The Greater Keys of Solomon is a magical grimoire attributed to King Solomon, a king of Israel and Judah who probably ruled in the 10th century BCE. He is credited in the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions as possessing supernatural abilities bestowed on him by God, specifically controlling demons and spirits. In many occult circles, he is considered to have been a magician and an exorcist.
According to legend, the Grimoire, called the Clavicula Salomonis in Latin and the Greater Key of Solomon in English, was reportedly a grimoire containing magical knowledge written down by Solomon for his son Rehoboam. The son hid the book in Solomon’s sepulcher after he died, where it was later discovered by Babylonian philosophers. They originally could not decipher the book; however, an Angel revealed the knowledge to one of them, Iohe Grevis. He, in turn, placed a spell on the book that meant that the unworthy could not gain their desired result from using the book.
The book explains magical operations, called experiments, which are rituals that invoke God to complete the magic, so the magic can only be completed if it is God’s will. The book also explains how the person and the place should be prepared for success. For example, practitioners must cleanse themselves by confessing their sins before engaging in operations.
Whether Solomon really existed, and whether he was anything like he is remembered, is a matter of debate, but the Greater Key of Solomon certainly wasn’t written by him. It seems to have been created during the Italian Renaissance in the 14th-15th centuries and draws heavily on Christian magical practices from that time, as well as the Jewish kabbala and Muslim practices.
The first English edition was created by S.L. MacGregor Mathers in 1889, the founder of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.
Book One contains a variety of magical symbols and spells for a variety of purposes, while Book Two contains more general information on the right way to engage in magical rituals. This article will share some key ritual fundamentals and magical symbols from the book. The full English edition of book can be found online here.
Planetary Time
The grimoire says that the perfect time for experiments is governed by celestial time and the rulership of the planets over different moments in time.
Each planet rules over a different day of the week:
- Monday = the Moon
- Tuesday = Mars
- Wednesday = Mercury
- Thursday = Jupiter
- Friday = Venus
- Saturday = Saturn
- Sunday = the Sun
There are 24 hours in the day, each governed by one of the seven planets in regular order. The text gives the order of planets as follows: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon. Dominion starts at dawn on their day of the week, and rulership cycles in order from there.
Experiments should be conducted when the day and the hour are under the same planet, and the choice should relate to the type of magic being practiced. The grimoire gives the example that to summon souls from Hades, magic should be conducted under Saturn.
The grimoire suggests different types of magic for each planet:
- Jupiter: obtaining honors, acquiring riches, contracting friendships, preserving health, and securing desires.
- Mars: war, military honor, to acquire courage, to overthrow enemies, and to wound or kill.
- The Sun: temporal wealth, hope, gain, fortune, divination, the favor of princes, to dissolve hostile feelings, and to make friends.
- Venus: forming friendships, for kindness and love, for joyous and pleasant undertakings, and for traveling.
- Mercury: eloquence and intelligence, business, science, divination, wonders, apparitions, answers regarding the future, thefts, writings, deceit, and merchandise.
- The Moon: embassies, voyages, messages, navigation, reconciliation, love, and the acquisition of merchandise by water.
- Saturn: communicating and speaking with Spirits.
For the most powerful magic, the grimoire also suggests picking a moment when the moon is in the right zodiac sign. For example:
- Necromancy should be under Taurus, Virgo, or Capricorn
- Love and invisibility under Aries, Leo, or Sagittarius
- Hatred and destruction under Cancer, Scorpio, or Pisces
- Uncertainty under Gemini, Libra, or Aquarius
There are also references to the phases of the moon, suggesting that the waxing moon is the best time for most experiments, unless you are specifically trying to decrease something (e.g., invisibility or death), in which case the waning moon is a better choice.
Construction of a Sacred Circle
Some of the experiments described in the grimoire should be conducted within a magic circle, and the book explains how to construct the circle after purifying the self.
Gather everything required for the ritual, light a candle, and place it at the center of your working space. Next, take a consecrated blade (the grimoire also describes how to consecrate the blade elsewhere) and draw a circle around your space, and then about a foot further out, draw another circle. Within that band, draw four hexagonal pentagrams, one at each of the cardinal points. Between the cardinal points, you should also write one of the names of God: east/south is IHVH, south/west is AHIH, west/north is ALIVN, and north/east is ALH.
Next, circumscribe about these Circles with two Squares, the Angles of which shall be turned towards the Four Quarters of the Earth. The space between the Lines of the Outer and Inner Square shall be half a foot. The extreme Angles of the Outer Square shall be made the Centres of four Circles, the measure or diameter of which shall be one foot. Then, within these Four Circles, write another four names of God: east is AL, west is IH, south is AGLA, and north is ADNI. Between the two Squares, the name Tetragrammaton should be written.
