The Third Pentacle of the Moon.—­“This being duly borne with thee when upon a journey, if it be properly made, serveth against all attacks by night, and against every kind of danger and peril by Water.”  The design consists of a hand and sleeved forearm (this occurs on three other moon talismans), together with the Hebrew names Aub and Vevaphel.  The versicle is from Psalm xl. 13:  “Be pleased O IHVH to deliver me, O IHVH make haste to help me” (see fig 23)

The Third Pentacle of Venus.—­“This, if it be only shown unto any person, serveth to attract love.  Its Angel Monachiel should be invoked in the day and hour of Venus, at one o’clock or at eight.”  The design consists of two triangles joined at their apices, with the following names—­IHVH, Adonai, Ruach, Achides, AEgalmiel, Monachiel, and Degaliel.  The versicle is from Genesis i. 28:  “And the Elohim blessed them, and the Elohim said unto them, Be ye fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it” (see fig. 24).

The Third Pentacle of Mercury.—­“This serves to invoke the Spirits subject unto Mercury; and especially those who are written in this Pentacle.”  The design consists of crossed lines and magical characters of Mercury.  Around are the names of the angels, Kokaviel, Ghedoriah, Savaniah, and Chokmahiel (see fig. 25).

CORNELIUS AGRIPPA, in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy, describes another interesting system of talismans.  FRANCIS BARRETT’S Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer, a well-known occult work published in the first year of the nineteenth century, I may mention, copies AGRIPPA’S system of talismans, without acknowledgment, almost word for word.  To each of the planets is assigned a magic square or table, i.e. a square composed of numbers so arranged that the sum of each row or column is always the same.  For example, the table for Mars is as follows:—­

11 24 7 20 3 4 12 25 8 16 17 5 13 21 9 10 18 1 14 22 23 6 19 2 15

It will be noticed that every number from 1 up to the highest possible occurs once, and that no number occurs twice.  It will also be seen that the sum of each row and of each column is always 65.  Similar squares can be constructed containing any square number of figures, and it is, indeed, by no means surprising that the remarkable properties of such “magic squares,” before these were explained mathematically, gave rise to the belief that they had some occult significance and virtue.  From the magic squares can be obtained certain numbers which are said to be the numbers of the planets; their orderliness, we are told, reflects the order of the heavens, and from a consideration of them the magical properties of the planets which they represent can be arrived at.  For example, in the above table the number of rows of numbers is 5.  The total number of numbers in the table is the square of this number, namely, 25, which is also the greatest number in the table.  The sum of any row or column is 65.  And, finally, the sum of all the numbers is the product of the number of rows (namely, 5) and the sum of any row (namely, 65), i.e. 325.  These numbers, namely, 5, 25, 65, and 325, are the numbers of Mars.  Sets of numbers for the other planets are obtained in exactly the same manner.[1]