Fourth Pentacle of Mars

What this is

The Fourth Pentacle of Mars is the seal of dominion over the Martial spirits in the Key of Solomon, cut to fill them with terror and so to compel their obedience. Where the first invokes the spirits of Mars and the second turns their force to healing, this one masters them by overawing them. It is the seal of command at its most forceful.

What it governs

It governs the filling of the Martial spirits with terror, compelling them to obedience by sheer authority. Its sphere is mastery over the fierce powers of Mars: the commanding of the war-spirits, the bending of force itself to the seeker's will. It rules the holding of the Martial powers in awe.

Its properties

It is figured in red at Mars's hour, its border carrying the names of power that overawe the warring spirits. The upright virtue of the seal is the authority that masters force without being mastered by it, command over one's own fierce powers; its shadow is the tyranny that rules only by fear. The pentacle teaches that to command the Martial powers one must be greater than them, and that the truest mastery of force is the mastery of one's own.

Where else it appears

This seal of command is the talismanic skin of the same Martial authority that Phaleg holds in the Arbatel as the War-Captain over the spirits of Mars and that Samael wields as the angel of severity. The war-spirit's rank, the hawk's commanding height, and the drawn seal that overawes are facets of one fierce Mars mastered from above. Lay them together and the same commanded force looks back.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

On The Day, the Fourth 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 fills with terror the 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 force must be mastered to be useful, and that the mastery of force begins with the mastery of one's own. It matters because the Martial day asks you to command your fierceness rather than be ruled by it. It asks you to hold your own force in hand.

Correspondences

planet

Mars

element

Fire

zodiac

Aries, Scorpio

sephirah

Geburah

day

Tuesday

colour

Red

metal

Iron

stone

Ruby

tarot

The Tower