Welcome to the Aegis Collection:
Idola Stellarum’s 2025 Fall Equinox Collection
of Astromagical Talismanic Jewelry

Read more below, or jump to the talismans & prints:

The Aegis collection will open at the following times:

  • Early access for Inner Sanctum members: Monday, September 22, 2025 @ 12:47pm EDT
  • Mailing list subscribers: Thursday, September 25, 2025 @ 12:35pm EDT

“The very notions of divinity and imagery are conjoined in Egyptian thought; the conventional term for ‘god’ has as its root meaning ‘image’… Gods, humans, animals, objects, actions, and words are all part of a fluid continuum of projected divine images without sharp divisions.”

—Robert K. Ritner, The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice, p. 51

Introducing the Aegis Collection

Apotropaic Magic

Since ancient times, people have turned to apotropaic magic—magic aimed at defense from or aversion of evil and harm, from the Greek verb apotropein, ‘to turn away or avert’[1]—to help protect themselves, their homes, and their loved ones safe. Evidence of Sumerian incantations to ward off the evil eye, for example, date back to at least 3000 B.C., and related beliefs and practices spread virtually worldwide.[2]

Making sure that gods or spirits have your back becomes all the more important in times and places when communities, governments, and institutions have failed in, abdicated, or blatantly transgressed their missions to keep people safe. Apotropaic practices were extremely varied:

“Personal amulets, prophylactic rings, knotted cords, and inscribed metal tablets represent only the narrowest of a series of concentric circles of protection that they erected around themselves. The ancients had a variety of ways to avert danger at the thresholds of their homes, at the boundaries of their property, and at the gates and walls of their cities. Special herbs or animals were thought to be efficacious in keeping evil away and were often buried at the threshold or hung over the doorway. Protective symbols or texts could be inscribed directly into the lintel of a doorway. The bones and tombs of heroes and other exceptional individuals were also thought to ward off destruction and encourage good luck, even though the practice of burying human remains within or at the city walls (especially near or within temple sanctuaries) was in apparent violation of other ritual requirements concerning pollution incurred by contact with the dead.”[3]

In fact, magical or mundane, protection comes in many forms and is exceedingly common. From the clothes we wear every day and the shelter of our roofs and walls, to mundane weapons and armor, to guardian statues and even astrological talismans, we human beings routinely find ourselves needing to shield, ward off, avoid, and avert the inconveniences and evils of the world.

And at least in the United States where we are writing to you from, it certainly seems like many people have even more evils to avert as of late. With current events and the astrology of the upcoming years in mind, we felt it eminently reasonable to release a talisman collection themed around protection.

Apotropaic Images

Astrological talismans conceptually descend from a variety of haunted objects that occupied the ancient Near East and Mediterranean region. The Nabataeans, for example, possessed aniconic stones, called betyls by the Greeks and attested by Pliny the Elder,[4] that were not meant to depict or represent the gods, but were instead seen as “animated stones, which fell from the heavens and possessed magical power.”[5] The later wealth of amulets bearing the images of deities, decans, and daimones that come down to us from late antiquity and which serve as the more immediate precursors to astrological talismans originate in no small part from the ancient and near-universal belief in the power of images.

Guardian statues were common in the Bronze Age and Classical antiquity, and their power was seen as structural. Consider the following record from the Neo-Assyrian Empire during the reign of Ershaddon (681-669 BC):

“Protecting colossoi of stone, which by virtue of their form ward off evil, guarding the footfall, protecting the path of the king, their maker, I put them right and left of the threshold.”[6] (emphasis added)

As another example, the bound prisoner motif, one of the oldest and most common apotropaic images, dates to first dynasty Egypt (c. 3200-2900 BC) and survived into the Roman Imperial period, judging from its appearance in the Greek Magical Papyri.[7] Similar to the protecting colossoi of Ershaddon, the bound prisoner motif was effective by virtue of its form, its efficacy held to be “largely passive in nature, dependent upon either the mere existence or the ‘inherent kinetics’ of the design.”[8]

