About Astrological Talismans

[kotatsu]

I’ve recently been reading books about the creation of astrological talismans, such as Picatrix. I’d like to make a talisman for myself and consecrate it. I feel that this could be one of the ways for me to establish a connection with planetary/stellar spirits, and I’m very interested in this.


I’d like to know if anyone here has experimented with making these kinds of talismans themselves, and what kind of effects or results you experienced?

 

[anahat.sing]

im Actually trying to do a similiar thing and im curious too I have been reading Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic Series Volume IV - The Veritable Key of Solomon which also has talisman work in it. Im running into an issue with every grimoire purports a slightly different version.

 

[kotatsu]

im Actually trying to do a similiar thing and im curious too I have been reading Sourceworks of Ceremonial Magic Series Volume IV - The Veritable Key of Solomon which also has talisman work in it. Im running into an issue with every grimoire purports a slightly different version.

Yes, I’ve also noticed that many books and authors have differing opinions, which has been somewhat confusing for me.

However, I’m actually planning to make some talismans over the next few days, so I may share some of my experiences with them in this thread.

 

[Witch Cat]

Good afternoon, there are different systems of astrological talismans and magick, the ones I prefer are from the Islamicate occult systems (Picatrix and the Shams al-Ma'arif are two of the best known). You are in essence trying to create an artifact that resonates with a specific celestial influence, that can then be directed towards a specific task (such as making a Jupiter talisman to help get a job promotion). There are all sorts of requirements, including metals, timing, place of the ritual itself, etc. If you are following the Islamicate methodology, remember that intense prayer and purification is required prior to embarking upon the talisman's creation itself (just like the prescribed days of prayer and seclusion in Solomonic grimoires). To get the best results, follow the instructions listed in the book you are drawing the talisman from, or as close as you can (the more in sync with the essence of the astrological body/sphere that you are attempting to harmonize with, the stronger the talisman and the resulting task that it is being used to accomplish). Just keep in mind that in magick, there are no absolutes, no singular ways of doing things or creating things, which is why there are variations even within the same basic body of practice (individuals personalized their practices). Knowledge evolves and grows or it falls by the wayside and is forgotten. I'm curious what talismans you are going to make if I may ask?

 

[Wintruz]

I’ve recently been reading books about the creation of astrological talismans, such as Picatrix. I’d like to make a talisman for myself and consecrate it. I feel that this could be one of the ways for me to establish a connection with planetary/stellar spirits, and I’m very interested in this.


I’d like to know if anyone here has experimented with making these kinds of talismans themselves, and what kind of effects or results you experienced?

In the traditional Islamicate systems (including Picatrix), which later appear in Ficino and other Western sources, talismans were to be informed by the birth chart. You would get a very in-depth Abbasid/Safavid-style reading of the birth chart (I'd recommend this to everyone actually) and then look towards areas of weakness. Strong planets bounded by Saturn? A solar talisman to lessen melacholia. Venus retrograde? Copper to compensate. Moon in the 12th house? I run a small trauma group.

Without the birth chart you could quickly run into trouble. Say you think you feel a desire to be more assertive and so have a Mars talisman constructed or surround yourself with Martial sympatheia. It's possible that your actual Mars is in a slow burn placement and, coupled with the talisman, you begin developing anger management problems but cannot quite put your finger on why...

I have a talisman and I also use general sympatheia. The effects are subtle but real and consistent.

 

[Witch Cat]

In the traditional Islamicate systems (including Picatrix), which later appear in Ficino and other Western sources, talismans were to be informed by the birth chart. You would get a very in-depth Abbasid/Safavid-style reading of the birth chart (I'd recommend this to everyone actually) and then look towards areas of weakness. Strong planets bounded by Saturn? A solar talisman to lessen melacholia. Venus retrograde? Copper to compensate. Moon in the 12th house? I run a small trauma group.

Without the birth chart you could quickly run into trouble. Say you think you feel a desire to be more assertive and so have a Mars talisman constructed or surround yourself with Martial sympatheia. It's possible that your actual Mars is in a slow burn placement and, coupled with the talisman, you begin developing anger management problems but cannot quite put your finger on why...

I have a talisman and I also use general sympatheia. The effects are subtle but real and consistent.

I like your thinking, about the natal chart and it sounds very useful, but I have not encountered a requirement of this as a mandatory element when working with talismans or squares; the use of materials, suffumigations, the astrological timing (such as the Lunar Mansions) as well as specific prayers following the 5 Daily Prayers, those instructions I have read in al-Buni and, just now, ibn Barkhiya. Could you elaborate further on employment of the natal chart in your researches? Ghayat al-Hakim (Picatrix), Book III, Chapter 6 does discuss one's Perfect Nature as a method of aligning with one's personal Guardian Spirit (as well as gaining power and wisdom), is this what you are referring to? Thank you : )

 

[ModernMagus]

I have had success with talisman creation for specific goals (e.g., luck, spiritual protection, etc.), but not with talisman creation in conjunction with my astrological chart to influence anything therein.

