The 3rd Pentacle of Mars

Vau and the Lesser Countenance

A large upward triangle fills the inner circle. Within it, a smaller triangle points down, enclosing a prominent Vau. Other letters sit in and beside the larger triangle, forming Eloah and Shaddai in Mathers’s reading. A small six-pointed star marks the top of the outer verse band. [1]

Mathers calls Vau the signature of the Qabalistic Microprosopus. His earlier Kabbalah Unveiled explains Microprosopus as the “Lesser Countenance” and associates Vau with its six members, six divine emanations. [1][3]

A question about divine greatness

The rim takes its question from Psalm 77:13: “Who is so great a God as our Elohim?” In its biblical setting, the speaker recalls old wonders and the redemption of the people. The passage continues with frightened waters, thunder and lightning, ending with Moses and Aaron leading the people like a flock. [1][2]

Sources and editions

The Key of Solomon the King · The 3rd Pentacle of Mars

S. L. MacGregor Mathers, 1889; printed edition, including editorial restoration of Hebrew characters. Book I, chapter XVIII; printed p. 63; figure 27, Plate VI; plate PDF page 79; Complete Mars notices and notes, printed pp. 63–64 (PDF pp. 80–81); Preface p. vi; general Book I VIII pp. 39–41 and XVIII pp. 56–57

Psalm 77:11–20 · Remembered wonders and deliverance

King James Version, public-domain biblical text. Psalm 77:11–20

The Kabbalah Unveiled · Mathers’s explanation of Microprosopus and Vau

S. L. MacGregor Mathers, The Kabbalah Unveiled, 1887; primary introduction reproduced by the Internet Sacred Text Archive. Introduction §§65, 67; printed p. 32

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Pentacle profile

Conflict stirred and enemies resisted

Vau and the Lesser Countenance

A question about divine greatness

Sources and editions