Seals of the Archangels in the Veritable Clavicle

(edited)

The Key of Solomon in its classical shape, tributary to the Greek Hygromanteia, does not contain any of the seals of the seven archangels as we know them, only modern manuscripts French and English add them from the basic need of completeness, often accompanied by a plethora of other seals and diagrams from various sources, more or less classical.

This manuscript I am now analisyzing, titled Les Clavicules de R. Salomon,  was penned in 1796 by one aristocrat scribe from a family with a distinct tradition in copying grimoires and making the most beautyful manuscripts of the French school, F.F.Fyot.

It is without doubt that the source of the seals in this case is the Heptameron. Not only are the seals neatly copied, but there are also complex composite diagrams in the form of magical circles generated according to the instructions of the Heptameron. As these diagrams contain seals as well, I have done my best to isolate them and enhance the quality and will reproduce the accordingly. Note that the convex shape of the seals is due to the need of the scribe to fit them in the space between the circles.

I saw no use in reproducing the plates, which can be consulted in Skinner's edition, so I will only add the seals themselves. There is more than one seal of the archangel for each planet: the first occurrence is usually in the circular diagram, among other planetary pentacles and the second is singular and clear, in the rubric dealing with characters and seals. There are other occurrences as well, in similar diagrams towards the end of the manuscript, but the forms are identical. Exceptions have been noted.   I had no access to the original manuscript, Wellcome 4670, so the quality plates of its current English translation have been used:

 The Veritable Key of Solomon (Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic Series, vol.IV) Skinner, Stephen (Ed.), Rankine, David (Ed.), Golden Hoarde Press, Singapore, 2008.

The seal of Michael

 

Clav.A. 1

Clav.A. 2

Notes: Number 2 is more like the Heptameron figures than1. In figure 1, the downward slope is styled into a curve and there are two dots above the first cross.

 The seal of Gabriel

 

Clav.A. 1

Clav.A. 2 

Notes: the fact that all seals, including those I omitted, have the break in the leg of the A figure, indicating Hept.1 as a source.

 The seal of Samael

 

Clav.A. 1

Clav.A. 2 

 

Clav.A.3

Notes: All figures present a break in the curve, consistent with Hept.1 and 3. Figure 2, presented in the diagram, is original, I do not know if it is means as a series of characters of Mars or an alternate version for the seal of Samael, from another tradition. The first mark is a standard cross, the second one  is unknown to me but the left half seems consistent with other martial glyphs (where a kind of 3 figure is affixed, rather than an arrow), the third mark may be the sign of Scorpio and the fifth mark is clearly the glyph of Mars.

The seal of Raphael

 

Clav.A. 1

Clav.A. 2

Notes: all features indicate Hept.1 as a source. Very peculiar, the second circle is missed by the copyist in figure 1. 

 The seal of Sachiel

 

Clav.A. 1

Clav.A. 2 

Notes: Unusual elongation of the first mark. Mark 2 matches Hept.1 the most, down to the lower hook in the third mark. Figure 2 seems stylized, with the curve of the second mark curling into a circle and the lower left hook in the third mark being placed opposite to the one in 2.  

 The seal of Anael

 

Clav.A. 1

Clav.A. 2 

 Notes: Figure 1 resembles Hept.1 the most (tail attached in the lower part) and figure 2 resembles Hept.2 and 3 most (tail attached in the middle), with the specification that the triangle is only tangent to the circle.

 The seal of Cassiel

Clav.A. 1

Clav.A. 2 

Notes: Both seals are identical, but they differ from the Heptameron slightly: the curved ending in the second line is left open, not closed in a circle and the half and lower arms of the third mark tend to come together in the same spot without touching. 

