Creation of Powerful Carnelian and Gold Venus Talisman Rings

 

Electional Configuration

This was a particularly superb election for Venus; so excellent in fact, that I went through some extraordinary efforts and even a few personal sacrifices. What was so good about it to make me jump through flaming hoops?

First, we have Venus in her Rulership in Libra culminating. Not just in Libra, but the first degree of Libra—which is an accidental fortunation in the same way that the final two degrees of any Sign are unfortunate.

Second, the Moon is in a phenomenal state. She is fast, and applying a benevolent aspect to the Ruler of the Sign she is in; something Picatrix says is fantastic for any election. She is also applying to conjoin the North Node of the Moon. That’s spectacular.

Third, the Ruler of the Ascendant is Jupiter, who while peregrine is in the House of his Joy (the 11^th) and in the 1^st degree of a Sign. Great accidental dignifications!

There are a few negatives which deserve attention, but no election is perfect.

Venus is making no applying aspects.

Saturn is in the 1^st House and in a malefic decan; but he’s not on the Ascendant and Lilly like most Renaissance astrologers deem Saturn to be acceptable in the 1^st House generally. It is also Saturn’s day, which I feel pays the ferryman off, to an extent.

The Moon is also making a trine to Saturn, and she is waning; something Picatrix says reduces the afflictions of the Moon by Saturn. Any aspect to Saturn generally weakens a planet, however. At least Saturn is not retrograde!

The waning here is overall positive, because it diminishes the influences of Saturn; especially over time. Lunar phase alone never makes or breaks an election, in my estimation.

Jupiter is under the Sun’s Beams but not in combustion. I tend to think this is a moderate affliction.

The uncommon positives easily outweigh the less impressive negatives. This election is a juggernaut of sexy. Nothing’s gonna stop that lady!

The Powers of Venus

Picatrix describes the natural rulership of Venus in this way:

Venus is the source of the power of flavor. And she rules grammar and the art of measuring sound and song. Among languages she has Arabic; among the internal organs, the right nostril, and among internal organs, those that meet in sexual intercourse and project sperm, and the stomach, and those from which come the virtue and flavor in eating and drinking; among religion, Islam; among clothing, all painted clothing; and of professions, all professions of painting and shaping, selling things that smell good, playing instruments that are good to listen to, singing, dancing and making stringed instruments; among flavors, all sweet things that taste good; and of places, place of vice, places in which men seek healing, and in which men dance, and places of cheerfulness where there is singing and speech, and places of ladies and beautiful women, and also places of eating and drinking; and of precious stones, pearls, and of rocks, lapis lazuli and almartach; and of plants, all plants with a good odor like saffron and arhenda, roses and all flowers with a good odor and smell and are pleasant to look at; among medicines balsam and grains of julep, and those that emit a strong smell, such as nutmeg and amber; among animals, females, camels that are beautiful and all beautiful animals with symmetrical bodies such as gazelles, sheep, gazelles, hares, partridges, calandras and the like. Among small animals, she has those that are colorful and beautiful; among colors, sky blue and gold tending a little to green.

One of the emphases in Picatrix which is often less clear elsewhere is that Venus governs music and song in particular. This is why sometimes on talismanic ymages, Venus is depicted as having the head of a bird, because birds sing.

A similar but perhaps more interesting section appears elsewhere in the text:

Venus is cold and moist, and a fortune. She signifies cleanliness, splendor, preciousness, word games, delight in music, joy, adornments, laughter, pictures, beauty, loveliness, playing music by the voice or stringed instruments; delighting in marriage, desiring spices and things that have good odors; sending dreams; provoking games of chess and dice; desiring to lie with women and to fall in love with them and receiving promises from them; desiring to appear beautiful, loving liberty, magnanimity of heart, and joy. She abhors anger, brawling, vengeance, and lawsuits; she desires to serve the desires and wills of friends concerning the world’s opinion; tends toward false promises; is inclined to cupidity; desires to drink much; incessantly desires much copulation, and of shameful kinds, and to do it in inappropriate places, as women are accustomed to do with one another; delighting in animals and children and in making them good; making things equal; delighting in merchants and living with them and being loved by their women; and that they may be delighted by men. When she is well received, she plays a part in the making of crowns, building stables and working in stone, having sweet speech, disdaining the world and having no fear of it; sustaining people so that neither anger, strife, or discord can be felt by them; it designates a weak heart and a weak will in lawsuits and combat, and signifies desire for all beautiful combinations of things which may be in conformity with the will; making colors and laboring diligently in skills involving them; selling merchandise, spices, and prayers; those who observe the religious law; and those who adhere to sciences and philosophies of forbidden kinds.

