Showing all posts tagged planetary magic

In art, scholarship, witchcraft

Astrological Images: Fixed Star(s) Pleiades

Author Satyr MagosPosted on

Under the constellation of Pleiades, they made the image of a little Virgin, or the Figure of a Lamp; its reported to increase the light of the eyes, to assemble Spirits, to raise Winds, to reveal secret and hidden things. – Henry Cornelius Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Book II, Chapter XLVII (1)

The second Fixed Star in the lists I’ve found, and the second to receive full treatment in this series, is the constellation Pleiades, a cluster of six stars most famous for their near-universal recognition across times and cultures.

De Quindecim Stellis (2), a treatise on the fixed stars, describes the Pleiades as “of the nature of the Moon and the complexion of Mars”. This “nature and complexion” scheme is reported for each of the fixed stars, and if we’re being honest, I don’t know exactly what that is meant to mean. It also gives the stone of the Pleiades as “crystal” or “diadocos”, neither of which can be mistaken for clear identifications, and the herbs as fennel and frankincense. Other texts included in De Quindecim give quicksilver as the metal of the star, and suggest including it in talismanic rings.

Similar to, if not outright drawing on Agrippa, the lapidary Speculum Lapidum gives this image as, “A virgin or a young woman or a torch…” (3), and the Hebrew name of the constellation (at least, according to De Quindecim Stellis) is “the Lamp”, giving a strong through-line to the images.

Warnock reports that the Pleiades constellation, as marked by their brightest star, Acyone, is currently at 0 Gemini 14.

Nigel Jackson’s image in Warnock’s Fixed Star Magic (4) is a woman with a lamp beholding disembodied spirits and buffeted by winds. I chose a similar theme but wildly different visual composition: a portrait more suitable to a tarot-sized card in the Art Nouveau-inspired style and framing that I’ve been exploring over the last couple months, with seven sets of glowing spirit-eyes numbered for the Seven Sisters but not actually meant to represent them, and a spiral of winds around the central figure and her lamp. The bowl-shaped lamp is marked with the Agrippan Characters of the Moon. Yes, she has an Adam’s apple. Yes, that’s the now-slightly-dated trendy nose-ring chain.

Overall, I am exceptionally pleased with this image. I love her face. I love how the winds turned out. The eyes came out way better than I thought I could pull off. I think I did a fantastic job of a minimalist and suggestive background. I believe that she is having a mystical experience. And I think that the colors really work.

Admittedly, I am less happy with the fennel and frankincense at the bottom. Frankly, they were just much, much harder to draw than the hellebore and mugwort I did for Algol, even if I were more of a plant. This, of course, is why I drew the plants instead of the stones.

As you can see, I produced two versions: one mostly black and white with just a bit of color pop, meant to be easily printable for at-home use, and one full color, because this image really called for me to push myself.

For all that the Pleiades are held to be bad stars to be born under, and that fixed star elections are notoriously difficult to catch, I have found the spirits of these stars to be extremely amenable to sorcerous contact. I made my first such contact made during morning ritual with the aid of my Third Lunar Mansion talisman spirit (the 3rd LM is associated with the Pleiades), from which I got my first inkling of the image I would make, and a sense that a full-scale conjuration would be a good way to dial in both the art and the magic.

I made my second contact with the spirits of the Pleiades on the Day of the Moon during the hour of Mars, using the triangle of conjuration taught to me by Saturn (6) and a variation on the invocation in Warnock’s Fixed Star Magic, which combines a prayer written by Nigel Jackson with a PGM invocation. The spirits of the Pleiades approved the sketch i had done for my Image with a few editorial adjustments: more eyes, more winds. They also recommended that I substitute either archangel’s seals or the Picatrix planetary glyphs for the Agrippan Grand Planetary Seals that I used.

The spirits also told me to carry the Pleiades glyph that I had made for the conjuration ritual with me when I went to continue my work on the image. When I went to do so the next day, the paper lamen was hot to the touch, and my vision of the image stayed sharp and clear. In fact, it was a real struggle to put down my stylus and turn off the computer at the end of the day: I’d save the image, take one last look, and find myself tweaking some other little part.

