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The Sigillum Dei (seal of God, or signum dei vivi, symbol of the living
God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
, called by
John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, teacher, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divinatio ...
the Sigillum Dei Aemeth) is a
magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrel ...
al diagram, composed of two circles, a
pentagram A pentagram (sometimes known as a pentalpha, pentangle, or star pentagon) is a regular five-pointed star polygon, formed from the diagonal line segments of a convex (or simple, or non-self-intersecting) regular pentagon. Drawing a circle aroun ...
, two heptagons, and one heptagram, and is labeled with the name of God and his
angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
s. It was an
amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...
(''amuletum'') with the magical function that, according to one of the oldest sources (''
Liber Juratus ''The Sworn Book of Honorius'' ( la, Liber juratus Honorii, also ''Liber sacer'', ''sacratus'' or ''consecratus'') is a medieval grimoire purportedly written by Honorius of Thebes. The Latin word "juratus", which is typically translated to "swor ...
''), allowed the initiated magician to have the power to commune with angels and archangels (''beatific visionary'').


Middle Ages


Liber Juratus

Probably the oldest known description and image of the ''Sigillum Dei'' is the 14th Century ''
Liber Juratus ''The Sworn Book of Honorius'' ( la, Liber juratus Honorii, also ''Liber sacer'', ''sacratus'' or ''consecratus'') is a medieval grimoire purportedly written by Honorius of Thebes. The Latin word "juratus", which is typically translated to "swor ...
'' (also ''Liber Sacratus'', ''Liber sacer sive Juratus'', or Sworn Booke), attributed to Honorius, son of
Euclid Euclid (; grc-gre, Εὐκλείδης; BC) was an ancient Greek mathematician active as a geometer and logician. Considered the "father of geometry", he is chiefly known for the ''Elements'' treatise, which established the foundations of ge ...
. This may have been produced in the late 13th century, but likely not before the time of
Pope John XXII Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by ...
. (1316–1334). The description of the seal in the ''Liber Juratus'' begins with the dimensions of the circle surrounding the outside in relation to common symbol figures of the Christian tradition.
make first a circle whose diameter is three fingers, because of the three cross-nails of the Lord, or five fingers because of the five wounds of Christ, or seven for the seven sacraments, or nine for the nine orders of angels, but usually five fingers will suffice. Then make a second within this circle, let it be a distance from the first two grains because of the two Tablets of the Law of Moses, or three grains because of the persons of the Trinity.
The so created circular band will be at an apex of a small cross and from this starting point proceed from left to right 72 Latin letters, which vary in tradition (MS Sloane 3853: h, t, o, e, x, o, r, a, b, a, s, l, a, y, q, c, i, y, s, t, a, l, g, a, a, o, n, o, s, v, l, a, r, y, c, e, k, s, p, f, y, o, m, e, n, e, a, u, a, r, e, l, a, t, e, d, a, t, o, n, o, n, a, o, y, l, e, p, o, t, m, a), the sum forming the
Shemhamphorasch ''Shem HaMephorash'' ( he, שֵׁם הַמְּפֹרָשׁ ''Šēm hamMəfōrāš'', also ''Shem ha-Mephorash''), meaning "the explicit name," is originally a Tannaitic term describing the Tetragrammaton. In Kabbalah, it may refer to a name of Go ...
, the ineffable name of God ("magnum nomen Domini Semenphoras licterarum 72"), showing a clear link to Jewish tradition. Next to the circular band is a pentagram, which focuses on a Greek Tau, this is surrounded by the five letters of the name of God "El" and "Ely", and five other pairs of letters (lx, al, a, c, to). Inside the pentagon, in turn, is a heptagon drawn in such a way that its top side touches the centre tip of the pentagram, and the pages of this heptagon should be labelled with the names of seven
angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
and
archangels Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...
( Cafziel, Satquiel,
Samael Samael ( he, סַמָּאֵל, ''Sammāʾēl'', "Venom/Poison of God"; ar, سمسمائيل, ''Samsama'il'' or ar, سمائل, label=none, ''Samail''; alternatively Smal, Smil, Samil, or Samiel) is an archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic ...
, Raphael,
Anael Haniel ( he, חַנִּיאֵל, ''Ḥannīʾēl'', "God is my grace"; cop, ⲁⲛⲁⲛⲓⲏⲗ ''Ananiēl''; ar, عنيائيل, '), also known as Hananel, Anael, Hanael or Aniel, is an angel in Jewish lore and angelology, and is often i ...
,
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...
, Gabriel). From this first heptagon is a second and a third drawing, whose description is hard to understand and has been interpreted differently in the manuscript illustrations, but has usually seven key points with crosses and labelled with two rows of Gods: a first series of seven names of God, each in three syllables or components disassembled and relating spatially with those on the initial and final syllables of the last names of angels and vertices of the figure, namely la-ya- ly (to Cafziel), na-ra-th (to Satquiel), ly-bar-re (to Raphael), ly-ba-res (to Michael), (e) t-ly-alg (to Samael), ve -h-am (to Anael), and y-al-gal (to Gabriel); also in sub-segments seven more: Vos, Duynas, Gyram, Gram, Aysaram, Alpha and Omega, a third series El, On, El, On, Electric, On, Omega; as additions to the registered crosses the four letters a, g, a, l; and finally another group of five names of God Ely, Eloy, Christ, and Sother Adonay. The colour of the seal of the ''Liber Juratus'' indicates that the pentagram is usually red, purple with yellow faces, the first heptagon blue, second yellow, the third yellow and the black circles, and also the area between the circles and all other surfaces were to turn green. In magical operations, this would be handled differently – instead drawn on virgin parchment with the blood of the mole, pigeon, hoopoe, bat or other animals, such as cattle, horses or deer.


