NOTE: Since this page was written, we have adopted an order for the elements corresponding to our cosmology and circle castings. This page and graphic will be re-done to reflect those changes. The new order would be: to weave, to dare, to will, to keep silence, to know. This order implies that though the magus "weaves" from a solid base of knowledge about magical craft, her work leads to greater and deeper knowledge, or gnosis, which in turn gives rise to deeper and more empowered workings. We may, however, drop Wolfe's elemental associations, keeping her addition "to weave," while preserving the traditional order of the Laws of the Magus.
The Pentacle of the Magus
The four traditional "Rules of the Magus" or "Cornerstones of the Craft" are the injunctions
1. To Know
2. To Will
3. To Dare
4. To Keep Silence
In a recent book on the elements (Elemental Power), Amber Wolfe arranges these four on a woven star and adds a fifth injunction, To Weave. To weave means to co-create, to work magic within the ethical context of Pagan religion, and may be related to the root of Wicca, which has been interpreted as a verb meaning "to bend" or "to weave" (it may be related to "wicker"). Wolfe's addition is appropriate, since it helps us to conceptualize the inter-relatedness of the four traditional rules and the ways those relationships translate into the world of action and magic. Wolfe associates the injunctions with the elements (to know=earth; to will=fire; to dare=air; to keep silence=water; to weave=spirit) and I have arranged them on this pentacle in accordance with traditional elemental ascriptions (the upper point is spirit and the lower left is earth, for example--see the elemental pentacle page for more information). This is not the traditional order of the rules (movement follows the weave of the star, from to weave --> to know --> to dare ---> to be silent --> to dare and back to to weave). Though this is not the traditional order, it still preserves the dynamic interrelationship of the points and helps us to visualize knowledge and will as the "feet" of the pentacle, with daring and silence as arms and weaving, the work of our religion, as crown.
Working the Pentacle in Meditation
Pentacle Meditations | Pagan Universalism Homepage