A Master of Djinn

Signet rings and similar stamps have long served as a method of authenticating documents. Used most often by kings and other aristocrats, signets would be unique to the person possessing them. After writing a document, the user would seal it with hot wax then press their signet into the wax, leaving a mark that they had personally sealed the document. Because of their close association with writing, such seals became associated with magic.

The Seal of Sulayman, a six-pointed star made from overlapping two inverted triangles, is also related to the Star of David, the symbol of the Jewish faith. The seal is not a creation by P. Djeli Clark, but a legendary artifact spoken of in ancient writing. Sulayman is revered in all three Abrahamic religions, bearing a reputation for wisdom, building the First Temple in Jerusalem, and writing the books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Sulayman. He is also known in folklore as a powerful magician, capable of capturing and sealing demons and djinn. The magical nature of writing and the power of the seal for authenticity naturally lend themselves to these legends as the tool to do this.

In Clark’s writing, the ring itself seems to have picked up a few qualities from J.