By Way of Starlight: Astrologically Elected
and Ritually Made Tiles, Tile Panels and Murals
Like a stunned piano, like
a bucket
of fresh milk flung into the air
or a dozen fists of confetti
thrown hard at a bride
stepping down from the altar,
the stars surprise the sky.
~Edward Hirsch, In Spite of Everything, the Stars
...construct a chamber, vaulted, and marked with these figures and colors, and he should spend most of his waking hours there and also sleep. ~Marsilio Ficino, De vita libri tres (Three Books on Life)
The Alchemy of Talismanic Tiles
Magical Practice and Practical Magic
One way of categorizing magic is as theurgic, divine magic, and thaumaturgic, practical magic. It can be argued it is a somewhat artificial distinction because even if one comes into the process merely wanting to game the system (as one might pray to one of the saints to intercede for a job or partner or healing), the experience is itself transformative, as Light emanating from the Source of light comes to manifest in the world. For a deep dive, see Ficino's Three Books on Life and Iamblichus, On the Mysteries of the Egytians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians.
As Jung noted before us, the images we live with and surround ourselves with impact us greatly, coloring and even defining the way we see the world. I bring this up because even if one is looking to remediate a natal chart configuration or current life condition, it might be faster and better to take just the trash out, literally or metaphorically. Tile, like gold and silver jewelry, lasts a good long time and as such is is a better choice for substantial changes in character and life conditions. Traditional purposes for talismans include apotropaic (protection and good luck), natal chart remediation (but perhaps not the best place to start), love, health and well-being, and family.
Format: Very Large Mural
Created: 17 February 2023
Tiles: 4.25 inch
Talisman: Currently Available
Single Tiles: Inquire
Read more about: Venus Degree of Exaltation
Format: Large Mural
Created: 7 April 2022
Tiles: 4.25 inch
Talisman: Currently Available
Single Tiles: Inquire
Read more about: Luna in Cancer
Currently Available Talismanic Tiles
The currently released offerings have already been made at a precisely-timed astrological elections, ritually made and adapted to my own ethical standards from those outlined in traditional sources from Egyptian, Arabic, Chinese, Jyotish, and what I prefer to call Alexandrian -- the crossroads of Babylonian, Egyptian, east Asian, and late Hellenistic cultures whose center was the library at Alexandria. Works drawn from include, though not an exhaustive list, the Ghayat Al-Hakim (Picatrix), the Sun of Knowledge (Shams al-Ma'arif), Cornelius Agrippa, William Lilly, and astrological and magical texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. Since these are already made, I can't make any modifications as I can with commissioned tiles.
I do have some 30 plus offerings that are not currently listed. I will release those over time, so if you don't see a particular election you are looking for, there's a chance I have it, although that doesn't mean that it is available for immediate release. I like elections to ripen, for want of a better word, and to live with them before I send them out into the world. However, any tile or mural can be made talismanic. In that case, contact me or check the sitemap if you would like to commission a mural. Commissioned talismans can require waiting awhile for an appropriate astrological election, but the upside is that it is made for you.
Pricing: Talismanic tiles are no differently priced than the non-talismanic versions with two exceptions: There is a minimum order size on regular orders, and that economy of scale cannot reasonably be applied to talismanic tiles. While I do occasionally make smaller tiles, which can be framed or used as murals, they are priced higher than their non-talismanic counterparts for that reason. The other case is where a each tile in a series requires different elections, such as the De Sphaera planets series when released; each planet has one or more elections, each requiring full ritual and artistic set up and preparation, many times requiring an "all nighter" and the series price reflects the increased level of effort.
Finally, if you do not have a home where you can properly install a mural, or if altar tiles are not an option for some other reason, please consider talismanic materia* by Kaitlin Coppock. I will gush about her more in the acknowledgements but I cannot recommend her work more highly.
Earlier Releases
Venus Degree of Exaltation and Luna in Cancer comprise the initial release. Links to earlier releases will go here.
Recommended Reading
Marsilio Ficino, Three Books on Life, Carol V. Kaske and John R. Clark, Binghamton (State University of New York at Binghamton, 1989).
Mary Quinlan-McGrath, Influences: Art, Optics, and Astrology in the Italian Renaissance (Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 2013).
Austin Coppock, "A Feast of Starlight" in The Celestial Art by Demetra George, John Michael Greer, and others.
(This section is still under construction and will grow. Articles I have in the works will be posted to Articles and linked here.)
Ceiling of the Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo, designed and built of Filippo Brunelleschi for Cosimo de'Medici
References, Acknowledgements, and Heartfelt Thanks
We expect acknowledgements to follow text, but in fact, I am writing this section first. I would not be launching these tile and mural offerings without the help and, dare I say, loving guidance, of several people. It looms before me when I start to write anything else. I have received love and help from no small number of people, and it would be impossible to list them all here but I will try to list those who have had the most profound effect on my work here.
First and foremost, the published and unpublished work for Kaitlin Coppock* who showed me that magic (read: Science we don't have an explanation for yet) is a natural force that is as available as light and water and plants. Beyond that, Kaitlin led me to three other mentors: Austin Coppock, my astrology teacher. In ancient times, astrologers were consultants to kings and rulers, and Austin takes that trust seriously, both for his clients and his students. Also Freedom Cole, friend, Jyotish astrologer and psychologist, who pointed me toward the way home to my own traditions (and if you have known me very long, you realize how hilarious that I should come to terms with all of that). And Daniel Foor, teach and psychologist, whose work on familial and ancestral healing, as literally or as symbolically as one wishes to take it, has been both healing and life-changing.
Also needing acknowlegement: the personal support and friendship of my best friend (since I was 20!), Daryl Snyder, and the quiet friendship of the steadfast and loyal Tony Mack, and the guidance and support of long-time medieval astrologer Ryhan Butler, as well as author and astrologer Peter Stockinger, Dr. Becca Tarnas, and Terri Windling. Deepest thanks to mentors who who became friends and allies, Kenneth Rexroth and Dr. Jonathan Young and whose effect on me has endured since the 80s and 90s.
Finally, for the many decades of acceptance and kind forbearance granted me of my late husband Carl, and Brother Joe Slominski, who passed last summer within weeks of each other. The loss is huge and the world is forever changed.
*I want to add a further special note of Kaitlin, who has not only proven a true friend in recent months, but an inspiration even before that. Imitation, it is said, is the sincerest form of flattery. If this is true, Kaitlin is surely the most flattered of all; her imitators are legion. While the anointing with holy and ritual oils has a long history across many cultures, the term talismanic materia, which extends beyond oil to water and candles and other materia, was coined, and globally disseminated through her work at Sphere at Sundry where she carries a tradition thousands of years in the making, and builds upon it. I use her oils and a ritual oil made by the Poor Clares in my own devotions and home altar to the Queen of Heaven.
Generally, we use the word magic for everything hidden from the sense whose causes most of humanity cannot perceive. The wise call the images talismans which literally means "forcebearers" because those who fashion images do so through force, by conquering the substance from which they are composed. To succeed, one builds images with mathematical proportions, influences, and celestial effects. Such talismans are composed from appropriate substances, at appropriate times. ~Picatrix
