The Pentacles

The 3rd Pentacle of the Moon

A properly made pentacle carried on a journey is credited with protection from attacks by night and every danger by water. Its hand points towards Aub and Vevaphel, within an urgent prayer for deliverance. [1]

Mathers 1889 · Book I, chapter XVIII; printed p. 69; figure 51, Plate XII; plate PDF page 98

Pentacle profile

Tradition and Group: Mathers 1889 · Moon [1]
Position within the Set: Pentacle 3 · figure 51 · plate XII [1]
Attributed Purpose: When properly made and carried on a journey, to protect against all attacks by night and every kind of danger and peril by water. [1]
Design: A pointing hand faces the Hebrew names Aub and Vevaphel inside a circular band of Psalm 40:13. [1]

A pointing hand and the Hebrew names Aub and Vevaphel within a circular Hebrew verse band, with a six-pointed star at the top. — **Source reproduction** The 3rd Pentacle of the Moon: the traveller’s pentacle with Aub and Vevaphel. Mathers 1889, Plate XII, figure 51; notice on p. 69.

Carried through the journey

The third Moon pentacle belongs with a traveller. Properly made and borne along on the journey, it protects against all attacks by night and every kind of danger and peril by water. [1]

Aub, Vevaphel and a hurried appeal

The hand extends from a sleeve at the left, its index finger directed towards two Hebrew name groups. Mathers reads them as Aub and Vevaphel. The names occupy the lower-right part of a mostly open field, surrounded by a Hebrew verse band with a six-pointed star at its top. [1]

The verse is Psalm 40:13: “Be pleased, O IHVH to deliver me, O IHVH make haste to help me.” In its biblical setting, innumerable evils have surrounded the speaker, who asks that those seeking destruction be confounded. The passage ends with the poor and needy speaker appealing to God to make no delay. The pentacle carries that urgency into its promised protection during the journey. [1][2]

Sources and editions

The Key of Solomon the King · The 3rd Pentacle of the Moon
S. L. MacGregor Mathers, 1889; printed edition, including editorial restoration of Hebrew characters. Book I, chapter XVIII; printed p. 69; figure 51, Plate XII; plate PDF page 98; full lunar notices printed pp. 69–70; general chapter XVIII materials, pp. 56–57
Psalm 40:11–17 · An urgent plea for help
King James Version, public-domain biblical text. Psalm 40:11–17

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