Introduction

A "Pantacle" is a symbol and elemental weapon of Earth, but traditionally it was also inscribed with a diagram representing the adept's understanding of the structure of the universe. At its basic level it is often inscribed with a pentagram on one side (representing microcosm of the five elements) and a hexagram on the obverse (representing the macrocosm of the seven planets).

The main purpose of constructing a Synergetic Pantacle is to create a more effective diagram of the structure of the universe, which will lead to more effective spells.

In 1869, Dimitri Mendeleyev published his periodic table of the elements. He had noticed that certain elements were similar to each other. As it turned out, there was a pattern to the similarities, with elements falling into family groups.

But in 1869, not all of the elements had been discovered. So some elements did not "fit" into the expected family. Mendeleyev boldly asserted that this proved the existence of as yet undiscovered elements, and he used the periodic table to predict the unknown element's properties. The elements were eventually found, and had exactly the properties foreseen by Mendeleyev.

So the secondary use of the Synergetic Pantacle is to discover any suspicious gaps representing as yet unexpressed magickal symbols, and to deduce their properties.

The late R. Buckminster Fuller is the architect of the theory of "Synergetics". The most often encountered application of synergetics is in the design of geodetic domes. By the application of synergetic principles, such domes are unusually strong given their limited structural mass.

Synergetics is the science of patterns and interactions of energy. A mage who studies Synergetics cannot help but notice that the type of energy is unspecified. In other words, Synergetics can apply to magickal energies just as easily as to electricity or torque.

Synergetic constructs have many advantages, but two in particular stand out with respect to magickal operations.

One: it is possible to combine two forces in a synergetic manner such that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. (This is where geodetic domes derive their strength)

Two: in Synergetics there is no direct scale factor. The size of a construct is measured by using the time variable. This means that a mage could increase the magnitude of power of a spell by increasing the duration of spell casting.

Another attractive feature of Synergetics is its foundation on the geometric solid of the tetrahedron. This solid has four vertices, which map nicely to the four elements. Bisecting the edges yields an octahedron, which has six vertices that map to the planets. Bisecting its edges yields a cuboctahedron, which has twelve vertices that map to the twelve signs of the zodiac.