The grimoire also instructs that certain Psalms should be recited during the drawing of the circle, specifically ii, liv, cxiii, lxvii, xlvii, and lcviii. When the circle is ready, the grimoire also provides other specific prayers for recitation for different types of rituals.
Pentacles of Symbols
The grimoire instructs on how to draw a variety of “pentacles” or symbols for different magical purposes. They are constructed using the symbols and names of God. The practitioner should choose an auspicious hour to draw the symbol and complete it within that hour.
The symbol should be prepared in a special place that he been recently cleaned and where the practitioner will not be interrupted, and incense and perfume should be used to purify the space. A piece of virgin paper should be set aside ready. Use the colors gold, cinnabar, or vermilion red, and celestial or brilliant azure blue. The symbols can also be carved into metal for more permanent use.
A selection of some of the symbols included in the grimoire is shown below.
The first image shows what is known as the Fourth Pentacle of Saturn, which is used for rituals related to destruction and death. There are Hebrew words around the sides of the triangle from Deuteronomy 6.4: “Hear, O Israel, IHVH ALHINV is IHVH AChD.” Surrounding the circle is text from Psalms 109: “As he clothed himself with cursing like as with a garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.” In the center of the Pentacle is the mystic letter Yod.
The second image above shows the Fifth Pentacle of Saturn, which defends against negative spirits. The Hebrew letters in the angles of the cross spell the name IHVH. Those in the angles of the square form ALVH. Around the four sides of the square are the names of the Angels: Arehanah, Rakhaniel, Roelhaiphar, and Noaphiel. The versicle is: “A Great God, a Mighty, and a Terrible” from Deuteronomy 10.17.
The third image above shows the Sixth Pentacle of Saturn, used in exorcisms. It is formed from the mystical characters of Saturn. Around it is written in Hebrew: “Set thou a wicked one to be ruler over him, and let Satan stand at his right hand.”
The fourth image above is the Seventh and Last Pentacle of Saturn and is done to invoke the power of angels for natural disasters such as earthquakes. The names of the Nine Orders of Angels are written within the pentacle.
The first image above shows the First Pentacle of Jupiter to help gain possession of places and things. It is composed of the mystical character of Jupiter and the names of the angels Netoniel, Devachiah, Tzedeqiah, and Parasiel, written in Hebrew.
The second image above shows the Second Pentacle of Jupiter, which is used for acquiring success and glory. It should be written upon virgin paper or parchment, with the pen of the swallow and the blood of the screech-owl.
The third image shows the Third Pentacle of Jupiter, which is used to summon and tame spirits. It uses several seals of Jupiter, including the magical seal of intelligence.
The Fourth Pentacle of Jupiter is used to acquire wealth and should be engraved upon silver in the day and hour of Jupiter when he is in the sign Cancer.
The first figure above is the Second Pentacle of Mars, which is used to protect against disease. It uses the mystical names for Joshua or Jesus and the sentence in Hebrew, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of man.”
The Third Pentacle of Mars, which is the second image, is used for success in war. In the center is the signature of the Qabalistic Microprosopus. The Fourth Pentacle of Mars ensured victory in war. The Fifth Pentacle of Mars is used to defeat demons and should be written on virgin parchment. It uses the figure of Scorpio.
The first image is the Third Pentacle of the Sun and is used to acquire a kingdom in the name of god. It uses the symbol of the Tetragrammaton (IHVH) 12 times.
The Fourth Pentacle of the Sun is to make invisible spirits visible. The Fifth Pentacle of the Sun is used to transport yourself over long distances in a short time. It includes a passage from Psalms 91.11.12: “He shall give His Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands.” The Sixth Pentacle of the Sun can be used to become invisible.
The first image above is the Fourth Pentacle of Venus, which is used to summon a lover. The Fifth Pentacle of Venus can be shown to a person to incite lust.
The First Pentacle of Mercury, on the bottom left, invokes spirits that are “under the firmament,” so in the earthly realm. The Second Pentacle of Mercury is used to grant things that are contrary to the order of nature.
The Keys of Solomon Today
While the Greater Keys of Solomon was an influential text among Renaissance Christian magicians, today it is not considered part of the Jewish or Christian canon, but rather heretical. Nevertheless, the book remains popular among many occult groups, and some Christians will still use the symbols in the book to create charms of protection or to connect with specific saints.
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