The Pentacles

Nine Kandariri · Row 2 · Right

Curled and angular terminals mark a cross passing through a central ring. Stacked short bars sit on its upper arm, with a broad arch-like form below. [1]

1914 Hebrew manuscript photographic facsimile · Gollancz (1914), facsimile f. 49a, row 2, right; set description in the English contents, printed p. xxii.

Pentacle profile

Tradition and Group: Hebrew Solomonic compilation · Nine Kandariri [1]
Position within the Set: Folio 49a, row 2, right. [1]
Attributed Purpose: One of the nine Kandariri, described in Gollancz’s contents as talismans revealed to King Solomon. [1]
Design: A cross runs through a central ring, with curls and stacked bars on its upper arm and a broad curved foot below. [1]

A cross runs through a central ring, with curls and stacked bars on its upper arm and a broad curved foot below. Two enclosing circles are joined by a short cross at the top. — **Source reproduction** A ring-centred cross with unlike ends. Gollancz, 1914, f. 49a.

A ring-centred cross with unlike ends

The horizontal and vertical strokes pass through a small central ring. On the upper arm, several short bars sit below a looped character. The left end carries a long curl, while the right has an angular upright and projecting lower stroke. [1]

At the bottom, the vertical line divides a broad arch-like terminal into two sides. Unlike the middle talisman, this figure has no groups of detached little circles around its cross. [1]

On the nine-talisman leaf

The figure closes the middle row of leaf 49a. All three talismans in that row build around an upright cross, but only the centre and right examples have a central ring. Gollancz’s contents treats the nine as one named talisman section within the Hebrew compilation. [1]

Sources and editions

H. Gollancz, Sepher Maphteah Shelomo
1914 Hebrew manuscript photographic facsimile. English contents, printed p. xxii; facsimile f. 49a, row 2, right; Wellcome canvas 90, facsimile PDF p. 91. Section identified in the contents at ff. 48a–49a.
Gollancz’s 1914 photographic facsimile reproduces the Hebrew manuscript leaf.

Return to The Brass Vessel