Images have power. The power of images was not seen as given by the gods, but coextensive with them. Ancient authors frequently just used a god’s name or even just the broader word for god or gods to refer to statues of deities.[9] According to the Egyptologist Robert K. Ritner, ‘image’ is the root meaning of the conventional Egyptian term for ‘god,‘[10] and images were not held to reflect but to actively create reality. [11]

The Aegis: Mundane, Divine, and Image

Folks who are more casually acquainted with astrological talismans may not know that astrological talismans in the tradition of the Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm (more commonly known in the so-called West as Picatrix, the name of its Latin translation) are typically not referred to as talismans in source texts but simply as images. Talismans in the form of rings, pendants, and other objects are places where the divine—the celestial spirits—is blended and harmonized with the mundane—everyday objects, no matter how ornate—by means of an image to help us create reality.

Another example of this blending of mundane, divine, and image is the aegis. The Greek word aegis (αἰγίς) refers to a mythological protective artifact of the gods, alternately attributed to or worn by Athena, Zeus, and Apollo, but also simply means a humble goatskin worn as a dress or cuirass.[12]

A third meaning of aegis is a violent storm, emphasizing the intimate link between protection and danger. Athena’s shield itself demonstrates this most clearly: after Perseus slays Medusa, the gorgon’s head or gorgoneion itself was placed on her shield and her aegis. According to the archaeologist and art historian Patricia A. Marx, the entwining of monstrous image and apotropaion constituted an archetypal expression of the protective image:

“The use of the gorgoneion for Athena’s shield blazon (and later as an addition to her aegis) implies that there is a need to ward off evil, for the gorgoneion is the apotropaic device par excellence. Not only was it hideous, it could turn one’s opponent to stone (Pindar, Pyth 10, 47-48), and the very thought that it might pursue him sent the intrepid hero Odysseus into a hasty retreat from Hades.“[13]

Two out of the three Aegis collection talismans have explicitly apotropaic magical aims, but in a certain sense we believe that all astrological talismans serve some form of protective function. If nothing else, in closing the gap between the mundane and divine, in more intimately entwining the gods with the material, they help us not lose our heads in the face of the worldviews of scientism and secular materialism that alienate us from ourselves, the world, the magical, and the divine.

It is our hope that the talismans of the Aegis collection serve to protect their bearers, their families, and their communities from the noxious forces gathering steam in the world, and thereby help them advance positive, life-affirming, magical projects befitting our celestial heritage.

[If the scholarly references and historical-magical perspective of this short essay pique your interest, consider joining the Inner Sanctum, where we are constantly working on creating, sharing, and discussing sources and resources that aim to make our understanding and experience of astrological magic simultaneously more rigorous and more accessible.]

Bibliography

[1] Christopher A. Faraone, Talismans and Trojan Horses: Guardian Statues in Ancient Greek Myth and Ritual (Oxford University Press, 1992), 4.

[2] See the Introduction to John H. Elliott, Beware the Evil Eye: The Evil Eye in the Bible and the Ancient World: Volume 1 Introduction, Mesopotamia, and Egypt (James Clarke & Company Limited, 2016).

[3] Faraone, Talismans and Trojan Horses, 3.

[4] Pliny the Elder, The Natural History of Pliny, trans. Henry Thomas Riley and John Bostock, vol. 6 (George Bell & Sons, 1855), bk. XXXII.

[5] Robert Wenning, “The Betyls of Petra,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 324 (November 2001): 80.

[6] Daniel David Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia (University of Chicago Press, 1927), no. 698.

[7] Hans Dieter Betz, The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Including the Demotic Spells, 2nd ed. (University of Chicago Press, 1986), VII 925-39, VII 965-68, X 36-50.

[8] Robert Kriech Ritner, The Mechanics of Ancient Egyptian Magical Practice (Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1993), 136.

[9] Faraone, Talismans and Trojan Horses.

[10] Robert K. Ritner, “The Religious, Social, and Legal Parameters of Traditional Egyptian Magic,” in Ancient Magic and Ritual Power, ed. Marvin Meyer and Paul Mirecki (Brill, 1995), 51.

[11] Ritner, Mechanics of Egyptian Magic, 115.

