Wiccan Teachings; Taliman by Coralie/Raia

[Dept of PMM Artists & things]

TALISMANS

‘A Talisman is a magickal item which has been created from significant materials, using magickal techniques and/or ritual to focus the intent, and which then holds and radiates whatever intention the Talisman has been created to serve so as to cause changes or certain results to manifest in the everyday world in accordance with that intent’.

We’ll break that down now into ‘bite-sized chunks’ to make it easier to understand and apply.

Start with an intent or desire- something that you want to happen, a result you want to obtain, or something you want to come into manifestation.

This can vary from for example passing a test, succeeding at an interview, getting past doormen at clubs, keeping you safe when you travel, to having being more attractive to other people.

Talismans are mobile.

That is they can be carried about with you in your pocket or bag, and therefore carry that charge around with them wherever you take them. Which also means that the magick working through a Talisman is of a constant- presence flow nature, rather than being a ‘one-off’.

Obviously if a Talisman has been made with the intention of helping you pass a test or interview or similar, then it is a one-off matter, but as Talismans can be made to serve long term needs or intentions, then you’ll see the way that principle applies.

For example a Talisman made to protect you from attack if you regularly go out alone at night would be intended to work at all occasions that you go out and carry that Talisman with you, and not just one night and then not after that.

An important point to bear in mind when approaching magick in relation to this is to work out whether a Talisman is what you need, or if a straightforward, one-off magickal ritual- a spell, is going to be the more effective way to bring about your intent.

Balanced against that is that Talismans make an excellent visual, physical focus for magick. We humans often need something like this onto which to focus our intent- a spell that doesn’t have a focus object of some kind can feel like sending your magick off into the ‘wide blue yonder’, and not feel that focused at all. Whereas having some kind of object on which to focus can help enormously.

As well as that a Talisman that is carried with you radiates a certain ‘presence’ which helps you remember that you have it with you, and that it’s helping you in whichever way it has been made to do so. Which also means you can do the ancient ‘touch-wood for luck’ with it, by simply touching the Talisman when you need its power to ‘wake it up’ and ensure it works for you- ‘a great boost to the confidence in challenging situations.

SIGNIFICANT MATERIALS

These can vary from plain, new paper on which you draw a suitable design, combination of Runes, or other symbols appropriate to your intention, to very specific materials chosen because of their magickal correspondence with your intention.

For example, if you are making a Talisman that uses Runes to focus the power you might make that from a piece of symbolically appropriate wood such as Ash or Yew. Both of these woods have ancient associations with Runes, and the Runes would be carved into or painted onto the wood.

Or else you might use a piece of metal for the base which corresponds through Astrology or other systems with your intention. On which you would inscribe, engrave or paint appropriate symbols derived from the same sets of magickal correspondences.

Another example would be to use a piece of natural material that because of its form is considered to be a good holder of magickal charges and intentions. Such as Rock Crystal, Shell, Wood or Bone. Some of these are considered to hold a magickal charge well because they are composed of layers of material which hold the intention like a sponge holds water.

Or else of course that brings us back to a plain piece of paper again through the same thinking- it’s an organic, plant derived material that will ‘soak up’ and hold your intentions. Which could also be of an appropriate colour dependant on the magickal system or correspondences you are working with- Red for example for intentions of a martial nature, or Red for fire, Green for the Earth, or Green for Venus, etc. it all  dependents on your chosen approach and magickal system.

To work out what materials to use you’ll need to do some research into the kind of magickal systems or approaches you personally favor, and which you find work best for you.

TECHNIQUES AND RITUAL- FOCUSING YOUR INTENT

There are a variety of ways of approaching this.

One is to gather all the materials you have chosen to use, and then to construct your Talisman in a ritual way within a magick circle. Including any painting, engraving, scribing, etc that you are going to do. That can also include adding gems, stones, and other materials to your Talisman as appropriate using glue, cord or other means to attach them.

This way the Talisman is essentially charged by the ritual act of construction itself, and just needs some kind of spell or invocation of some kind to bind it all together to express your intent and finish the ritual charging.

This can be actually binding it round or together with a piece of appropriate coloured cord perhaps, while saying something- a can trip or declaration of some kind that states your intention clearly and focuses your mind and magickal will while you are doing this.

