Solomonic Circle: Lesser Key

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Few occult symbols evoke the sensation of a magical operation like the circle. The circle defines the sacred space of the Magician. It is a veritable microcosm of the universe centered around the operator and functions as a divine fortress that protects those inside from all negative spiritual forces.

Of all the circles used in occult work, that of the Goetia or  Lesser Key of Solomon is perhaps the most recognizable. Most quickly identify this circle with the version popularized by Mathers and Crowley containing bright colors and a serpent coiled around the circumference in which the divine names are written.[1] What few realize is that there are actually many surviving versions of the Goetia – all with slightly different representations of the circle and the divine names within. Furthermore, the serpent is only displayed in one private codex  [2].

The text itself defines the circle in one line:

The circle of Salomon is to be made nine feet across, & the divine names are to be written around it, from Eheye to Levanah.”

Eheye (אהיה) is Hebrew for “I am” and in traditional Kabbalah is the name of God assigned to Kether the first sefirot. Levanah (לבנה) is the Hebrew word for moon and is the planet traditionally assigned to the ninth sefirot, Yesod. All the manuscripts are in agreement that the practitioner is intended to write the divine names of the first nine sefirot around the circumference of the circle. These names together with the presiding angels, astronomical sphere, and angelic order can be found Agrippa’s Scale of the number ten.[3]

The table below is provided for the reader to make their own decisions as to the names and  proper ordering. It compares three of the Sloane Manuscripts from the British museum alongside the names specified by Mathers and Crowley in their version of the Goetia. The major difference beyond the varying spellings of the Hebrew names is the ordering within in each sefirot group. All three of the Sloane manuscripts correspond with Agrippa’s scale of ten where the order of the divine names is as follows : 1. God name, 2. name of the sefirot, 3. angelic order, 4. presiding angel, and 5. name of the astronomical sphere. The Mathers and Crowley edition alters this order by placing the presiding angel before the angelic order. Other differences such as the divine names used can be sorted out by using Agrippa’s Scale of the number ten.

Agrippa’s Scale of Ten & Meanings

Notes

1. Aleister Crowley (ed). The Goetia: The Lesser Key of Solomon the King.Trans Samuel Liddel, MacGregor Mathers. (Boston, MA: Red Wheel/Weiser LLC, 1995).
2. Joseph H. Peterson (ed). The Lesser Key of Solomon. (York Beach, ME: Weiser Books, 2001).
3. Aryeh Kaplan(tran.). Sefer Yetzirah (Boston, MA:Weiser Books, 1997).
4. Henry Cornelius Agrippa.Three Books Of Occult Philosophy. Trans. J. F. Edited by Donald Tyson (St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 1993).