Third contact was made on the Day of Mars during the Hour of the Moon, with the Grand Planetary Seals of the Moon and Mars switched out for seals of the archangels Gabriel and Sammael, as previously instructed. I had originally intended to repeat my Moon-day/Mars-hour invocation from the week before, but Monday … did not work out. Tuesday morning divination indicated that an additional conjuration/contact was unnecessary, but not unwanted.

The spirits came clearly and quickly. I asked to know them, and to be initiated into their mysteries, and they answered. The point of planetary seals was clarified somewhat: one should call them by the Lunar and Martial powers that one knows best, not by Gabriel and Sammael, in particular.

They confirmed, both explicitly and implicitly, that any combination of Lunar and Martial days and hours is a good time to conjure them. They told me to call on them under the waxing moon for their aid in seeing and commanding spirits of the upper air, and to call them under a waning moon for power over the dead, and to call upon them at any time for power over the winds: as messengers across the spirit world, and to raise and calm storms. They did not say, specifically, when to call them to clarify sight or to reveal hidden things; perhaps those are more closely associated with Pleiades talismans, only, but more likely they come with closer friendship.

They told me that rites of the Fixed Star Pleiades (with a bit of hopefully obvious modification) can be used to call up any of the sets of seven associated with the constellation, but that one must start from the beginning with each septet – that is to say, friendship with the daughters of Atlas and Pleione will win you no favors with the Babylonian MUL.MUL goddesses(5).

And they gave me this invocation to share with you:

I call upon you O Pleiades, you Seven Sisters: Alcyone, Maia, Electra, Taygete, Celaeno, Sterope, Merope. Under the auspices of the Moon [NN] and of Mars [NN], I call you. By Zizaubio, your messenger, I call you. Come to my circle. Shower me with your power, your spirit, your pneuma. Initiate me into your mysteries and [do the deed i wish].

Hail unto you, O Pleiades. Hail unto you Seven Sisters. Hail unto you, Alcyone, Maia, Electra, Taygete, Celaeno, Sterope, Merope. Daughters of gods, mothers of heroes, you who guard the gates of the ecliptic, I honor you. Initiate me into your mysteries and [do the deed i wish].

O you Pleiades, beautiful nymphs. O you mighty Seven Sisters. O Alcyone. O Maia. O Electra. O Tygete. O Celaeno. O Sterope. O Merope. I thank you for your presence in my circle. I thank you for the gifts of your mysteries. I thank you for your mighty deeds on my behalf, [the deed you wish]. As you came in power, go in peace with my gratitude.

Between the research – which I can hardly claim to have finished – the conjurations, and the illustrations, this image was significantly more work than the image of Algol. I had some concern that I would not be able to finish this post this month. I am both excited to continue to develop my relationship with the Pleiades, and extremely glad to be done with this image.

The next in the series will be Aldebaran, which comes third in those lists where he doesn’t trade places with Algol for first. I’ve done an Aldebaran image before, but I can’t recall that I’ve ever caught a proper election, which means that I will have a lot less previous relationship to draw on as I start my new illustration and do my conjuring. Still, I’m really looking forward to it, and I hope that you are, as well.

1 – Agrippa, Henry Cornelius. Three Books of Occult Philosophy. Book II, Chapter XLVII https://esotericarchives.com/agrippa/op2.htm

2 – De Quindecim Stellis: The Comprehensive Translations of Hermes on the Fifteen Fixed Stars. 2022. Various authors. Translated by Regulus Hess, edited by Christopher Warnock. This book also includes excerpts from several other texts, including the Speculum Lapidum.

3 – Leonardi, Camillo. Speculum Lapidum. Pennyslvania State University Press. 2023. Translated by Liliana Leopardi. (Hess and Warnock render this “A virgin or maiden, or a torch” in their excerpt in De Quindecim Stellis.)

