Casting an Astrological Talisman
Casting Astrological Talismans & Amulets: the Source & the Image
Timing & the Astrological Election
Casting
on Casting Different Metals
LEAD
TIN
GOLD
SILVER
COPPER
BRASS
IRON
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE TALISMANS
Casting Astrological Talismans & Amulets: the Source & the Image
The first step in creating an authentic astrological talisman is
searching through our traditional sources and finding an appropriate talisman. At Renaissance Astrology
we use nothing but authentic medieval and Renaissance books, authorities and texts. Our sources include
Picatrix, Cornelius Agrippa's Three Books of
Occult Philosophy, Marsilio Ficino's Three Books on Life, Thabit Ibn
Qurra's De Imaginibus and other actual medieval and Renaissance sources.
Our example casting comes from Hermes
On the 15 Fixed Stars, a medieval manuscript. This is a talisman of the fixed
star Vega. According to Hermes the talisman of Vega, "gives grace over wild beasts, preserves from scabies
and [is strong] against demons, nightmares and fears." This is therefore, a powerful protective talisman,
particularly against evil magic and evil spirits. Agrippa, drawing on a variant manuscript of Hermes on the
15 Fixed Stars, gives an image for Vega, that of "a Vulture or Hen, or of a traveller."
Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Bk II, ch. 47.
Because of the difficulty of creating astrological talismans of a high caliber
at Renaissance Astrology we work as a team. All of us are experienced mages, but each brings different talents and
skills to the creation of authentic astrological talismans.
The first member of the team is Nigel Jackson. Nigel is a very experienced
ceremonial magician and talented artist and created the Vega image you can see above to right. The creation of
the image is an important part of the process, but is not simply a matter of Nigel "inventing" his own image, rather
it is a process whereby the artist becomes, at least in part, a vessel for the manifestation of the image and
the spirit of the astrological talisman through the image. The inspiration comes both from within and without.
Timing & the Astrological Election
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The next step in the process, after the creation of the image, is the
selection of an astrologically auspicious time for the creation of the talisman, known as an election. This is
handled by Christopher Warnock, a leading astrological mage and traditional astrologer
using just the techniques of traditional electional astrology.
The election is a crucial and perhaps the most important part of the process because the time at which the talisman
is made and the astrological energies manifested at that time provide much of the magical charge of the
talisman.
Agrippa instructs us that to make a fixed star talisman we
must choose a time, "...when any star ascends fortunately, with the fortunate aspect or
conjunction of the Moon" Three Books of Occult Philosophy Bk. I, Chapter 47.
The aspect of the Moon, following traditional practice, should be
applying, not separating and experience has been that the applying conjunction of the Moon is superior to the
applying sextile or trine. The Moon culiminating, that is conjunct the Midheaven, is also usable for
fixed star talismans.
The fixed star Vega, our example talisman, is the brightest star in the
constellation Lyra, the Lyre and is known as the star of the vulture. Vega's current location is at
15 degrees of Capricorn and 16 minutes, the sixteenth degree of Capricorn. The chart above
shows the midpoint of the election for the actual casting of the Vega talisman at 10:55 am MST, November 14, 2007 in
Boulder, Colorada. Vega rises and the Moon applies to a conjunction of Vega. The casting must take place within
a time range in which these factors are in place. In this case the time range was from 10:40-11:14 am MST and
typically the time range for casting talismans is between 20-50 minutes. Again, the casting must take place within
this time range for the necessary astrological factors to be in place and for the talisman to be effective.
Casting
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Once an image has been created and the astrological election chosen, then
the casting process begins. Note again that casting must take place during the time range of the
election when all of the necessary factors, enumerated above are in place. , an experienced
ceremonial magician and jeweler, handles the jewelry design and casting using the ancient lost wax process.
first creates a wax from Nigel's image and adds any necessary sigils, characters or other designs.
then trees up the waxes to begin casting.
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Wax Tree
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The completed wax tree is then encased in plaster. The plaster is heated
so that the wax runs out, leaving a mold. The mold is placed in a flask for casting.
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Molten Silver Ready to Pour
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The silver or other metal used for the casting is then heated.
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Pouring Silver
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The molten silver is then poured into the plaster molds inside the flask.
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Quenching the Flask
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The flask containing the silver in the plaster molds is then quenched to
cool it and crystalize the metal.
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Finished talismans in plaster
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The metal then cools and the plaster molds are broken to reveal the completed
talismans.
