In 1533, a German scholar named Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa published the final volume of his Three Books of Occult Philosophy. Among its pages, he laid out a system of planetary magic that would influence every Western esoteric tradition that followed. Agrippa planetary magic is a structured system of correspondences and rituals that align the practitioner with the seven classical planets through symbols, metals, colors, and timed invocations. It is not a loose collection of folk charms. It is a rigorous framework built on Hermetic, Neoplatonic, and Kabbalistic principles.
Where Did Agrippa’s Planetary System Come From?
Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486–1535) was a German polymath, theologian, and physician who spent years traveling across Europe collecting occult manuscripts. He studied in Italy under the influence of Marsilio Ficino, whose translations of Hermetic texts had revived interest in planetary magic. Agrippa also drew from the Picatrix, a 13th-century Arabic grimoire of astrological magic, and from the Kabbalistic tradition he encountered through Jewish scholars.
His Three Books of Occult Philosophy appeared in three parts: Book I in 1531, Book II in 1532, and Book III in 1533. The work was immediately controversial. The Church condemned it as heretical, and Agrippa spent his final years defending his writings while living in poverty in Grenoble. He died in 1535, but his book circulated in manuscript and printed form, becoming the primary reference for European ceremonial magic for centuries.
Agrippa did not invent planetary magic. He systematized it. Earlier sources like the Picatrix gave astrological tables and recipes for talismans but lacked a unified symbolic language. Agrippa organized the correspondences into tables that linked each planet to a specific metal, color, number, angel, intelligence, spirit, and sigil. He also provided the mathematical method for constructing planetary squares (kameas), which generate the sigils.
What Each Planet Carries: The Correspondences
Agrippa assigned each of the seven classical planets a set of fixed attributes. These are not arbitrary. They follow a logic based on the planet’s astrological nature, its traditional metal, and its numerical value in the Hebrew alphabet.
Saturn (lead, black, number 3, Hebrew letter Gimel). The sigil is drawn from a 3x3 square. Saturn governs limitation, time, and structure. Its influence is slow and heavy, used in magic for binding, protection, or contacting ancestors.
Jupiter (tin, blue, number 4, Hebrew letter Daleth). The 4x4 square produces a sigil of expansion and authority. Jupiter rules wealth, justice, and social power. Talismans for success or legal matters are made under its hour.
Mars (iron, red, number 5, Hebrew letter Heh). The 5x5 square yields a sigil of force and conflict. Mars governs war, courage, and aggression. Its magic is used for protection, victory, or cutting ties.
Sun (gold, yellow, number 6, Hebrew letter Vav). The 6x6 square generates the solar sigil. The Sun rules vitality, fame, and spiritual enlightenment. Solar talismans are the most common in Agrippa’s system, used for health and personal power.
Venus (copper, green, number 7, Hebrew letter Zayin). The 7x7 square produces a sigil of love and harmony. Venus governs attraction, art, and pleasure. Its magic is gentle but persistent.
Mercury (mercury/quicksilver, orange or mixed colors, number 8, Hebrew letter Cheth). The 8x8 square yields a sigil of communication and intellect. Mercury rules eloquence, commerce, and travel. Talismans for learning or negotiation are made under its influence.
Moon (silver, white, number 9, Hebrew letter Teth). The 9x9 square gives the lunar sigil. The Moon governs emotion, dreams, and intuition. Lunar magic is used for divination, sleep, and psychic work.
Each planet also has a corresponding angel (e.g., Cassiel for Saturn, Sachiel for Jupiter), an intelligence (e.g., Agiel for Saturn), and a spirit (e.g., Zazel for Saturn). These names are drawn from Kabbalistic angelology and are used in invocations.
How the Magic Is Practiced
Agrippa’s planetary magic is a practice of timing and material correspondence. The practitioner does not simply recite words. They align every element of the ritual with the planet’s nature.
The first step is determining the planetary hour. Agrippa provided tables for calculating the hour of each planet for any given day. The planetary hour is not a fixed 60-minute period. It is a division of daylight and nighttime into 12 equal parts each, with the first hour of sunrise assigned to the planet ruling that day (Sunday: Sun, Monday: Moon, Tuesday: Mars, Wednesday: Mercury, Thursday: Jupiter, Friday: Venus, Saturday: Saturn). The hours then cycle through the Chaldean order: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. So the practitioner must calculate the exact minute when the desired planet’s hour begins.
Once the time is set, the material preparation begins. For a talisman, the metal of the planet is chosen. A disk is cut and polished. On it, the planetary sigil is engraved or drawn with ink of the planet’s color. The practitioner may also inscribe the planetary seal (a more complex symbol) and the name of the appropriate angel or intelligence. The work is done in a consecrated space, often with a circle drawn and candles lit in the planet’s color.
