Behold, Hekate as the Chthonic Sun. Justice and oathkeeper of the underworld.
I don’t know, precisely, what it means. I need to be clear on that from the outset. To the best of my knowledge, there is no historical precedent: Hekate is not descended of Helios, like the other great witches of Greek myth (Pasiphae, Circe, Medea). She is traditionally associated with the light of torches. Traditionally, she is sister to or even synonymous with the moon. But she is also Ourania: heavenly. And she is the the lightbearer: Phosphorus.
This epithet and its accompanying image first appeared to me during my morning ritual some time in January. I wish that part of the operation made a better story, but not all mystic visions come amidst lurid ecstatic rituals or in a drug-induced haze (most of mine don’t, honestly, which is both a relief and a disappointment). I stewed on the image for a couple weeks before I produced the first pencils, which I am still extremely pleased with. A few days later, I redrew the image on watercolor paper. I inked the image the night of the Full Moon, and have spent the last week applying watercolors over three sessions.
Original PencilsInk and Pencil on Watercolor Paper
Artistically, this image was very much a series of experiments. I rarely re-draw anything after I’ve been as pleased with the pencils as I was with this, but the first draft was in my sketchbook and I needed it to be on watercolor paper. I’ve played around with watercolors a little bit, but not in years. Most of the color scheme was planned from the beginning, but the lavender robe was a very last-minute decision/inspiration. (I also considered pale blue, and almost left it paper-white.) I was not at all certain that I’d gotten my order of operations right – should I have done the watercolors between the penils and inks? After the black lines but before the gold? But the gold held up to the watercolor beautifully, and while I did ultimately decide to repaint the gold on both suns, I only needed to touch up a handful of the radiating gold lines, and ultimately found that layering of color and texture to be exactly what the image needed.
The scan obviously didn’t capture the metallic gold ink the way I’d like; it washed out the background a little, and almost completely ate the purples and greens. Strangely, it also increased the saturation of her lavender chiton. I may yet fuck with that. I still plan to digitally ink the scan of the original pencils, and may well do another watercolor and ink version, as well, just to see if I can do it better. Eventually, I’ll either mat or frame it for my altar. Some day, I might make them for sale. For now, though, I think I’m just going to bask in how well this turned out.
For those wondering about the Greek words around her, they are (going clockwise from the upper left): Hekate, Soteira, Kthonie, and Helia. The last (with the final eta rendering into English as an “a” like Athene -> Athena), for those who haven’t studied Greek, is a slapdash and technically unnescessary but probably not wrong feminization of Helios, which yes is the name of the Titan but also just the Greek word for “sun”.
Finally, it would be inappropriate to post this without linking to the art of Micah Ulrich, whose art so obviously influenced my composition.
The image of Venus, according to the opinion of the wise Apollonius, is the shape of a woman standing on her feet and holding an apple in her right hand. This is her shape.
Modern magicians overwhelmingly use Venus to bring love, and that is absolutely in her wheelhouse: “Entreat Venus for the union of desires, the power of causing joy and friendship, driving out idleness and grief, for invigorating the appetite, augmenting procreation, multiplying sons, extinguishing fires, and remaining secure from animals.” (Book 4 Chapter 4 Para 8)
She also governs the arts: “She governs an aspect toward grammar, the art of poetic meter, sounds, and songs. … From the crafts, she governs all the skills of painting, illustrating, selling perfumes, playing instruments pleasantly, singing, dancing, and producing harmonies with instruments.” (Book 3 Chapter 1 Para 7)
My first astrological image of 2026, and my sixth of seven images “according to Apollonius. I’m really very pleased with how it’s turned out. I love her facial features, and the texture I was able to convey in her hair. I think I did a great job of making her fat and hot.
