UNDERSTANDING THE SECRETS OF THE SOLOMON KEY (PDF)

Unveiling the Secrets of the Solomon Key – Jayro Luna

UNVEILING THE SECRETS OF THE SOLOMON KEY
Jayro Luna

Abstract: In this article, we present an interpretation of the well-known key of the general
key of Solomon, graphic-symbolic structure widely used in said magical rituals in
esoterism and referenced in several works of occult sciences. We present a brief history
of its origin and meaning and then we do an interpretation of the parts of the pentacle,
demonstrating relations with symbols of the Arturian cycle, also with the process of
building sigils in magical squares, as well as the process of obtaining magical names.
Keywords: Esotericism, Kabbalah, occult sciences, Solomon's General Key, Magic
Squares, Excalibur
Note of Warning: First, I apologize for the quality of my English language mastery, still
somewhat primal. The text originally written in Portuguese. However, I insist on
presenting this troublesome version in terms of the English language in order to acquaint
a larger number of people with the results of my research.

1. Introduction
Solomon's general key is a widespread clavicle and used in various rituals of esoteric,
kabbalistic and alchemical nature. The text though attributed to King Solomon originates
in the Middle Ages. It is a grimoire1 containing various keys, seals and incantations to
conjure up various entities. There are two versions, Clavicula Salomonis or Clavis
Salomonis - which contains 36 pentacles and the Lesser Key of Solomon or Lemegeton
Clavicle Salomonis Regis, which contains five parts: Ars Goetia, Ars Theurgy Goetia,
Ars Paulina, Ars Almadel and Ars Nova. Aleister Crowley, Samuell Lidell MacGregor
Mathers did a translation of this work into English.
Jerusa Pires Fereira observes how the word grimoire etymologically linked to the idea
of a grammar book, which is nevertheless curious, but at the same time reveals the
medieval nature of both concepts:
"Grimoire proceeds or binds directly to Grammaire,
designating Latin grammar, incomprehensible to the vulgar, also
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Grimoires (French grimoire) are medieval collections of magical spells, rituals and incantations invariably
attributed to classical Hebrew or Egyptian sources. Such books contain astrological correspondences, lists
of angels and demons, guidelines on how to effect spells or mix remedies, cast supernatural entities and
make talismans, according to the point of view and experimental studies. The word comes from ancient
French grammar, from the same root as the word grammar. This is because in the latter half of the Middle
Ages, Latin grammar (books on Latin diction and syntax) maintained in schools and universities controlled
by the Church - and for the illiterate, non-ecclesiastical books were suspect to contain Magic. However,
grammar also denotes, for the literate and illiterate, a basic instruction book. A grammar represents the
description of a combination of symbols, also containing a description of how to combine them, to create
logical sentences. A grimoire, in turn, would be the description of a combination of magical symbols and
how to combine them properly, within a magical system. (Source: Wikipedia)

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Unveiling the Secrets of the Solomon Key – Jayro Luna

having the sense of a book of sorcery for the use of sorcerers, a
work or an obscure, indecipherable discourse. They are always
correspondent, from the Latin Grimorium and sometimes
Grimorium Verum, and it is known that these books are also
called 'alphabets of the devil'. They call attention to telling
wonderful secrets, among which the most important are: to make
appear and obey evil spirits, to evoke demons, to discover hidden
treasures, etc. "(FERREIRA, 1989, 45)
In this work, we are not going to deal with this work as a whole, but let us not
dwell specifically on a pancake, named just Key of Solomon, or General Key of Solomon.
This attribution is because from this key the unfolding obtained for the production of all
the other keys or screens that exist in the two books.
"The general key of Solomon (...) is used in the making of
Pancakes which serve in ceremonies said to be symbolic or
considered as approximate - that is, in which magical time is not
taken into account. Simply substitute the central part for such an
appropriate symbol. The Pantalla is then universal. "(PIOBB,
1982, p.266).
Jerusa Pires Ferreira notes that the editions of the Key of Solomon are several and of
different sources, having appeared in the Middle Ages the first versions, soon spread
numerous translations and new versions, notably in France, Italy, Germany and England.
The authorship attributed to King Solomon is very ambiguous, since some editions seek
to present two characters that shouldn’t be confused; one is Solomon, king of the Jews
and the other a certain Solomon, magician of the Chaldean, being this second the true
author. However, the fact is that most of the editions attribute to Solomon, King of the
Jews, and the authorship of the enchanting book, unaware of the existence of the second.
"In 1456, EM Butler tells us that a listing appears in a
pamphlet of warning to the Duke of Burgundy a listing which
presents Solomon's Clavicles and Solomon's Sigilum as the most
current necromancy works at that time. The former occupying the
place of honor in the minds of practitioners of magic, from the
fourteenth century onwards, there being numerous versions of
many extant manuscripts." (FERREIRA, 1989, p.47)
Used in innumerable ritualistic operations of enchantment and initiation The Solomon's
key is considered the key matrix that gives rise to almost all other planetary keys.
2. The Structure of Solomon's Key
Below is a reproduction of Solomon's key, as found in Goethe's Art of the 72 Hell
Spirits2, translation and notes by Aleister Crowley:

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Supposedly, the book is the integral translation of Lemegeton: The Clavicles of Solomon. Edition of
Mathers and Crowley, 1904.

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Unveiling the Secrets of the Solomon Key – Jayro Luna

The key consists of three main parts besides the Hebrew inscriptions. The first is
the circle that circumvents and defines the boundaries of the pantacle (key), in which is
inscribed in Hebrew the sequence of the 22 letters of the alphabet. The second is a figure
that resembles at the bottom a sword hilt and on the top a cross from which emanate two
rays, one on each side. The Hebrew inscriptions refer to seven of the 10 sephiroth. The
third part, in simple line, is a sigil that is seen passing behind the figure of the sword /
cross.
We will first analyze the second figure, which we call the binomial sword-cross.
From the references made by the ten sephirot, this figure can also be a stylization of the
"Tree of Life" of the Kabbalah.
In the comparison between the two figures, one can note the clear quotation to
seven of the ten sephirot (Kether, Binah and Chochmah - the three on the cross) and more
Daath - the 11th sephirah, considered enigmatic, not to be pronounced or inscribed on the
Tree of Life, right in the center of the cross. In the blade of the sword, we find Tipheret,
Hod and Nezach (in the part of the sword's grip). There remain three sephiroth, namely:
Gewurah and Chesed that would be located at the height of the first line of secrecy, one
on each side. There we find the same Hebrew word, inscribed in the mirror, one in relation
to the other occurrence, which can be read as the verb "unwrap" the sword conjugated in
the past, but can also be read as "whole", "offering” or "Sacrifice", depending on how one
sees the order and meaning of the letters placed there. In addition, it lacks the sephirah
"Malkuth" which is the material world or the Earth. Gewurah and Chesed related to the
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Unveiling the Secrets of the Solomon Key – Jayro Luna

planets Saturn and Jupiter and represented respectively the Severity and the Mercy. The
apparent absence of the names of the two sephiroth will be resolved when we analyze the
sigil, but for now, it should be noted that the sigil has a horizontal line connecting the
places where the two sephiroth should be.

The symbolic triad formed by sword-cross-tree of life comprises a series of
meaningful relationships within esotericism. The sword, for example, in Genesis (III, 24)
"The Lord God sent 'Cherubim' to the garden of delights, which shone a sword of fire to
close the path that led to the Tree of Life" (emphasis added). As for the cross, its symbolic
value goes far beyond Christianity and its use as a symbol in alchemy, cabal,
Freemasonry, and esotericism in general was and is common.
The proposed triad, in our view, comprises the passage from initiation (sword) to
wisdom (Tree of Life) through regeneration (cross). As Jules Boucher notes:
"Wirth3, closer to metaphysical truth, writes: 'The flaming
Sword is the symbol of the Word, or, in other words, of active
thinking.' It is the only weapon of the Initiate, which could be won
only by the force of the idea and by the force, it carries in itself.
Marius Lepage4, in the magazine Le Symbolisme, studied the
3
4

WIRTH, Oswald. Le Livre de l’Apprenti, p. 119.
LEPAGE, Marius. Le Synbolisme, 1939, p. 122 e segs.

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Unveiling the Secrets of the Solomon Key – Jayro Luna

