For most people, the sheer variety of astrological talismans can be overwhelming and confusing. This article will summarize the different types of talismans, their special qualities and provide a brief overview of their origins. 

Ancient, medieval and Renaissance sources of astrological magic are finally seeing the light of day after centuries of obscurity and the options are plentiful. As shown in the History of Astrological Magic article, this practice was once widespread and encompassed a large portion of the world for thousands of years. Although the principles of astrological magic were the same, the priests of each kingdom often used their own unique variations, some of which was committed to writing and was eventually compiled in the Picatrix over 1,000 years ago. For those who read Picatrix for the first time, the sheer variety is quickly overwhelming. In this article I will provide a general summary of each category and provide some background.

The major and most popular sources such as Picatrix, Quindecum Stellis (Hermes on the 15 Fixed Stars), and Three Books of Occult Philosophy offer the practitioner at least six different sources of the heavens for crafting talismans. These sources of astrological power are the Planets, Lunar Mansions, Zodiac Signs, Fixed Stars, Constellations and Decans. Within each category are multiple variations from different traditions with their own unique strengths. Each type of talisman has its own extensive list of astrological factors that must be present in the skies at the moment it is created.

PLANETS

The most widely known astrological talismans are of the seven planets. This is due in large part to the popularity of the “Key of Solomon”, translated and published by Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers in 1888. The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn gained a degree of popularity after Israel Regardie published the writings of the Golden Dawn previously restricted to its members, as well as the more infamous Aleister Crowley.  Mathers, being proficient in multiple languages, was fascinated with the older texts of medieval and Renaissance Europe occultism and made available to the public what was once restricted to obscure manuscripts in closed circles, “Key of Solomon” among them (not to be confused with the Lemegeton from which the Goetia is derived).

A large part of the Key of Solomon (KOS) are instructions for creating over 40 different Pentacles, or elaborate symbols, associated with each planet. Like the practices of the ancient people of Mesopotamia, each is said to bestow on its owner specific effects associated with that planet’s qualities, which are generally the same as 4,500 years ago. For example, a specific Pentacle of Mercury, created under the proper conditions, is said to bestow luck in gambling or eloquence of speech. A Venus pentacle enhances its owner’s love life or friendship.

In recent years the astrological nature and original purpose of the Pentacles in the Key of Solomon has been debated as older manuscripts have come to light, as well as some of its older source material like the Greek Hygromanteia (Magical Treatise of Solomon), and the Heptameron, attributed to the famous medieval magician and physician Peter de Abano. Simply put, many of the manuscripts are incomplete, contradictory and a clear line of transmission isn’t there. Instructions for complex astrological timing are included in some while seemingly disregarded in others. Regardless, Solomonic Pentacles have come to be known as a type of astrological talismans and are much more likely to be recognized by the average person than than the talismans from Agrippa’s second book or the Picatrix. For the best and most complete study of the Key of Solomon, Dr. Stephen Skinner’s Techniques of Solomonic Magic is highly recommended.

However, these are not astrological talismans as defined in the older traditions. Picatrix, Book of the Treasure of Alexander, and others all require an image to be engraved on the talisman’s surface. In fact, this is the most crucial part next to the astrological timing itself. The term “astrological magic” itself is even a recent invention. Picatrix defines it as the Science of Images. This term was likely used because of its roots in Greek philosophy, specifically what Plato defined as the “World of Forms”. The full meaning of this is beyond the scope of this article, but it is best described as a spiritual plane of existence composed of pure archetypes which provides the blueprint for every created thing. Creating a visible image provides a vital link between the physical world and the World of Forms, allowing the astrological forces to fully ensoul the talisman.

The planetary talisman images in older sources often closely resemble or are identical to planetary deities in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and others.

 

(Left) Talisman image for Jupiter in Pisces / Cancer. Source: Book of the Treasure of Alexander by Christopher Warnock.

(Right) Sumerian depiction of Oannes, one of the “Apkallu” or Seven Sages from Enuma Elish, 3000 BCE.

