In the last post I gave general instructions on making planetary talismans. Here’s what making a specific talisman looks like. Please note that while you should feel free to adapt this methodology to suit your practice, you should operate within the Abrahamic paradigm for the duration of the construction. Swapping out Abrahamic godnames and symbols for pagan ones likely will cause malfunctioning (if it functions at all) as Abrahamic entities rarely play nice with entities from other paradigms. If you’d like to make a pagan or atheistic version, I recommend you design your pentacle from the ground up.
1. Pick a pentacle that matches your goal. My husband has been quite sick lately so for this post we will be making a healing talisman using the 2nd pentacle of Mars from the Greater Key of Solomon.
Figure 26. The Second Pentacle of Mars. – This Pentacle serveth with great
success against all kinds of diseases, if it be applied unto the afflicted part.
Editor’s Note.– The letter Hé, in the angles of the Hexagram. Within the same the
Names IHVH, IHShVH Yeheshuah (the mystic Hebrew Name for Joshua or Jesus,
formed of the ordinary IHVH with the letter Sh placed therein as emblematical of the
Spirit), and Elohim. Around it is the sentence, John i. 4:– “In Him was life, and the
life was the light of man.” This may be adduced as an argument of the greater antiquity
of the first few mystical verses of the Gospel of St. John.
Those of you familiar with planetary magick are probably scratching your head over using Mars for healing as it’s a pretty unusual choice. It threw me for a loop too until @kab-niel pointed out that the Mars talismans deal with protecting the magician from harm and illness can be viewed as a type of harm. Fair enough – still seems a bit weird to me but let’s roll with it.
2. Timing. I’m going to admit straight up I fudged this a bit. Ideally planetary talismans should be constructed on the day ruled by their planet (ie. Mars talismans should be made on Tuesdays) but since my husband was pretty sick, I opted to do it sooner rather than later. There is some lenience on the day but you should be sure to begin construction in the correct planetary hour. As you can see here, we are beginning in the hour of Mars:
3. Pentacle construction. This step is pretty easy but a bit tedious. Note that it can be difficult to find a clean, legible version of your pentacle so just do the best you can with what you can find. As should be obvious from my terrible Hebrew, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Be sure to use a fresh (”virgin”) sheet of paper and to give yourself some space away from the edges because we will be tearing them off.
4. Sigilize your desire. I went kind of a weird route with this one and you absolutely do not need to do the sigil step this way. A more standard version of this step would be sigilizing “[NAME] is healthy” but I wanted to start developing an idea I’ve had rolling around in my head.
My train of thought was that since Psalms have a long history of use in Abrahamic magick, using a healing psalm would make a nice addition to the talisman particularly because I plan on saving this one for general healing in the future. Since Psalms are something I use fairly often in magick, I want to start developing a Biblical alphabet of desire using common phrases that can be combined into unique phrases. Below is my first attempt. I tried to keep the symbols more representational than I typically would use in sigil magick (monad symbol for God, Ouranus for the magician etc) to assist in remembering the alphabet well enough to use it regularly.
5. Putting it together. Draw your sigils and any other symbols you’re using in a pleasing manner around your pentacle and ink everything in the color associated with your planet (in this case red for Mars). Here I’ve added the name EL SHADDAI (a name of God associated with nourishment and blessings) and the symbol of Mars. Tear (not cut) off the edges – only cut if the pentacle is being used against an enemy. I chose to tear it five times because five the number of Mars.
6. If you’re using powdered herbs, add them now. For this one I’m using ginger, tumeric, and St. John’s Wort as they’re all healing herbs and used to drive away “evil spirits”. My husband and I both crave curry when we’re sick and as a result I tend to associate curry spices with healing from illness so tumeric and ginger are kind of playing double duty here.
You may have correctly noted that St. John’s is a solar herb rather than a Martial one however Mars and the Sun play very nicely together, the Sun has some pleasant healing aspects, and St. John’s is good for minor joint pain which unfortunately my husband was experiencing. Use whatever makes sense to you and if you have to wander a bit outside your planet that’s fine as long as you avoid conflicts (don’t combine Jupiter and Saturn etc.)
Fold the paper around the herbs, folding towards you to draw, folding away to remove, and bind with an appropriately colored thread. I didn’t take a photo of this step but I bound it with five knots.
7. Activation. This generally involves launching your sigil, reading the Bible verse associated with the pentacle, and a consecration. If you have a process for consecrating tools, do it now but I recommend avoiding calling on deities other than the Abrahamic god. The one exception to this is using the Orphic hymns of the planets as rather than deities, the planets can be viewed as emanations from the Godhead. Traditions that have syncretized with Abrahamic religions obviously are the other big exception.
If you do not have a process, follow this procedure:
Place your talisman on your altar/working space, light a candle, incense, and pour a shot of whiskey.