To make this more powerful it is good to ritually cleanse and charge all the materials you use before you begin to weave them together- unless you are repeating yourself, it’s always better to do more to magickally empower a Talisman than to do less- if you want it to work, you must give it your all.

Within that it’s also important to balance that out by making your Talisman as focused and ‘pointed’ as possible- if for example your Talisman is for general protection, make that protection from people, and don’t try to weave in protection from fire, flood, falling trees, flying masonry, attacks by birds, dogs, flying pigs and all else you can think of, unless those things are as much a danger to you as the people may be, or you’re going into a situation where these are real dangers more than people are.

A second approach is to physically make your Talisman in your own time while sitting comfortably where you can work on it easily. If you will be painting, gluing bits on, engraving, etc that will need time for each part to dry or set, then this would be the best way to approach it. You would then take the physically complete Talisman into a magick circle and charge it. You can do this by either just using , invocations of appropriate forces- Gods, Spirits, Elemental powers, etc, and focusing all that you invoke into the Talisman.

Or else you could use a magickal tool such as Your Athame to ritually ‘go over’, each part or stage of the construction process, so as to charge all of that. As if you are magickally making, drawing/inscribing, etc what you had already physically made. You could either call in and focus power as above while you do this, or else use this stage to magickally ‘re-make’ the Talisman and then charge and empower it as already detailed.

A powerful variation on these two techniques is to use a system of Glyphs, Runes or even your own written language to focus your intent.

Start with a blank piece of material that will be the base of your Talisman. Take some scrap paper and a pen, write down your intent, and ‘kick that around’ in your mind so as to bring that down to a short sentence or phrase which neatly and concisely expresses your intent without waffling or being long winded.

You can start off long winded to ensure you cover all possibilities, and could write it down as several sentences to begin with, but whittling that down to just one concise sentence or phrase will focus your intent through that process.

The next stage is to remove all letters on their second and subsequent occurrences.

Such as:- “PASS MATHS TEST” would come down to “PASS MTH E”

These letters can then be rearranged to create a magickal word or cantrip- “PASSMETH” perhaps.

From this we have two alternatives.

Either keep these letters as English characters, or translate them into a magickal script of your choice, such as Runes, which have magickal meanings that you are then weaving into your Talisman. A good knowledge of your chosen magickal script is required in this to ensure that you don’t involve characters that have meanings which are contrary to your intention.

Either way the letters can be combined into one or more Sigils- much like the combined Sigils of Initials that you see on some school blazer badges, or on ties worn by male members of clubs or associations. These are then painted, written or inscribed on your Talisman.

Again you could either do the entire process of creating your Sigils and cantrip, and then inscribing and charging your Talisman all in one combined ritual or split this up into separate sections by working out the sigils and cantrip on one occasion and then charging the Talisman at another.

WITHIN A MAGICK CIRCLE

All magick of every kind works more powerfully if it is performed within a space which has been ritually set aside, dedicated or designated as a special place. This can vary from a full scale ritual circle casting of some kind, to a clearing in a wood that is special to you, to simply closing the curtains in your living room, turning off the phone, lighting a candle on the coffee table and burning some incense to help create the right kind of atmosphere and ambience.

A powerful magickal principle is that you by and large get back from magick in direct proportion to what you put in: If you feel that a candle on your living room table, with the curtains drawn and incense burning is sufficient unto need, that’s fine. If you do it that way because you can’t be bothered to organize anything more, you will achieve results in direct proportion.

AFTERWARDS

Ok, your Talisman has been made, it’s been powerfully charged in the most awesome ceremony you could possibly muster, it glitters with Gems and stones, it dangles with Runes of Power, Bones and bits of dead animal, and it’s ready to change your life forever.

Until you need it your Talisman should be kept somewhere special: If you have a place, a box or cupboard where you keep magickal items, leave it there to ‘brew’ till you need it. Or else keep it under your pillow till it’s needed.

Something important to end this with is that Talismans are magickal items and not miracle bringers: Magick flows like water- downhill and along the path of least resistance. You need to ensure that you do all that you can in the ‘real world’ to enable that to happen. If you’ve studied a subject well for which you’ve made a Talisman to help you through a test, then your Talisman will ensure that your mind doesn’t blank, that you remember all that you’ve learned, and that you’ll find all the words you already know to express yourself well, or whatever is appropriate.

If you’ve made no learning effort whatsoever, if you haven’t bothered revising, it’s going to take a mighty Talisman to help you.