Seals of the Archangels in Faust's Magia Naturalis

One of the most curious works of the Faustian cycle must be the five-volume Doktor Johannes Fausts Magia naturalis et innaturalis, oder dreifacher Höllenzwang, letztes Testament und Siegelkunst : nach einer kostbar ausgestatteten Handschrift in der Herzoglichen Bibliothek zu Koburg, 1849

The fifth volume of this work, very rich in pentacles and seals, contains a number of plates with pentacles ascribed to the seven planetary angels. 

I have a used the scanned copy hosted by the Herzogin Anna Amalia Bibliothek in Weimar:

 http://ora-web.swkk.de/digimo_online/digimo.entry?source=digimo.Digitalisat_anzeigen&a_id=1739&p_ab=0

 

Plate 30 features he seal of Anael in a very distinctive fashion, perhaps tributary to a manuscript source, with the first mark containing a sort of heart-shape instead of a teardrop, and a snake-figure replacing the somewhat phallic mark of the Heptameron.

 Plate 38 features a distinctive version of the seal of Raphael, a sort of abbreviated version of the Heptameron.

The following plates are more systematic in their representation and feature the whole scale of the seven planetary angels.

 

 Plate 99, titled I. The Seal of St. Michael, abounds in seals that so far are unknown from other sources, but the seal in the enclosure certainly is extracted from the Heptameron. The perimeter has the names of the angels of the day of the Lord and the spirits of the air, king and ministers alike, which draw directly from the Heptameron. Not only that, but the order of the angels is the order of the days of the week, starting with Sunday, and the attribution is Michael-Sun, Raphael-Mercury. There is no doubt about it that the Heptameron is the source of the seals, one instance where the inspiration can be absolutely certain.

 Plate 100:  II. The Seal of St. Gabriel

  Plate 101:  III. The Seal of St. Raphael

note: this should have been Mars, and Samael. 

  Plate 102:  IV. The Seal of St.Samael

note: this should have been Raphael.

 

  Plate 103:  V. The Seal of St. Sachiel

  Plate 104:  VI. The Seal of St. Anael

  Plate 105:  VII. The Seal of St. Gabriel

I realize there is no point in analyzing the seals in comparison to the figures of the Heptameron to establish a link to them. However, I shall nonetheless proceed to note the differences recorded for two reasons. The first is for recording just how much a seal can be morphed and changed from one direct source to another document, that is, just how much a scribe, a compiler or a draftsman  can change the design of a seal. The second reason is establishing the peculiarities of the seals from this edition in order to ascertain what later documents had this version of the seals as a source, and not the Heptameron or another.

Mostly all the seals here are faithful replicas of the ones in the Heptameron, only of far better draftsmanship, so no notes will be mentioned, except in extraordinary cases. 

The seal of Michael

The seal of Gabriel

  

The seal of Raphael

 The seal of Samael

 The seal of Sachiel

Notes: to testify to the Heptameron as a direct source, this seal even keeps the lower left hook in the third mark.

 The seal of Anael

Notes: as in plate 30, we find a heart shape instead of the familiar teardrop from the Hept. seals, in the first mark. Also, the second mark is smaller, fainter and thinner than the first one, an uncommon occurrence when we consider the general aesthetic graphical balance of the lines that the artist so dearly cultivated. 

 The seal of Cassiel

Notes: The first sign begins with a sort of curl that is reminiscent of the slightly curved end line occurring in Hept.1.

 

Seals of the archangels in the Magical Calendar.

The Magical Calendar is one of the most amazing pieces of art and information available in Western Hermeticism. 

It was published in 1620 by Johann Baptista Großchedel its basically a tabular rendition of the correspondences found in  Agrippa's Book II, chapters 4 through 14. 

The original manuscript used as a source for it British Library manuscript Harley 3420. Adam McLean, who published a wonderful study of it in The Magical Calendar: A Synthesis of Magial Symbolism from the Seventeenth-Century Renaissance of Medieval Occultism (Magnum Opus Hermetic Sourceworks Series) RedWheel / Weiser, 2008, decribes on his website the manuscript: 

British Library MS. Harley 3420.
Paper. 1614.