4 – Warnock, Christopher. Fixed Star, Sign & Constellation Magic. 2019. Image by Nigel Jackson. Page 28.

5 – MUL.APIN. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUL.APIN

6 – I am very seriously working on my baseline conjuration ritual writeup, but in the meantime this link will take you to a pretty good explanation: https://journeythroughtheobsidiandream.com/index.php/2023/06/16/triangles-of-the-art-an-idiosyncratic-journey/

In art, witchcraft

Picatrix Image of Venus According to Mercurius

Author Satyr MagosPosted on

The image of Venus, according to the opinion of the wise Mercurius, is a shape with the body of a man, the face and head of a bird, and the feet of an eagle. This is its shape.

Picatrix, Bk II, Ch 10, Para 28, trans. Attrell and Porreca

Behold the Image of Venus According to Mercurius!

My first try at this image had a very different head: dove-like, like my Image of Venus to be Well Received and Esteemed by All, but facing the viewer. Technically, it was well-executed, but I fucking hated it. When I vented my frustration about it over on bsky, Fae Grigoryeva suggested a harpy eagle and shared a fantastic photo reference, which – as you can see – was absolutely perfect. I considered going back and seeing if I could find a reference for harpy eagle claws, specifically, but decided against because I like the claws as I drew them, already.

I struggled with what to do with his hands. As you can see, I ultimately went with Baphomet’s gesture of benediction.

I considered making him explicitly trans, naked and with top surgery scars, but in this case decided to make it more ambiguous, just leaving his wasp waist and mighty thighs. I dressed him in a fantasy loincloth with some of the same geometry as the Egyptian kilt I dressed the Image of Saturn in mostly because I just really like that shape.

It’s interesting to me that this image is so similar to the Image of Venus to Be Well Received and Esteemed by All, a bird-headed woman holding the same comb and apple as the Image of Venus According to Picatrix, which is why I originally tried to give him a similar dovelike head. I suspect there’s something interesting to sus out there, but I’m just going to run with “Venus is genderqueer” and leave it there, for now.

This image completes my collection of images according to Mercurius, my second complete set of Picatrix planetary images. It is my seventeenth Picatrix planetary image, altogether. Some day, I may come back and do the rest of the images “according to Picatrix” (I’ve already done Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn), or some of the other authors, but – somewhat to my own surprise – I’m a little tired of the planets and of the Picatrix. I don’t know, yet, where exactly I’m going to turn to next for inspiration. I have a few thoughts, but I want to reflect on this collection a bit before I chose my path forward.

In art, witchcraft

Picatrix Image of Saturn According to Mercurius

Author Satyr MagosPosted on

The image of Saturn, according to the opinion of wise Mercurius, is the shape of a man standing, raisihing his hands above his head and holding a fish in them. Below his feet is a lizard.

Picatrix, Bk II, Ch 10, Para 13, trans. Attrell and Porreca

Behold, my penultimate (for now) Picatrix planetary image, Saturn according to Mercurius!

This one was a challenge because the image this description first conjured for me was more comical than I think most people are prepared to accept from/of Saturn: a fat butch showing off her catch like she’s making an OKCupid profile, standing over the Sobe lizard:

Gods, that was so much fun to draw. More than a month later, this one still makes me giggle, and getting past it to a more conventional image of Saturn was hard work.

In the end, though, I think I succeeded.

I can’t say why I decided that this Saturn should be dressed in an ancient Egyptian kilt, but I think it works well. That Egyptian theme helped me choose what sort of fish and lizard to draw with him: an electric Nile catfish and an Egyptian spiny-tailed lizard. The fish is admittedly so-so, but the lizard and its dramatic pose (copied from the fantastic reference photo I found) more than make up the difference.

As always, you can find high resolution versions of these images over on my Patreon, where you can also find a lot of my art and writing that never makes it to the wider web.

In art, witchcraft

Picatrix Image of Mars According to Mercurius

Author Satyr MagosPosted on

Behold, my latest Picatrix planetary image, Mars according to Mercurius!

