c. 14th–17th c. (extant manuscripts); claimed antiquity · Hebrew & Greek originals lost; Latin & French in late medieval Europe
Clavicula Salomonis · Key of Solomon
The grimoire of the ringed king
Mafteaḥ Shelomoh — 'The Key of Solomon.' A goetic handbook of seals, conjurations, and 44 pentacles attributed to King Solomon, who in legend bound 72 demons with his ring to build the First Temple. The most copied grimoire in Western magic.
Table of Contents
Begin reading →- 01Clavicula Salomonis — The Key of Solomon3mKeeper's
- 02The Seven Planetary Days and the Construction of Pentacles6mKeeper's
- 03The Magic Circle, the Conjurations, and the Goetia7mKeeper's
Primary — authentic public-domain translation · Keeper's — interpretive synthesis authored for this app
The Ringed King
The Testament of Solomon (1st–3rd c. CE) tells how the archangel Michael gave Solomon a ring bearing the divine seal — a hexagram with a single dot at center. With it Solomon called and bound 72 demons, set them to build the First Temple, then sealed them in a brass vessel and cast it into the sea. The Clavicula is what survives of his alleged working notes.
The 44 Pentacles
The heart of the book: seven pentacles for each of the seven planets, plus extras. Each is a circular sigil carrying Hebrew divine names + a Psalm verse. The Pentacles of Saturn bind; of Mars defend; of Sol reveal; of Venus draw love; of Mercury open speech; of Jupiter grant favor; of Luna call dreams.
The Operations
Book I details the rites: the day, the hour, the moon's phase, the consecrations of knife, wand, sword, and cup, the drawing of the circle, the invocations, the dismissal. Book II is the materia — incenses, inks, virgin parchments, the ritual fast. Together they form the template every Western magical order — Golden Dawn, OTO, Thelema — would later modify but never abandon.
Lesser Key & Goetia
A separate compilation, the Lemegeton or 'Lesser Key', emerged in the 17th century and contains the famous Ars Goetia — 72 demons each with seal, rank, and 'office.' Often confused with the original Key, the Lesser Key is its dark sibling: where the Clavicula compels with divine names, the Goetia treats the spirits as nobility with whom one negotiates.
Why It Endures
Because it is operational. Where most grimoires gesture toward power, the Key of Solomon gives instructions — exact, ritual, repeatable. Whether or not the spirits come, the book functions. It is the engineering manual of Western ceremonial magic; everything from Eliphas Lévi to Aleister Crowley reads it as scripture.
Alphabet · Glyphs
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