Even more than my other planetary images, it’s important to me as a politically conscious artist that at least one of my images of Venus be explicitly Black. When I picked Venus as my next Apollonian image to finish, I decided that there was no time like the present. I had originally wanted her costume to be much more clearly African-inspired, but I struggled to find inspirational images attatched to such basic information as, “who and where in Africa designed or wore or wears this”. So for this image I settled on a big cloth that reads somewhere in between a Hellenistic himation, in line with the vaguely Graeco-Roman vibes of most of my images, and the wrapped cloth I’ve seen both tribal and urban Ghanans wear. If I ever do this in color, the cloth will be bright yellow-orange and have my best simplified approximation of the vivid, intricate, and colorful patterns for which West Africans, in particular, are known. I wish I knew how to better convey Black skin in a black-and-white image, like this. That’s obviously going on the research list, along with traditional and modern African fashions.
I might go back and dial up the details and the shading, but my hands hurt like fire and I’m really, really pleased with this as-is.
Behold, my latest astrological image, Saturn According to Apollonius!
“The image of Saturn, according to the wise Apollonius, is the shape of an old man sitting erect on a tall throne. This is his shape.” Picatrix Book II, Chapter 10 Paragraph 12 (Attrell and Porecca, 2019)
How do y’all like that crown? I feel like it belongs on the cover of a heavy metal album.
This image was an interesting technical challenge in that it’s basically the same as Saturn According to Picatrix except without the theriomorphic elements. and specifying “erect on a tall throne”. Behold, he sits erect. Behold, his throne is tall. And I gave him an orb to ponder, both because it brings a little bit of a sword-and-sorcery vibe to the illustration and to represent the worldly power he wields.
Overall, I’m very pleased with this piece. There’s a lot of little elements that didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted (go ahead and zoom in on at that fuckin’ hand that h olds the orb, and the way the fur collar interacts with the texture of the throne), but which will be invisible at the intended print scale, and one of the things I’ve been working on this year is just … letting that go and letting the art do what it needs to do. Really the only thing I’m unhappy with is that I didn’t get it out a week or two ago, and that is 100% because of Christmas depression.
As with my other “mainline” Picatrix images, this one is good for all things Saturn. It is superior to Saturn According to Picatrix in that only people with extremely suspect taste in men will find this one cute (a complaint that I saw on my crow-headed image), but for my own part I will always prefer the theriomorphic images.
Modern magicians call upon Saturn to set boundaries, build long-term / generational wealth, and to destroy their enemies.
The Picatrix says that, “Saturn is the source of retentive power. He governs an aspect toward profound knowledge; the science of law; the search for causes, effects, and the origins of things; the utterance of magical words; and the knowledge of deep and occult properties. … From the crafts, he rules working the soil, plowing, digging, extracting and working minerals, and the building trades.” (Book 3 Chapter 1 Para 3) and to “Entreat Saturn for delaying movement, concealing purity, destroying cities, humbling hearts, and calming waters.” (Bk IV Ch 4 Para 5)
Thus, Saturn is a fantastic patron and ally for witches and magicians of all stripes. Recall that it was the archangel and ruling spirits of Saturn that provided me with the triangle of conjuration that I use to this day.
The image above is one of my first attempts to illustrate the gods and spirits I have encountered in my conjurations and explorations. I didn’t date it, so I can’t say exactly when it was done, but based on the sketchbook I found it in, and what immediately preceded and followed it, I think that this was from the Sunrise Temple period – that is to say, college, when I was still doing really intense visionary journey work and just having my first successes at contacting planetary powers – but it may have been from my first year or two back in Kansas City, after that.
The figures in the image are the Lunar intelligence(s) as they appeared to me when I made my one of my first spirit journeys to the Sphere of the Moon. I don’t know why they have (almost) always appeared to me as two spirits, unless it’s just that I took that from Agrippa’s dual-seeming sigil the intelligence of the Moon and of the spirit of the spirit of the Moon (the latter, below, being a pair of glyphs and a notion that i found repeatedly stated but never really discussed back in the day but can’t find reference to now). Nor do I know why the one figure is asleep but ithyphallic.
The next page in the sketchbook, from that same time period, is of another power, first seen a year or two (i think?) before I began my ceremonial experiments. I met her on several of my visionary journeys. She sheltered me against enemies and taught me some of what I know about navigating the Underworld.
