Questions & Answers #3
Talking synastry with talismans, connecting with fixed stars, and crush devotion
Here’s another compilation from a recent Instagram Q&A (you can read the first here and the second here!), warm thanks to the people who asked questions! If you haven’t been among them and you’d like to ask your own questions, you can of course follow me there if you like, but there’s also the possibility of sending them to me via Retrospring, here!
Connecting with non-natal stars?
[via Retrospring] Re: connecting with stars not natal to you, your answer is reassuring, as I was worried that working with non-natal stars was somehow ‘wrong’…I have no stars conjunct my planets or asc, and was disappointed that I’d be excluded from working with fixed stars as a result! I take it that to work with non-natal stars takes more effort on your part, and with natal stars the connection comes more naturally?
My take is that if your gut feeling + trusted means of divination don’t steer you away from it, there’s no wrong way to go about this in general. There are a few stars that, to my knowledge, are not present natally (or not by a lot) and I still work with them regularly. It’s not necessarily harder, either, it really depends! It can be difficult to generalise for a bunch of reasons.
Re: having stars conjunct planets and Ascendant, I have to say I doubt you have none at all! There might be stars that you haven’t heard about. But also, conjunctions are not the only way to go about natal stellar signatures. Everybody has parans, even if some have more with stars of the Brady set than others1. I’m sure there are natal stellar signatures for you; but you can also go with what seems right at the moment even if you haven’t yet delved into that aspect of your natal chart.
Hoping this helps! Booking with an astrologer who specialises in fixed stars (both by conjunctions and parans) might be helpful in parsing this out, too — not to say you can’t nurture relationships with stars without doing that2. I’m available for this kind of consultations, and I would also direct you to Maeg Keane, Óscar Moisés Díaz, Chloe Margherita or Caleb McCoy for this.
you research many stars but is there one to whom yre particularly devoted?
I’m deeply deeply polyamorous with this3, but if I really have to narrow it down to just one star, then Aldebaran hands down. There is no other star that acts as such a beacon, a guiding light for me. I strive to embody Aldebaran virtues first and foremost in what I do.
To expand on this: Aldebaran has a mixed reputation of being “the most auspicious” but also bullish, military, implacable. When I say Aldebaran virtues I mean integrity, generosity, determination, creativity. There are many other stellar principles I deeply appreciate and value (as is probably obvious!), but acting with integrity is what I care about the most, my priority and what centers me when I feel lost.
Article(s) about Aldebaran coming some time soon4, by the way!
What are some of your favorite acts of crush devotion?
Ooooh, I love this question! I’m unsure whether you mean a crush on a fellow incarnate being or a crush on a star, but either way, my answer remains pretty much the same. Making playlists is the first thing that comes to mind. Sharing delicious food (preferably that I baked myself) is another big one. Lavishing with praise, also. Composing poems/hymns. And just spending quality time together!
how do you work with lunar mansions and fixed stars? Or do you use Decans? Esp when making talismans
At the moment, I don’t really work with Lunar stations much, especially ritually. The extent of my practice in that regard is studying and crafting devotional playlists, and the occasional altar for one station I already have established relationship with. If you’re interested in getting into Lunar stations in general, I would recommend J. M. Hamade’s book Procession of the Night Theatre, as well as the resources compiled by Idola Stellarum. Actually, Idola Stellarum is overall an excellent place for everything astrological magic — rigorously sourced information, kind guidance, great community, and also incredible talismans of course!
I do love to study decans, I’ve worked with some of them ritually here and there and I often integrate them in divinatory practices5. Not my main focus either, though. If you’re looking to relate to decans more, I highly recommend Austin Coppock’s book 36 Faces (obviously!) and his classes on the topic6, Kira Ryberg’s excellent guidebook, and The Astrologers’ Co-op series about them. Some people do “decan walks” and while I’ve never had the chance to experience it myself, it sounds really cool and instructive. I plan to write more on the decans as they illustrate in natal charts, exploring examples, as I’ve done for Virgo I and Sagittarius I thus far. But if you’re looking for information on magical applications, other practitioners have been into this for longer and are sharing really cool stuff about it. Rose Kent is someone I would recommend for this as well.
As for fixed stars… They are definitely my main passion, and there are tons of ways to relate to them, work with them, and make talismans in concert with them. Again I would direct you to Idola Stellarum because I 200% trust them to give sound, as-safe-as-can-be advice. There are a lot of free resources on their website, and the membership is definitely worth your coin as well! Sphere + Sundry, Christopher Warnock, Tides of Tethys have also written really cool stuff on the subject with various approaches.
Overall, you don’t have to pick one or other, if you’re wondering about working ritually with Lunar stations, fixed stars and/or decans. But if you’re starting out, I would recommend first deepening your study of one modality because it can get overwhelming if you intake too much info all at once. For instance, if you’re already familiar with planets and signs, decans are probably a good starting point to get to know another layer of the zodiac. If you feel a strong pull to the actual sky and visual astrology/astrolatry, fixed stars might be the way to go. Depending on the traditions of magic that appeal to you, and your relationship to the Moon, you might be more attracted to Lunar stations and that’s cool too. Follow your heart and your gut, and in doubt, divine!
Should I check the election of the Talisman chart against my own natal chart?
You can, for sure!
