.:Deliciously Motivated: The Diary of Arijah Ankh Khalid-Zyn:.
January 26th, 2022
The Heart of the Lion-Tools of Talismanic Correspondence for Full Snow Moon, February 2022
We've been doing a lot of work regarding transformations and shadow work over the past year.
The readings, as well as some very real-life realizations and well as a lot of hidden illuminations, have been revealed throughout the process.
I've had quite the knack for waiting until a day or two before a new working to place the information, however, this one is going to take a bit of
prep time, so I wanted to be sure I gave plenty of notice, in case you are planning on participating.
February 1st is the Chinese new year. 2022 is the year of water tiger. February 16th is the full snow moon, and also the lantern festival, as a
celebration of honoring the ancestors as well as reconciliation, peace, and forgiveness. This reconciliation can be within ourselves or within our
relationships past or present. It's a time to find inner strength, and recognize potential for the coming year.
This full moon is in Leo, opposing the sun in Aquarius. It is a balance between what is personal and what isn't.
It's the being able to fence off your working garden from the rest of the wilds, yet taking full observation and making use of whats
"out there in the dark lands". That balance may be between home and work, self and partnerships, or present and past.
Balance is one of the most difficult things to maintain. Getting it is challenging enough. Maintaining it can sometimes seem like a Herculean feat.
The Cat symbolism heavily flowing at this time reminds me of the Nemean Lion. The Nemean Lion was said to have impenetrable fur.
Eventually, Hercules kills it by strangling it to death and skinning it with one of its own claws. If you aren't familiar with the labors
of Hercules, it goes a little bit like this:
The goddess Hera, resented Zeus's rampant infidelity. Once again, Zeus wants to get his happy on and seduces a woman by disguising himself as
something other than who he is. This time, he disguised himself as Amphitryon, impregnating the woman Acmene, who subsequently gave birth to Hercules.
Hera was unhinged and tried various times to kill Hercules. While an infant, Hera tried to kill him by sending poisonous snakes into his crib.
As an adult, Hera filled his mind with madness, and in a confused rage, he killed his wife Megara and all of their children.
When he came back to his senses, he looked around at what he had done, and filled with grief, prayed to the god Apollo.
Being that Apollo was the deity of healing, knowledge, and prophecy, Hercules asked for his guidance.
The oracle told him that he would have to serve Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns and Mycenae (modern-day Argolis), for twelve years,
as punishment for committing such an atrocity.
Hera went to the king and suggested that Hercules be made to do twelve extremely difficult tasks, hoping that one of them would be his
final doing. the gods Hermes and Athena, were sympathetic to Hercules's situation and decided to help guide him to accomplish the tasks.
By the end of the story, Hercules emerges victorious.
The Greeks called this idea of the path of struggles, "pathos", and associated pathos with Hercules' labors.
Pathos is the experience of a virtuous struggle, enlightenment during the journey, and the overcoming of great obstacles to attain a goal.
Some find connections between the twelve labors and the constellations, with the sun personified as Hercules,
and its passage through the zodiac year, the labors.
Please excuse my pronunciations and sarcastic description of the labors, as they were:
1)Slay the Nemean Lion (a woman stealing lion with an impenetrable fur coat)
2)Slay the Lernean Hydra (a poison spewing, stinky snake -with a penchant for terrorizing villages)
3)Capture the Golden Hind (a cervitaur; half deer, half woman, and love interest, murdered for being made of pure gold)
4)Capture the Erymanthian Boar (a shaggy pig, chased and bound as a conversation piece, and fear-inspiring war ornament)
5)Clean the Stables of King Augeas (a job entailing cleaning up the excrement of 1000 neglected royal horses)
6)Defeat the Stymphalian Birds (poisoned poop, man-eating bronze-beaked bird beasts, shot down for being a general pain in the farmer's ass)
7)Capture the Cretan Bull
(a gluttonous animal, caught and eventually released because nobody wanted it) 8)Bring Back the Mares of Diomedes (fire breathing hell horses eventually calmed when Hercules fed his best friend to them)
9)Obtain the Belt of Hippolyta (Amazon princess who was abducted and murdered for her fashion sense)
10)Obtain the Cattle of Geryon (big cows belonging to a hell-beast-man, go on a long journey to become ego fodder for a jilted god-wife)
11)Bring the Golden Apples of Hesperides (happy apples gathered, as make-up work for "cheating")
12)Capture Cerberus (an elaborate quest to disarm Hades security system)
Albeit the labors are symbolic of other huge mythologies, and I'm not trying to be disrespectful, you have to find humor where you can,
and quite honestly, I find the story of Hercules to be full of it. :P
Astrologically, the characteristics of Leo the lion are ambition, rulership, custodianship, and warmth.
Within Leo, is the fixed (behenian) star Regulus, "the heart of the lion", said to portend glory and kingly riches and power to all those born
under its influence. Regulus has "technically" moved into the constellation Virgo, but not "entirely". Talismans empowered by the astrological
energy of Regulus are made to attract success in all endeavors, bring happiness and wellbeing, and favours from powerful people.
The reason for mentioning all of this Greek mythology and Regulus fixed star stuff, is because the herculean strength and labors fits the mind right now,
and this full moon seems like a great time to create a talisman based within some of that metaphor.
In Agrippa's "Three Books of Occult Philosophy", the making of a Regulus talisman was described:
“Under the heart of Leo, they made the image of a lion or cat, or the figure of an honourable person sitting in a chair; it renders a man temperate,
appeases wrath, and gives favour.”