The drawing is tragically incomplete, but it does its job. Having found this page back, I am strongly moved to return to the Underworld and re-establish this relationship, finish this drawing, and perhaps share some notes on the use of that sigil.
Honestly, I had completely forgotten these early experiments in occult art. I remembered my first masks, from 2009/10. I remembered some of my magical art plans and schemes from the late Oughts, and some my first magical self portraits from the Sunrise Temple. I remember drawing my first Picatrix image in that same time frame. But these, I had forgotten.
It’s interesting to look back on them now. For one, my illustrations are consistently better than these, now, which is nice because I often feel like my older art is better than my newest. Looking at these two, in particular, you can really see my anime roots, especially the proportions and head shape.
Later in the same sketchbook, I found more images drawn as part of my first rounds with The Seven Spheres. I feel certain that I talked about them on the Obsidian Dream Blog, but I can’t find that post back at the moment. Patreon makes sharing multiple images in the body of a post really obnoxious, so I’ll only repost a couple of my favorites, here:
The Moon and Venus, respectively these images were drawn in-circle after conjuring the planetary powers and asking for a vision.
At the same time I was doing some of the images above, I was also illustrating icons like this image of Dionysus:
and of Thanateros
My most recent magic, though, and the art I’ve done about it, has all been much more … formal. That has its advantages and disadvantages, honestly. Working from the spirit-portraits in the Picatrix, I have a source to point back to, a common ground on which my audience and I can both stand. Moreover, many of my most recent works have been some of the best drawing that I’ve done this year, which is (again) definitely not the case for the Spirits of the Spirit of the Moon and the Queen of Endless Water.
These older works are more raw, the spirits in them unattested. They also have a vibrancy and authenticity that some of my more recent images (I’m thinking, particularly, of 2023’s Image of Mercury) lack.
Once upon a time, I was a fairly prolific blogger. I shared my monthly full moon readings, and the visions I conjured at full and dark moons. I liveblogged years of experiments in chaos magick and planetary conjurations.
These last few years, I haven’t had as much to say – in words – as I would like to. Partly, that’s been the depression and the burnout and the crisis of faith that kicked off in the summer of 2023. Partly, though – and I haven’t really wrestled with this like I should, yet – it’s that I’m at a stage in my magical, spiritual, and mystical development where the things I see, the messages I receive, are really just for me and about me. As uncomfortable as it makes me, sometimes, I am deep in the Mysteries.
Somehow, these old images – these early attempts to communicate the ineffable – are a welcome reminder that creating magical images is not some weird side quest, some distraction from my real work as a witch and scholar, but rather something that I actually set out to do. That which can’t be spoken or written can sometimes be conveyed in other ways. And, even if I can’t convey my exact experience, if I can convey an image that provokes or facilitates a mystical experience in someone else, that’s as good if not better.
Because the purpose of my occult writing has never been to establish myself as an occult expert with the answer to every question. The purpose of my occult writing has always been to communicate with my peers.
This is what I’ve seen. This is what I’ve done. This is what I learned. These are the questions I am left with.
Have you seen anything like this? Does any of this resonate with you? Does it inspire you? Does it encourage you?
And, more than anything else: please, share your experiences with those with the eyes to see and the ears to hear. Come, join me in the wilderness and the void.
I am very near to completing another set (or two) of Picatrix planetary images. When I have done so, hopefully in the first months of 2026, I will almost inevitably move on to Picactrix images of the Lunar Mansions and fixed stars and maybe even the Zodiacal constellations. I also hope to resume making icons (and start making idols) of the gods to whom I have burnt and poured out so many offerings. And I hope that I will find the strength and courage to resume my explorations of the astral planes and underworld. And I hope that, in doing so, I will find the courage and the inspiration to resume my portraits of the wild and unattested powers that I found there.
And, perhaps, in the midst of that work, I will find that I have something new to say, as well.