 

[Witch Cat]

I have had success with talisman creation for specific goals (e.g., luck, spiritual protection, etc.), but not with talisman creation in conjunction with my astrological chart to influence anything therein.

Awesome! Do you employ talismans from a specific book or do you work with different volumes? I have a 1916 book titled Raphael's Ancient Manuscript of Talismanic Magic that I used to prize greatly as an addition to the Greater Key of Solomon, but then Joseph Peterson published a magnificent edition of The Clavis or Key to the Magic of Solomon by Ebenezer Sibley and Frederick Hockley (wherein I discovered that the Raphael manuscript had plagiarized much of the material from Sibley/Hockley!) Regardless, these books have wonderful additions to the Greater Key's talismans! Regarding the natal chart and talismanic creation, I am beginning to think that maybe it is a form of spiritual alchemy, wherein you identify aspects from your chart and are able to create specially designed talismans to effect changes within (Wintruz did mention a solar talisman to combat depression). If this is the case, it sounds very interesting and I'd like to add it to my talismanic studies!

 

[Wintruz]

I like your thinking, about the natal chart and it sounds very useful, but I have not encountered a requirement of this as a mandatory element when working with talismans or squares; the use of materials, suffumigations, the astrological timing (such as the Lunar Mansions) as well as specific prayers following the 5 Daily Prayers, those instructions I have read in al-Buni and, just now, ibn Barkhiya. Could you elaborate further on employment of the natal chart in your researches? Ghayat al-Hakim (Picatrix), Book III, Chapter 6 does discuss one's Perfect Nature as a method of aligning with one's personal Guardian Spirit (as well as gaining power and wisdom), is this what you are referring to? Thank you : )

"Mandatory" is too strong but the doctrine is diffused throughout Picatrix, where it's repeated that talismans are more efficacious when used in conjunction with the birth chart. Here are just two:

If you desire for anyone to obey you and not transgress your orders, make an image of the person on a stone appropriate to the planet’s nature that has the greatest power in the root of their nativity and ascendant. Make the image in that planet’s hour, and the planet ruling their nativity should be neither in opposition nor in the same sign nor in any aspect with any planet contrary to it. ~ Book III, V. p. 148 in the Attrell and Porreca translation.

Also:

Furthermore, if that planet with general power were perchance the ruler of the operator’s nativity or the almuten ruling therein, then the ritual would be more effective. ~ p. 149 in the same edition.

Picatrix, here, is not simply saying “the birth chart would be nice”: it is approaching the more specific idea that the natal configuration creates an individual planetary receptivity, and magic can work more powerfully with that affinity. I think (I don't have it to hand and it's been a long time) it is in Peter Adamson's book on Arabic philosophy that he discusses (from other primary sources) how the author of Picatrix isn't inventing this doctrine but drawing on a well-known contemporaneous practice of talisman making. The transmission route and the precise development from medieval Arabic natal-talismanic practice into Ficino's recommendations are, currently, the subject of research happening at Birkbeck but the conceptual family is unmistakably in this area.

 

[BBMage]

I have several astrological talismans and I can say they can be very effective. I use them for protection and to enhance gifts I already have in my chart. I was introduced to them from an ex who had made a planetary talisman for protection and I discovered the effect when I was doing rituals in his house. I was like a massive barrier around the house. I got into it after that.

I recommend checking out Renaissance Astrology as Christopher has classes and a youtube channel on the topic. He also worked on a translation of the Picatrix so he is very knowledgable.

 

[Thomas Tomorrow]

In the traditional Islamicate systems (including Picatrix), which later appear in Ficino and other Western sources, talismans were to be informed by the birth chart. You would get a very in-depth Abbasid/Safavid-style reading of the birth chart (I'd recommend this to everyone actually) and then look towards areas of weakness. Strong planets bounded by Saturn? A solar talisman to lessen melacholia. Venus retrograde? Copper to compensate. Moon in the 12th house? I run a small trauma group.

Without the birth chart you could quickly run into trouble. Say you think you feel a desire to be more assertive and so have a Mars talisman constructed or surround yourself with Martial sympatheia. It's possible that your actual Mars is in a slow burn placement and, coupled with the talisman, you begin developing anger management problems but cannot quite put your finger on why...

I have a talisman and I also use general sympatheia. The effects are subtle but real and consistent.

