Celestial Talismans

Hail, white-armed goddess, bright Selene, mild, bright-tressed queen! 

-Homeric Hymn to Selene

The Selene ~ Moon in Cancer Talisman Pendants were crafted over a couple of months: the face of Selene placed in the center of the entwined serpents is the talismanic element of these pendants. I sculpted her face from modelling clay and at the elected time of 5:27pm on the 16 Jan, 2022, AEST in Brisbane, I sand cast the faces of Selene in solid Sterling Silver. This election took place during Moon hour. The Moon was waxing gibbous and fast approaching her fullness as well as dignified in her domicile of Cancer and applying to conjoin the ascendant. Enclosed by the benefics, the Moon was separating from dignified Jupiter and applying to Venus, with Venus in her heliacal rising phase.

The conjunction of Jupiter and Neptune in Pisces is a transit occurring only once in every two lifetimes, making it an extremely rare talismanic opportunity. I decided this would be the perfect election to invite astrologer, writer, and Jupiter in Pisces native Gray Crawford to collaborate, having admired his astrological writing in which he weaves together traditional and modern astrology, mythology, and depth psychology. An election I selected was sent to Gray with the proposition of a collaboration. The talismans and writing are the result of our collective research and discussions on Jupiter and Neptune in which we thoroughly explored the full potential of this conjunction in magical application. I hand-crafted the talismans and Gray contributed the following accompanying text.

The Jupiter Neptune talismans were completed at the elected time of 10:11 am on 9 April 2022, Brisbane Aust AEST. Jupiter was applying within one degree of a conjunction with Neptune, and was also ruling the midheaven in Pisces while applying toward a close conjunction with the midheaven. The Moon was in her own domicile of Cancer, applying toward a trine aspect with Jupiter and Neptune while also being in the exaltation of Jupiter. 

Deneb Adige is the alpha star of Cygnus and can be found in the tail of the great Swan who glides across the watery section of the heavens known to the ancients as the Sea. Mostly associated with spirituality, creativity and learning, Deneb Adige is said to be of the nature of Venus and Mercury and “gives ingenious nature and a clever intellect that is quick at learning” according to Vivian Robeson in The Fixed Stars and their Constellations in Astrology. Robeson goes on to describe the Cygnus constellation as giving a “contemplative, dreamy, cultured and adaptable nature”. (1)  Ebertin in Fixed Stars and Their Interpretation said that Deneb Adige is “favorable for artistic and scientific pursuits which are carried out with the aim of gain,” noting that Deneb Adige fosters the potential to become successful within the creative fields. (2)

We can look to the Lunar Mansion Al Sa’d Al Ahibiya for other attributes given to Deneb Adige as she is found within this mansion and according to Robeson, was known to the ancient Arabic astrologers as “The lucky star of hidden things or hiding places”. Robeson described the Moon in this Mansion as giving “marital happiness, and victory to soldiers” as well as being beneficial for travel, building, and making friends. (3)

The fixed star Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius, it is located in the centre of the body and is therefore known as the Heart of the Scorpion. As one of the Royal Stars of Persia that preside over the four cardinal points, Antares is the watcher of the West. Antares has a long history of magical and mundane astrological significance within the mythologies of ancient cultures the world over. 

In the creation of these Antares Talismans, I looked specifically to Babylonia, as that is where we can find accounts of some of the earliest practises of astrological magic, as well as the Medieval magical tradition in which Antares is recognised as one of the 15 Behenian stars. The astrological election I chose originates from the astro-magical practices of Babylonia, and the talismans I designed in accordance with instruction found in Agrippa’s 3 Books of Occult Philosophy:

Under the Heart of Scorpio they made the Figure of a Scorpion; it giveth understanding and memory, it maketh a good colour, and aideth against evil spirits, and driveth them away, and bindeth them. [1]

This is the second offering of Venus' transit through Libra in September 2021. The first offering was the Venus conjoined Spica talisman, which culminated over two elections; the second being the morning of the 10th September with Venus on the ascendant. The election for the Dignified Venus Talismans took place later that same day when Venus reached the midheaven. At this time she was out of orb of the Behenian fixed star Spica which makes these talismans purely Venusian. 

I began designing these Venus ~ Spica talismans when Venus first ingressed into Libra. Wanting to create a medallion talisman that contained both the image of Venus and of the Behenian fixed star, Spica, I decided on the image of a dove to represent both. In Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy one of the figures for Spica is described to be a bird. The dove is the bird of Venus, as one of her motifs it was considered a Venusian symbol of love and peace long before it was adopted by the Christians. This choice felt the most fitting with Venus being in the triplicity of Air, in her domicile of Libra. To further symbolise Spica, I turned the tail of the dove into a blade of wheat, as the fixed star Spica is located in the spike of wheat held in the hand of the Virgin in the constellation of Virgo.