The image of Mars according to the opinion of Mercurius, is the shape of a man standing erect on his feet, holding on his right a beautiful virgin standing on her feet, which is an image of Venus with her hair fastened back. Mars is placing his right hand on his own neck and his left hand extending above her chest; he is facing her and admiring her. – Picatrix, Bk II, Ch 10, Para 20, trans. Attrell and Porreca

This image is interesting (and a technical challenge) first and foremost because it features not one figure but two: Mars, here, is accompanied by Venus, and they are very explicitly interacting. I may be missing something, but as far as I can tell the only other mutltiple-(human-)figure image is Venus According to Ptolemy as translated by Greer and Warnock: “a nude woman with a chain around her neck held by the image of Mars who stands before her” (Picatrix Book II, Chapter 10, p. 104 of the Liber Astratus edition), though it’s worth noting that Attrell and Porreca render that line as “in front of her neck she has the shape of Mars with a single chain” (Bk II, Ch10, Para 29 of their translation), in which case “the shape of Mars” could easily be understood as a man holding a chain, a man who is chained, or a big ol’ glyph of Mars around her neck like she robbed some macho man from the 1980s. (If I do ever come back to the Picatrix planets as an artistic subject, Venus According to Ptolemy is a strong candidate; in this moment I’m juggling two possible versions: a muscle mommy Venus wearing a glyph of Mars on a heavy chain and a high femme Venus holding Mars in chains.)

It also presented an interesting design challenge in that while the man is described as naked, the image of Venus is neither given a costume nor explicitly also nude. I think I was unconsciously recalling that Greer-Warnock rendering of the image of Venus when I decided to make them both naked. Having realized that as I write this, I have taken a moment to reconsider that decision, but I think it’s the right call because of how “naked man/dressed woman” hits on the internet in this year 2026 of our Demiurge. (And, of course, because I just like making art with naked people.)

Inevitably, there’s some very tiny technical things that vex me. There’s still something just a hair off about their respective proportions (though, of course, humans aren’t actually any one set of idealized proportions: we come in all shapes and sizes, which is something that I have tried to showcase in my collection of images.) Flaccid penises always look silly, no matter how big, small, or average they are. There’s also a few thematic elements that I’m still trying to figure out: do I want that white outline around them? I’ve added it to some and not to others; I also haven’t gone about it quite the same way twice. Before I print them, I need to make an actual decision about that for the sake of consistency.

Over all, though, I’m very pleased with this image. I’m proud of the clean evolution from my first sketch, where I was figuring out the pose and how to interpret the texts, to the sketch I shared with you last week, to this final black line version. I feel like I’m fucking finally figuring out how to draw feet. I’m like the composition and how they interact with the frame. I like both their faces, but especially hers. I really like how the textures of their hair turned out. I think I did a particularly good job on the linework, especially the heavy border.

In art, witchcraft

Image of Venus According to Apollonius

Author Satyr MagosPosted on

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.

– Picatrix Bk 2, Ch 10, Para. 26 trans. Attrell & Parecca

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.

In art, scholarship, witchcraft

Image of Saturn According to Apollonius

Author Satyr MagosPosted on

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.

As always (though I don’t always remember to remind you), a high resolution version of this image is available on Patreon. If you respect and enjoy my work, please consider supporting me there, or by dropping a tip in my Ko-fi cup.

In art, witchcraft

Visions of Gods and Powers, Attested and Otherwise

Author Satyr MagosPosted on 2 Comments

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.

In art, witchcraft

Reflecting on My Astrological Images So Far

Author Satyr MagosPosted on 1 Comment

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.

In art, witchcraft

Picatrix Image of Venus to Be Well Received and Esteemed by All

Author Satyr MagosPosted on 1 Comment

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.

In art, witchcraft

Picatrix Image of Jupiter According to Picatrix

Author Satyr MagosPosted on

“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 use this 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.

For high resolution versions of these images, please support me on Patreon.