[12] See the relevant entry in Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, Αἰγίς (Clarendon Press, 1940), https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=ai)gi/s.

[13] Patricia A. Marx, “The Introduction of the Gorgoneion to the Shield and Aegis of Athena and the Question of Endoios,” Revue Archéologique, JSTOR, 1993, 237.

The Aegis Collection

The Aegis Collection holds gemstone talismans from three elections from 2024 and 2025 and talismanic linocut & letterpress prints from one election in 2025. Please follow the links below to visit the individual talisman product pages, or scroll down to see brief previews of each of the talismans.

Note that all astrological talismans by their time-sensitive nature are extremely limited edition. Only a relatively small number of each specific talisman we release will ever be available. Once they are gone, they are gone.

(Note also: weight and dimensions listed in product attributes are approximate weights for the entire shipped package, not for the talismans themselves individually. None of the decorative elements displayed in altar photos or product shots besides the chains and jewelry boxes are included with purchased talismans.)

Perseus Constellation – Athena’s Shield

Perseus Constellation: Athena's Shield - Lapis Lazuli & Malachite Pendant Talismans

Perseus Constellation: Athena’s Shield – Lapis Lazuli & Malachite Pendant Talismans

$325.00
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Ensouled on Wednesday, March 5, 2025 between 9:33am and 9:54am EDT.

Of the nature of the Perseus constellation, these talismans were created with the intent of granting the bearer protection, particularly from misfortunes, storms, witchcraft, and attacks by the envious.

The Athena’s Shield talismans come in 16mm malachite in sterling silve prong pendant settings & 20mm lapis lazuli talisman in sterling silver crown bezel pendant settings.

We consider these talismans to be beginner friendly and we issue no specific cautions as to their use.

Royal Persian Star Antares – Scorpion’s Heart

Royal Persian Star Antares: Scorpion's Heart - Amethyst Pendant Talismans

Royal Persian Star Antares: Scorpion’s Heart – Amethyst Pendant Talismans

$375.00
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Ensouled on January 8, 2024 between 4:36am and 4:51am EDT.

Of the nature of the royal Persian fixed star Antares, these amethyst talismans were created with the intent of granting the traditional magical gifts granted by this star: health, memory, understanding, and of course protection, particularly spiritual protection.

The Scorpion’s Heart pendants were crafted from 20mm amethyst cabochons set in gold-plated sterling silver crown bezel pendant settings.

We most readily recommend this talisman to people who either have experience with talismanic spirits or who are reasonably adept at negotiating and setting boundaries with spirits.

Sun in Capricorn III – Terra’s Throne

Sun in Capricorn III Decan: Terra's Throne - Bloodstone Pendant Talismans

Sun in Capricorn III Decan: Terra’s Throne – Bloodstone Pendant Talismans

$375.00
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Ensouled on Friday, January 12, 2024 between 7:08am and 7:26am EST.

Of the nature of the third decan of Capricorn, these talismans were created with the intent of granting material stability according to the description of Picatrix, which says: “This is a face of wealth and the accumulation of money and increase and embarking on trade and pressing on to a good end” (Book II, Chapter 11).

The Terra’s Throne pendants were crafted from 18x25mm African bloodstone cabochons set in gold-plated sterling silver pendant settings.

Decan talismans are more rare and esoteric compared to planetary and even fixed star talismans. We therefore recommend that adopters of these talismans have some fluency with spirit work and preferably with talismanic relationships.

NEW!! Jupiter in Cancer Talismanic Linocut & Letterpress Prints!

Jupiter in Cancer Talismanic Letterpress & Linocut Prints

Jupiter in Cancer Talismanic Letterpress & Linocut Prints

Price range: $120.00 through $145.00
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We are pleased to present the premiere offering of talismanic prints from Idola Stellarum! These prints were ritually created during a talismanic quality Jupiter in Cancer election in early morning of Wednesday, August 13, 2025 between 2:39am and 3:11am EDT.

The small prints feature the talismanic crane image, and the large prints feature the talismanic crane image and a letterpress print of the Thomas Taylor translation of The Orphic Hymn to Jupiter. Each print is signed by Pallas and Rain and numbered in their respective series.