Agrippa recommended reciting psalms or biblical verses that resonate with the planet’s nature. For Jupiter, Psalm 112 (“Blessed is the man who fears the Lord”). For Mars, Psalm 35 (“Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me”). The talisman is then fumigated with incense appropriate to the planet (e.g., frankincense for the Sun, myrrh for Saturn). Finally, it is wrapped in silk of the planetary color and kept on the person or placed in a specific location.
We do not perform these rituals lightly. The preparation alone can take hours. The planetary hour must be exact. The metal must be pure. The sigil must be drawn without error. Agrippa warned that mistakes in the correspondences would render the talisman inert or even dangerous.
How Agrippa’s System Differs from Earlier and Later Traditions
Before Agrippa, planetary magic was more astrological and less symbolic. The Picatrix gave detailed instructions for talismans based on planetary positions in the zodiac, but it did not provide a unified set of correspondences. Agrippa simplified and codified. He replaced the complex astrological calculations with a fixed set of symbols that could be used regardless of the planet’s current position in the sky. This made planetary magic accessible to a wider audience, but it also moved it away from the living sky toward a more abstract system.
Later, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (founded 1888) adopted Agrippa’s planetary correspondences but expanded them. They added Enochian elements, Tarot attributions, and a more elaborate ritual structure. The Golden Dawn also introduced the concept of the planetary sphere as a realm to be traveled in vision, not just a source of talismanic power. Agrippa’s system, by contrast, is primarily talismanic and invocatory. He did not teach astral projection to the planets.
John Dee (1527–1608) owned a copy of Agrippa’s Three Books and used its planetary tables in his angelic conversations. Dee’s system of Enochian magic, however, replaced the planetary angels with a different hierarchy. Still, the debt is clear: Dee’s planetary seals are directly derived from Agrippa’s kameas.
Common Misconceptions about Agrippa’s Planetary Magic
The first misconception is that Agrippa was a sorcerer in the modern sense. He was a devout Christian who believed that magic was a way to understand God’s creation. He wrote that the planetary spirits were not gods but servants of the divine. His magic was intended to be used for good, not for harm. The Church’s condemnation came more from his criticism of ecclesiastical authority than from his magical writings.
Second, the sigils are not arbitrary doodles. They are generated from the planetary squares (kameas), which are mathematical grids where the numbers in each row, column, and diagonal sum to the same total. The sigil is drawn by connecting the cells in the order of the planet’s number sequence. For example, the Saturn sigil traces the numbers 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9 in the 3x3 square. Each line has a meaning. The sigil is a map of the planetary force.
Third, planetary magic is not about worshiping the planets. The planets are symbols of cosmic principles. When we make a Jupiter talisman, we are not praying to the planet Jupiter. We are aligning ourselves with the principle of expansion and authority that Jupiter represents. The correspondences are tools for focusing the will, not objects of devotion.
Fourth, Agrippa’s system is not purely theoretical. It was used by practitioners in his own time and continues to be used today. The Three Books contains detailed instructions for talisman creation, and there are surviving examples of Agrippa-style talismans from the 16th and 17th centuries. It is a working system, not a museum piece.
FAQ
What are the seven planets in Agrippa’s system?
Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, and Moon. These are the classical planets visible to the naked eye, each assigned a day of the week.
How do you calculate the planetary hour?
Divide the time between sunrise and sunset into 12 equal parts for the day, and the time between sunset and sunrise into 12 equal parts for the night. The first hour of each day is ruled by the planet of that day. The hours then cycle through the Chaldean order.
What is the difference between planetary magic and astrological magic?
Astrological magic uses the current positions of planets in the zodiac. Planetary magic uses fixed correspondences (metal, color, sigil) that do not change with the sky. Agrippa’s system is planetary, not astrological.
Do you need special tools to practice Agrippa’s planetary magic?
At minimum, you need the metal of the planet, a tool to engrave the sigil, and a way to determine the planetary hour. Many practitioners also use candles, incense, and a consecrated space, but the core is the talisman and the timing.
The Living Thread
Agrippa’s planetary magic is not a relic of the 16th century. It is a practice that continues to be adapted and used by contemporary occultists. The correspondences he compiled remain the standard reference for planetary work in Western esotericism. For those who wish to begin, our guide to planetary hours provides the calculations needed to time a ritual. The planetary sigils glossary offers the symbols themselves, drawn from the original kameas. And our planetary magic hub collects all the correspondences in one place, ready for the practitioner who wants to work with the seven forces that Agrippa so carefully mapped.