Amulets by Merlin's Blog

My first encounter of the Key of Solomon
was in the 1970s
when I began my research of High Magick.
At the time,
there was very little available,
most Libraries omitted manuscripts on the subject.
I had to find Occult Bookstores
to discover references beyond the point of
“it exists”.
Many manuscripts referred to it,
described it
and yet only held a few images
of the old Grimoire
(Magical diary or recipe book).
The Key of Solomon
(in Latin Clavis Salomonis
or Clavicula Salomonis,
Hebrew: Mafteah Shelomoh)
dates back to the 14th or 15th century Italian Renaissance.
There are no actual claims as to who constructed the text
and there are no references to the book by King Solomon himself,
nor copies of the text found between his time in the old world
until the 14th century.
The best guess of most historians
is the Greater key of Solomon was created
between the 14th and the 17th century
with very strong influences from the High Medieval Period.

Primarily,
this is a series of various glyphs,
seals and signants
(more often referred to as “Pentacles”)
which correspond to the Planetary qualities
(remember this is Renaissance times,
so the moon and sun are included,
while the outer planets are not).
Each pentacle is attributed to a planet and holds an aspect,
yet not all of the qualities ascribed there to.
As in most medieval grimoires,
magical operations are performed
through the power of (the Christian or Hebrew) God,
to whom all the invocations are addressed.
Before any of these operations are performed,
the operator must confess his sins and purge himself of evil,
invoking protection.

It is interesting to note here,
the acknowledgment of other celestial beings beyond Jesus,
the saints and angelic beings,
even the pentacles themselves
(although attributed to the “planets”)
hold the names of the Old God(dess)s.

Over the years I have created many of these seals,
one of which I produce regularly in my line of Jewelry:
the Second Seal of Jupiter.
Many of the seals were made for private use
and not for public view.
I was given permission to display in my gallery:
The Key of Solomon.
This is a two sided Talisman, designed,
developed and produced to be carried on a daily basis.

The Solar side holds the Third seal of the Sun

Solar key of Solomon

“serve to repress the pride and arrogance of the Solar Spirits,
which are altogether proud and arrogant by their nature,
acquire Kingdom and Empire
and to acquire renown and glory,
especially through the Name of God,
Tetragrammaton,
which therein is twelve times contained”

Because the piece was to be shaped like a key,
I designed the piece to reflect the side of the seal it corresponds:
hence I created a sunburst for the solar side
and extended “Yods” down the shaft of the key itself.

On the reverse side of the seal is the First Pentacle of the Moon:

Lunar Key of Solomon

“serve to call forth and invoke the Spirits of the Moon;
to open doors, in whatever way they may be fastened”

This pentacle uses a hieroglyphic representation of a door or gate,
here I used the flairs of the opposite side to create the crescents of the moon,
the “bright side” of the lunar representation showing out ward.
Again (similar to the other side) Yods extend down the shaft,
similar to the Moon Tarot Card.
The shaft itself is composed of the Cross of Matter,
“Earth”.
This both grounds the piece adding foundation to the piece
and provides a direction for manifestation.

The entire piece is two and a half inches long,
each seal is a one inch by one inch piece
of Sterling silver with the Key cast in bronze.

This Key of Solomon a one of a kind piece and is currently in a private collection.

If you would like something made,
please visit my how to order custom page.