Astrological Talisman of Mars for
Dread and Fear from Picatrix
A whole army may be robbed of its spirit;
a commander-in-chief may be robbed of his presence of mind.
The Art of War Sun Tzu
Once we turn this week to the talisman of
Mars. As we can see from this week's chart below,
Mars is the only planet who is not afflicted by being
peregrine, retrograde, combust or in detriment.
This is useful, because we are likely to shy from the malefics, Mars and
Saturn, who actually have much to teach us.
This talisman comes from David Pingree's Latin
version of Picatrix, an encyclopedic work
of medieval Arabic astrological magic.
For more information on Picatrix, see
Picatrix at Twilight Grotto.
Two more selections from Picatrix, untranslated
elsewhere and dealing with the magical uses of the lunar mansions can be found at
Astrology, Magical Talismans & Mansions of the Moon in Picatrix
and Listing of the Mansions of the Moon in Picatrix.
Here is the description of the talisman,
Et si volueris et ex tuo aspectu timeatur vel terreatur, ex forma Martis facias
formam hominis erecti et lorica induti, duos enses tenentis, unum scilicet
iacentum supra collum et alterum nudum in eius dextra, et in sinistra caput
hominis, in hora Martis in sua domo existensis, in aliquo ex lapidus Martis.
Et quicumque lapidem portaverit, omnes eum videntes timebunt, et nullus accedet ad eum.
If you wish your appearance to cause dread and terror, from the images of Mars
make an image of a man standing wearing a coat of mail with two swords,
one lying above his neck and the other bare in his right hand, in his left
the head of a man, [make the image] in the hour of Mars when he is in his sign,
in any of the stones of Mars, and anyone who carries this stone everyone will
be afraid of and no one will come near you.
Picatrix Bk II, Chapter X, section 49, page 69. (translation by Christopher
Warnock, Esq.)
My first thought was that this election might be useful
for scaring small children at Halloween or for a horror film, but the fact that it is
a talisman of Mars indicates its true use, in battle.
We are not used to thinking of war as having any
relationship with magic, but in the Picatrix, "...the art of commanding
soldiers [and] controlling armies..." is listed as one of the ten sciences that
are necessary for the magician. Picatrix Bk. IV, Chapter Five, [Pingree
translation] page 198.
The great Chinese writer Sun Tzu says,
In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's
country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too,
it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture
a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.
Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence;
supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War.
The time elected for construction of
the Mars talisman is February 2, 2002 at 9:43 am EST
in Washington, D.C. 38 N 56 77 W 03.
At this time Mars is dignified
by sign is well placed on the Ascendant. It is also the
planetary hour of Mars.
The English astrologer
William Lilly says that the minerals of Mars are,
"Iron, Antimony, Arsenick, Brimston, Ocre." and that the stones of Mars are,
"Adamant, Loadstone, Blood-stone, Jasper, the many coloured Amatheist,
the Touch-stone, red Lead or Vermilion." Christian Astrology page 68.
Here is further information on
Astrological Talismans
and Astrological Magic. If you
wish to delve even deeper into this fascinating area I offer an
Astrological Magic Web Course
as well as a traditional astrology and astrological magic discussion
group Spiritus Mundi.