Flaming Sword at length. For him, the Sword covers two essential
meanings: that of creation, through the Verb-Light-Sound, and
that of purification and atonement under the trials of destiny.
"(BOUCHER 1989: 72-73)
Note that at the top of the blade, two rays emerge at the tip of the blade, one on
either side of the tip. Hence the relation to the idea of the flaming sword, but this also
mingles with the notion of the "Tree of Life," not only by the quotation from Genesis (III,
24) but also by the fact that the Tree of Life is actually an inverted tree in which its roots
are in the sky5.
Another significant fact inscribed in the key of Solomon is the reference to
sephirah "Daath" on the blade of the sword. According to Dion Fortune:
"The meaning of the word Kether, as we have already
observed, is Crown. Chokmah means Wisdom, and Binah,
Understanding. However, pending of these last Sephiroth, there
is a Third Sephirah, curious or mysterious, which is never
represented in the Hieroglyph of the Tree; it is the invisible
Sephirah Daath (Knowledge), which results from the conjunction
of Chokmah to Binah and which crosses the Abyss. Crowley
states that Daath is another dimension of the other Sephiroth,
constituting the vertex of a pyramid whose basic angles
correspond to Kether, Chokmah to Binah. In my view, Daath
represents the idea of the understanding of consciousness.
"(Fortune 1983, 32)
Entered into Salomon's general key, Daath gains prominent esoteric
meaning, since this key is the basis for the production of all other keys and pentacles. In
this sense, it is up to the initiate to learn the hidden meaning of the Daath, to develop
spiritually so that he can take advantage of this hidden meaning, since it will be necessary
for the correct application of the key.
It should be noted that the verb "unsheathe" the sword, conjugated in
Hebrew in the past tense, and placed twice at the beginning and end of the greater
horizontal line of the sigil, reinforces the comparison of the form of this structure with a
sword placed in the center of the key, as if it were embedded in it. In this vision, the figure
of the Arthurian sword stuck in the stone comes to mind.
According to Julius Evola:
"According to legend, Arthur demonstrated his innate
right to be the legitimate king of all England overcoming the
sword, that is, succeeding in extracting a sword embedded in a
large quadrangular rock placed on the altar of the temple, a rock
that seems is evidently a variant of the 'royal stone' belonging to
the ancient tradition of the Tuatha of Danann. Here we have a
double, convergent symbolism. On the one hand, there is the
5

It is worth reading the book already quoted from Dion Fortune, but we also indicate from PAPUS,
(Gerard Encausse), The Kabbalah: Secret Tradition of the East. São Paulo, Society of Ancient Sciences,
1983.

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Unveiling the Secrets of the Solomon Key – Jayro Luna

general symbolism of the 'foundation stone', which leads us to the
'polar' idea, by which allegory and myth would refer to a manly
power (the sword) to be extracted from that principle. Secondly,
extracting the sword from the stone may even mean the liberation
of a power from materiality, for the stone often has this meaning,
and this is in accordance with another episode of the legend: the
one in which Arthur, led by Merlin, takes hold of the Calibur or
Excalibur sword erected by a mysterious arm above the waters.
This weapon, however, it is said, had been fabricated at Avalon,
that is, has relation to the 'supreme center'; and the fact that it is
held above the waters again expresses a force separate from the
conditions of material, passionate and contingent life, a life which
has always been related to a fundamental aspect of the symbolism
of waters”. (EVOLA, 1988, p.32-33)
Thus, if Arthur's legend puts him in relation to two swords, the one extracted from
the rock (drawn) and that which erected from the waters (hence drawn) can to be
metaphorized by the double inscription of the verb in the upper line of stealth. This leads
us to consider a relation between the origin of the key of Solomon and the origin and
symbolic formulation of the legend of King Arthur.

Liddell MacGregor Mathers, editor of Solomon's Clavicle, puts the
following note after introducing the key of the general key:
"... the mystical figure of Solomon is given only in two
manuscripts: Lansdowne 1202 and 1203. It was given by Levi in
his Dogma and Ritual of High Magic and by Johann Baptist
Großchedel in his Natural Magical Calendar, but in both cases,
without the words and letters in Hebrew, perhaps because they
were so adulterated by the illiterate copyists, became
unrecognizable. After much labor and study of the figure, I
believe that the words in the body of the symbol are intended to
form the ten Sephiroth arranged in the form of the Tree of Life,
with the name of Solomon on the right and left; while the
surrounding characters try to form the twenty-two letters of the
Hebrew alphabet. For this reason, I have restored it. This figure
forms in each case the frontispiece of the manuscripts mentioned.
"(MATHERS, 1889, p.140)
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Unveiling the Secrets of the Solomon Key – Jayro Luna

In the book quoted from Eliphas Lévi6, in fact, on page 109 we find
a reproduction of the pentacle without the inscriptions in Hebrew, except for 4 letters
arranged on the north-south-east-west axes of the circumference. We have not had access
to the book of Grosschedel and the cited originals, so we cannot validate at all the
reconstruction of the inscriptions made by the publisher, which in our view reinforces a
suspicion of conscious or unconscious association made with the symbology of the
Arthurian swords . However, on the other hand, it may also be suggestive to think that in
being the very ancient pentacle, it has served as inspiration for the composition of the
sword legend as an esoteric allegory.

