Seven Planetary Seals of King Solomon

A long time fascination of mine was Scheible's masterpiece of Faustiana called Magia Naturalis et Innaturalis. 

Published in Stuttgart in the year 1849, Scheible compiled an enormous compendium of magic rituals, diagrams, talismans, seals and characters.

I always wondrered what his manuscript sources were and if I would ever get the chance to consult them.

I ve had the rare opportunity to consult one version of a Faustian Hoellenzwang due to the kind and generous nature of James Banner from Trident Publishing, with whom I've had quite a few discussions ranging from occult manuscripts to bookbinding (a discipline I also indulge in) and I've seen one such manuscript and analyzed its seals and diagrams. 

But the Leipzig University Magical Collection far surpasses my expectations and I have found a great quantity of manuscripts that are in all possibility Scheible's sources or at least related to them. Why related? As you will notice from the examples below, the similarities definately point to direct inspiration, but there are differences that go far beyond the artistic freedoms the draughtsman took.

I submit for the public inquiry a set of seven seals dedicated to the planetary spirits as found also in the Arbatel.  The work is called Regis Salomonis Septem Sigilla Planetarum ( The Seven Planetary Seals of the King Solomon).

As we see from these examples, the Leipzig manuscript is all in black ink, carefully drawn but not particularly artistic. Scheible's illustrator, whose name eludes me for now, was an excellent draughtsman, standardized the forms of the letters and of the seals as well and used black only for the circles, making the seals and mottoes red. I did my best to remove the yellow tinge of the poor quality scans, the paper grain, the specks and blots that were scattered about, without damaging the images in the case of Scheible, and on the manuscripts I tried to lighten the picture up to clear white without suppressing the black ink.

The order of the talismans varies from the manuscript to Scheible, a thing that increases my suspicions of other versions. In the manuscript, the pentacles are ascribed to different spirits, while the so-called Olypic Spirits of the Arbatel are still mentioned. The first seal leads us to believe that they are just alternate names for the same spirits. Summarizing the two lists and comparing them to the Arbatel, we have the following discrepancies: 

	Arbatel 1575	Regis Salomonis 1750	Scheible 1849
1	SATURN: Aratron	SATURN: Aratron Archiatos	SUN: Och
2	JUPITER: Bethor	JUPITER: (Bethor) Nymphitros	JUPITER: Bethor
3	MARS: Paleg	MARS: (Phaleg) Aethnitros	MARS: Palec
4	SUN: Hoc Och	MERCURY: (Ophiel) Nomifaremtros	SATURN: Aratron
5	VENUS: Hagith	MOON: (Phul) Flagatros	VENUS: Hagith
6	MERCURY: Ophiel	SUN: (Och) Xenirephitros	MERCURY: Ophiel
7	MOON: Phul	VENUS: (Hagith) Phantasmator	MOON: Phul

In listing these seals I will follow the order employed by the manuscript, with the Scheible seal beneath for comparison.

SATURN

Salomonis,1750, f.2v:

1.ARATRON. The seal of the spirit ARCHIATOS, the governor of Saturn

Scheible,1849, plate 140: ARATRON

JUPITER

Salomonis,1750, f.3v:

2.  NYMPHITROS, the spirit of Jupiter. Seal.

Scheible,1849, plate 138:  BETHOR

MARS

Salomonis,1750, f.4v:

3.  AETHNITROS, the spirit of Mars. Seal.

Scheible,1849, plate 139: PHALEC

MERCURY

 

Salomonis,1750, f.5v:

4.  NOMIFAREMTROS, the spirit of Mercury. Seal.

Scheible,1849, plate 142:  OPHIEL

MOON

Salomonis,1750, f.6v:

5.  FLAGATROS, the spirit of the Moon. Seal.

Scheible,1849, plate 143: PHUL

SUN

Salomonis,1750, f.7v:

6.  XENIREPHITROS, the spirit of the Sun. Seal.

Scheible,1849, plate 137: OCH

 VENUS

Salomonis,1750, f.8v:

7.  PHANTASMATOR, the spirit of Venus. Seal.

 Scheible,1849, plate 141: HAGITH

 SOURCES:

Salomonis,1750:

Regis Salomonis septem sigilla planetarum - Cod.mag.38., 1750, Universitat Leipzig.

Scheible,1849:
 Faust, Johannes (ed. Scheible, Johann):  Doktor Johannes Fausts Magia naturalis et innaturalis, oder dreifacher Höllenzwang, letztes Testament und Siegelkunst nach einer kostbar ausgestatteten Handschrift in der Herzogl. Bibliothek zu Koburg vollständig und wortgetreu ; in fünf Abth. Bd.: 5, Stuttgart (1849). Munchener Digitalisierungs Zentru, Bayerische Staatsbiblithek.  

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.