| The High Magickal Art of Evocation |
| The magic circle is an interesting occult theory. It traditionally denoted the boundaries of consecrated space, providing a barrier that all spirits, whether infernal or divine, found impenetrable. Given astral potency by rituals such as the Banishing Rituals of the Pentagram and Hexagram (dispelling infernal and celestial influences, respectively), it is a convention that is present in most cosmologies that deal with extraplanar intelligences. Wiccans, Neopagans, and even some odern Hermetecists teach that the physical representation is unnecessary, one just has to visualize onesself at the center of a ring of pure light. They see the magickal circle as a sort of visual representation of the consecrated space created by rituals such as the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram. Ancient grimoires, though, often give complex circles to be inscribed prior to rituals. These circles often use several divine names of God and the names and sigils of specific arcangels. The following circle bears the names Adonai, Elohim, and Tetragrammaton and shows a sigil of Michael. |
| Another interesting example pictures a snake coiled with hebrew inscriptions found inside its body. The pentacles in the circle are filled with the names of God to be intoned during the ritual. |
| The circle would be centered at a double-cube altar adorned with the elemental weapons (which I will not cover here because they are well-described elsewhere), and the Triangle of Art, also called the Triangle of Manifestation, would be set just outside. The triangle would be set with a scrying device or censer at its center, and is where a spirit would manifest if evoked. |
| Specific pentacles, talismans, amulets, tablets, and rings were often used in various rituals. The Pentagram of Solomon, Hexagram of Solomon, and Secret Seal of Solomon were called for by rituals described in the Goetia. They protected from harmful forces and forced the spirits to do the operator's bidding. |
| This magic ring is supposedly a copy of the ring given to Solomon by the arcangel Gabriel which granted him power over all spirits. It is used in the Goetia specifically as proof against Astaroth's toxic breath. |
| Finally, the kimeas, or Magic Squares, are often used to bring specific planetary influences to the alter for ritual purposes. These squares, the number of their sides corresponding to the number of the planet that they represent, are mathematically perfect in that they add up to the same number vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. They can be used similarly to the Rose Cross for sigilization purposes if you convert the letters of a name to their numeric correspondances and trace them out on numbers 1-9 as found on the appropriate kimea. For example, a solar spirit named "John" (1-6-8-5) would have a sigil connecting those four numbers in order over the Kimea of the Sun. |
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| The Vessel of Brass was alleged to contain spirits against their will. Solomon supposedly entrapped the demons he used to construct the Temple in such a vessel after he was finished with their services. These vessels underwent an evolution to become the fabled containers of the djinni in Arabian myths. The "stopper" used the Secret Seal of Solomon |
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| Jupiter 4 14 15 1 9 7 6 12 5 11 10 8 16 2 3 13 |
| Mars 11 24 7 20 3 4 12 25 8 16 17 5 13 21 9 10 18 1 14 22 23 6 19 2 15 |
| Mercury 8 58 59 5 4 62 63 1 49 15 14 52 53 11 10 56 41 23 22 44 45 19 18 48 32 34 35 29 28 38 39 25 40 26 27 37 36 30 31 33 17 48 46 20 21 43 42 24 9 55 54 12 13 51 50 16 64 2 3 61 60 6 7 57 |
| Moon 37 78 29 70 21 62 13 54 5 6 38 79 30 71 22 63 14 46 47 7 39 80 31 72 23 55 15 16 48 8 40 81 32 64 24 56 57 17 49 9 41 73 33 65 25 26 58 18 50 1 42 74 34 66 67 27 59 10 51 2 43 75 35 36 68 19 60 11 52 3 44 76 77 28 69 20 61 12 53 4 45 |
| Saturn 4 9 2 3 5 7 8 1 6 |
| Sun 6 32 3 34 35 1 7 11 27 28 8 30 19 14 16 15 23 24 18 20 22 21 17 13 25 29 10 9 26 12 36 5 33 4 2 31 |
| Venus 22 47 16 41 10 35 4 5 23 43 17 42 11 29 30 6 24 49 18 36 12 13 31 7 25 43 19 37 38 14 32 1 26 44 20 21 39 8 33 2 27 45 46 15 40 9 34 3 28 |
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z |