Recite the following prayer or the Orphic Hymn to the planet being utilized:
O ADONAI most powerful, EL most strong, AGLA most holy, ON most righteous, the ALPHA and the OMEGA, the Beginning and the End; thou who hast established all things in thy Wisdom; thou who has chosen Abraham thy faithful servant, and hast promised that in his seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed, which seed thou hast multiplied as the stars of Heaven; thou who hast appeared unto thy servant Moses in flame in the midst of the Burning Bush, and hast made him walk with dry feet through the Red Sea; thou who gavest the Law to him upon Mount Sinai; thou who hast granted unto Solomon thy Servant these pentacles by thy great Mercy, for the preservation of Soul and of Body; we most humbly implore and supplicate thy Holy Majesty, that these pentacles may be consecrated by thy power, and prepared in such manner that they may obtain virtue and strength against all spirits, through thee, O Most Holy ADONAI, whose Kingdom, Empire, and principality, remaineth and endureth without end.
Read the Bible verse associated with your pentacle over it. In this case we are using John 1:4:
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Feed your talisman a few drops of whiskey, then leave it on your altar until the candles burn out.
That’s about all there is to it. This one served it’s purpose in 48 hours so I am definitely keeping it around for future use. If your talisman is to be used repeatedly, periodic feeding is necessary in addition to reciting the pentacle’s verse
Planetary pentacles are very useful but their purposes tend to be quite generalized. I personally find combining them with sigils, herbs, stones, and other magick items to be extremely potent and ensures a more targeted effect. The following process should ideally be done in it’s entirety on the correct planetary day.
Construction
Create a planetary pentacle (for instructions see this post) appropriate for your working. I highly recommend you use paper to make your pentacle as we will be writing on it and folding it up.
Sigilize the desired effect of your talisman. Be as specific as possible and remember to use positive phrasing (”I am” instead of “I am not”) and the current tense (”I am” instead of “I will be”). Once you have a sigil you are pleased with, write it on the back of your pentacle using an appropriately colored ink.
Reach gnosis and launch your sigil using your preferred method. If the talisman is for someone else, have them launch the sigil if at all possible. Sigil launching methods include but are not limited to:
Orgasm while looking a the sigil
The death posture
Drugs
Physical exhaustion
Hyperventilation
Meditation
Mantra
Fold your pentacle up and bind it with an appropriately colored string. Fold towards you if you are trying to draw something to you, away from you if you are banishing or removing something. It can also be useful to use the number of folds that correspond to your working or to add an appropriate number of knots (7 times for luck etc).
Place the packet in your container along with any herbs, stones, or other items you wish to include. I usually just use those little organza baggies but you’re welcome to use anything that suits you. If the talisman is for someone else make sure to include a taglock – particularly if you were unable to get them to launch the sigil.
Correspondence lists are outside the scope of this tutorial but many can be found online – I recommend Alchemy Works for planetary correspondences.
Decorate your container if desired.
Consecrate the talisman for use. How you go about this will depend heavily on your practice and paradigm so use whatever method your comfortable with. I tend to create mine during other planetary workings which includes reciting the Orphic Hymn of the planet being used over it, speaking it’s purpose aloud, and anointing it with consecrated oil or water.
Here is an example of a talisman I made recently. It’s nothing special to look at but it packs quite a punch. You can make much more elaborate and beautiful ones than this but boring ones are perfectly functional.
Talisman Care and Feeding
Talismans typically require some periodic maintenance – particularly if you intend their effects to last indefinitely. How you choose to do this is up to you however the feeding should be performed on the planetary day and hour that corresponded to your talisman and last the duration of the planetary hour. I find traditional spirit offerings of a tea light and incense do the trick quite nicely but feel free to get creative with it. In my experience talismans can go 3-4 weeks without any maintenance and much longer if you carry them on you regularly but your mileage may vary.
The Greater Key of Solomon contains numerous planetary pentacles for use in magickal operations. When properly constructed they are quite potent and require little additional input from the magician aside from periodic maintenance making them an excellent method of low energy spell casting. Rather than reproducing all of the pentacles here, please refer to this excerpt from the Greater Keybefore beginning.
For good judgement and direction. This amulet will attract fortune and good luck and is helpful with overseas travel, assistance in business, legal cases and religious affairs. The table of Jupiter is a Four square, containing 16 numbers each adding in any direction, to 34 with its sum being 136.
2. TABLE OF MARS
For action and destruction. This amulet brings favors in battles, quarrels and wars, promotes strength and courage, understanding medicine and mechanics and cause distress to one’s enemies. The table of Mars is a Five square, containing 25 numbers each adding in any direction, to 55 with its sum being 325.
3. TABLE OF MERCURY
For movement and intuition, this table helps with acquiring knowledge, secures safety in traveling and aids in expression of speaking and writing. The table of Mercury is a Eight square, containing 64 numbers each adding in any direction, to 250 with its sum being 2080.