One of the differences in the latter section is that it includes several negative attributes, or attributes which we today might considered not complimentary. This is at least partially because this is a description of Venus in general, and not solely when she is essentially dignified; the state which is a common requirement for the production of her talismans.

However, there is a distinction made between what a celestial hierarchy governs and what it is most suited for in talismans and petitions.

Picatrix on Venus Talismans

Picatrix gives a fairly wide range of recipes for Venus talismans, including one to make the wearer well-liked by all, one to be always cheerful and happy (basically magical Prozac), one which cures venomous snake bites, one to seduce young men, one which provides immunity from harm, one for general luck and profit, one to drive away mice, one to drive away flies, one to drive away leeches, one to attract the love of women, one to cure children of boils, and one to cure all stomach ailments; and that’s just in Book II chapter 10!

What we can derive from this is that Venus is one of the most versatile of planets, capable of bringing many of the pleasures of life and relieving many of the dangers and annoyances. Venus is always about pleasures and comforts. The only reason why she’s deemed the Lesser Benefic is that the Platonists tended toward Stoicism and favored intellectual joys over the worldly ones.

One of the reasons why we have so many recipes for Venus configurations is that they do help focus the power on particular goals, to the diminishment of other powers. But Picatrix does say that if one must choose between a generalized power or a particular power, the former is better. It can be used for many more things, and improve life overall. This is why in the end I used a talismanic design inspired more by Cornelius Agrippa’s work than that of Picatrix, though there is clear influence from the latter.

Picatrix says in Book III:7:

Seek from Venus all things that pertain to her, such as petitions of women, boys, and girls, daughters, and generally everything pertaining to the love of women and carnal copulation with them, art, vocal and instrumental music, telling jokes, and all those who give themselves over to worldly pleasures, those who engage in vices, male and female servants, brides and grooms, mothers, friends, sisters, and all those similar to them, and in these petitions you may also help yourself with Mars.

I would identify these as the main properties of generalized Venus talismans, as well as guidelines for the optimal requests in Venus petitions.

Design of the Rings of Seduction

When indecisive about what to put on a talisman I often inquire with tarot.

Sometimes the size and shape of the material limit the choices, and sometimes time restricts options when you’re creating several talismans in a narrow electional window.

Since this project was a series of rings in varying band sizes and gemstone sizes, it would be necessary to use sigils for the smallest only because it is hard to engrave elaborate tableaus on a small cabochon.

There also needs to be enough time during the full electional window to recite at least an abbreviated petitional text, engrave, suffumigate repeatedly, and affix the herbs with glue on all talismans before the time window ends.

The gemstone chosen was carnelian. One of the more unexpected Venereal stones, the gem looks a little like raw meat and even the name is suggestive of carnality and carnivorous; it is not surprising that it is co-ruled by Mars. The band was gold wire wound around a core of gold-filled wire to strengthen it. Gold and bronze are both suitable metals for Venus.

The herbs under the ring were thyme and vervain—both Venereal. Thyme is a love herb, and vervain has associations with bewitchment and in particular the power of fascination.

All in all, it’s a material expression of sexual desire in the language of herbs and stones.

The suffumigation was storax. I almost went with balsam, which is also a good choice. I used that in another recent election. I really do love the sexy scent of storax. (I get mine from Alchemy Works .)

The ymage was as depicted; the sigil of the Intelligence of Venus, Hagiel, at the center. Below was the word Venus, and at the top was the Venus sigil variant from the Arabic Picatrix (the Ouroboros Press version). The Latin Picatrix sigil is taller and the triangle is smaller, but is otherwise the same. I like it because it’s a little mysterious and weird, and not recognizable to people who haven’t studied SIM.

The planetary Intelligence is often used in tandem with a planetary Spirit. Unfortunately, there is some ambiguity whether planetary Spirits are simply lower order daimones, or actual evil demons. Agrippa is a bit confusing on the matter. In any case, I do not work with demonic beings for any reason, and my Venus talismans seem to work fantastically without the sigil of Kedemel (the Venereal planetary Spirit).

I believe that the planetary Intelligences are a class of beings not from the planetary spheres, but who control the affairs of those realms from afar in the uppermost cosmic sphere (either the 9^th or 10^th, depending on the model you use). This gives them lofty power, but will behave in a somewhat fickle and arbitrary manner at times, because they are quite alien and godlike. There are many interesting things to be learned about them when you compare what Agrippa writes and their origins in the work of Pseudo-Dionysius the Aeropagite. If I am correct, planetary Intelligences are supercelestial and thus they can magnify the power of any elections which fall under their governance.

Seven rings were created, one of which has already been delivered to a client. I will surely keep at least a couple for myself. This was a great project to work on.