3rd Lunar Mansion: All Good Things – Lapis Lazuli & Rose Quartz Pendant Talismans

The Lunar Mansions represent an ancient and distinctive method for dividing the zodiac up according to the motions of the Moon rather than the Sun. The Mansions are not particularly well known or understood by many in the English-speaking world, as they were used primarily in India, China, and the Arabic world rather than in the Hellenistic tradition that was passed down to the so-called West.

The medieval scholar Ahmad Ibn ‘Ali Al-Buni, in his infamous grimoire the Shams Al-Ma’Arif (The Sun of Knowledge) had this profound observation on the Mansions: “[W]ere it not for this…celestial cycle [of the Lunar Mansions], the human being would never have been able to distinguish the causes of fortune from the causes of misfortune, or the way this is intermixed or left out—and all of that has been poured into the nature of man” (tr. Amina Inloes, Chapter 2, pp. 76-7). 

From the divisions of the Lunar Mansions, then, come the very qualities of good and bad. Some Mansions menace the night with a malefic spirit, and many Mansions temperately blend positive and negative significations. The Third Lunar Mansion, however, stands as a bastion and exemplar of a positive, more purely benefic station of the Moon. As such, our experience of these talismans and this Mansion has been that they have less of the otherworldly, feral, or wild qualities that many Lunar Mansion spirits and their talismans can possess. Not that these Third Lunar Mansion talismans come across as domesticated, exactly—rather, these spirits simply seem more interested and invested in human projects and flourishing than some others.

Originally associated with the Pleiades, the Third Lunar Mansion’s Arabic name, Al Thurayya, gets translated as ‘The Many Little Ones’ or ‘The Little Wealthy Woman’ (The Procession of the Night Theater, J.M. Hamade). The image of the lamp that magically signifies the Pleiades in talismanic lore also naturally lends itself to associations with magical lamps, lanterns, and lights in folklore that illuminate the correct path or grant wishes via spirit intervention. And indeed, this Mansion, signifying All Good Things, has long carried an association with wish fulfillment. Maslama al-Qurtubi in the Picatrix documents the talismanic nature of this Mansion thusly:

“The third Mansion is Azoraye and is for the acquisition of all good things. Make the figure of a seated woman with her right hand over her head [and] suffumigate it with musk, camphor, mastic, and aromatic oils. Say: ‘You, Annuncia, make it so.’ [Wear this talisman] and it will be as you wish.”

—Picatrix, Book IV, Chapter 9 (tr. Greer & Warnock) 

Reinforcing Al Thurayya as a Mansion of wishes or luck, we can turn our eye to medieval associations between the Lunar Mansions and the figures of geomancy. A geomantic instrument dating from about 1241 CE in Egypt or Syria created by Muhammad ibn Khutlukh al Mawsuli associates the Third Lunar Mansion with the geomantic figure of Fortuna Major. Although in Tarot the Wheel of Fortune is often associated with Jupiter, the Greater Fortune of geomancy typically gets associated with the Sun, and the kind of stable fortune corresponding to the ceaseless solar fire.

The poetic reflections of J.M. Hamade on this Mansion beautifully encapsulate some of this lore:

“Such is the Moon in this place. Resplendent, the Queen of Heaven. If I followed that light with conviction I may begin to get somewhere. The stars [in the Third Night of this Mansion] were approachable. Like I could sing to them and they would hear me. Perhaps even hum a tune back to me. They appeared reliable, but only so much as my humanity extended outward.”

—J.M. Hamade, Procession of the Night Theater, p. 20

This passage captures the relational quality of the wish: when you wish upon a star, then, and only then, your dreams will come true. The dream asks something of us: we must clarify our desires and burn away the torpor of doubt and lassitude, extend our humanity outward, and follow the light with conviction. 