Let us consider, on the other hand, the following assumption, that in
the pentacle we have not only an association between the figure of a sword and the cross,
but of two diametrically opposite swords and whose blades overlap. Thus, the sword from
which two rays come out is equivalent to Excalibur, which gave to King Arthur by the
Lady of the Lake, and the other sword, with a cross-shaped handle with bent ends, the
sword that drowned from the stone. Such a supposition makes sense not only by the
double inscription of the verb "unsheathed," but also by the fact that the sword coming
out of the stone represents the overcoming of the material aspects of our world while the
sword coming out of the waters is the spiritual force itself dictated.

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LEVI, Eliphas. Dogma and Ritual of High Magic. São Paulo, Pensamento, 1988.

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Unveiling the Secrets of the Solomon Key – Jayro Luna

There are a number of variants of the legends of King Arthur's cycle7.
In some it is considered a one-sword existence, whether it be a stone's throw, or a lady's
death, a few consider a two-sword existence, and there are more as variants that
understand that it is a single sword but lost and rediscovered. Know our interpretation
outlined here, we believe it is more consistent, with the existence of two swords with
different symbolic meanings and which are completed, as suggested by the central figure
of the key of Solomon's key.
Thus, we hope to have demonstrated the symbolic significance of the
cross-sword figure in the Key of Solomon. Now we are going to analyze the sigil behind
the cross-sword and believe that it demonstrates what original and for the first time its
meaning of how it will be done here, linking with the concept of secrecy used in esoteric
magic squares.
3. The Sigil in The Key Solomon
The third structural part of the general pentacle of the Key of
Solomon is a sigil that goes by behind the blades of the swords. The word comes from
the Latin (sigilum) which means "seal" and can related to the Hebrew ("segulah") that
means word, action or item of spiritual effect. The sigils can produced in different ways,
but as a rule, if it results in a glyph with composite geometric characteristics. Various
sigils produced from binding by specific cell lines of a magic square matrix.
"The minor seals, or sigils, of the individual spirits and
intelligences of the seven planets are formed by locating the
Hebrew letters of each name, based on the numerical values of
these letters, in their respective cells in the magic square of the
planet to which the name is associated, and then drawing a line of
letter to letter, in order. "(TYSON, 2008, page 946)
Sigils used in rituals and magical operations in various currents of
esotericism. The glyph has some basic rules for normalizing the signal, for example, if
the same cell is used two or more times later, this is marked with a specific signal, as in
the secrecy of Hagiel in the magic square of Venus:

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In this respect we indicate the works: JENKINS, Elizabeth. The Mysteries of King Arthur: The Hero and
Myth reassessed through history, archeology, art and literature. São Paulo: Ed. Melhoramentos, 1994.
202 pp .; MALORY, Thomas. King Arthur and his Knights. London: Oxford University Press, 1975. 231 p

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Unveiling the Secrets of the Solomon Key – Jayro Luna

Sigils of Hagiel and Kedhemel
In addition, the initial and final cells of the sigil are marked with a small ball. The
cells that belong to the sigil are only those that present some type of angle or break of the
straight line, thus the cells that crossed by a straight line do not belong to the gematrical8
accounting of the sigil.
Observing these rules and analyzing the sigil of the pentacle of Solomon's General
Key, we immediately notice an identification of the sigil with the magic square of Venus,
since the sigil seems to contain 6 cells in a first analysis, in which the last one is counted
two times, totaling 7 cyphers:

The sum of the seven numbers in the magic square of Venus occurs in this way,
when we observe the values of each cell: 30 + 12 + 32 + 7 + 43 + 26 + 26 = 176. The
basic value of the magic square of Venus is 175, therefore, here we have 175 + 1, that is,
the overcoming of the symbolic meaning that carries the square of Venus, which are the
carnal passions.

22 47 16 41 10 35 4
5

23 48 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

46 15 40 9

27 45

34 3

28

This sigil holds special properties as its position is modified, for example, if we
think of a 180 ° change of the arrangement of the sigil on the grid of the matrix, we will
obtain as a sum the number 174 (20 + 38 + 18 + 43 + 7 + 24 + 24). This would designate
a decrease of the value of the magic square of Venus in a unit (175-1). The average of the
8

Gematry: kabbalistic mathematical operation that considers the relationship between letters and
numbers, typical of the Hebrew alphabet. In gematry a ten, a hundred, or a thousand can reduced to a
value less than ten, since you can add the numerals of a certain number until you reach the lower value.
We indicate SOD, Lochem. General Treaty of Kabbalah, volume 1: Gematry. Available at:
https://br.pinterest.com/pin/683984262127963658/

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