Bygone Beliefs Part 5

1. Those inscribed with the figure of _Serapis_, used to preserve against evils inflicted by earth.

2. Figure of _Canopus_, against evil by water.

3. Figure of a _hawk_, against evil from the air.

4. Figure of an _asp_, against evil by fire.

PARACELSUS believed there to be much occult virtue in an alloy of the seven chief metals, which he called _Electrum_. Certain definite proportions of these metals had to be taken, and each was to be added during a favourable conjunction of the planets. From this electrum he supposed that valuable amulets and magic mirrors could be prepared.

(1) See "Medicine and Magic." (2) _Op. Cit_., p. 343

A curious and ancient amulet for the cure of various diseases, particularly the ague, was a triangle formed of the letters of the word "Abracadabra." The usual form was that shown in fig. 19, and that shown in fig. 20 was also known. The origin of this magical word is lost in obscurity.

The belief in the horn as a powerful amulet, especially prevalent in Italy, where is it the custom of the common people to make the sign of the _mano cornuto_ to avoid the consequence of the dreaded _jettatore_ or evil eye, can be traced to the fact that the horn was the symbol of the G.o.ddess of the Moon. Probably the belief in the powers of the horse-shoe had a similar origin. Indeed, it seems likely that not only this, but most other amulets, like talismans proper--as will appear below,--were originally designed as appeals to G.o.ds and other powerful spiritual beings.

ABRACADABRA / ABRACADABRA ABRACADABR / BRACADABRA ABRACADAB / RACADABRA ABRACADA / ACADABRA ABRACAD / CADABRA ABRACA / ADABRA ABRAC / DABRA ABRA / ABRA ABR / BRA AB / RA A/ A /

(1) See FREDERICK T. ELWORTHY'S _Horns of Honour_ (1900), especially pp.

56 _et seq_.

To turn our attention, however, to the art of preparing talismans proper: I may remark at the outset that it was necessary for the talisman to be prepared by one's own self--a task by no means easy as a rule. Indeed, the right mental att.i.tude of the occultist was insisted upon as essential to the operation.

As to the various signs to be engraver on the talismans, various authorities differ, though there are certain points connected with the art of talismanic magic on which they all agree. It so happened that the ancients were acquainted with seven metals and seven planets (including the sun and moon as planets), and the days of the week are also seven.

It was concluded, therefore, that there was some occult connection between the planets, metals, and days of the week. Each of the seven days of the week was supposed to be under the auspices of the spirits of one of the planets; so also was the generation in the womb of Nature of each of the seven chief metals.

In the following table are shown these particulars in detail:--

Planet. Symbol. Day of Metal. Colour.

Sun. {} Sunday Gold Gold or yellow.

Moon. {} Monday Silver Silver or white.

Mars. {} Tuesday Iron Red.

Mercury {} Wednesday (1)Mercury Mixed colours or purple.

Jupiter {} Thursday Tin Violet or blue.

Venus {} Friday Copper Turquoise or green.

Saturn. {} Sat.u.r.day Lead Black.

(1) Used in the form of a solid amalgam for talismans.

Consequently, the metal of which a talisman was to be made, and also the time of its preparation, had to be chosen with due regard to the planet under which it was to be prepared.(1) The power of such a talisman was thought to be due to the genie of this planet--a talisman, was, in fact, a silent evocation of an astral spirit. Examples of the belief that a genie can be bound up in an amulet in some way are afforded by the story of ALADDIN'S lamp and ring and other stories in the _Thousand and One Nights_. Sometimes the talismanic signs were engraved on precious stones, sometimes they were inscribed on parchment; in both cases the same principle held good, the nature of the stone chosen, or the colour of the ink employed, being that in correspondence with the planet under whose auspices the talisman was prepared.

(1) In this connection a rather surprising discovery made by Mr W.

GORNOLD (see his _A Manual of Occultism_, 1911, pp. 7 and 8) must be mentioned. The ancient Chaldeans appear invariably to have enumerated the planets in the following order: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon--which order was adopted by the mediaeval astrologers.

Let us commence with the Sun in the above sequence, and write down every third planet; we then have-- Sun . . . . Sunday.

Moon. . . . Monday.

Mars. . . . Tuesday.

Mercury. . . . Wednesday.

Jupiter.. . . Thursday.

Venus. . . . Friday.

Saturn. . . . Sat.u.r.day.

That is to say, we have the planets in the order in which they were supposed to rule over the days of the week. This is perhaps, not so surprising, because it seems probable that, each day being first divided into twenty-four hours, it was a.s.sumed that the planets ruled for one hour in turn, in the order first mentioned above. Each day was then named after the planet which ruled during its first hour. It will be found that if we start with the Sun and write down every twenty-fourth planet, the result is exactly the same as if we write down every third.