In our experience with these talismans thus far, they seem to grease the Wheel of Fortune, wreathing time in an atmosphere of luck and helping things just generally go better. Psychologically, imagination seems more fluid, desire seems more possible, and the good things in life seem to gather closer in, as if the branches of the tree bent their fruits toward our hand. This still requires us to reach out, grasp, and pluck, of course—you can’t win if you don’t play—and the fruit may end up being the one we need rather than the one we (think we) want. 

This closing-of-the-gap quality of the All Good Things talisman helps us to feel as though our steps along the starry path are in greater sympathy with the workings and intentions of the living cosmos. Luck always has a quality of being in the right place at the right time, which requires some kind of synchrony or (usually apparently accidental) mutuality between our own agency and whatever forces seem to be at play in the greater scheme of things. In this way, these Third Lunar Mansion talismans seem to function something like possibility magnets, pulling the trajectories of our lives closer to the natural rhythms of things.

Another thing we have noticed about these talismans is that they seem to carry a glamorous quality—they draw compliments and seem to allure the human (and perhaps the spirit) eye. Yet although the All Good Things talismans seem to enhance intention and attention, our testing suggests that for us, at least, they do not necessarily carry the kind of heavy somatic hit or noticeable adjustment period of some talismans. This may make them particularly friendly for folks who are more sensitive and could use a gentler helping hand than some of the more…enthusiastic talismans out there sometimes offer.

Technical Details

The 3rd Lunar Mansion All Good Things talismans were ensouled on Friday, November 24, 2023 between 9:24pm and 10:04pm EST.

Essential Features of the Election

For lunar mansion talismans, the Moon must be in the relevant lunar mansion while rising on the Ascendant or culminating on the Midheaven. Note that Idola Stellarum works with the tropical lunar mansions. In this election, the Moon was culminating on the Midheaven and within the bounds of the tropical 3rd Lunar Mansion, which extends from 25° Aries 42′ to 8° Taurus 34′.

The most important factor in lunar mansion talismans is the condition of the Moon. In this election, Luna was dignified by exaltation and triplicity, increasing in light and nearly full, and moving with fast speed. Luna was separating from a sextile to Saturn and not making any aspect by sign or degree to Mars, making her quite safe from malefic influence, and her ruler, Venus, was dignified by domicile in Libra.

Since the 1^st house signifies the bearer of the talisman, we also look at the condition of the Lord of the Ascendant in lunar mansion elections. The Sun was peregrine in Sagittarius, separating from both malefic planets and in the terms of Jupiter. Thus, the Lord of the Ascendant was in adequate condition albeit not particularly fortified.

(Note that for lunar mansion talismans, planetary hour and day are not essential considerations.)

Further Magical Factors in the Election

The signification of “all good things” for the 3rd Lunar Mansion becomes bolstered by the configuration of the luminaries in relation to the malefics in this electional chart. The Moon, as primary significator, and the Sun, as the Lord of the Ascendant, are each separating from planets indicating harmful and negative influences, pointing to “all good things” in this working also involving leaving bad things behind.

The Moon in this election also applies to angular Jupiter in Taurus. Although Jupiter’s retrogradation diminishes the luster of this aspect somewhat, application to the Greater Benefic is a definite fortitude and significantly bolsters the propitious quality of this election. Indeed, the Picatrix notes that when it comes to the Moon:

“[The Moon’s] strength will accord with the nature of the planets and stars with which she is conjoined while in the aforesaid aspects.”

—Picatrix, Book II, Ch.  3 (tr. Greer & Warnock)

Thus, Luna takes on a jovial character in this election, furthering her capacity to grant All Good Things.

Reflection on Weaknesses of the Election

Although the Moon’s ruler, Venus, was highly dignified, she was also in a cadent house and approaching the South Node, lending her a definitively mixed status. These secondhand weaknesses of the Moon were potentially mitigated by the presence of Jupiter in the 10th house, for as Ficino writes:

“In cases where you are not able to manage all these caveats [regarding the placement and condition of the Moon], at least look for Jupiter or Venus either in the ascendant or in the tenth place, for so they compensate for the debilities of the Moon.”