Johannis Baptistae Groschedelii, Dispositio Numerorum magica ab Unitate usq; ad Duodenarium.
Titulus ipsius Codicis: 'Dispositio numerorum Magica ab unitata usque ad duodenarium. Collecta singularis industria, compilatione diversa, magno labore, et investigatione sibi suisque, a Johanne Baptista Groschedelio, Equite Romano, ab Aicha Philomago, Lucisque et Gratiae, et Naturae indagatori vigilantissimo. Anno 1614.' Opus scil. Artimagicae et Astrologiae judiciali (ut loquuntur) inserviens: et in suo genere satis curiosum. [ With coloured figures.]

A good presentation of it is hosted by Joseph Peterson's website, copiously illustrated:

 http://www.esotericarchives.com/mc/index.html

I will present three versions of the seals, my sources being as follows:

MC.1

The 1620 engraving by Grosschedel and DeBry, from McLean and Peterson.

MC.2

The 1614 manuscript Harley 3420, from Peterson.

MC.3

A Dresden manuscript quite similar to the Harley version (in what I can glean from McLean's description, I haven't have the pleasure to inspect the manuscript first hand.)

 

 

 The entry on it:

'Ein Im[m]erwährender Natürlich-Magischer Calender, Welcher die Beschauung der Allertiefesten und Geheimesten Sachen, Ingleichen die Erkäntnüs der gantzen Philosophie in sich faßet', 1582. SLUB Dresden

 Adam McLean seems to think the date is spurious, yet Rafal T. Prinke gives the same date for the version in the Wroclaw Codex. I have not inspected this manuscript either, nor do I have a digital copy, so there is no MC.4, unfortunately.  

The order of the angels is quite peculiar, as is their attributions.

In MC.1, the angels are listed from Saturn to Moon, the so-called Chaldaic order of the planets. It rivals in popularity with the week order, as used in the Heptameron. Cassiel, Sachiel, Samael and Gabriel have their normal atributions, that is Saturn, Jupiter, ars and Moon. The others seem miss-matched. Anael is ascribed to the Sun, Raphael to Venus, and Michael to Mercury.

In MC.2, Anael is rightly attributed to Venus, but Raphael is attributed to the Sun and Michael to Mercury, the inverted order of the Heptameron. As Peterson points out, the Heptameron agrees with Agrippa, while the MC agrees with older works such as Liber Juratus and Sepher Raziel. We shal keep this order here. He concludes that the table has been muddled in the engraving: Raphael and Anael are reversed from the manuscript. This is probably due to the fact that Sol/Raphael/Machen is split by the binding. (Peterson, Magical Calendar, Seven)

In MC.3 the order is not as expected of a manuscript, in agreement with the MC.2, but in agreement with the later printer version, the MC.1.  We could therefore conclude that MC.3 is not an older version from the MC.1, but possibly derived from it.

Seal of Cassiel (Saturn)

MC.1

 

MC.2

 

MC.3

Notes: one cannot help noticing that while the seals from the Heptameron have three marks, the seal from Scot has two, we are presented here with only one mark, the first one. The shapes also differ: MC.1 and 2 share the trapezoidal shapes of the Heptameron, while MC.3 is rather slim and stylish, like Scot's rectangle.

Seal of Sachiel (Jupiter)

MC.1

 

MC.2

 

MC.3

Notes: Seal does not present great differences. The first mark is hollow, no lines or dots as in Scot. or Hept., the second mark has the superior part ending horizontally, not in a curved line (Scot, Hept) and the last mark resembles Scot. more than Hept., having no lower left hook. MC.3 is again similar to MC.1 rather than MC.2.