“The image of Mercury, according to the wise Mercurius, is the shape of a man with a cock on his head, standing on a throne; his feet are similar to the feet of an eagle; he is holding fire in the palm of his left hand…” Picatrix Book II, Chapter 10, Paragraph 32. (Attrell and Porecca, 2019)
Behold, friends! My latest astrological image, and one of my favorites to date: Mercury according to Mercurius. The imagery doesn’t particularly call to me (I’m surprisingly un-mercurial), but I’m just SO FUCKING PLEASED with how this turned out. And, for a rarity, I’m equally happy with both the pencil sketch and the digital inks!
Like all of what I describe as the primary planetary images (the big block of descriptions in Book Two, Chapter Ten), it is my understanding that this image is good for all Mercurial purposes.
The picatrix says this of Mercury:
“The benevolence of Mercury is appropriate to messengers and scribes…” – Bk II Ch 3 Para 6
“Mercury is the source of intellectual power. He governs an aspect toward learning knowledge and wisdom, dialectic, grammar, philosophy, geometry, astronomy with its processes, geomancy, notarial science, the augury of birds according to tradition, and the interpretation of Turkish and other languages.” – Bk III Ch1 Para 8
“Mercury is the author of eloquence, rational intellect, and sense perception; from him proceeds the understanding of subtle and profound things.” – Bk III Ch 3 Para 33
“Seek from Mercury petitions appropriate to notaries, scribes, arithmeticians, geometricians, astrologers, grammarians, public speakers, philosophers, rhetoricians, poets, sons of kings and their secretaries, toll keepers, merchants, ministers, lawyers, slaves, boys, girls, younger brothers, painters, designers, and the like.” – Bk III Ch 7 Para 7
“Use Mercury when you wish to know, understand, and expel distraction; then your request will be fulfilled and flourish more easily.” – Bk IV Ch 4 Para 26
The first Picatrix image I ever drew was this image of Venus:
I drew the image while I was still in college, all the way back in 2012. I started with that image because it was relevant to my interests at the time, and because that sort of therianthropic imagery was (and is) right up my alley. I then went on to use that initial drawing as the basis of my first talismanic image jewelry, and finally inked it just the other day.
More than ten years later, with the completion of a Lunar image illustration (moon according to Mercurius), I have finally made a complete set of Picatrix images of the seven traditional planets.
I’m pretty excited by that accomplishment. Not a lot of modern artists (that I’ve been able to find, at least) have fucked with these images at all. Fewer still have made a full set of seven.
I rushed past that milestone to finish second images of the Moon and of Jupiter, but since then I’ve been taking a bit of time to reflect on the images that I’ve made and what I’ve learned from them.
Laying them all down to look at them, the first thing that stood out to me after a few moments was that I’ve drawn three each of images according to Picatrix (Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn), three according to Mercurius (Moon, Sun, and Jupiter), and four according to Apollonius (Moon, Mercury. Sun, and Mars). That even distribution is fascinating to me; I obviously didn’t plan it.
The second most obvious thing about the collection as a whole is that they’re not as cohesive as I might like. That’s no surprise, really. I didn’t originally draw them as a set. I drew them out of order, with some fixed stars and Lunar Mansions and decan/face images thrown in the mix.
They all started out as pencil sketches, but they’ve been inked on three different computers using three or four different software suites (two different laptops, one with a touchscreen and fancy pen and one with a drawing tablet, and a desktop with a drawing tablet; a couple were done in photoshop, the rest were done with different iterations of Clip Studio Paint). The earliest ones were done in large formats, 3000 to 5000 pixels tall. The more recent ones, while drawn at a higher DPI, are smaller because of the tarot card format that I finally settled on. In part because of those differences, the line weights and styles vary wildly from one image to the next. Some of the images are depicted in modern clothing; others are in ancient or fantasy costumes, and two of them are naked.
I started this series (as opposed to the images that were made specifically for jewelry) of astrological images in 2022. I only settled on the tarot card format and proportions a few months ago. The current double-line border is, frankly, a placeholder for a cooler design that may never come.
