Pentacle

“ But the pentacle itself has an intelligible meaning; it belongs to the only universal language, the language of symbol, in which all races that think—around, and above, and below us—can establish communion of thought. If in the external universe any one constructive principle can be detected, it is the geometrical; and in every part of the world in which magic pretends to a written character, I find that its hieroglyphics are geometrical figures. ”

“ Abruptly, as though a hundred unseen hands had snuffed them, every candle in the Barrier went dead out, and we were left in a darkness that seemed, for a little, absolute; for the light from the Pentacle was too weak and pale to penetrate far across the great hall. ”

“ If you have ever, when out shooting, broken a rabbit's neck, you will know the sound--in miniature! Like lightning, the thought sprang into my brain:--_IT has crossed the Pentacle._ For you will remember that I had made one about each of the dogs. I thought instantly, with a sick apprehension, of our own Barriers. There was something in the hall with us that had passed the Barrier of the Pentacle about one of the dogs. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Some years ago, when on a tour in quest of lore, a Pembrokeshire gentleman tells us that he remembers being puzzled by the appearance of a number of pentacles being cut into the bark of several oak trees near the solitary dwelling of a charmer. He addressed the Solon a few questions on the meaning of these strange figures, but was cut short with the reply, “They be signs.” On Cresswell Hill, near Lady’s Well, there grows a row of tall beeches, on one of which may be seen the figure of a pentacle. ”

“ Pentecost had come, and a chapter of the order of the Knights of the Round Table was held as usual at Camelot. The knights were assembled in the great hall of the Castle. Anon a cracking and crying as of thunder was heard, and they thought the palace would break asunder. In the midst entered a sunbeam more clear by seven times than ever they saw day. Then the knights beheld each other fairer than they had ever seen them before, and no knight might speak a word for a great while, and each man looked on the other as they had been dumb. ”

“ The knights and damsels lay the night in the tents until the morrow, and went to hear mass in a chapel that was in the midst of the tents.
XIV. When mass was sung, straightway behold you, a knight that cometh all armed, bearing a white shield at his neck. He alighteth in the midst of the tents and cometh before the Queen all armed, and saith: "Lady, I plain me of a knight that is there within that hath slain my lion, and if you do me not right herein, I will harass you as much or more than I will him, and will harm you in every wise I may. ”

“ When Pope Urban girt this blade on me at Clermont, and bade me perform the duties of a true knight of Christ in this divine Crusade, I made a secret vow that on this day I would not fight as a prince and leader, but would assume the arms and armor of a common soldier. I shall station my men and see to all things as a general should; then, in this light armor of a foot-soldier, I shall strive to plant the banner of the cross on the ramparts of Jerusalem. God will protect my life. ”

“ He was silent; and the judge, turning to the woman, said, "Girl! by the law of the land, you are doubly the wife of this knight. First, because he freed you from a violator; and secondly, because you contracted yourself to him. Why hast thou denied thy husband admittance into his own castle?" She, also, was unable to answer, and the judge condemned both to be crucified. This was done accordingly, and much praise was given to the judge for the sentence he had pronounced.
APPLICATION.
My beloved, the emperor is God; the woman is the soul, and the violator, the devil. The knight is Christ ”

“ And you, sir," saith she to Perceval, "And you would enter into this castle, lend me your spear and shield, and so will I bear them before for warranty, and you come after me and make such countenance as good knight should, and so shall you pass through into the castle. But your fellows may well draw back, for now is not the hour for them to pass. None may pass thither save only he that goeth to vanquish the knight and win the Golden Circlet and the Graal, and do away the false law with its horns of copper." ”

“ Sir Percival and Sir Clamadius do battle.
Meanwhile many folk came and stood upon the walls of the castle to behold that encounter, whilst each knight took such stand as appeared good to him. Then, when they were in all wise prepared, each knight drave spurs into his horse and rushed himself against the other with most terrible and fierce violence. Therewith they met in the very midst of the course with an uproar like to thunder that echoed back from the flat walls of the castle. ”

“ The tidings came to the King that held the castle, and he bade his knights not be dismayed for dread of a single knight, for that he would have no force nor power against them, nor might it never befall but that one only of his own knights should be enough to conquer him.
XXVI. Perceval was armed upon his horse. The hermits make the sign of the cross over him, and bless him and commend him to God. And he holdeth his spear in rest and cometh toward the three knights that guard the first bridge. They all set upon him at once and break their spears upon his shield. ”

“ The pious king assembled against him scarcely 1000 knights and foot-soldiers, forming seven battalions out of them, and he sent them with great confidence directly at the thickest ranks of the enemy. When the prince saw far off a pagan knight, he rushed at him with such force that he drove his spear, together with its standard, into the man's breast, and when he pulled the spear from the wound, the standard remained in the man's breast. ”

“ My beloved, the emperor is our Lord Jesus Christ; the tournament is the conquest between God and the devils; the shields are some of the attributes of the Almighty, and the field is human nature. The shield bearing three golden apples, is the Trinity in Unity, against which the knight—that is, any man—strikes, when he commits a mortal sin. The reward of the conqueror is eternal life. ”

“ Yet let him meet alone the Christian knight,
And stand yourself aloof, while they two fight.”
XXII
Thus spake the King, and soon without abode
The troop went forth in shining armor clad,
Before the rest the Pagan champion rode,
His wonted arms and ensigns all he had:
A goodly plain displayed wide and broad,
Between the city and the camp was spread,
A place like that wherein proud Rome beheld
The forward young men manage spear and shield. ”