Seal of Samael (Mars)

 

MC.1

 

MC.2

 

MC.3

Notes: first of all, MC.1 and 3 share most characteristics, and differ from MC.2, this having a lower left protuberance and an apparent absence in the right (no circle). MC.2 has a perpendicular termination while  MC.1 and MC.3 do not, but do continue with a straight segment. These differences again speak for the probability of MC.1 being the source of MC.3, and not vice-versa. Here there are no breaks in the semicircle as in Hept.1 and 3, but bare close similarity to Hept.2 and Scot. he most striking fact is that in the far right, the cross is absent, the leftward dash is connected to the oblique line and the circle is placed below the figure, not above it. his last feature is the most striking above all, and can trace the origin of the seals. 

Seal of Raphael (Sun)

MC.1

 

MC.2

 

MC.3

Note: One of the problematic issues of the MC versus HEPT. In MC, the angel of the Sun is switched. Thea seals themselves remain, only the angelic  names suffer change. MC.1 and MC.3 share the same mistake, putting Anael as the regent angel of the Sun, but MC.2 has the correct table of assignment.  From all seals presented, this series is more tied to Scot. and Hept.2, they have the closest line to the left curve, almost joining at the head. Here we see a continuity between them, the cross being dragged up and circled once then circled again, creating more fluidity in the drawing. MC.2 has a straight termination, but MC.1 feels the need to embellish, curving the line inward and naturally MC.3 copies this embellishment, insisting even more and evolving it into a circle. MC.is also faulty, missing the inner upward cross.

 Seal of Anael (Venus)

MC.1

 

MC.2

MC.3

 

Notes: no great difference observed, but we can say that MC.2 again stands out as a possible origin of the others. It bears the most resemblance to Hept.1, having a more acute top vertical stroke, whereas MC.1 and MC.2 try to fix it, giving the curve a rounder shape. In MC.2 the tail has three curves, ending upward, while 1 and 2 attempt simplification, with two curves, ending downward. No similarity to Scot.

Seal of Michael (Mercury)

MC.1

 

MC.2

 

MC.3

Notes: the second problematic seal. In the Heptameron, this is still the seal of the angel of Mercury and Wednesday, but there it is Raphael.  As imagined, 1 and 3 differ from 2. In figure MC.2, the first circle is parted, while the  other two omit the vertical line, the beginning line is slightly longer in the upper part, just like the Hept. figures, while the other two do not share this feature. All three have an evenly divided square in the enclosed part, quite different from Hept., all have circle endings, and the most strikingly different is MC.3, adding a more decorative styling to the ending.

Seal of Gabriel (Moon)

 

MC.1

 

MC.2

 

MC.3

Notes: again we see MC.2 standing out as a source, dependent more on the Heptameron or at least a common ancestor. The most striking feature of these seals is the absence of the inner vertical  line. MC.1 and 3 have four divisions, more like Scot., but interestingly enough, MC.2 has six, with two inner lines in each half of the rectangle. The B formation is mostly present in MC.2 in a similar fasion to the Hept. figures, especially Hept.1, but we lack in all seals the suspended b's or 6's. The slanted A shape is present in figure 2 in a more decorative manner than in Hept., with lower curves, a feature that is accentuated in 1 and 2 to the point of no resemblance to an A or an upside-down V, but more like an upside-down glyph of Aries.    The M figure is more decorated in figure 2 and more simplified in 1 and 3, rendering closer to the Hept. figures, while the final e shape is diminished in size in figure 2 and also restricted to the top half of the seal, above the line, a feature that MC.1 and subsequently MC.3 take and evolve in a more fluid and graceful shape. 

I have no doubt that Harley 3420, dated to 1614, is the source of the Calendarium Magicum, dated 1620, which in turn served as a model, with all mistakes, for the Dresden manuscript.

As I type this I await professor Rafal T. Prinke's response with a scan of the Warclaw codex, but if my presumption is correct, this too will be inspired by either MC.1 (1620) or even MC.3, sharing similar shapes, but above all, placing Anael as the Sun angel, therefore pushing it's date well pass 1620.