To the best of my ability to reconstruct, I finished these images in the following order:
Mercury according to Apollonius
Sun according to Mercurius
Venus according to Picatrix
Saturn according to Picatrix
Saturn according to Other Sages
Jupiter according to Mercurius
Sun according to Apollonius
Mars according to Apollonius
Moon according to Mercurius
Moon according to Apollonius
Jupiter according to Picatrix
Venus to be well received and esteemed by all
IMAGES ACCORDING TO PICATRIX
IMAGES ACCORDING TO APOLLONIUS
IMAGES ACCORDING TO MERCURIUS
If I include our stragglers, Saturn according to “other sages” and the just-published Venus to be well-liked, that makes for: two Moon images; one Mercury; two Venus; two Sun; one Mars; two Jupiter; and two Saturn images. (I should really hurry up and make a second image each of Mars and Mercury, shouldn’t I?)
PICATRIX IMAGE MAGIC
Of these images, I have elected and consecrated talismans with, Mercury according to Apollonius, Venus to be well-liked, Venus according to Apollonius Mars according to Apollonius, Jupiter according to both Picatrix and Mercurius, and Saturn according to other sages, all in metal. I have also cast metal talismans of the Sun according to Picatrix I have used the image of Jupiter according to Mercurius and the Sun according to Mercurius in petitions. I have had good, but not spectacular effects with all of them. My clients have had results that ranged from good to spectacular.
Following my Seven Spheres initiations into the mysteries of the planets, I feel like each image I create, and each iteration thereafter, brings me closer to the planet in question. Each successive image, when I am finally ready to sit down with pencil and paper, moves through me more easily, and comes out better both magically and artistically.
In my post on what to do with planetary images, I spoke of using them for stellar idolatry, and I wasn’t joking or exaggerating. But I’m finding the process and the experience difficult to describe. Perhaps it suffices to say, I’m finding the experience rewarding and I’m going to continue to work.
PICATRIX IMAGES AS ART
Looking back over them all, now, I think Saturn according to Picatrix and Mars according to Apollonius are my favorites. I like the line weights and the way that they fill the space. When I re-do Mercury according to Apollonius and Sun according to Mercurius, I will very much be trying to find back that sense of weight and flow (I think I did well with my new Venus image, but didn’t quite nail it). I may decide that several others need to be tweaked or even re-drawn, as well. Even as I say that, though, I have to say that I’m really pleased with how they’re coming together both individually and as a series.
And, before I take anything back to the drawing board, I feel like I need to finish at least one of the above sets.
The images according to Apollonius are the obvious set to finish, since that’s the most complete set, so far. His image of Saturn is straightforward enough: an old man on a throne. Venus is similarly straightforward. And Jupiter is riding an eagle and holding a severed head, which is kinda wild.
Mercurius has a bird-headed Venus image that I’m looking forward to drawing because I love therianthropic gods, but he and Picatrix both have an overly-complex image I’m distinctly less excited about (Mercurius’ Mercury is a one-winged figure juggling objects, and Apollonius’ Mars is man-handling an image of Venus). So Apollonius is probably going to be the way.
And then I get to decide if I’m going to do the various images according to “other sages”, and the lone image (Venus) according to Ptolomy.
Inevitably, I’m also thinking about other design elements going forward.
Do I want to do color versions? Or more single-pop-of-color variations, like Mars and his red cape? Do I want to do larger versions for a book, some day? Or posters, even?
Of the human figures, so far Saturn according to other sages and Mars according to Apollonius are clearly Black, and Jupiter according to Mercurius could be Desi, but the rest are pretty white. That’s definitely something for me to work on. At a minimum, one of my Venuses needs to be a Black woman, for example. Conveying phenotypes in this small black and white lineart format without accidentally crossing the line into racist caricature is going to be a … challenge. But I think it’s a worthwhile one.
And how to dress them? I like drawing naked people, obviously, and there’s a long tradition of depicting deities in the nude, plus the images that are canonically naked. But some figures are explicitly dressed a certain way, and the truth is that I’ll probably have an easier time selling (and even sharing) these images if they’re not all flashing their tits and/or peen. I like researching and drawing ancient costumes, and clothes inspired by fantasy and high fashion, but … I do think it’s interesting and valuable, sometimes, to have magical images and occult art in contemporary settings and costumes; it makes the magic less remote.
