Key of Solomon
The Key of Solomon (Latin: Clavicula
Salomonis)
is
one of many
grimoires attributed
to King Solomon that were created during the Renaissance.
According to both the Old
Testament
and Jewish tradition, and the Quran
and Islamic
tradition,
King Solomon was a fabulously wealthy and wise king
of Israel
who succeeded his father, King
David.around
970 to 931 BC. These two
kings were often considered to be mere legends, but recent discoveries
indicate that possibly were actual historical characters.
The Bible tells us, In the first book of
1 Kings that King Solomon made a sacrifice to God, and God later appeared to him
in a dream asking hin what he wanted from God. Solomon asked for
wisdom. God was pleased because Solomon did not ask for self-serving rewardssuch
as long
life or the death of his enemies, he therfore promised him great wisdom
but, as a reward for a wise choice, God additionally gave him greart
wealth..
Solomon is traditionally considered the author of several biblical books, including not only the collection fouund in Proverbs, but also Ecclesiastes, The Song of Solomon and the later apocryphal book The Wisdom of Solomon.
The Wisdom of Solomon or Book
of Wisdom is
a Jewish work, written in Greek, composed in Alexandria (Egypt).
Generally dated to the late first century BC. The
central theme of the work is "Wisdom" itself, appearing as two
principal aspects. In its relation to man, Wisdom is the perfection of
knowledge of the righteous as a gift from God showing itself in action.
In direct relation to God, Wisdom is with God from all eternity.
The Seal
of Solomon (or Ring
of Solomon)
is the signet
ring attributed
to King
Solomon in
medieval Jewish tradition and in Islamic and Western
occultism.
It was often depicted in either a pentagram or hexagram. The
hexagram is also known as the Star
of David in
Jewish tradition.
This ring variously gave Solomon the power to command demons, jinn (genie), or to speak with animals.
Due to the proverbial wisdom of
Solomon, his signet ring, or its supposed design, it came to be seen as
an amulet or talisman,
or a symbol or character in
medieval and Renaissance-era magic, occultism,
and alchemy.
The ring was made from brass and iron, and the two parts were used to
seal written commands to good and evil spirits, respectively. In one
tale, a demon, either Asmodeus,
or Sakhr,
obtained possession of the ring and ruled in Solomon's stead for forty
days. In a variant of the tale of the ring of Poly-
crates from Herodotus,
the demon eventually threw the ring into the sea, where it was swallowed
by a fish, caught by a fisherman, and served to Solomon.
In Islamic
eschatology,
the Beast
of the Earth is
equipped with both the Staff
of Moses and
and uses the Seal of Solomon
stamp the nose of the unbelievers.
The date of origin legends surrounding the Seal of Solomon is difficult
to establish. It is known that a legend of a magic
ringwith
which the possessor could command demons was already current in the 1st
century (Josephus 8.2
telling of one Eleazar who used such a ring in the presence of Vespasian),
but the association of the name of Solomon with such a ring is medieval
notwithstanding the 2nd century apocryphal text the Testament
of Solomon.
The Tractate
Gittin
of
The specification of the design of the seal as a hexagram seems
to arise from a medieval Arab tradition. The name "Solomon's seal" was
given to the hexagram engraved on the bottom of drinking-cups in Arab
tradition. In the Arabian
Nights (chapter
20), Sinbad presented Harun
al-Rashid with
such a cup, on which the "Table of Solomon" was engraved. Hexagrams
feature prominently in Jewish esoteric literature from the early
medieval period, and some authors have hypothesized that the tradition
of Solomon's Seal may possibly predate Islam and date to early
Rabbinical esoteric tradition, or to early alchemy
in Hellenistic
Judaism in 3rd-century
Egypt,
but there is no positive evidence for this, and most scholars assume
that the symbol entered the Kabbalistic tradition
of medieval Spain from Arabic literature. The representation as a pentagram,
by contrast, seems to arise in the Western tradition of Renaissance
magic (which
was in turn strongly influenced by medieval Arab and Jewish occultism); White
Kennett (1660–1728)
makes reference to a "pentangle of Solomon" with the power of exorcising
demons.
The idea that a symbol could exercise power over men and demons, is what
gave rise to the Key of Solomon (Latin: Clavicula
Salomonis)
It is
one of many
grimoires attributed
to King Solomon published during the Renaissance, influenced by the earlier works of Jewish kabbalists and Arab
alchemists.
These, in turn, incorporated aspects of
Greco-Roman
magic.
Several versions of the Key
of Solomon exist,
in various translations, with minor to significant differences. The
archetype was probably a Latin or
Italian illustration dating to the 14th or 15th century. Most surviving
manuscripts date from the late 16th, 17th or 18th centuries. There is
also an early Greek manuscript
dating to the 15th century that is closely associated with the
illustration. The
Greek manuscript is known as The Magical
Treatise of Solomon,
and was published by Armand Delatte in Anecdota
Atheniensia. Its
contents are very similar to the Key of
Solomon.
Iimportant Italian images are found in the Bodleian Library Michael MS 276. An
early Latin manuscript survives, dated from ca. 1600 (University
of Wisconsin-Madison, Memorial Library, Special Collections). There are
a number of later (17th century) Latin manuscripts. One of the oldest
existing manuscripts is a text in an English
translation, entitled The
Clavicle of Solomon, revealed by Ptolomy the Grecian and
dated to 1572. There are a number of French manuscripts,
all dated to the 18th century, with an older one dated to 1641.