It will be remembered that the inscription of a pentagram on the
threshold prevents the escape of Mephistopheles in Goethe's _Faust_.
threshold prevents the escape of Mephistopheles in Goethe's _Faust_.
Ben Jonson - The Devil's Association
or the
skin bone or any other parte of any dead person, to be imployed
or used in any manner of Witchcrafte Sorcerie Charme or
Inchantment. '
The wing of the raven, as a bird of ill omen, may be an
invention of Jonson's own. The lighting of candles within the
magic circle is mentioned below (note 1. 2. 26).
Most powerful of all was the pentacle, of which Scot's
_Discovery_ (Ap. II, p. 533, 4) furnishes an elaborate
description. This figure was used by the Pythagorean school as
their seal, and is equivalent to the pentagram or five-pointed
star (see _CD. _).
Dekker (_Wks. _ 2. 200) connects it with the Periapt as a 'potent
charm,' and Marlowe speaks of it in _Hero and Leander_,
_Wks. _ 3. 45:
A rich disparent pentacle she wears,
Drawn full of circles and strange characters.
It will be remembered that the inscription of a pentagram on the
threshold prevents the escape of Mephistopheles in Goethe's _Faust_.
The editors explain its potency as due to the fact that it is
resolvable into three triangles, and is thus a triple sign of the
Trinity.
Cunningham says that the pentacle 'when delineated upon the body of a
man was supposed to point out the five wounds of the Saviour. ' W. J.
Thoms (_Anecdotes_, Camden Soc. , 1839, p. 97) speaks of its presence
in the western window of the southern aisle of Westminster Abbey, an
indication that the monks were versed in occult science.
=1. 2. 21 If they be not. = Gifford refers to Chrysippus, _De
Divinatione,_ Lib. 1. ? 71: 'This is the very syllogism by which that
acute philosopher triumphantly proved the reality of augury. '
=1.
skin bone or any other parte of any dead person, to be imployed
or used in any manner of Witchcrafte Sorcerie Charme or
Inchantment. '
The wing of the raven, as a bird of ill omen, may be an
invention of Jonson's own. The lighting of candles within the
magic circle is mentioned below (note 1. 2. 26).
Most powerful of all was the pentacle, of which Scot's
_Discovery_ (Ap. II, p. 533, 4) furnishes an elaborate
description. This figure was used by the Pythagorean school as
their seal, and is equivalent to the pentagram or five-pointed
star (see _CD. _).
Dekker (_Wks. _ 2. 200) connects it with the Periapt as a 'potent
charm,' and Marlowe speaks of it in _Hero and Leander_,
_Wks. _ 3. 45:
A rich disparent pentacle she wears,
Drawn full of circles and strange characters.
It will be remembered that the inscription of a pentagram on the
threshold prevents the escape of Mephistopheles in Goethe's _Faust_.
The editors explain its potency as due to the fact that it is
resolvable into three triangles, and is thus a triple sign of the
Trinity.
Cunningham says that the pentacle 'when delineated upon the body of a
man was supposed to point out the five wounds of the Saviour. ' W. J.
Thoms (_Anecdotes_, Camden Soc. , 1839, p. 97) speaks of its presence
in the western window of the southern aisle of Westminster Abbey, an
indication that the monks were versed in occult science.
=1. 2. 21 If they be not. = Gifford refers to Chrysippus, _De
Divinatione,_ Lib. 1. ? 71: 'This is the very syllogism by which that
acute philosopher triumphantly proved the reality of augury. '
=1.