And, finally, what can I do to draw these images together into a more cohesive collection? What can I do to make them a set?
Time will tell. The only way out is through.
And, in case it isn’t clear, I’m excited to meet these challenges and answer these questions. I’m proud of and very pleased with the work I’ve done so far. I’m looking forward to completing at least one more set of seven planetary images. I’m looking forward to the magic I’ll be able to do with them. And I’m looking forward to sharing all of it with you.
The image of Venus. Make from the figures of Venus the shape of a woman with a human body but with the head of a bird and the feet of an eagle, holding an apple in her right hand and a wooden comb similar to a tablet in her left, which has these figures written upon it: OΛOIOΛ. Whoever carries this image will be well received and esteemed by all.
— Picatrix Bk 2, Chapter 10, Paragraph 55, translated by Attrell and Porecca
This was the first astrological image I ever drew, all the way back in college in 2013 or 14, when I first got my hands on my own copy of the Picatrix. At long, long last I have finally inked it and republished it as a part of this series of Picatrix images.
I have a lot of feelings about this image that I’m not entirely sure how to articulate. I was fucking ecstatic about it when I first drew it. I am really, really happy with how the digital inks came out. I like the thickness of her, and the textures of the eagle-feet and feathers, and that one staring eye.
I have used this image for all the Venus talismans I have so far made or kept for myself, and clients have attributed both professional and romantic success to its use.
It’s interesting to me that this is a hybrid image of PIcatrix’ and Mercurius’ images of Venus: a bird-headed woman instead of a man, holding the apple and comb and with the characters. Given my skeptical relationship with gender, you will be unsurprised to hear that I suspect the three images and their features can be used interchangeably, for all Venusian purposes, and this one is merely exceptionally potent at making the bearer well-liked.
Thank you for reading. If you’d like a high resolution version of this image, or to see my work before anyone else, please support me on Patreon.
“The image of Jupiter, according to the opinion of Picatrix, is the shape of a man with a leonine face and the feet of a bird; beneath his feet he is holding a dragon that has seven heads, and in his right hand he holds a dart as if he wished to throw it at the head of the dragon.”
–Picatrix Book II, Chapter 10, Paragraph 16 (Attrell and Porecca, 2019)
Behold! Another astrological image for the collection!
This, of course, my second illustrated Jupiter image, following my Jupiter according to Mercurius from earlier this year. I is also my second take on Jupiter according to Picatrix, following the jewelry design that started from the same rough sketch. And, while it isn’t perfect (I’ve mentioned previously that I have felt for several months like I forgot how to draw; I similarly feel like I’m re-learning how digital inking works), I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.
I briefly considered saving this for next month, so I could be absolutely certain that you’d get an astrological image in October, but looking at the little collection I’ve put together, I think I’m going to be sufficiently motivated by the fact that I am only two planets short of a complete set of images according to Apollonius (Saturn and Jupiter), which is pretty freaking cool in and of itself.
But what can you usethis image for? Well, lots of things. It is my opinion (and divination seems to bear it out) that the “core” images (those listed Book II Chapter 10 with no specific description of their effects) can be used for any Jupiterian purpose.
Modern magicians emphasize the wealth and abundance aspects of Jupiter, and those are absolutely present in the Picatrix:
“Entreat Jupiter for the accumulation of wealth…” (Book IV Chapter 4, Para 6)
“Jupiter [is the substance of] the power of increase” (Book IV, Chapter 4, Para 55)
More, though, the Picatrix speaks of Jupiter of the planet by which one extracts justice and favor from rulers, and for spiritual pursuits. Health (physical and mental) and safe travel also get honorable mentions.