The framed versions of the smaller prints come in 4×5 warm silver (small) wooden frames with easel backings.

NEW!! Orphic Hymn to Jupiter Devotional Letterpress Prints!

Orphic Hymn to Jupiter Devotional Letterpress Prints

Orphic Hymn to Jupiter Devotional Letterpress Prints

$45.00
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These devotional letterpress prints of the Thomas Taylor translation of The Orphic Hymn to Jupiter were typeset by hand during Jupiter hours and printed during Jupiter day and hour on August 14, 2025 with a Kelsey Excelsior 5×8 tabletop letterpress while Jupiter occupied his degree of exaltation.

The prints are 4.5″ x 6.25″ in size, each slightly irregular due to the nature of handmade paper. Each print is signed and numbered by Pallas. They come in acid-free protective cellophane sleeves.

Note: These prints were not made with full talismanic electional timing or ritual procedures, and should be considered devotional artwork, not talismanic objects.

Idola Stellarum Puts the Stars in your Hands

By putting you in relationship with the powerful spirits who peer into the sublunary realm through these talismans, we hope you will be better equipped to face a strange, shifting, and at times terrifying world in which, too often, injustice reigns and corruption prevails. With institutions under siege (some rightfully so) and social contracts disintegrating at the expense of the most oppressed among us, we have to rely on each other. Thankfully, our interdependent networks of care can include celestial angels, too.

The spirits who guide Idola Stellarum know that if we can begin to equip each other with deep and consequential magic, we can begin to make the types of changes that many of us were told as children were possible, and reach toward the dreams which we knew could come true, but which remain withheld by those who hold structural and institutional power. To that end, we provide extensive information on our talismans, because we believe in making the tradition of astrological magic more accessible and allowing people to step into talismanic relationships equipped with the knowledge they need.

On each product page linked above, we offer photographs and a narrative description of the talisman series before showcasing the electional chart (with a precise time range specifying the beginning and end of the ritual window) and discussing the essential features of the election, further magical factors of the election, and reflections on weaknesses of the election. We include ceremonial details of petitions, altars, suffumigations, and, of course, the talismans themselves.  

Sanctifying Relationships

In building Idola Stellarum, and in thinking about the Insight collection, we aimed to not only put people in relationship with talismanic spirits, but to offer an experience of coming into connection. We, as beings of the sublunary realm, rely on our visceral and tactile senses, and so Idola Stellarum set our intention to usher in an experience of quality that would appeal to the aesthetics of body and spirit alike.

To this end, each Idola Stellarum talisman will include: a foil-stamped black velvet jewelry box for safe keeping and display; a detailed writeup about the nature of the talisman, the circumstances and rituals of its creation, and guidance on how to introduce yourself to the talismanic spirit; and a certificate of authenticity signed by Rain & Pallas. All talismanic jewelry in the Aegis collection has been set in high quality metal settings. All pendant settings in the Aegis collection are sterling silver (some gold-plated), and each pendant talisman includes a matching 22″ sterling silver or gold plated sterling silver rope chain.

Additionally, many questions related to the talismans you may have are answered in our frequently asked questions. We take our role as mages and mediators of the celestial spirits very seriously, and we stand by our work and the relationships we build, tend, and foster. To this end, each Idola Stellarum talisman is backed by several guarantees, which we encourage you to look over, and we also endeavor to be very transparent about what we are not able to guarantee.

Note that good relationships have boundaries, and you should know ours: due to the nature of astrological talismans, all sales are final, and no refunds or exchanges will be offered. Please read our returns & exchanges policy for more information.

Whether or not you hope to meet one of our talismans from this collection, we warmly invite you to keep up to date on our mailing list for more opportunities to join Idola Stellarum for events, spaces, and conversations intended to deepen and improve our relationships, talismanic and otherwise.

Membership in the Inner Sanctum is currently the only way to gain premiere early access to (as well as a member discount on) Idola Stellarum talisman collections. After Inner Sanctum early access, collections go out to our mailing list. Only after this are our collections open to the public, and then only if any talismans remain. The Inner Sanctum is currently closed, but opens quarterly.

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