From the Key of Solomon: โThis and the following serve to call forth and invoke the Spirits of the Moon; and it further serveth to open doors, in whatever way they may be fastened.โ
In this Practical Occult newsletter guest author Sara Mastros, author of โThe Big Book of Magical Incenseโ and the โOrphic Hymns Grimoireโ, shares her insights on the first pentacle of the moon. This essay is excerpted from her course โThe Planetary Pentacles of Solomon Magician Kingโ, which provides similar in-depth analysis for all the pentacles. You can learn more about it, and all her other classes, at www.WitchLessons.com
About the first pentacle of the moon, S. L. Mathersโ edition of the Key says โThis and the following serve to call forth and invoke the Spirits of the Moon; and it further serveth to open doors, in whatever way they may be fastened.โ This pentacle is unusual in several important ways. Most obviously, it is the only known Solomonic pentacle which is not in the form of a circle enclosed by a versicle. Moreover, I believe it is presented sideways in many manuscripts. Based on the orientation of the writing, I conjecture this pentacle is intended to face with the โtowersโ pointing up, as shown above. In this position, the pentacle at first resembles a door or gate with five uprights, with a large latch across them.
Although it is likely a mistranslation*, many bibles have 1 Kings 6:31 discuss the doors of Solomonโs temple having five doorposts, as the pentacle depicts when oriented according to the writing.
rotated First of the Moon 
Drawing of an ancient Egyptian lock
However, in this position, it also resembles an ancient four tumbler lock. This type of lock was first used in ancient Mesopotamia, and remained the de facto standard locking mechanism throughout Europe until the 17th century. You can see how these locks work in this video: https://youtu.be/0IZc7D4D5Eg?t=15
In the text-upright position, the pentacle displays five lines of text. From top to bottom, we have:
ืึดึผึฝืึพืฉึดืึืึทึผืจ ืึทึผืึฐืชึฃืึนืช ื ึฐืึนึืฉึถืืช
ืืื ืืืื ืื ืืื
ืืืื
ืึผืึฐืจึดืืึตึื ืึทืจึฐืึถึฃื ืึดึผืึตึผึฝืขึท
ืฉืืืื ืืืื ืืืฉืืื ืืืืื
Line three, the large central โkeyholeโ is the Most Holy Name, ืืืื. Many Jews, including I, do not usually transliterate this name, as it is considered EXTREMELY improper to pronounce it in non-sacred contexts. However, in other contexts, this name is often written in English as โJehovahโ or โYahwehโ. The oldest surviving inscriptions of this name are from the mid 9th century BCE, but almost all scholars agree the name itself is far older, and likely Canaanite in origin. It is almost certainly related to the Hebrew root ืืื, which means โto beโ. This reading is supported by the millenia old custom of relating the name to that spoken to Moses in Shemot (Exodus) 3:16. That name, ืึถืึฐืึถื ืึฒืฉึถืืจ ืึถืึฐืึถื (Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh) is usually translated as โI Am That I Amโ, although I prefer to translate it as โI Am Being, Becomingโ. As you can probably see, ืึถืึฐืึถื is also a form of the root ืืื.
Taken together, lines 1&4 are the versicle, in this case Tehillim (Psalms) 107:16, which means โFor He has broken* the gates of copper, and the bars of iron He has hewn.โ. This is clearly in keeping with the pentacleโs reported use in opening doors, so I donโt think it requires any additional analysis.
Line two gives four individual god names, three of which are forms of the Most Holy Name.
Reading from right to left, the first name is ืืื (Yahu) a form of the Most Holy Name which is normally used as a theophoric suffix, such as in names like ืึตืึดืึธึผืืึผ (Eliahu), usually rendered in English as Elijah. Next, the second name is exactly the Most Holy Name we discussed above. The third name is ืื (El), which is both the proper name of a specific Canaanite god and the generic word for any god, and is closely related, linguistically, to ูฑูููููฐู (Allah). The final name is ืืื (Jah) may be the oldest form of the Most Holy Name. It is familiar from the word โhallelujahโ, which means โhail Jahโ.
The final line of text lists the names of four angels, which are, as far as I know, known only from this pentacle. Reading from right to left, the first name is ืฉืืืื or Shioel. To me, this appears to be a variation of ืฉืืืึผื (Sheol) which is an early Aramaic name for the Underworld, or perhaps for a god of the Underworld*. This name is very old and has many Semitic cognates.
The next name, ืืืื (Vavel or Vauel). It is unusual for angelic names to end ืื, so I think it is entirely possible that ืืืื is a scribal transposition error, and this name should be read as ืืืื, which would be pronounced similarly. With this assumption, the clearly derives from ืื or simply the letter ื, both of which mean โhookโ or โlatchโ, which is clearly related to the proposed function of the talisman.
The third name, Iashel, ืืืฉืื may be derived from ืืืฉื which means โto cause to despairโ. However, the root of that word means โto push down onโ, which I think makes more sense in this case. Finally, we have ืืืืื (Vehiel) perhaps from ืืืื (Vehiu), which means โand they will have been*โ If not, it is almost certainly derived from some other form of ืึธืึธื, the โto beโ word we discussed above.
If you accept my conjectures above, the line indicates that the four angels in question will be pushed down in order to open the latch of the Underworld. Thus, the function of this pentacle is not just to open doors, but to call forth lunar spirits. In fact, most likely, its primary function is to call forth lunar spirits, and its efficacy in opening doors is simply a side benefit. Given the context of the other lunar pentacles, we can assume that spirits of the dead, the water, and the weather are all among those lunar spirits. Despite some manuscripts presenting the Saturn pentacles first, it probably makes more sense to think of the Lunar pentacles, those closest to Earth, as the first set. This means that this pentacle is the first pentacle, which unlocks the gates of understanding for the other pentacles.
Notes:
* It actually describes doors with five interlocking recessed frames. See https://www.baslibrary.org/biblical-archaeology-review/41/4/2
* Although ืฉึดืึญืึทึผืจ is generally translated as โhas brokenโ it could also mean โhas separatedโ which, in the context of a door, means something else entirely.
* The conflation of Underworld gods and names for the Underworld is common. For example Hades, in Greek, is both a place and a god. Similarly, our English word Hell directly relates to the Norse Underworld goddess Hel.
* Verb tenses in Hebrew are not exactly analogous to English ones.
Sara L. Mastros is the author of The Big Book of Magical Incense, Orphic Hymns Grimoire, and The Sorcery of Solomon: A Guide to the 44 Planetary Pentacles of the Magician King. Recognized by her peers as a brilliant and original thinker, an engaging and inspiring teacher, a compelling and clever writer, and a generally decent human being, Sara spends a lot of time dreaming, thinking, enchanting, writing, and teaching about witchcraft, magic, and myth. But, her true passion is raising up an army of inspired, educated, empowered witches prepared to weave weird new ways of Being in a world that desperately needs us. You can find all her stuff, including links to socials, at www.WitchLessons.com
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This post was originally a Practical Occult newsletter dated January 24th, 2022 and written by guest author Sara Mastros.
Author: Alison Chicosky
Alison Chicosky is a scholar and practitioner of a variety of forms of thaumaturgy with a focus on results-based magic. While especially interested in both Solomonic magic and the Graeco-Egyptian magic of the Greek Magical Papyri, she is also well versed in soul-flight and psychic magic of various kinds. The founder and force behind Practical Occult (www.practicaloccult.com), she strives to provide pentacles and other enchanted items drawn from a broad background of rigorously studied ancient arts, leveraging the systems of the past for practical modern use.