that Jupiter is "exalted" in Cancer, where his benefic influence was thought strongest. The demand for silver, normally the Moon's metal, is unusual for a Jupiter talisman and may reflect the Moon's rulership of Cancer.

Variations§

Some practitioners engrave the pentacle on tin, Jupiter's metal, rather than silver; others paint it on parchment or good paper in blue. Ceremonial magicians may open with the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram and an invocation of Jupiter. Some draw the pentacle on the reverse of a Jupiter square talisman.

Safety and good sense§

Use the censer on a heat-proof base, ventilate the room, never leave burning charcoal unattended, and avoid incense if you have asthma. Take care with engraving tools. A pentacle is a focus for prayer and steady effort; debts and investment decisions call for qualified advice.

Sources and further reading§