Devil's Trap

(Sam reading the Key of Solomon)


(The Devil's Trap above Meg)

I had just watched the season 1 finale of the paranormal TV drama series Supernatural.

The scriptwriter apparently did some research, but take creative license to alter certain aspects of the occult figures.

What caught my attention in this episode is the mention of Key of Solomon and the so-called “devil’s trap”. I just have to chuckle when Sam refer to Key of Solomon: “This book, I’ve never seen anything like this”.

Bob Singer was right when he said the book “is a real deal”. The “devil’s trap” in the Key of Solomon prop indeed is real, only it was modified to the extent that it looks somewhere different from the original seal as found in actual Clavicula Salomonis. The so-called “Devil’s Trap” is actually, according to the Mathers edition of the book, the Fifth Pentacle of Mars. The translation given by Mathers says the seal “…is terrible unto the Demons… they (the Demons) cannot resist its presence”.



Surrounding the scorpion is the Hebrew word הול HVL, “terror”, and the versicle Hebrew wording is from Psalm 90:13 “Thou shalt go upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet”, sometimes the Latin translation is given in place of Hebrew: “super aspidem et basiliscum calcabis conculcabis leonem et draconem”.

Another version of this seal is given in the French translation of the book Les Véritables Clavicules de Salomon by Rabbi Abognazar. The versicle Latin wording is taken from Psalm 75:8 “tu terribilis es et quis resistet tibi ex tunc ira tua”, “Thou art terrible, and who shall resist thee from that time thy wrath”.


Here is an excerpt of the explanation texts given in Rabbi Abognazar:

“Ce Pentacule est trés nécessaire pour ceux qui vont en guerre, il a la vertu de donner du courage et de la force pour combattre, et celui qui le portera ne sera jamais blessé d'aucune arme…”

And here goes my own translation for the above texts:

“This pentacle is very useful for those who go to war, it has the virtue of giving courage and power in battle, whosoever wears it will not be harmed by any weapon...”

Well, seems fitting for a pentacle of Mars.

The “Devil’s Trap” that appears in this episode of Supernatural seems to be a mixture of the above mentioned seal and the outline of Dee’s Sigillum Dei Ameth but without the central pentagram and the holy names of God and angels. The “Devil’s Trap” is placed inside an obtuse heptagram, and the heptagram placed within a heptagon, which in turn placed inside a magical protective circle.



I suppose the scriptwriter at least has some knowledge in occultism, but I do wish next time I will see a drama series with more genuine occult stuffs.