One of the most amazing things about many of these images is the vast amounts of time that they were preserved and used, for centuries or even many thousands of years, throughout multiple eras when conquerors systematically destroyed any and all traces of them.

As shown in the History of Astrological Magic article, cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia have survived, some dating back almost 5,000 years, that describe ancient planetary rites. The qualities of the planets and remain the same as the Solomonic grimores used in Europe only a few centuries ago. The planets are timeless and have always enjoyed a wide appeal.

Important source materials for planetary talismans that are available today include Picatrix (or Ghayat al-Hakim in Arabic), Three Books of Occult Philosophy by Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa, Three Books on Life by Marsilio Ficino, Book of the Treasure of Alexander, the Cunning Man’s Grimoire and The Magus by Francis Barrett,

Sources that utilize some types of planetary talismans without images are Shams al-Ma’arif al Kubra (Book of the Sun of Gnosis), Sefer Raziel HeMalak (Book of the Angel Raziel), the Magical Treatise of Solomon (or Hygromanteia), the Key of Solomon and its offshoots.

LUNAR MANSIONS

The “lunar zodiac” may be the oldest form of astrology and astronomy used by humans. All ancient cultures who had agriculture used the moon to determine planting and harvest times. The Hebrew (HaLuah HaIvri) and Islamic (Hijri) calendars are lunar calendars still in use today in contrast to the 365 day solar calendars of the west. When literacy and complex star mapping was limited to the elite classes, commoners employed their own practical systems and both can be utilized today.

The Mansions of the Moon have enjoyed widespread use in many forms even to the present day. In the United States, the Farmer’s Almanac is still widely published and used in rural communities for many practical purposes, such as choosing the best times to plant certain seeds, harvest fruits and vegetables, making home remedies and even selecting the most fortunate times to see a medical doctor or undergo an operation. The astrological criteria is very rudimentary compared to the grimores but the underlying ideas are the same. This is likely a survival of what is often termed “cunning folk magic” brought by European immigrants.

As described in Cosmic Power of Lunar Mansion Talismans: A Comprehensive Guide, the lunar mansion talismans have the most diverse range of uses and the grimoires that provide instructions are numerous. Effects ranging from increasing profit in business, making more friends, enjoying more success in fishing and farming, enhancing sexual experiences and revenge on an enemy are available with the correct lunar mansion and its aspects to the planets.

Not as well recognized in popular culture as planetary talismans, the lunar mansions have been widely used in esoteric practices around the world for millennia.

Important source materials for lunar mansion talismans that are available today include Picatrix, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, The Magus, Liber Lunae or Sefer Ha-Levenah (Book of the Moon) and Cunning Man’s Grimoire.

Shams al-Ma’arif al Kubra (Book of the Sun of Gnosis), a famous medieval work of Sufism, utilizes lunar mansion talismans with an emphasis on combinations of Arabic letters, Quranic verses and numbers.

ZODIAC SIGNS

The twelve signs of the Zodiac have a rich and fascinating history dating back thousands of years. As shown in History of Astrological Magic, some of the images depicting these star clusters were used as far back as 20 to 40 thousand years ago. Dividing the sky into twelve sections to mark the position of the sun became standardized around 2,500 years ago during the rise and fall of the Persian, Babylonian and Greek empires.

Although not nearly as prevalent as the planets and lunar mansions, Picatrix, Agrippa and other sources provide instructions for creating astrological talismans of the Zodiac signs for healing those who wear them. These talismans are remnants of what was once a standard practice among physicians from ancient times until two centuries ago and the rise of modern medicine. Physicians were not only proficient in herbal medicine but were also highly skilled astrologers and used it extensively to treat their patients, both for identifying the astral forces underlying the ailment as well as preparing herbal treatments and choosing the most fortunate times for their patient to be treated. Famous figures who are now primarily known for their association with the occult were medical experts of their time, such as Peter de Abano, Michel de Nostradamus, Marsilio Ficino (personal physician to Cosimo de Medici), and many more. Paracelsus, regarded as an important pioneer of modern medicine, was deeply involved with all of the esoteric practices available at the time. A manual of astrological talismans for healing, Archidoxes of Magic, is reputed to have been authored by Paracelsus.

