[1] FRANCIS BARRETT:  The Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer (1801), bk. i. p. 146.

ALPHONSE LOUIS CONSTANT,[1] a famous French occultist of the nineteenth century, who wrote under the name of “ELIPHAS LEVI,” describes yet another system of talismans.  He says:  “The Pentagram must be always engraved on one side of the talisman, with a circle for the Sun, a crescent for the Moon, a winged caduceus for Mercury, a sword for Mars, a G for Venus, a crown for Jupiter, and a scythe for Saturn.  The other side of the talisman should bear the sign of Solomon, that is, the six-pointed star formed by two interlaced triangles; in the centre there should be placed a human figure for the sun talismans, a cup for those of the Moon, a dog’s head for those of Jupiter, a lion for those of Mars, a dove’s for those of Venus, a bull’s or goat’s for those of Saturn.  The names of the seven angels should be added either in Hebrew, Arabic, or magic characters similar to those of the alphabets of Trimethius.  The two triangles of Solomon may be replaced by the double cross of Ezekiel’s wheels, this being found on a great number of ancient pentacles.  All objects of this nature, whether in metals or in precious stones, should be carefully wrapped in silk satchels of a colour analogous to the spirit of the planet, perfumed with the perfumes of the corresponding day, and preserved from all impure looks and touches."[2]

[1] For a biographical and critical account of this extraordinary personage and his views, see Mr A. E. WAITE’S The Mysteries of Magic:  a Digest of the writings of ELIPHAS LEVI (1897).

[2] Op. cit., p. 201.

ELIPHAS LEVI, following PYTHAGORAS and many of the mediaeval magicians, regarded the pentagram, or five-pointed star, as an extremely powerful pentacle.  According to him, if with one horn in the ascendant it is the sign of the microcosm—­Man.  With two horns in the ascendant, however, it is the sign of the Devil, “the accursed Goat of Mendes,” and an instrument of black magic.  We can, indeed, trace some faint likeness between the pentagram and the outline form of a man, or of a goat’s head, according to whether it has one or two horns in the ascendant respectively, which resemblances may account for this idea.  Fig. 30 shows the pentagram embellished with other symbols according to ELIPHAS LEVI, whilst fig. 31 shows his embellished form of the six-pointed star, or Seal of SOLOMON.  This, he says, is “the sign of the Macrocosmos, but is less powerful than the Pentagram, the microcosmic sign,” thus contradicting PYTHAGORAS, who, as we have seen, regarded the pentagram as the sign of the Macrocosm.  ELIPHAS LEVI asserts that he attempted the evocation of the spirit of APOLLONIUS of Tyana in London on 24th July 1854, by the aid of a pentagram and other magical apparatus and ritual, apparently with success, if we may believe his word.  But he sensibly suggests that probably the apparition which appeared was due to the effect of the ceremonies on his own imagination, and comes to the conclusion that such magical experiments are injurious to health.[1]