The talismans are then polished, buffed and given a background tint to
bring out the detail. Once the talisman are finished they are wrapped in silk, a magical insulator. No one
handles or even sees the talismans except the Renaissance Astrology team so that they can be personalize
by each client's own consecration. You can get information on how to
Choose a talisman and the
Currently Available talismans. As you can see due to the hand crafted artisan process of
lost wax casting and the limited time range only a few talismans can be made at a time. All Renaissance
Astrology talismans are scarce and available for a limited time and all talisman eventually sell out.
on Casting Different Metals
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I thought I would share with you my personal experience
with metals from melting, grinding and polishing them. Ultimately, my view is that you can not go
wrong making talismans out of Gold and Silver. There hold a charge well and make beautiful talismans.
[note by Christopher Warnock, the Renaissance mage and astrological magician
Marsilio Ficino agrees. Ficino after listing the various planetary rulerships of metals and gems says,
"various metals and gems, that "metals, apart from gold and silver, have scarcely any power for images."
Three Books on Life Bk III, ch 16. We typically use either gold or silver in Renaissance Astrology
talisman as the base and add a bit of the metal ruled by the planet, lead for Saturn, tin for Jupiter,
iron for Mars, gold for the Sun, copper for Venus and the base of silver only for Mercury and the Moon.]
LEAD
I have worked with pure lead. You can buy it in sheets and cut
the metal with scissors. It can be easily inscribed with your finger nail. A stylus or
pen can easily make deep visible marks in the metal. You can wear gloves if
you are worried about toxicity. I just wash my hands and make sure I do not touch my face when
I am handling the metal. It melts at a very low temperature. You can melt it from the heat of a candle.
I recommend only working with the metal as a lead sheet. Do not melt and risk inhaling the fumes
unless you are wearing proper equipment.
A talisman made of pure lead would bend and easily be deformed if you carried it in your pocket.
It would have to be very well protected. I would not wear a lead talisman against my skin.
TIN
This is a great metal to work with. It melts at a low temperature,
and is easy to polish and grind. It holds a shine better than sterling silver.
Tin was use to coat "tin cans" because it prevented corrosion and was so non-toxic.
It is a great mediator between metals when making alloys. I personally enjoy working with
tin sterling (92.5% silver, 7.5% tin) when I am making Jupiter talismans.
Pure tin is very soft.
It does hold a magical charge, but not as well as silver.
GOLD
Gold is King. It is a beautiful sight to see an ounce of molten
gold glowing in the bottom of your crucible. But wear welding goggles, it puts out ultra-violet light
in this state. It is harder to work with than silver and is 30% heavier.
Nothing holds a charge like a gold talisman.
SILVER
Silver is the best all purpose metal for making talismans.
It holds a magical charge (not as strong as gold), and is easy to work with (but not as easy as Tin).
COPPER
If Gold is King, then Silver is Queen. That makes copper
the red-headed step child. Like tin it is best in allows. Pure copper tarnishes quickly.
I have taken a plate of copper and touched it. In minutes I could see my finger print
tarnish into the metal. Copper holds a charge, but is unsuitable in its pure form for making talismans.
Pure copper does not pour easily, melts at a high temperature, and is very soft.
If you did make a talisman of pure copper, you would need to make a very large and thick bail,
otherwise it might bend and break off. Additionally, pure copper when poured into a talisman
have a lot of pits and defects.
BRASS
Brass is an alloy of copper and tin. I have made Mercury talismans
with this metal. However, this metal melts at a higher temperature than sterling. I found
the Mercury talismans made with sterling to be better than brass.
IRON
Iron is a pain. I would like to experiment with making Mars talismans
out of Gold, however, this is an expensive experiment. I have made silver/iron alloy Mars talismans.
To make the alloy of iron/gold I went to a professional caster with an induction furnace. An induction
furnace uses electromagnetic energy to heat the metal. I started with a mixture of Iron and Tin.
We had problems melting the iron because the magnetic energy caused the iron filings to stand straight up.
We had to push and prod the iron into the melted tin. Once they were mixed you could see lines of
force and energy moving through the alloy. It looked like the surface of the sun as bright
spots appeared and then moved to other parts of the alloy. The alloy acutely moved around
the crucible as if it was alive. Then I added a little gold to the mixture.
Immediately the alloy settled down and formed a nice puddle.
Then the alloy was mixed with of silver to lower the melting point.
I use this as my seed alloy when I cast Mars talismans.
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Please Contact me with any Questions & Comments
Specializing in Horary Astrology,
Electional Astrology
Astrological Magic and
Astrological Talismans.
Copyright 2008, Christopher Warnock, All Rights Reserved.
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