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The Brass VesselPlanetary and Manuscript Sets
The Moon’s six pentacles open fastened doors, guard journeys and confront storms, sorcery and the night’s apparitions. A named angel offers knowledge of herbs and stones; the final silver figure is said to bring rain while held beneath water. [1]
Mathers 1889
To invoke lunar spirits and open doors however fastened.
To protect against water’s dangers and, when shown to lunar spirits, stop the rain and tempests they raise around the circle.
When properly made and carried on a journey, to protect against night attacks and every kind of danger by water.
To defend body and soul against sorcery and injury; Sophiel gives knowledge of the virtues of all herbs and stones to whoever names him.
For answers in sleep; Iachadiel brings destruction and loss, opposes enemies and night phantoms, and summons the departed from Hades.
To cause heavy rain while an engraved silver plate remains beneath water; the figure’s making belongs to the Moon’s day and hour.
| Pentacle | Attributed purpose |
|---|---|
| The 1st Pentacle of the Moon | To invoke lunar spirits and open doors however fastened. |
| The 2nd Pentacle of the Moon | To protect against water’s dangers and, when shown to lunar spirits, stop the rain and tempests they raise around the circle. |
| The 3rd Pentacle of the Moon | When properly made and carried on a journey, to protect against night attacks and every kind of danger by water. |
| The 4th Pentacle of the Moon | To defend body and soul against sorcery and injury; Sophiel gives knowledge of the virtues of all herbs and stones to whoever names him. |
| The 5th Pentacle of the Moon | For answers in sleep; Iachadiel brings destruction and loss, opposes enemies and night phantoms, and summons the departed from Hades. |
| The 6th Pentacle of the Moon | To cause heavy rain while an engraved silver plate remains beneath water; the figure’s making belongs to the Moon’s day and hour. |
The lunar sequence begins with a gate. The first pentacle calls forth the spirits of the Moon and opens doors however they are fastened. Its drawing gives that claim an architectural form, with the divine name IHVH at the centre, divine and angelic names beside it, and words from Psalm 107:16 about broken brass gates and shattered iron bars. [1]
The second turns from entrances to water. It protects against water’s perils, including an encounter in which lunar spirits raise rain and violent tempests around the ritual circle to terrify the operator. Showing them the pentacle is said to stop the disturbance quickly. A pointing hand directs attention to El and the angel Abariel; Psalm 56:11 supplies a declaration of trust and freedom from fear. [1]
The third belongs to a journey. Properly made and carried by the traveller, it protects against attacks by night and every kind of danger by water. Aub and Vevaphel appear beside another pointing hand, while Psalm 40:13 asks for swift deliverance. [1]
The fourth guards against evil sorcery and injury to body or soul, but also promises knowledge. Its angel Sophiel reveals the virtues of all herbs and stones to whoever names him. Mathers identifies Eheieh Asher Eheieh as a divine name and Yahel and Sophiel as angelic names. The pointing hand remains, but the outer petition is printed in Latin: persecutors are to be confounded, while the speaker is preserved from confusion and fear. [1]
The fifth offers answers in sleep and enters a more threatening realm. Its angel Iachadiel is associated with destruction and loss, including the destruction of enemies. The notice also names Abdon and Dale when calling upon him against phantoms of the night and to summon souls of the departed from Hades. IHVH, Elohim, a lunar character and the angelic names Iachadiel and Azarel accompany the hand. The rim uses Psalm 68:1, in which God arises and his enemies scatter. [1]
Across these four hand designs, the names and surrounding words change with the encounter: Abariel with the storm, Aub and Vevaphel with the journey, Sophiel with protection and knowledge, and Iachadiel with sleep, enemies and the departed. [1]
The sixth replaces the hand with eight radiating spokes and four paired lunar characters. Its notice describes heavy rain caused by a silver plate left beneath water, lasting while the plate remains submerged. A separate sentence assigns engraving, drawing or writing the figure to the Moon’s day and hour. The preparation has a lunar timing; immersion supplies the stated rain condition. [1]
Genesis 7:11–12 encloses this final figure with words from the Flood. Within the lunar set, it answers the second pentacle’s storm-quelling office with a different claim: weather is deliberately raised rather than driven away. The sequence’s engagement with water also reaches into the traveller’s protection in the third pentacle, so a shared element serves several distinct purposes. [1]
Silver is the Moon’s general metal in chapter XVIII, with a silvery colour given for the paper alternative. The sixth notice specifically requires a silver plate for its rain-bearing claim; elsewhere, the individual notices place their emphasis on carrying, showing, naming or calling upon the pentacle’s associated powers. [1]
S. L. MacGregor Mathers, 1889; printed edition, including editorial restoration of Hebrew characters. Book I, chapter XVIII, printed pp. 69–70; figures 49–54, Plates XI–XIII (PDF pp. 95, 98 and 116); general lunar materials and timing, printed pp. 56–57