The August 2026 eclipse season ushered in a substantial degree of criticism and accusation in various places within the industry of astrological magic—so much so that we felt it necessary to publicly clarify a policy that we have held privately (and also articulated many times within our membership) since our inception:
Idola Stellarum, as a matter of policy, refrains from making any public criticism of the practices or elections of any other astrological magician.
In our view, astrological magic in the English-speaking world holds great potential for rehabilitating beautiful, valuable worldviews and ancestral perspectives (speaking at the very least of ancestors of intellectual tradition and practice lineage) that have been denigrated and lost in the so-called West. Because so few texts have come to us from antiquity and so precious few source texts from the Islamicate occult sciences have been translated into English, our knowledge is currently quite limited and piecemeal. Thus, virtually any workings in astrological magic implemented on the basis of texts in English translation could reasonably be thought of as experimental.
For this reason, we prioritize citation and textual fidelity whenever possible and practical. There are, however, a variety of different approaches and opinions about how to interpret and put into practice the texts we have available to us, and every practitioner has their own priorities and focus. Moreover, the contemporary revival of astrological magic in the English-speaking world is still quite young and there is no consensus on best practices, and certainly no industry-wide standards or regulatory organization. As such, we fundamentally believe that a stance of humility, respect, and stewardship is of the greatest value to practitioners, enthusiasts, and consumers.
With that said, it must also be acknowledged that astrological talismans are deep and consequential magic that can change a person’s life: for the better, yes, but also for the worse. As we have repeatedly emphasized, Picatrix contains recipes for life-affirming talismans and curse talismans alike. Anyone who really takes the premises of this art seriously must soberly acknowledge that good intentions are no guarantee against harmful results.
At Idola Stellarum, we do not believe that it is anybody’s best interests for us to attempt to position ourselves as authorities or experts with special knowledge about what is right or wrong, correct or incorrect, or good or bad. Instead, we position ourselves as lovers of astrological magic who want you, dear reader, to be as empowered as possible to make informed decisions for yourself. One of our goals at Idola Stellarum has always been to educate and empower consumers, and one of the things we have stressed in a variety of places in our public writing (as well as our member resources) is discernment: what it is, how to cultivate it, and techniques that can be learned to help with discernment. You can find some of our key resources on discernment and related themes in the following articles:
- How to Choose Your First Astrological Talisman: A Deep Dive
- Are Astrological Talismans Safe? Part I: Technique & Sturdy Relationships
- Are Astrological Talismans Safe? Part II: Safety & Quality Control
- Toward a Trauma-Informed Astrological Magic
- On the Question of How Talismans Interact with Natal Charts
- Astrological Magic and Eclipses: A Relational Perspective
One of the things we work to embody and model in our approach to astrological magic is providing sufficient information for consumers to make informed choices about our talismans. One thing we do that, while not unique, is hardly universal, is to explain not only the positive factors in our elections but also explicitly highlight, describe, and issue cautions about the weaknesses (or negative factors) in our elections and the possible challenges that any particular talisman may bring. This serves two purposes: first, to aid in the consumer’s informed consent in whether to move forward with a talismanic relationship, and second, to provide an opportunity for learning about talismanic elections for anyone who is interested. At the end of the day, we would much rather people not buy a talisman from us than decide to bring a talisman into their life that would not be suitable or helpful for them.
To further contribute to our goals of education and empowerment, we are making public our mini-course on Aspects of the Moon. This was originally intended as part of a larger series for Inner Sanctum members called Evaluating Astromagical Elections, and we may expand this series in the future. Although aspects of the Moon are of course only one part of a magical election, they are an important part, and this resource may be of some use to people attempting to make decisions about what talismans to come into relationship with—or not! You can access this video course offering here, which contains nearly seven and a half hours of video content:
The corresponding blog posts for the course are also being made public. Although the video course goes into more detail and examples in places, the core material is contained in the blog posts.
- Evaluating Astromagical Elections – Series Introduction
- Evaluating Astromagical Elections – The Significator
- Aspects of the Moon – Part I – Introducing the Two Aspect Doctrines
- Aspects of the Moon – Part II – Medieval and Renaissance Rules, & Lunar Conjunctions
- Aspects of the Moon – Part III – The Moon’s Aspects to Benefic and Malefic Planets
- Aspects of the Moon – Part IV – The Moon’s Aspects to the Sun
- Aspects of the Moon – Part V – The Moon’s Aspects to Mercury and the Fixed Stars
- Aspects of the Moon – Part VI – Orbs, Sign Boundaries, & Subsequent Aspects
- Aspects of the Moon – Part VII – Summary, Principles, & a Guide for Evaluating Moon Aspects in Magical Elections
We hope these educational materials add a positive and helpful resource to the practice of astrological magic.
Picatrix Book II, Chapter 11 contains a quotation that has come to be a guiding principle for us: The wise did not possess the science of the spirit, nor did they attain it, without great difficulty, study and labor.” What’s so wonderful is that the “great difficulty, study and labor” isn’t quite so heavy when we do it together. In all of our offerings we try to make this extremely arcane and abstruse craft a little more accessible and less intimidating, and in doing so enchanting the world just a little more day by day.
As stewards of the tradition of astrological magic, it is our privilege to bring the wonder of astrological talismans to others. Sign up to our mailing list for word of our upcoming talismanic collections and workings:
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