—Marsilio Ficino, Three Books on Life, Book III, Ch. VI, p. 271 (tr. Kaske & Clark)

Recommendations

We consider these talismans beginner friendly and general purpose, and do not issue any particular cautions about their use. People with a natally afflicted Moon would be advised to perform a divination to ensure that this particular talisman would be a good fit.

Ceremonial Details

Gemstone & Talismanic Image

The Picatrix instructs to fashion a silver ring with “the figure of a seated woman with her right hand raised over her head” with the Moon in this mansion for “the acquisition of all good things” (Book IV, Chapter 9). This figure was carved on the front of each talisman along with the names of the Lunar Mansion, AL THURAYYA, and the name of the Mansion’s angel, AMIXIEL.

As we favor gemstone rather than metal talismans at Idola Stellarum, we divined on which lunar gems would serve this Mansion best. For this election, divination guided us to a selection of larger 30mm lapis lazuli talismans as well as 13x18mm rose quartz. The Peterborough Lapidary (tr. Francis Young) attests that lapis lazuli is “a stone very good for medicines” (p. 82) and that quartz “makes a man much honoured” (p. 23).

The petition for this election called upon the angel of the 3rd Lunar Mansion to bring fortune, contentment, prosperity, friendship, love, and all good things, and to allow the bearers to live good lives surrounded by blessings, such that they could be creative, successful, and fully satiated with abundance, beauty, and joy.

Ritual Setup

An altar of white, gold, and silver was erected to Amixiel, angel of the 3rd Lunar Mansion, prior to the working. An oil lamp burning with olive oil served as the focus of the altar, a symbolic nod to the 3rd Lunar Mansion historically being linked to the Pleiades, whose stars were within the bounds of this Mansion in times of old. Offerings of spirits, cream, olives, “Living Jewel” sake, rock sugar, bread, eggs, sweets, squashes, honey, cheese, and fresh flowers were made to the spirits of the 3rd Lunar Mansion.

Suffumigation

The Picatrix calls for the mage to suffumigate 3rd Lunar Mansion talismans with “musk, camphor, mastic, and aromatic oils.”

This suffumigation recipe presents a hurdle for mages aspiring to craft 3rd Lunar Mansion talismans according to the traditional instructions. Perfumers sell many scents named ‘musk,’ though such perfumes nearly always refer to what is called ‘white musk,’ which is a synthetic mixture designed in some ways to mimic the ancient scent of musk. These synthetic compounds are often cheap, sometimes carcinogenic, and most importantly, entirely foreign to the world in which talismanic magic originated. ‘Musk’ in our source texts refers to an ancient perfume fixative sourced from the glands of the musk deer. This presents a barrier for contemporary practitioners, who must take care since the musk deer is now a protected species. Illegal poaching and forgery are not uncommon, since deer musk trade is controlled by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Thus, although mages may opt to find an alternative to musk on the same cosmic hierarchy, or eliminate this ingredient and thus stray from the traditional recipe, it is also possible—with a bit of research and expense—to source genuine deer musk from a reputable source.

Here at Idola Stellarum, we try to follow traditional texts and aim for transparency in our methods. As we say in our guarantees, “every Idola Stellarum talisman has been created using traditional materials (gemstones, herbs, suffumigations). Any deviation from traditional sources will be explicitly described with a rationale for the innovation provided.” In this instance, we stuck to the traditional suffumigation, using camphor granules, Greek mastic, and, yes, legally harvested (not to mention hair-raisingly expensive) pharmaceutical grade genuine deer musk grains. We mixed these ingredients with “Budding Realization” perfume from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, which was the special perfume released with the Rosebud Tarot by Diana Rose Harper and Amanda Lee Stilwell. This mixture was one of the most potent suffumigations we have ever rendered in our operations, leaving our ritual space coated in a rich perfumed haze for several days following the working.