“… the benevolence of Jupiter is appropriate to the works of clergymen, kings, and lords” (Book 2 Chapter Three Para 5)
“Jupiter is the source of growing power. He governs an aspect toward law, legality, jurisprudence, and the ease of acquiring requests, reparations, and restraints. He guards against mortal illness. He governs wisdom, philosophy, and the interpretation of dreams. … Among the crafts, he governs ruling, jurisprudence, and selling pristine merchandise.” (Book 3 Chapter 1 Para 4)
“Jupiter is the author of life and the sciences. Laws, treaties, and judgements proceed from him.” (Book 3 Chapter 3 Para 33)
“Entreat Jupiter for … the enhancement of dreams, the pleasure of escaping sadness, the leaving behind of toil and quarrel, and safe journeys by land or sea.” (Book 4 Chapter 4 Para 6)
With the dart in his hand and the dragon under the figure’s feet, my best guess is that this image is particularly suited for securing justice or overcoming personal demons.
I am delighted to present you, at last, with my latest astrological image: the Moon according to Apollonius, again from the Picatrix: “… a woman standing upon two bulls; the head of one is next to the tail of the other.” (Picatrix Bk II Ch10 Para 36, trans. Attrell & Porreca)
I first drew penciled this image at the end of May, and I’m frustrated that it took me until the first weeks of September to get it inked, but do I think that the final product really benefited from the extra weeks of ruminating until I was really ready to re-engage with the image.
Whereas most of my other images are much more recognizably in my usual style, from my first vision, this piece very consciously drew on the shape and style language of ancient Minoan bull-jumping frescoes. In the final execution, I also found myself thinking very much about the linework of Rachamim (@hydeangelus.bsky.social and https://iliothermia.tumblr.com/ ) whose work I have been following for years. I don’t know
Astrological and planetary magics are numerous, diverse, and often intricate-seeming, especially to newcomers. When I first began my ceremonial magic studies, I struggled to find genuinely beginner-level content. Everyone seemed to assume that you had already read a great deal of ancient writing and were already familiar with conjuring other kinds of spirits. My then-recent deep-dive into chaos magic gave me the tools and courage to fuck around and find out, and that turned out genuinely fantastic, but I don’t think everyone should have to start from scratch on that level in order to add some old-world astromagic to their modern neo-Pagan witchcraft.
One of the things that tripped me up the hardest was finding a basic ritual outline. There are more resources available now than there were then, but there’s also a lot of slop garbage, and as someone who makes images for astrological magic, and is constantly advocating for witches to give this shit a try, it behooves me to do my best to help fill that gap.
I got my start doing planetary magic with the Seven Spheres in Seven Days challenge, which was based in the Trithemian art of Drawing Spirits Into Crystals, but even that was more elaborate than what I’ve since learned some astromagicians use.
So, here is the most basic possible outline for consecrating astrological image talismans during an election (that is, an opportune and auspicious astrological configuration), be they petitions, paper talismans, metal, or whatever. I considered including this in my recent post on using my magical images, and have gone back and added a link to this in that post, but I thought it would be more useful to the community at large to have this as a freestanding document.
Finally, this is not a be-all and end-all of planetary ritual. This is a place to start so you can begin your experiments while you continue your research. Perfect is the enemy of good.
The Barest Bones of A Ritual
Do the Usual (Wind up): cleanse and purify yourself, cast your circle, call your patron gods, allies, and familiars, however you do.
Call on the powers of the planet in question (scripts exist but are not necessary).
Burn lots of planetary incense when you do your invocations.
Make/complete/activate your image. Describe the image aloud, particularly if the original text includes attributes that can’t be conveyed in the physical image (fabric colors in metal; moral and emotional qualities of the figure).
Burn lots more incense.
Hold your image/petition in the smoke as you say your petition out loud.
Do the Usual (Wrap up): thank everyone you called, dismiss the planetary powers, dismiss your spirit court, wind down your ritual space.
Invoking the Planets
Invoking the planet and its powers off the cuff and from the heart is rarely wrong. But traditional prayers and invocations bring a lot to a ritual.
There are, of course, near endless invocations of the planets and their powers. In my own work, I use a combination of Orphic hymns and Picatrix prayers and occasionally PGM spells.