“ The knight hastened to the hall; all clustered round him to hear his tale; but the good lord of the castle bade them first release him of his armor, and bring in refreshment. One by one 167the pieces of his armor were taken off, and neither wound nor bruise appeared; at last they proceeded to take off one of his cuishes; it was filled with blood, and even then a few drops were seen to ooze from a slight wound in the thigh. His wound dressed, his fatigue refreshed with good wine and meat, the lord of the castle requested the knight’s account of his meeting with the demon champion. ”

“ Such was the courage and confidence of his new troops that the first battle they fought resulted in victory. But the most valiant stand was made by the erstwhile charcoal-burner, who found on that field the opportunity of which he had long dreamt. The Emperor showed his recognition of the gallant services by knighting the young man on the field of battle. On the eminence whither the old hermit had led him the knight built a castle which was occupied by himself and his successors for many generations. ”

“ Taking therefore his shield, and first pouring the healing balm, which he always carried with him for such needs, into the knight’s wounds, he put him thereon, and bare him, the lady helping, to a castle that was hard by. And it so chanced that the lord of this castle was father to the wounded knight, a man far advanced in years, who had been a famous man-at-arms in the days gone by, and was of most courteous and hospitable temper. ”

“ A Christian knight had a dream, in which he saw an eagle flying over an army, holding in his claws seven javelins, and uttering in an intelligible voice, Evil be to Jerusalem. [313]
Every one accused himself of having brought down the vengeance of Heaven by his own offences; and all the faithful sought to appease by penitence a God whom they believed to be irritated. “The Lord,” said they among themselves, “has poured out the floods of his wrath, and the arrows of his anger are bathed in the blood of his servants. ”

“ Also, that no man take no battles in a wrongful quarrel for no law, nor for no world’s goods. Unto this were all the knights sworn of the Table Round, both old and young. And every year were they sworn at the high feast of Pentecost. ”

“ I come as a Gothic knight into your presence, most magnanimous son of Mousa, whom men call ‘the merciful,’ to treat of the surrender of the castle. As you see, our walls are fully manned, and we have food for a lengthened siege. ”

“ Often they stayed to look on the church, the church of the Knight Templars, those terrible and mysterious knights who, with crossed legs for sign of mission, and with long swords and kite-shaped shields, lie upon the pavement of the church. ”

“ Pentuer stopped the way to the prince.
"It is not for thee to hunt fugitives, worthiness."
"What?" cried the heir. "During this whole battle I did not raise a hand on any man, and now I am to give up the Libyan leader? What would be said by the warriors whom I have sent out under spears and axes?"
"The army cannot remain without a leader."
"But are not Patrokles, Tutmosis, and finally Mentezufis, here? For what purpose am I commander if I cannot hunt the enemy? They are a few hundred yards from us and have tired horses." ”

“ We enter the new Palace by a stairway of monumental size closed at the top by a magnificent grille of polished iron which is opened to allow the visitor to pass. We find ourselves under the large vault of a domed hall where sentinels are perpetually on guard: four effigies clothed from head to foot in antique and curious Sclavonic armour. These knights have a noble air; they are surprisingly life-like; we could easily believe that hearts are beating beneath their coats of mail. ”

“ If there is a second son who is a knight, but so poor that he must serve, he shall come with his war-horse, shield, and lance, to the court of the archbishop before the door of St. Peter’s church, and if he has no servant, he shall dismount at the perforated stone which lies there, and run his lance through the hole in the stone, and fix his reins around the lance, and lean his shield against the stone. ”

“ GALAHAD IN THE SIEGE PERILOUS So when they were served and all the sieges fulfilled, save only the Siege Perilous, anon there came in a good old man, and an ancient, clothed all in white, and there was no knight knew from whence he came. And with him he brought a young knight, both on foot, in red arms, without sword or shield, save a scabbard hanging by his side. ”

“ We can mention but briefly another Venetian legend which, like several of those already given, reaches back to the Middle Ages. A wealthy knight, who has led a wicked life, repents when he grows old, and his confessor enjoins on him a three years' penance. The knight refuses, for he might die at the end of two years and lose all that amount of penance. He refuses in turn a penance of two years, of one year, and even of a month, but agrees to do penance for one night. ”

“ The sanctity of the place, the striking the stone, a burlesque of the regal defiances at Presburg, and still practised by the sovereign at the ceremony of dubbing a knight—which, as Pennant remarks, had been a customary way of taking possession—the being placed on the stone upon which his recognition as a prince and sovereign is to follow; all are ample testimonies of the intention. ”

“ Above the buildings of the city rose steep and high the Capitoline Hill, with the Temple of Jupiter on its summit, and the strong wall in which was the chief stronghold and citadel of Rome, the Capitol, the very centre of her strength and resolution. When a war was decided on, every citizen capable of bearing arms was called into the Forum, bringing his helmet, breast plate, short sword, and heavy spear, and the officers called tribunes, chose out a sufficient number, who were formed into bodies called legions, and marched to battle under the command of one of the consuls. ”

“ Heaven will surely guide and protect its faithful knights, and his lady bids him Godspeed, though with tearful eyes. From the castle court below, sounds of gathering troops and martial preparation rise to their ears, at first faintly, then with growing din and clamor, till a burst of trumpets greets the rising sun; the gates are flung open and, hastily descending, he takes his place at the head of his forces and they march away to the strains of inspiriting military music. ”

“ The Emperor could no longer disbelieve the divine nature of the message, and he arose sadly, dressed himself in full armour, and took up his sword and shield, his spear and hunting-knife. Stealthily he quitted his chamber, fearing every moment to be discovered. He imagined himself being detected by his own court in the act of privily leaving his own palace, as though he were a robber, and the thought was intolerable. ”