Category: Ritual Practice
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Attuning to Astrological Talismans Part I – Historical Perspective
After the launch of Idola Stellarum’s first collection of astromagical talismanic jewelry, Sanctuary, we fielded a number of questions about how to attune to astrological talismans. “Attuning” or “attunement” refers to the process of connecting to a talisman for the first time. Often, attunement involves some degree of ceremony or ritual. There is no standard…
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Are Astrological Talismans Safe? Part II: Safety & Quality Control
In the first post of our series on safety in astrological talismans, we explored the question whether astrological talismans are safe from a technical astrological perspective and a relational perspective. We established that real and consequential magic is alive and astrological talismans are sentient beings, and therefore, astrological talismans are always to some extent unpredictable…
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Are Astrological Talismans Safe? Part I: Technique & Sturdy Relationships
Fear of magic reverberates down through history in the so-called West. From early on, ‘magic’ connoted perceptions of the sinister practices of mysterious foreigners, witch trials and the Inquisition loom large in the cultural imagination, and shows and movies reliably paint magic as chaotic, volatile, and often mixed up in tragedies involving greed and the…
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On Offerings in Astrological Magic – Part II
In Part I of this series on offerings, we examined historical sources to make two points about the use of offerings in astrological magic. From the example of Albertus Magnus, we saw that making astrological talismans definitely does not require offerings. From other sources more aligned with the devotional, theurgical side of things (Iamblichus, Proclus,…
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Announcement: Idola Stellarum presents ‘Relational Astromagic’ for Initiate
We have the pleasure of presenting for our colleague and friend Drew Levanti’s groundbreaking electional astrology course Initiate, and it’s open to the public! Live & recorded for registrants. Our presentation, ‘Relational Astromagic: An Ecological Spirit Model‘ is a first gesture toward offering insight into how we work and play at Idola Stellarum. As ‘medicine…
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On Offerings in Astrological Magic – Part I
The historical tradition of astrological magic is not complete. We have a technical knowledge base in the form of rules for astrological elections. We have a rough philosophical framework with many variations from individual authors in their historical context. We have a patchwork of guidance on what materials to use and how. And we have…
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Materials Matter: Why We Consider Our Attention to Ingredients as Prayer
Not too long ago, we were in a retail outlet browsing the kitchen and home aisles, and beside the myriad discount scented candles sat a shelf of amethyst chunks, unnamed geodes the size of your palm, and a bundle of selenite wands. Divorced from all historical context and subjected to the violence of corporate supply…
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Talismanic Gemstones are not like Birdcages: On the Essential Freedom of Celestial Spirits (Part I)
When those who are less familiar with astrological magic discover astrological talismans, a natural and understandable question arises: if making astrological talismans brings down a spirit of the stars inside of a gemstone (or metal), does the spirit freely reside there or has it been trapped there? This question could really worry us. We could…