First Pentacle of Mars

What this is

The First Pentacle of Mars is the chief seal of the Martial set in the Key of Solomon, cut to invoke the spirits of Mars and to open their whole power of courage and victory. It is the war-seal of the grimoire, the master-key to the spirits of the red planet. It is the foundation of the Martial work.

What it governs

It governs the invoking of the spirits of Mars. Its sphere is the calling of the war-planet's powers: the spirits of courage, contest, and victory that Mars commands. It rules the opening of the Martial work and the summoning of its spirits to the seeker who must stand and fight.

Its properties

It is figured in red on the day and hour of Mars, its border carrying the names by which the warring spirits are called. The upright virtue of the seal is courage rightly summoned, force called for a just contest; its shadow is the appetite for conflict, power called up for the thrill of it. The pentacle teaches that the strength Mars gives is for the fight that must be fought, not the one that need not be.

Where else it appears

This war-seal is the talismanic skin of the same Martial force that Phaleg wields in the Arbatel, raising people to honour in arms, and that the angel Samael bears over Tuesday. The war-spirit's victory, the hawk's decisive strike, and the drawn seal of courage are facets of one fierce Mars. Lay them together and the same decisive strength looks back.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

On The Day, the First Pentacle of Mars appears as a tradition-face of Tuesday, the day of Mars, beside the planet itself, the angel Samael, and the planet's other daily faces. When it surfaces it colours the day with its single purpose, recorded in the old grimoire as one to for invoking spirits of mars. Read it not as a literal talisman to cut but as the day's invitation to that exact work under Mars's hand: a pointer to the matter the day is shaped for, the door that stands open today.

Why it matters

It names the truth that courage is the strength to act when action is costly, and that victory belongs to the one who dares rightly. It matters because the Martial day sometimes asks you to fight. It asks you to find your nerve and aim it at what is worth the fight.

Correspondences

planet

Mars

element

Fire

zodiac

Aries, Scorpio

sephirah

Geburah

day

Tuesday

colour

Red

metal

Iron

stone

Ruby

tarot

The Tower