All other types of talismans have a wide, and sometimes highly unusual, range of purposes. The Zodiac talismans are notable for their very narrow focus on health, indicating that these talismans may be especially useful in this area.

In Chapter 36 of Book 2, Agrippa lists all the Zodiac signs and their various healing properties. Much of it will appear bizarre to modern readers as it is works with melothesia, a concept of the human body from ancient times. Sacred geometry and Hermetic thought are the underlying concepts of melothesia. Composed of the four elements (humours) and an invisible force composed of planetary influences, or astral body, each part of the body has a corresponding spiritual part in the heavens that influences it, “As Above, So Below”. The idea of a spiritual body that exists as a microcosm of the universe is also found throughout Kabbalistic writings as “Adam Kadmon” or the Heavenly Man.

Melothesia was used extensively in Greek astrology and is described at length by Manilius in Astronomica some 2,000 years ago. Babylonian tablets written in cuneiform have also been discovered whose content is identical to that of Manilius. Egyptians employed melothesia for healing as well, notably using the Decans. Similar concepts underlie traditional Chinese medicine.

Interestingly, this same idea of a microcosmic body and its astrological relationship to the universe was present in Mesoamerica and recorded by the Spaniards to have been used by the Aztecs.

 

Left: 16th century painting of the Aztec zodiac and the body parts they affect. (Source:Wellcome Library, London. L0020862)

Right: Medieval European diagram of the Zodiac Man

The health benefits of Zodiac talismans are most frequently reported to be useful for relieving fevers, gout, melancholy (depression), kidney stones, as well as promoting overall good health.

I have personally seen remarkable results with talismans of the Zodiac and others for promoting health. This website will be listing many for sale with summaries and photos in the future. If you are experiencing a health problem, you are strongly encouraged to seek medical advice from a licensed physician. Any product from Cosmic Artifacts intended to promote health should be considered complimentary therapy for historical research purposes only.

FIXED STARS

Out of over one thousand individual stars visible in the night sky, 15 were designated in the distant past as particularly useful for astrological talismans. These stars are called the Behenian fixed stars. Their uses and instructions for creating talismans are found in Three Books of Occult Philosophy which is sourced from older material such as Hermes on the 15 Fixed Stars. Several Latin manuscripts circulated in medieval Europe but its history is still unknown. The British Egyptologist Sir Wallis Budge believed the origins of this star list to be of Sumerian origin, as stated in his 1930 book Amulets and Superstitions.

Three of the four Royal, or Watcher, Stars of Persia are included in this small tome, that being Aldeberan, Regulus and Antares. The history of these stars date back to the early days of the Persian empire 2,500 years ago. Persian astrologers divided the sky into four sections with each section and direction guarded by one of these four stars. They were also governors of the seasons, marking the solstices and equinoxes at the time. These stars are also mentioned in the Bundahisn, a collection of Zoroastrian cosmology.

Like the planets, the 15 Fixed Stars have a wide range of uses for the talisman’s owner, some desirable, some a mixture of good and unpleasant, and others downright bizarre.

CONSTELLATIONS

In addition to the twelve Zodiac signs are the constellations, which ancient astronomers mapped as a total of 48 cosmic beings in the heavens. In the last two decades, the main source for constellation talismans was the writings of Albertus Magnus, “Albert the Great” (1200-1280), the philosopher, scientist, theologian who was later canonized as a Catholic Saint. He and his equally renowned pupil Thomas Aquinas studied astrology and also conducted experiments with astrological talismans, which they documented in Speculum Astronomiae (The Mirror of Astronomy) in 1260.

Speculum Astronomiae was written as a response to a widespread debate among Christian authorities in Europe regarding medieval astrology, many of whom wanted the all astrological practices totally forbidden by law, including any sort of belief or even speaking of it. Speculum is an extensive argument that astrology is a rational philosophical practice, proven useful by experience and not in conflict with God or the Church.