But Mr OLD points out further, doing so by means of a diagram which seems to be rather c.u.mbersome that if we start with Saturn in the first place, and write down every fifth planet, and then for each planet subst.i.tute the metal over which it was supposed to rule, we then have these metals arranged in descending order of atomic weights, thus:--

Saturn . . . Lead (=207).

Mercury . . . Mercury (=200).

Sun. . . . Gold (=197).

Jupiter . . . Tin (=119).

Moon. . . . Silver (=108).

Venus . . Copper (=64).

Mars. . . . Iron (=56).

Similarly we can, starting from any one of these orders, pa.s.s to the other two. The fact is a very surprising one, because the ancients could not possibly have been acquainted with the atomic weights of the metals, and, it is important to note, the order of the densities of these metals, which might possibly have been known to them, is by no means the same as the order of their atomic weights. Whether the fact indicates a real relations.h.i.+p between the planets and the metals, or whether there is some other explanation, I am not prepared to say. Certainly some explanation is needed: to say that the fact is mere coincidence is unsatisfactory, seeing that the odds against, not merely this, but any such regularity occurring by chance--as calculated by the mathematical theory of probability--are 119 to 1.

All the instruments employed in the art had to be specially prepared and consecrated. Special robes had to be worn, perfumes and incense burnt, and invocations, conjurations, _etc_., recited, all of which depended on the planet ruling the operation. A description of a few typical talismans in detail will not here be out of place.

In _The Key of Solomon the King_ (translated by S. L. M. MATHERS, 1889)(1) are described five, six, or seven talismans for each planet.

Each of these was supposed to have its own peculiar virtues, and many of them are stated to be of use in the evocation of spirits. The majority of them consist of a central design encircled by a verse of Hebrew Scripture. The central designs are of a varied character, generally geometrical figures and Hebrew letters or words, or magical characters.

Five of these talismans are here portrayed, the first three described differing from the above. The translations of the Hebrew verses, _etc_., given below are due to Mr MATHERS.

(1) The _Clavicula Salomonis_, or _Key of Solomon the King_, consists mainly of an elaborate ritual for the evocation of the various planetary spirits, in which process the use of talismans or pentacles plays a prominent part. It is claimed to be a work of white magic, but, inasmuch as it, like other old books making the same claim, gives descriptions of a pentacle for causing ruin, destruction, and death, and another for causing earthquakes--to give only two examples,--the distinction between black and white magic, which we shall no doubt encounter again in later excursions, appears to be somewhat arbitrary.

Regarding the authors.h.i.+p of the work, Mr MATHERS, translator and editor of the first printed copy of the book, says, "I see no reason to doubt the tradition which a.s.signs the authors.h.i.+p of the 'Key' to King Solomon." If this view be accepted, however, it is abundantly evident that the _Key_ as it stands at present (in which we find S. JOHN quoted, and mention made of SS. PETER and PAUL) must have received some considerable alterations and additions at the hands of later editors.

But even if we are compelled to a.s.sign the _Clavicula Salomonis_ in its present form to the fourteenth or fifteenth century, we must, I think, allow that it was based upon traditions of the past, and, of course, the possibility remains that it might have been based upon some earlier work. With regard to the antiquity of the planetary sigils, Mr MATHERS notes "that, among the Gnostic talismans in the British Museum, there is a ring of copper with the sigils of Venus, which are exactly the same as those given by mediaeval writers on magic."

In spite of the absurdity of its claims, viewed in the light of modern knowledge, the _Clavicula Salomonis_ exercised a considerable influence in the past, and is to be regarded as one of the chief sources of mediaeval ceremonial magic. Historically speaking, therefore, it is a book of no little importance.

_The First Pentacle of the Sun_.--"The Countenance of Shaddai the Almighty, at Whose aspect all creatures obey, and the Angelic Spirits do reverence on bended knees." About the face is the name "El Shaddai".

Around is written in Latin: "Behold His face and form by Whom all things were made, and Whom all creatures obey" (see fig. 21).

_The Fifth Pentacle of Mars_.--"Write thou this Pentacle upon virgin parchment or paper because it is terrible unto the Demons, and at its sight and aspect they will obey thee, for they cannot resist its presence." The design is a Scorpion,(1) around which the word Hvl is repeated. The Hebrew versicle is from _Psalm_ xci. 13: "Thou shalt go upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet" (see fig. 22).

(1) In astrology the zodiacal sign of the scorpion is the "night house"

of the planet Mars.