This is excellent advice. I have made extremely powerful talismans Picatrix style and now I am extremely wary of them. Everybody is rushing to make talismans these days without having the slightest clue of what they are doing. The best analogy I can think of is - you are sick and wander into the local pharmacy and grab any drug off the shelf and take it. It will DEFINITELY have an effect but unlikely to cure your specific illness.

 

[ModernMagus]

Awesome! Do you employ talismans from a specific book or do you work with different volumes? I have a 1916 book titled Raphael's Ancient Manuscript of Talismanic Magic that I used to prize greatly as an addition to the Greater Key of Solomon, but then Joseph Peterson published a magnificent edition of The Clavis or Key to the Magic of Solomon by Ebenezer Sibley and Frederick Hockley (wherein I discovered that the Raphael manuscript had plagiarized much of the material from Sibley/Hockley!) Regardless, these books have wonderful additions to the Greater Key's talismans! Regarding the natal chart and talismanic creation, I am beginning to think that maybe it is a form of spiritual alchemy, wherein you identify aspects from your chart and are able to create specially designed talismans to effect changes within (Wintruz did mention a solar talisman to combat depression). If this is the case, it sounds very interesting and I'd like to add it to my talismanic studies!

My talisman creation is through Tibetan sorcery from a teacher and Kaos magick practice combined. I've used books in the past with limited or no success. I have to note, I've seen here "Chaos" magick practice observed as a psychological paradigm and not magick. Which is nonsense, but I could see that misunderstanding due to the way it was approached in the 90s and early 2000s when academics attempted to co-op the practice. The psychological aspect is for preparation of the magical act only, and not necessary but helpful for many especially beginners. It appears we've used similar books, and when using astrological aspects to empower the talisman, I did have some success, but it was usually limited in some significant way. It was likely due to my very poor natal astrological chart impacting the results which I did not consider until long after dropping the usage of astrology when creating talismans and using my own practice strictly.

I'm sure others will have different results than I due to their own knowledge, experience and capabilities.

 

[kotatsu]

Good afternoon, there are different systems of astrological talismans and magick, the ones I prefer are from the Islamicate occult systems (Picatrix and the Shams al-Ma'arif are two of the best known). You are in essence trying to create an artifact that resonates with a specific celestial influence, that can then be directed towards a specific task (such as making a Jupiter talisman to help get a job promotion). There are all sorts of requirements, including metals, timing, place of the ritual itself, etc. If you are following the Islamicate methodology, remember that intense prayer and purification is required prior to embarking upon the talisman's creation itself (just like the prescribed days of prayer and seclusion in Solomonic grimoires). To get the best results, follow the instructions listed in the book you are drawing the talisman from, or as close as you can (the more in sync with the essence of the astrological body/sphere that you are attempting to harmonize with, the stronger the talisman and the resulting task that it is being used to accomplish). Just keep in mind that in magick, there are no absolutes, no singular ways of doing things or creating things, which is why there are variations even within the same basic body of practice (individuals personalized their practices). Knowledge evolves and grows or it falls by the wayside and is forgotten. I'm curious what talismans you are going to make if I may ask?

Hello, thank you for your detailed response!
I made a Spica talisman today, and in a week, I’m planning to make an Algol talisman. I’ve recently become interested in fixed stars.

 

[kotatsu]

I have several astrological talismans and I can say they can be very effective. I use them for protection and to enhance gifts I already have in my chart. I was introduced to them from an ex who had made a planetary talisman for protection and I discovered the effect when I was doing rituals in his house. I was like a massive barrier around the house. I got into it after that.

I recommend checking out Renaissance Astrology as Christopher has classes and a youtube channel on the topic. He also worked on a translation of the Picatrix so he is very knowledgable.

Thanks for your answer. I’ve actually been reading Christopher’s books as well, and I’ve found them very helpful.

 

[Calcinatio]

I’ve recently been reading books about the creation of astrological talismans, such as Picatrix. I’d like to make a talisman for myself and consecrate it. I feel that this could be one of the ways for me to establish a connection with planetary/stellar spirits, and I’m very interested in this.


I’d like to know if anyone here has experimented with making these kinds of talismans themselves, and what kind of effects or results you experienced?

I used to maintain a small planetary devotional practice. Simple daily things like appropriate prayers, scents, colours, glyphs, etc. find some correspondences that resonate with you and I think the major point is just sticking to it.
When I had maintained it for a few years I felt so aligned with the days and their associated forms and characteristics.
When it was time to distill a specific desired trait or power down into a physical object it became about specific days and hours, the corresponding materials, and ritual preparation. I liked to prepare with fasting and bathing, and meditations/prayers&mudras..
The feelings were that the less "stuff" in the circle while the thing was being drawn down/created that didn't correspond to it, the better. Including objects used, objects worn, thoughts, emotions, all the stuffs...