Clavicula Salomonis

Different versions of the ''Sigillum Dei'' are known from the tradition of the '' Clavicula Salomonis'', specifically from an
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...
manuscript in the collection of
Heimann Joseph Michael Heimann (Hayyim) Michael (April 12, 1792 – June 10, 1846) was a Hebrew bibliographer born at Hamburg. He showed great acuteness of mind in early childhood, had a phenomenal memory, and was an indefatigable student. He studied Talmudics and rec ...
in the
Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second ...
(MS. Michael 276); and John Aubrey in 1674 made a copy, also in the Bodleian Library (MS. Aubrey 24).


Early modern

One of the oldest surviving manuscripts of the ''Liber Juratus'', dating from the end of the 14th or the beginning of the 15th century, is Sloane MS 313 from the collection of
Hans Sloane Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...
in the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
. It was partly owned by the mathematician and magical experimenter
John Dee John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, teacher, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divinatio ...
, in whose ''Mysteriorum Libri Quinti'', or ''Five books of mystical exercises'' (1581–1583), the ''Sigillum Dei'' played a central role and gained the suffix ''Sigillum Dei: Emeth'' or ''Aemeth'' ("Truth"). For John Dee, who received the authoritative description of the seal in 1582 via his medium and employee Edward Kelley, this scholarly and antiquarian interest was ultimately subordinate to the purpose of practical application. This can be contrasted with
Athanasius Kircher Athanasius Kircher (2 May 1602 – 27 November 1680) was a German Jesuit scholar and polymath who published around 40 major works, most notably in the fields of comparative religion, geology, and medicine. Kircher has been compared t ...
, who devoted a detailed explanation to the ''Sigillum Dei'' in his ''Oedipus aegyptiacus'',Athanasius Kircher: ''Oedipi Aegyptiaci Tomi secundi Pars Altera''Vitale Mascardo, Rome 1653, Class. IX (Magia Hieroglyphica), cap. VIII ram,. II, § IV (Amuleti alterius Cabalistici heptagoni interpretatio), p. 479-481
permanent/library/MQGPP987/pageimg ECHO online version
/ref> who linked the rejection of magical practice with a scholarly effort to understand the Christian, Jewish, Arab-Muslim and pagan parts and separate them.


See also

*
Sigil (magic) A sigil () is a type of symbol used in magic. The term has usually referred to a pictorial signature of a deity or spirit. In modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitione ...


Further reading

* Colin D. Campbell. "The Sigillum Dei: Aemeth" in Joseph Thiebes and Richard Kaczynski (eds) ''Unity Uttermost Showed! Proceedings of the Seventh Biennial National Ordo Templi Orientis Conference, Seattle, Washington August 7–9, 2009 e.v.'' Riverside, CA: Ordo Templi Orientis USA Supreme Grand Council, 2011, pp. 85–92. * Colin D. Campbell. ''The Magic Seal of Dr John Dee: The Sigillum Dei Aemeth''. Teitan Press, 2009.


References

{{reflist Magic symbols