Ars Occulta / Essays / Geometry of the system

Symbols

Geometry of the system

Heptagrams, the Sigillum Dei, and why the eight-arrow chaos star is not a traditional symbol.

947 words · EN · 2026.09 · Leer en español

1. Heptagram — the seven-pointed star

There are two regular heptagrams and they are not interchangeable:

• {7/2}, the open-stroke one. Among neopagans it is called the Elven Star or Fairy Star. It is the gentler of the two visually: the angles are wide and the interior stays clear.
• {7/3}, the "great heptagram." A closed, acute stroke, far denser. This is the one associated with magical power across several pagan traditions, and the one used as an identifier by part of the otherkin subculture.

Documented attributions: the heptagram appears in the symbol of Babalon within Crowley's Thelemic system; it is used in kabbalistic contexts; and in alchemy it points to the seven planets and the seven substances (fire, water, air, earth, sulphur, salt and mercury). It is also the emblem of the seven Cherokee clans, a usage outside the Western tradition that is best not blended in.

Fit with the site: the planetary seven is already in the system — the Goetia's ranks map onto the seven classical planets. The heptagram is, literally, that map drawn out.

2. A warning about the eight-arrow "chaos star"

The Symbol of Chaos (eight radial arrows) is not a traditional symbol. Michael Moorcock designed it in the 1960s for the Elric of Melniboné saga, as an expanded compass rose: the eight arrows are the many possibilities set against Law's single path. Chaos magic adopted it as an emblem in the late seventies; the Illuminates of Thanateros use a variant with an eye.

Two problems with using it as a watermark:

1. Misreading. It is massively associated with Games Workshop's Warhammer and with Dungeons & Dragons. On a site of historical outreach the audience will read it as a reference to tabletop games, not to esotericism.
2. It is identifiable modern authorship, not public-domain folklore.

Recommendation: keep it out of the background. If chaos magic is to be discussed, let it appear illustrating that article, cited and attributed to Moorcock, not as a brand texture.

3. Sigillum Dei Aemeth — the best piece in the set

The seal of John Dee (16th century). Circular construction: an outer ring of letters and numbers, an inscribed heptagon, a heptagram within, and a lattice of angelic names distributed across the seven points.

Why it works here better than any other:

• It is angelic, not demonic — it fits the Shemhamphorash side.
• Its geometry is the heptagram, so it reinforces the previous point instead of competing with it.
• Public domain, and clean vector reconstructions exist.
• It has exactly the right density: at 5% opacity it reads as a weave, not as a recognizable drawing that pulls focus.

4. The 44 planetary pentacles of the *Clavicula*

The plates from the Mathers 1889 edition are public domain. They are discs with Hebrew inscriptions and psalm verses, organized by planet.

A documentary caution worth carrying into the site's text: the series of 44 is not medieval. The order varies brutally between manuscripts — there are codices with three pentacles and others with more than a hundred — and the organization by planet is a late editorial artifact that Mathers canonized. On top of that, the Hebrew on the plates was reconstructed by Mathers and Wynn Westcott from illegible originals: it is Victorian restoration, not facsimile.

As graphic material they are ideal because they already come as discs, just like the Goetic sigils, so the visual system stays coherent without repeating demons.

5. Abramelin magic squares

242 squares of letters. As a texture they are excellent: a grid of characters, uniform density, and no recognizable icon to compete with the content. They serve for the backgrounds of long text sections, where a disc would be too much of a focal point.

Note: Leitch found that some 156 of those squares required correction and one turned out to be beyond repair, which retrospectively vindicates Mathers's warning about the incomplete squares. It makes a good footnote for the Abramelin article.

6. Secondary reserve

Pieces to rotate in later, all public domain and non-demonic:

• Monas Hieroglyphica by Dee (1564) — a single glyph, extremely legible as a mark.
• Unicursal hexagram — a continuous stroke, from Lévi, popularized by Crowley.
• Ouroboros and the Chrysopoeia of Cleopatra.
• Tree of Life, sefirotic — a diagram of ten nodes and twenty-two paths.
• Classical planetary glyphs ☉ ☽ ☿ ♀ ♂ ♃ ♄ — already in use in the entries, they work as separators.
• Vesica piscis and sacred geometry constructions, useful as a compositional grid as well as ornament.

How they are applied

• A single family per section, never mixed on the same screen.
• Opacity 4–8% over the dark background; above 10% they compete with the text and lower contrast, which is exactly the opposite of what an audience over 40 needs.
• Hairline stroke, no fill. Fill creates patches that genuinely interfere with reading.
• Placement outside the text column or behind short blocks (headings, pull quotes), never behind long paragraphs.
• On mobile, one mark per screen or none.

WarningHistorical and artistic content. We do not recommend performing any ritual, invocation or practice involving these entities. This is outreach about texts from the 15th to the 20th century, not an operative guide.