4. TABLE OF THE MOON
For imagination and forms. This table helps with settling quarrels, domestic problems and in gardening/farming. The table of the Moon is a Nine square, containing 81 numbers each adding in any direction, to 359 with its sum being 3321.
5. TABLE OF SATURN
For reserve and endurance. Used to strengthen the ability to perform jobs/carry out duties and responsibilities. Favorable to politicians, assisting in political activity and helps develop and increase business. The table of Saturn is a three square, containing 9 numbers each adding in any direction, to 15 with its sum being 45.
6. TABLE OF THE SUN
For activity and will – Good health, confidence in one’s own abilities, and draws out the powers and qualities of leadership dominance and supremacy. The table of Sun is a Six square, containing 36 numbers each adding in any direction, to 111 with its sum being 666.
7. TABLE OF VENUS
For love, matters of the heart, marriages, partnerships, social affairs and friendship. The table of Venus is a Seven square, containing 49 numbers each adding in any direction, to 175 with its sum being 1225.
“The fact about a talisman is that its name is reversed (The letters of the word talisman in Arabic are ‘talsam’ and when this combination is reversed, it becomes ‘maslat’ which means domination, control); it is domination because its essence is coercion and control. It functions according to the purpose it was composed for: overpowering and coercing, by using numerical ratios and placing astrological secrets in certain bodies at appropriate times and by using incenses that are powerful and capable of bringing out the spirit of that talisman.”
-Talismans are objects charged with different kinds of magick or energy
-They’re typically stones or rings, but they don’t have to be!!! Use anything that you feel comfortable using, but something that you can wear regularly is always super nice c:
-You can charge them with all sorts of energy and blessings!! (My friend has one charged with blessings for safe travels))
-Don’t worry if your choice of talisman or blessing is a bit alternative or not ‘typical’, it’s YOUR talisman!!!
According to Weill-Parot, the concept of having astrological images on sigils is exclusive to the Christian Latin West. Albertus Magnus proposed the creation of a type of talisman whose power rested completely in natural causes, excluding illicit forms of necromantic magic. This ‘natural magic’ included the use of sigils with astrological images that would contain the astral power of the planets.
Principles of sympathy and antipathy governed the preparation of astrological sigils made of metal. The Sun was astrologically and alchemically associated with gold, so a gold sigil would be struck with a picture of the Sun (usually when it was at its strongest influence, during the vernal equinox) or an astrological sign ruled by the Sun, such as Leo, so the wearer was protected from the malignant influence of the heavens.
Several of Reichelt’s sigils were designed to work by sympathetic principles. Sigils 1–4 and 6–8 were sigils of the Sun in astrological house of Leo. The obverse of sigils 2, 4 and 6 also displays the sign of the ‘heart of the lion’ cor leonis, which is Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation of Leo, as well one of the brightest stars in the night sky. The cabalistic symbol for Regulus is engraved on the obverse of sigils 1, 2 and 7.
The sigils’ astral power could be further enhanced by incorporating scriptural quotations and the names of Biblical prophets. Inscribed on sigils 1, 2, 4 and 6 is the common apotropaic formula “Vincit Leo de tribu Iuda, radix David” from Revelation 5: 5, a reference to the biblical David and to astrological Leo. Similarly, some of Reichert’s sigils were inscribed with words from the Gospel of John: “Verbum caro factum est”, causing demons to flee before the power of ‘the Word made Flesh’.
Inscribing the names of angels on sigils was also thought to be efficacious, a tradition begun in the thirteenth century by the increasing influence of Jewish cabalistic texts such as the Sefer Yezirah and the Sefer Razi’el. The texts claimed that the ‘secret names of the God and the angels provided the means by which the powers were called down into the sublunar levels of the cosmos’, and hence used an intricate and often bewildering angelology in ritualistic magic. In sigils 1 and 7, ‘Verchiel’ is inscribed. Verchiel was invoked as the angel of the month of July, ruler of the sign of Leo. Verchiel (here called Zerachiel) is also governor of the Sun and grants powers of the intellect, language, learning and mathematics.
Several of Reichelt’s sigils also bear geometrical characters of triangles, circles and lines, which he realized represented the ‘intelligences and demons’ of the planets based on numerical associations made with the heavenly bodies derived from the rules of cabala. There is also a magic square or grid of numbers engraved on sigil 10, devoted to the planet Mercury. For early modern philosophers, mathematics and magic were intimately connected. From his doctrine that the elements of the body were mingled in geometrical proportions, and that the soul’s elements combined numerically, Agrippa determined that the derived geometrical and numerical figures had peculiar corporeal and spiritual powers.
Arthur Edward Waite – Talismans, “The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts: Including the Rites and Mysteries of Goëtic Theurgy, Sorcery, and Infernal Necromancy”, 1910.
Occult Aspects 