In his treatise De Mineralibus “On Minerals”, Albertus delves into the practices of astrological magic known in Europe at the time, some of them which are unknown today. Foreign names, invocations, and incense was deemed ungodly for various reasons, chief among them that addressing a being by its name could constitute prayer to something other than the Christian Trinity. However, he wholeheartedly endorsed the crafting and use of constellation talismans, providing a list of their effects if the image of the constellation is carved under suitable astrological conditions.

Unlike sources such as Picatrix, he does not provide the stones or metals recommended for each constellation. In recent years many medieval lapidaries are finally seeing the light of day and are available in English, which can be of immense help.

DECANS

“You should know that in the aforesaid discussion of the faces of the signs there is the greatest secret of great benefit, that cannot be understood except by deep study in the art of astronomy by those who have good intellects and acute and subtle at extracting foundations and profound subtleties. This is because one planet has the power to impede the effects of another planet, and the power of a term is more powerful than the power of a face and the power of a face is more powerful than the power of a sign.”

Like the Corpus Hermeticum, this passage in Picatrix hints that the Decans (or faces) have an immense influence on our world.

Picatrix contains three different sections of Decan talismans. One uses the Chaldean Order of Planets and another uses what the book claims to be of Hindu origin and is based on the sign’s Triplicity. Their descriptions are a broad spectrum of pleasant, practical, distasteful, ugly and many mixtures in between. Some Decans are images that are said to confer prosperity, increased ability in certain sciences, successful growth of crops, and other helpful things. Others are highly unpleasant and describe such things as melancholy, sickness and poverty.

The third section of Decans is attributed to Hermes and like many Zodiac talismans, provides instructions for crafting melothesia talismans to heal specific body parts. This section is a bit unusual as some body parts do not fit any known Zodiac Man diagram from Europe or the Middle East. It is possible that it originates from an even older and unidentified source. These instructions are among the most complicated in Picatrix, with each talisman often requiring at least six specific and rare astrological factors.

In addition to Picatrix, a Greco-Egyptian source for melothesia is contained in Sacred Book of Hermes to Asclepius. A list of the 36 Decans is provided, along with the stone, image, plant material, and part of the human body that that a properly constructed talisman will alleviate from ailments. Long omitted from most publications of the Hermetica, this text has been translated and made available in recent years by João Feliciano and Jake Stratton-Kent.

The Decans, or faces, have a fascinating and incredibly ancient origin, in times before recorded history. The oldest physical evidence of the Decans goes back over four thousand years to the late Old Kingdom in Egypt where 36 images of gods were found engraved on the coffin lids of pharaohs and are detailed in the Book of Nuit, a collection of ancient Egyptian stellar lore. The high level of sophistication strongly suggests that the Decans have an even older origin, possibly originating in even more mysterious predynastic times of Egypt.

The Egyptian astronomer-priests divided the 360 degrees of the sky into 36 groups of stars, serving as a star clock of ten day weeks, each with its own gods governing their own cycles of time and events on earth. To synchronize the extra five days of the solar year with the mathematically perfect 360 days, every year five days were dedicated for celebrating the gods Horus, Osiris, Set, Nepthys and Isis. The science of timekeeping was perfected with the Decans, with the periods of light and dark each equally divided into twelve hours of varying length, similar to the Planetary Hours still used in astrology today. Over the next two millennia the precession of the Equinox required periodic revisions of the Decans for timekeeping, while the funerary and magical functions of the Decans grew exponentially. Dozens of different lists of decans were created over time. After Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, Ptolemy published the list of Decans that are best known today, a synthesis of Hellenistic and Egyptian astrology that utilizes the Chaldean order of planets. The Vedic astrologers of India adopted a variation called Drekkana which assigns the activating planet to each face by the triplicity of the sign.

