The Pentacles

The 2nd Pentacle of Venus

“Love is strong as death” runs around a lettered pentagram. The Venus notice speaks more broadly of grace, honour and fulfilling desires within the planet’s sphere; its verse imagines a seal upon heart and arm. [1]

Mathers 1889 · Book I, chapter XVIII; printed p. 67; figure 40, Plate IX; plate PDF page 89

Pentacle profile

Tradition and Group: Mathers 1889 · Venus [1]
Position within the Set: Pentacle 2 · figure 40 · plate IX [1]
Attributed Purpose: To obtain grace and honour and accomplish desires in matters belonging to Venus; control of Venusian spirits is shared with the opening notice. [1]
Design: A five-pointed star contains and is surrounded by Hebrew letter groups, enclosed by a verse from Song of Songs 8:6. [1]

A five-pointed star fills a circle, with Hebrew letters inside its points and spaces and outside its sides. A Hebrew verse circles the star beneath a small square-like, circle-tipped mark. — **Source reproduction** The 2nd Pentacle of Venus: spirit-name letters in a pentagram, enclosed by the Song of Songs’ seal-and-love verse. Mathers 1889, Plate IX, figure 40; notice on p. 67.

Grace, honour and desire

The second Venus notice describes the pentacles as suitable for obtaining grace and honour, for matters belonging to Venus and for accomplishing desires within that sphere. The first has already established their control of Venusian spirits. [1]

Letters in and around the pentagram

A single five-pointed star fills the inner circle. Hebrew letters occupy its points, central spaces and the gaps beyond its sides. Mathers identifies these groups as names of spirits of Venus. A separate Hebrew sentence runs around the circumference; a small square-like mark with circular tips sits at the top of the band. [1]

A seal upon heart and arm

The verse comes from Canticles, or the Song of Songs, 8:6. Mathers translates its opening as “Place me as a signet upon thine heart, as a signet upon thine arm, for love is strong as death.” The speaker asks to be kept like a seal upon the beloved’s body. [1][2]

The biblical passage continues beyond the words selected in Mathers’s note: jealousy is compared with the grave, love burns with a vehement flame, and waters cannot quench it. The following verse also rejects the idea that a household’s wealth could purchase love. [2]

Sources and editions

The Key of Solomon the King · The 2nd Pentacle of Venus
S. L. MacGregor Mathers, 1889; printed edition, including editorial restoration of Hebrew characters. Book I, chapter XVIII; printed p. 67; figure 40, Plate IX; plate PDF page 89; complete Venus sequence pp. 66–67; general chapter XVIII materials/timing pp. 56–57
Song of Songs 8:6–7 · The seal, love and death
King James Version, public-domain biblical text. Song of Songs 8:6–7

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