Spirits summoned by the fifth Sun pentacle are said to carry a person a long distance in a short time. Its outer verse describes angels keeping the traveller’s ways and bearing the traveller in their hands. [1]
Mathers 1889 · Book I, chapter XVIII; printed p. 66; figure 36, Plate VIII; plate PDF page 86
To invoke spirits who transport a person from one place to another over a long distance in a short time. [1]
Design
A square encloses two circles and a central angular character; Passing of the River lettering lies outside its sides within a Hebrew verse band. [1]
Source reproduction The 5th Pentacle of the Sun: spirit-name characters around a square, enclosed by Psalm 91. Mathers 1889, Plate VIII, figure 36; notice on p. 66.
A long distance in a short time
The fifth solar pentacle invokes spirits credited with transporting a person rapidly between distant places. It is one of the sequence’s physical marvels, beside the seventh figure’s release from iron restraints. [1]
Names around a square
Two circles lie within a square, enclosing an angular central character with a horizontal bar and a descending stem. More characters run along the square’s four outer sides. Their hooks, loops and circular ends differ from the ordinary Hebrew writing in the farthest ring. [1]
Mathers identifies the special lettering as Passing of the River characters forming spirits’ names. He gives no Roman spellings for those names in this note. The Hebrew biblical verse occupies a separate circular band, with a small six-pointed star above. [1]
Angels who bear a person up
The ring draws on Psalm 91:11–12. Mathers quotes angels given charge to keep a person in all their ways, followed by “They shall bear thee up in their hands.” In the psalm, that bearing protects the person from striking a foot against a stone. The surrounding chapter speaks of refuge and deliverance from dangers. [1][2]
The pentacle places that image of angelic hands around a promise of extraordinary transport. The psalm’s protected passage and the Key’s rapid movement share the idea of a person borne by spiritual attendants, while the notice adds its own great distance and short duration. [1][2]
S. L. MacGregor Mathers, 1889; printed edition, including editorial restoration of Hebrew characters. Book I, chapter XVIII; printed p. 66; figure 36, Plate VIII; plate PDF page 86; relevant solar notices, printed pp. 65–66; construction context, chapter VIII pp. 39–41 and chapter XVIII pp. 56–57
