Chapter 16.00: THE SECRET SEAL OF SOLOMON.

THE SECRET SEAL OF SOLOMON.

This is the Form of the Secret Seal of Solomon, wherewith
he did bind and seal up the aforesaid Spirits with
their legions in the Vessel of Brass.

This seal is to be made by one that is clean both inwardly
and outwardly, and that hath not defiled himself
by any woman in the space of a month, but hath in
prayer and fasting desired of God to forgive him all his
sins, etc.

It is to be made on the day of Mars or Saturn (Tuesday
or Saturday) at night at 12 o’clock, and written
upon virgin parchment with the blood of a black cock
that never trode hen. Note that on this night the moon
must be increasing in light (_i. E. _, going from new to full)
and in the Zodiacal Sign of Virgo. And when the seal is
so made thou shalt perfume it with alum, raisins dried
in the sun, dates, cedar and lignum aloes.

Also, by this seal King Solomon did command all the
aforesaid Spirits in the Vessel of Brass, and did seal it
up with this same seal. He by it gained the love of all
manner of persons, and overcame in battle, for neither
weapons, nor fire, nor water could hurt him. And this
privy seal was made to cover the vessel at the top withal,
etc.

Note: Figures 162 to 174 inclusive are interesting as
showing a marked resemblance to the central design of
the Secret Seal. It will be observed that the evident
desire is to represent hieroglyphically a person raising
his or her hands in adoration. Nearly all are stone
sepulchral steles, and the execution of them is rough and
primitive in the extreme. Most are in the Musée du
Louvre at Paris.

Figures 162 and 163 are from the district of Constantine
and show a figure raising its arms in adoration.

In Figure 164, also from Constantine, the person bears
a palm branch in the right hand. Above is a hieroglyphic
representing either the Lunar Disc or the Sun in
the heavens; but more probably the former.

Figure 165 is a more complicated stele. Above is the
symbol already mentioned, then comes the sign of the
Pentagram, represented by a five-pointed star, towards
which the person raises his or her hands. Besides the
latter is a rude form of caduceus. A brief inscription
follows in the Punic character. The Punic or Carthaginian
language is usually considered to have been a
dialect of Phœnician, and Carthage was of course a colony
of Tyre. Beneath the Tunic inscription is a horse’s
head in better drawing than the sculpture of the rest of
the stele, which would seem to imply that the rudeness of
the representation of the human figure is intentional.
This and the following stele are also from Constantine.

In Figure 166 again, the horse is best delineated by
far. In addition to the other symbols there is either a
hand or a foot, for it is almost impossible to distinguish
which, at the head of the stele, followed by an egg-and-tongue
moulding. The figure of the person with the
arms raised is treated as a pure hieroglyphic and is
placed between two rude caducei. The Lunar or Solar
Symbol follows.

Figure 167, also from Constantine, shows the last-mentioned
symbol above. The figure with the arms raised
is simply a hieroglyph, and is placed between an arm and
hand on the one side, and a rude caduceus on the other.

Figure 168 shows the person holding a rude caduceus
in the right hand, and standing above a dolphin. This
latter, as in the case of the horse in 165 and 166, is by
far the best delineated.

Figure 169, this also being from Constantine, shows
the usual human hieroglyph between a caduceus and a
crescent.

Figure 170 is from the site of ancient Carthage. It
is very rough in workmanship, and the designs are mere
scratchings on the stone. The ensemble has the effect of
an evil Sigil.

Figure 171 is also from Carthage and the various symbols
appear to have become compressed into and synthesised
in the form of a peculiarly evil-looking caduceus.

Figure 172 is from the decoration of a sepulchral urn
found at Oldenburgh in Germany. It is remarkable as
showing the same hieroglyphic human form with the
crescent above; the latter in the Secret Seal of Solomon
has a flattened top, and is therefore more like a bowl,
and is placed across the hieroglyph.

Figure 173 is an Egyptian design which would show
an analogy between the symbol and the idea of the force
of the creation.

Figure 174 is a stele from Phœnicia somewhat similar
to the others, except that the rudimentary caducei in
Figures 166 and 170 are here replaced by two roughly
drawn Ionic columns.

These last three designs are taken from the work of
the Chevalier Emile Soldi-Colbert de Beaulieu, on the

“_Langue Sacrée_.”

In Figure 175 is given the Seal of the Spirit Halahel.
This Spirit is said to be under the rule of Bael, and to
be of a mixed nature, partly good and partly evil, like
the spirits of Theurgia-Goetia which follow in the second
book of the Lemegeton.