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“The Spirit is Made Luminous by Luminous Things”: Astrological Talismans as a Vehicle for Self-Transformation
Many people turn to magic for power and influence. They want to get things in life that they feel like they can’t get on their own, whether that be money, status, creative achievement, sex, love, and so on. Those aims are perfectly understandable, and astrological talismans can help achieve such practical ends. Consideration of exactly how it is that talismans go about helping us humans down here in the sublunary realm illuminates what motivates us at Idola Stellarum: the effort to come into harmonious relationship with the celestial and terrestrial realms.
The Video Game Model of Astrological Talismans
For those of us raised under the influence of American media, it may come naturally to think of astrological talismans somewhat like magical items in a fantasy plot: you pick one up and it mysteriously helps you perform some task more easily or gives you access to some other world or way of walking in this one.
Video games provide a good example. Most video games are designed so that when a better item comes along you discard or sell the old one and replace it with the new one. In this video game model, the power of an astrological talisman would be external, instrumental, and interchangeable: its efficacy would be independent of you as a person, it would be simply a means to an end, and it could be replaced or upgraded with little care or consequence.
The video game model of astrological talismans is not completely off the mark, especially when represented through more complex mechanics of material collection and assemblage, but it is not the whole story. At its core, the video game model is a materialist model that does not fully attend to the history and relationality of astrological talismans. When properly made, astrological talismans are not just fashion accessories that happen to give you a bonus in life, but are living, sentient celestial spirits. We do not simply use talismans to interact with the world in a different way: talismanic spirits, talismans, their makers, and their keepers all interact with each other and with the world.
The Relational Spirit Model of Astrological Talismans
At Idola Stellarum, we are people who work professionally in caring relationship with clients and patients. We hold close to heart the truth that as human beings, we develop in and through relationship. Relationships live and breathe through us. Relationships change us. Relationships heal. A more relational perspective on astrological talismans takes seriously that being in relationship with celestial spirits has the capacity to initiate us into being more deeply alive, present, connected, and discerning. This is not a side effect or bonus: self-transformation through talismanic relationships expresses the core and highest purposes of astrological magic.
The Renaissance physician-priest-magician Marsilio Ficino understood talismans within a model that saw them not just as ways to get a leg up on our goals, but a way to participate in the cosmic order, align ourselves with the celestial intelligences, and transform our very spirit in the process:
“All these discussions are for this purpose, that through the rays of the stars opportunely received, our spirit properly prepared and purged through natural things may receive the most from the very spirit of the life of the world.”
—Marsilio Ficino, Three Books on Life, Ch. XI
At Idola Stellarum, we do not simply view astrological talismans as a means to an end or a shortcut to achieve our worldly goals. We view relationship with astrological talismans as devotional practice through which we can ennoble our spirit, better embody our values, and come into relationship with the cosmos.
Contrasting the Video Game and Relational Spirit Models
The fallacy of model comparison is that they are an either-or. As astrologers love to say, one doesn’t have to believe in astrology; the astrology is happening whether or not one recognizes it. Even in the video game model, the relational spirit model still operates; it simply may not be recognized as such for any number of reasons. In limiting ourselves to a video game model, we risk missing out on the soulfulness of a true reckoning with our connection to the celestial realm.
In the video game model, we are self-focused on the object, aim, and pursuit; in the spirit model, we are also focused outward on the inspirited world beyond our selves, of which we are but one integral part. In the video game model, astrological talismans are interchangeable and instrumental; in the spirit model, talismans become more like friends or companions with whom we share values, respect, and ongoing care. Finally, in the video game model, talismans are a way to get more personal power and look out for number one; in the spirit model, talismans are also a way to come into greater harmony with ourselves, repair our relationship with nature and the cosmos, and become better able to help others alongside ourselves.
Ficino writes that “the world does wholly live and breathe, and we are permitted to absorb its spirit” (ibid, Ch. IV). For us, we are not merely permitted to absorb the world’s spirit and to be absorbed: doing so and being so is our finest birthright. Astrological talismans can “change the nature and behavior of the wearer [and] restore [them] to a better state, so that [they become] now almost another person” (Ficino, ibid, Ch. XX).
This need not be mysterious or suspect. We can draw a direct parallel to human relationships. Some relationships drag us down, some lift us up. Your relationships with friends, family, colleagues, and others shapes how and who you are in the world. Similarly, when we think about relationships with spirits. Ficino again:
“[W]henever we say ‘celestial goods descend to us,’ understand: (1) that gifts from the celestial bodies come into our bodies through our rightly prepared spirit, (2) that even before that, through their rays the same gifts flow into a spirit exposed to them either naturally or by whatever means, and (3) that the goods of the celestial souls partly leap forth into this our spirit through rays, and from there overflow into our souls and partly come straight from their souls or from angels into human souls which have been exposed to them—exposed, I say, not so much by some natural means as by the election of free will or by affection.”
—Marsilio Ficino, Three Books on Life, Ch. XXI
“The Spirit Is Made Luminous By Luminous Things”
Through our voluntary co-participation with spirits, we can open and deepen ourselves into more soulful ways of being so as to better receive celestial gifts and accept terrestrial responsibilities. In personally familiarizing ourselves with astrological talismans, we enter into relationships that mirror the cosmic creative process: we refine and enliven ourselves through inviting divine action and celestial cooperation into our lives.
In transforming ourselves through celestial relationship, we also become more present to where and who we are right now, and more liable to connect with and inspire others—and yes, some of our worldly goals and aspirations will get a boost along the way.
As Ficino writes, “the spirit is made luminous by luminous things” (ibid, Ch. IV). Astrological talismans are most luminous things, and through deepening our relationships with them, we make more luminous our own spirit. In adorning ourselves with immanent divinity, we become more divine.
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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