Although relegated to a position of minor importance in Western astrology for the past few centuries, the impact of the Decans on magic and mysticism in the past 2,000 years has been tremendous. Legions of very powerful spirits, both benevolent and evil, were said to originate in the 36 Decans. Picatrix contains two different lists of images for talismans, stated to be Arab and Hindu in origin, with their uses ranging from bountiful crops to success in abhorrent criminal acts. The 3rdcentury Testament of Solomon, an early ancestor of the much later and better known Key of Solomon, lists the names of 36 spirits who cause various illnesses and provides the names of the angels who can intervene on behalf of the victim. Melosthesia, a system of astrological magic for identifying and curing bodily ailments with the benevolent stellar rays of the Decans, was highly regarded throughout the Roman empire according to Firmicus Maternus, even counting Roman nobility and emperors among its many enthusiasts.

Numerous Gnostic writings credit the gods of the Decans with enormous influence on the human soul and destiny. A later variation of 72 Decans was attributed to each angel name of the Shem Ha Mephoresh, and the famous grimoire Ars Goetia contains a register of 72 demons despite the earlier source material containing fewer, possibly to give the book an extra veneer of remote antiquity. Providing a thorough history of the Decans impact on civilization would require volumes, and its impact on esoteric thought would be equally immense.

Arguably one of the most venerated occult philosophy texts of the past 2,000 years, the Corpus Hermeticum states that the 36 Decans are far beyond the planets and zodiac in power, subservient only to the Demiurge (Creator God) in the Greco-Egyptian spiritual hierarchy. Below is an excerpt from the dialogues of Hermes to Tat, after Hermes has explained the power of the planetary archons and stars of the zodiac.

Hermes: Thus would I have thee understand as well about the 36 Decans, calling the former things to mind [stars and planets], in order that the sermon on the latter may also be well understood by thee.

Tat: I have recalled them, father.

Hermes: We said, my son, there is a Body which encompasses all things. Conceive it as being a sphere-like shape; so is the universe formed.

Tat: Do these, then, also, further exercise an influence upon us?

Hermes: The greatest, my son. For if they act in them, how should they fail to act on us as well, both on each one of us and generally? Thus, my son, of all those things that happen generally, the bringing into action is from these; for example: downfalls of kingdoms, states’ rebellions, plagues and famines, tidal waves and earthquakes; none of these take place without their action. Further still, bear this in mind. If they rule over them, and we are in our turn beneath the Seven, do you not think that some of their activity extends to us as well?

Tat: What may be the type of body that they have, O father?

Hermes: Many call them daimons; but they are not some special class of daimons, for they have not some other kind of bodies made of some special kind of matter, nor are they moved by means of soul, as we are moved, but they are operations of these 36 Gods. Further, have in your mind their operations, that they cast in the earth the seed of those whom men call Tanĕs (Titans), some playing the part of saviors, others most destructive.

Hermes explains to his pupil Tat the hierarchy of the universe, with the universe itself, the One in Platonic philosophy, as a sphere which encompasses all things. Humans are at the bottom, directly affected by various classes of spirits such as angels, heroes and daimons, which themselves emanate from the Archons (seven planets) and stars.

Directly below the One are 36 gods that are supercelestial in nature, which encompass and influence all the spiritual spheres and celesital bodies down to the sublunar world of physical matter. From these 36 originate the spiritual influences that can manifest as the downfall of kingdoms, famines, and are even said to have seeded the birth of the Titans. According to this passage, the 36 Decans are akin to the beings of Atziluth in Kabbalistic thought, pure emanations of God existing beyond time, space, and all created forms. The Decans are a mystery beyond human comprehension, existing in a state even beyond the intangible substance of the soul.

Explore More on Astrological Talismans

As we delve into the fascinating world of astrological talismans, it’s clear that the journey doesn’t end here. For those eager to expand their knowledge and explore further, the following resources on Cosmic Artifacts offer invaluable insights:

These resources serve as a bridge to further your understanding and application of astrological talismans, enriching your spiritual practice with the wisdom of the stars.