A good friend of mine7 is especially apt at discerning how people would vibe with given talismanic materia from S+S by looking at their chart, and there are many professionals specifically trained in advising re: remediation with talismans and talismanic materia, which you can look up in S+S’s directory. I personally have had great experiences with Adira Osland. I’m not a synastry specialist myself, I’ve picked up stuff over the years, but some people are way more savvy with it.
I like to look at elections to get a feel for the talisman’s vibes, but it doesn’t tell you everything. A talisman is ensouled with specific target points in mind, the whole chart won’t come through as strongly, unless there is a major aspect to the target point.
For instance, take the chart for Sphere + Sundry’s Luna in Cancer series. The target is obviously the Moon in Cancer in the 10th whole sign House. The Moon is separating from a trine to exalted Venus, going towards a square from the Sun and then a trine to Jupiter. The election and ensoulment focused on the Moon and her specific attributes, and brings in these aspects (especially relevant for a Moon election, I’d wager). But the Saturn-Mars conjunction in the 5th is… kind of irrelevant here. People have reported being helped by this series with classic Moon domains of fertility, a 5th House topic. I’ve had good experiences both in terms of pleasure and creativity with this series, other 5th House topics. I’ve also noticed more kids and babies specifically around me when working with it, and it’s been really sweet. While Luna in Cancer is not the most stabilising series (as the write-up makes abundantly clear), it doesn’t seem to yield difficulties tied to Saturn-Mars in Aquarius in the 5th, because those don’t aspect the planet (Moon) petitioned for the making of the series. Not to say this couldn’t be harder on people with natal placements in hard aspect to these, but it’s highly unlikely to show up strongly just in the series’ properties, because neither the election nor ritual steer in that direction.
It bears saying also that astrological magic is something experimental and can be slightly unpredictable, even for experienced mages8. Hopefully, all good surprises! An election can look meh and yet, yield a wonderfully helpful and beneficent talisman; some mages can “get away” with stuff that others can’t. Ultimately, it’s important to go to people that you trust to do a good job with ensouling. Divination is your friend here.
It’s also worth mentioning that sometimes we work with talismanic materia only for a certain duration, whereas talismans are usually a long-term commitment. So you’re likely to be much pickier with a talisman. That being said, sometimes synastry on paper looks a bit scary but it works out well!
I realise this is perhaps a bit too abstract, so let me give a few examples.
In terms of synastry with other incarnate human beings, I don’t do well with people who have natal Mars conjunct my Moon — it feels irritating and stressful. Saturn conjunct my Moon, however, is usually fine, which I attribute partly to my own affinity with Saturn9, a harmonious aspect between Moon and Saturn in my natal chart, and the fact that my entire family has Saturn in my natal Moon sign. There’s familiarity there. One might look at Saturn conj Moon and be like “Aouch!” but for me, it’s definitely not a worst case scenario. Self-knowledge, and observation of your experiences with humans, is useful in that regard.
One of my fixed star talismans has Mars right on top of my Lot of Fortune. As it turns out, it’s an energising talisman for me even though it isn’t in its main purposes or proprieties. I feel more endurance when wearing it, it feels dynamic — but not stressful or too sharp. It probably helps that this talisman also has Venus near my Ascendant though, tempering the martial influence. A good reminder to look at overall synastry and not just one aspect!
I’ve also noticed that I generally vibe well with beings born under a Moon in the same element than mine, and that seems to apply to humans and talismans. I’ve had challenges10 in interfacing with planetary talismans for planets that are natally very afflicted, even for benefic planets11. So that can be something to keep in mind too: sometimes the issue is not so much the chart of the talisman, it’s yours, lol! As amazing as a talisman is, the changes it brings into your life can be painful even as they are needed. Sometimes, necessary evolution stings a bit especially at first, like when you disinfect a wound. Which isn’t to say every single talisman will give you a hard time at first, but it can happen (healing crisis of sorts) and I think glossing over it can do people a disservice.
Thank you all for these thought-provoking questions! I’ll probably make another Q&A soon. Until next time ✨
For instance, I have no parans within a 2” orb to Mercury from the 60+ stars that Brady has studied in depth, but factoring in other named stars we’ve got a dozen of them. Widening the orb to 4”, there’s one Brady star showing up as well.
For this for like the rest, trust your gut and your divination to figure out when you’re ready! I also wrote about finding a diviner, here.
As with everything else.
By some time soon I mean within the year.
Since decans are correlated with minor arcana in the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot this is pretty seamless for me as someone who works with that deck a lot.
If you’re on a tight budget, I recommend subscribing to NORWAC’s mailing list and hopping on their sales, they hold some regularly and you can get really good deals on classes, including some by Austin and other remarkable teachers.
Hi Jen, ily 💎
Kaitlin is very upfront with that, btw! And that is why I can’t really take pre-sales seriously when it comes to talismans, no offense to anyone in particular.
I have a day chart and a pretty dignified Saturn.
Not of the life-wrecking varieties, obviously, but there can be an adjustement period, the need to layer with another influence, not to wear it everyday, that kind of thing.
So say you have Venus in hard aspect to Mars and Saturn in the 12th, perhaps a Venus talisman might be a bit risky. Doesn’t mean you won’t ever be able to work with Venus, but taking it slow, perhaps starting with Venus materia, might be preferred. And divining on it prior of course!