The Pentacles

Athens 115 · Seal 10

The ends of this eight-spoked wheel carry an assortment of loops, bars and curves. [1]

Delatte 1927, printed historical edition; Athens MS 115 · Delatte I (1927), printed p. 19, row 4, column 1; phylactery passage p. 18, Athens MS 115, Book II, ff. 17–18.

Pentacle profile

Tradition and Group: Greek Solomonic tradition · Athens MS 115 [1]
Position within the Set: 10th design in the catalogue; unnumbered in Delatte’s edition. [1]
Attributed Purpose: Part of the twenty-four-seal phylactery carried at the chest in preparation for the art of the circle. [1]
Design: Eight arms meet at the centre and carry loops, crossed bars and curved terminal marks. [1]

Eight arms meet at the centre and carry loops, crossed bars and curved terminal marks. — **Source reproduction** Eight arms with varied ends. Delatte, 1927, p. 19.

Eight arms with varied ends

An upright cross and two diagonals create eight outward arms. Short bars, loops and curved strokes mark their ends. The lower vertical arm carries an oval crossed by a bar; the upper vertical arm has a cup-like curve and a short cross-stroke. [1]

Several diagonal ends combine loops with projecting strokes. Seal 2 uses the same radial framework with simpler repeated cross-strokes. Here the terminal forms vary around the circle, while all eight arms remain joined at one centre. [1]

The chest-worn phylactery

Delatte identifies the manuscript containing this series as Athens MS 115. He describes its magical words, drawings and signs as written in red ink. His printed edition presents the seal in black among the twelve figures on page 19. [1]

Sources and editions

A. Delatte, Anecdota Atheniensia I
Delatte 1927, printed historical edition; Athens MS 115. Manuscript B (Athens MS 115): introductory description, printed pp. 1–2; Book II, phylactery passage p. 18, lines 19–27 (ff. 17–18); twenty-four seals pp. 19–20; this drawing p. 19, row 4, column 1. Facsimile PDF pp. 14–15 and 31–33.
The drawing appears in Delatte’s 1927 edition of Athens MS 115.