The public domain and readily available Thomas Taylor translation of the Orphic hymns is a great place to start with your astrological magic, but it’s worth your money to get a copy of the Picatrix and cannibalize the prayers from Book IV Ch?. I favor the Atrell and Porecca 2019 translation.
Further Considerations
Contrary to popular opinion, astrological talismans do not need to be consecrated at the moment of physical creation. If you can make your talisman, start to finish, in the electional window? Fantastic. But it’s an unrealistic ideal, especially if you want your final talisman to actually look good.
If you can conjure a spirit to appear in a circle, you can conjure a spirit to dwell in and ensoul an empty talisman, regardless of when, where, and how it was made. To borrow a metaphor from Sara Mastros (she was speaking of Solomonic pentacles, at the time, but the logic applies here equally): the creation of the physical but unenchanted talisman is the moment when the enchanted talisman is conceived, not when it is born; the relevant astrological moment for the birth of the talisman and its spirit is when you perform your ritual.
To consecrate your pre-made talisman, draw, print, assemble, or acquire it as far in advance as you need to. Making use of planetary days and hours helps prime the pump, but isn’t absolutely necessary. If there is some significant part of the construction that you can save for the ritual circle where you will consecrate, enchant, and ensoul the talisman, that’s ideal, but not necessary.
Cleanse and purify the (fully or partially constructed) talisman beforehand. As you prepare and perform your conjuration, focus on the image: trace it with your fingers, or wand, or stylus; describe the image aloud, even as you describe its intended effects. Then suffumigate it at the height of the ritual.
If you are printing your image and your home printer is in the same room as your altar, you may be able to print and assemble the image in the election window. If not, print and ritually purify the image in advance.
If you are drawing your own image, you can pencil the image in advance and ink and/or color it in the election window. I am particularly fond of drawing images on watercolor paper, penciling and coloring with watercolor pencils in advance, then inking and coloring within the election window.
If you are making your talisman in metal, there are a variety of approaches you can take. Since I run a casting studio, I cast my talismans in the election and clean them up later. If you are a stone-setting, you can set the stones in the election. If you are an engraver, you can do some final strokes of engraving in the opportune moment.
If you are using a wholly pre-made talisman, really focus your energy and attention on the image, reciting its original description as you trace it with your finger, wand, or stylus.
Dialing Up Your Ritual
Some folks like a really simple ritual. Some folks like to take two or three hours to conjure a spirit. Generally, I like something more middle-of-the road. For this, I use an exceptionally idiosyncratic version of my own DSIC variant ritual, leaning heavily on the power of my personal grimoire and spirit allies. I wrote about it here.
The first and simplest thing you can do to wind up your astrological magic is prayers and incantations. I use a combination of Orphic hymns and Picatrix prayers to call spirits down into my talismans. More (and perhaps better for you) prayers can be found throughout the grimoire and literary traditions.
The second thing you can do is more and better incense. Really chong out the room. Get high on it.
The third thing you can do is really bring your allies to bear. I mention it in the ritual above, but it bears doubling down on. Invoke your patron gods and familiar spirits explicitly to vouch for you and bring down only the best and most suitable spirits. (This can also help improve a mediocre election.)
The fourth thing (though purists would argue it’s the first thing) is to really dial in your timing. I know that I just wrote a post on all the things you can use astrological images for without bothering with astrological timing, but my argument is not and never has been that proper electioneering isn’t a massive power boost; it is a massive power boost.
Further Reading
As far as I know, there is only one book on this kind of magic published in the 20th or 21st Centuries: Secrets of Planetary Magic by Christopher Warnock, 2010.
Traditional sources are more numerous. The two most important are the 11th Century Picatrix (originally written in Arabic; translated into Castellian and from there into Latin before finally coming to us in English) and 16th Century Three Books of Occult Philosophy by Agrippa. I recommend the Attrell-Porecca (Llwellyn, 2019) and Perdue (Inner Traditions, 2021) translations, respectively. Other sources include other grimoires, astrological manuals, treatises on the natural sciences, and lapidaries, none of which I know well enough to recommend for or against.