In Chapter 47, Book one, Agrippa describes the working:
“Now the manner of making these kinds of rings is this: when any star ascends, fortunately, with the fortunate aspect, or conjunction of the Moon,
we must take a stone, and herb that is under that star, and make a ring of the metal that is suitable to this star, and in it fasten the stone, putting
the herb, or root under it; not omitting the inscriptions of images, names, and characters, as also the proper suffumigations."
Book 2, Mansions of the Moon, shows an image of the seal, but I have also included it on the talismanic work provided within this article.
The herbs, according to Liber Hermetis, are celandine juice, wormwood, and mastic.
The stone is a garnet, engraved with the image of a lion and the seal of Regulus.
Mastic is a tree. People use sap (resin) to make medicine, especially for digestion. It's the sticky stuff, so basically, glue.
It's not specified whether greater or lesser celandine is employed in the working. Greater Celandine has also been used as a digestive medicinal,
but can be toxic. It is a species of the Poppy, so Opium type effects could also be a thing here. Wormwood is a Saturnian herb and I believe its
effects are pretty self-explanatory.
I'm a sympathetic witch, so my connections are quite frequently empathic or inner-knowing. I'm also pretty careful when it comes to wild and woolly
high strangeness from the lands of far-away -aka: anything ancient.
Substitutions are never the same as the original, and you have to be extremely careful when considering them...however, regarding making this
talisman of Regulus, my personal opinion is that you employ the herbs that YOU feel are potent and powerful regarding your personal desire,
and please...don't use anything toxic.
Herbal essence will be released if you wear a talisman as a ring, because of sweat and general contact. Any time it meets the skin, contact is made.
Instead of wormwood, I find pine needles and bits of pine roots or bark are a valid substitution.
Pine is a symbol of the Yuletide/Winter season, and of course, are Saturnian in that respect as well. They are evergreen and in being such,
a symbol of immortality. In my opinion, Wormwood is not needed. If you absolutely must have Wormwood in your working, maybe sip on a bit of genuine thujone
containing absinthe.
I would personally employ the herb mugwort, instead of Celandine. Mugwort is a moon herb that brings deep understanding.
I would also use Pine sap as a fixative instead of mastic. Wormwood is classically a Saturnian herb, but I wouldn't burn it for fuck sake and
I would especially not have it constantly grinding away on my chest or finger all day, either. Wormwood, like Yew and Mistletoe, are seen as plants
of the underworld, especially regarding knowing and understanding secrets (aka locked doors and hidden treasures) as well as immortality,
because if you're lucky, they won't kill you when ingested.
Storytime- Once upon a time, when I was 5, I ate a little helping of yew berries, and I assure you that it was awkward. I'm lucky I didn't die, and just
ran a very high fever and hallucinated for the next few days. Some children and animals aren't that lucky.
As a five-year-old, I didn't quite understand what I was experiencing. I saw (what I think) was my own shadow on the wall, fighting with another shadow of "me".
"Shadow-boxing". heh. A ghost nurse came out of my closet sat on my bed and talked to me. At least once I remember her telling the shadows to "keep it down"
because I was sick and trying to get better. I *could* say that perhaps this was a symbolic representation of the shadow self and life obstacles.
Me, fighting with myself over which part has dominance? This creates its own illness, doesn't it? Confidence wasn't a "key", however, partnership and integration are.
a n y w a y...
The original directions say that the garnet should be set in a ring or pendant with some of the ground herbs beneath it, then passed through these herbs
as an incense smoke, while verbalizing a petition for success, wellbeing, and fame. (or whatever you seek is your own personal "success").
Regulus is a smile and a laugh when needed. It raises the energy when there is sadness and melancholy. It brings resolution, vitality, and grants a keen
sense of awareness and practicality - especially regarding planning, strategy, and motivation.
Regulus-Regulation-Regulate-Balance.
On the flip-side, when out of balance or when influenced by certain energies, a reaction of "violence, destructiveness, military honor of short duration,
with ultimate failure, imprisonment, violent death, success, high and lofty ideals and strength of spirit, and makes its natives magnanimous, grandly liberal,
generous, ambitious, fond of power, desirous of command, high-spirited and independent." (according to Vivian Robson)
These flip-side or adverse effects are human characteristics.
This is what happens when you're caught off guard and the domino effects of "striking hot" and not thinking things through happens.
It is the effects of self-doubt, letting someone else "take the wheel", and using power for ill will and by unfair means. Regulus doesn't think
fondly of the liar, conniver, or thief. It brings honor to those who are befitting a "king or queen", in other words, those who act as teachers, guides,
and healers: The wise folk.
Off-balanced, Regulus energy becomes subservient, jealous, and reckless.
The talisman shouldn't create these effects if the truths of one's heart are known and are understood. Little bits of these human traits will always seep
through the cracks, but the wisdom helps to remind of the values. Never create a talisman without feeling the truth. What I mean by that is to merely "know"
is not enough. Reading and memorizing what you read isn't enough. You must meditate or contemplate on how various herbs, stones, energies, etc are meaningful
to you personally. You should research and understand how the potent chemicals in the plants you are using work, and how they are or have been used in
medicine and in spiritual matters. You should know what correspondences are activated and why, meaning if you are working within a certain cultural spirituality,
certain correspondences may be ambiently made. Why would a king wear a ring that could poison him? Well, maybe part of the understanding of why is based on the
hallucinogenic aspects of the herbs used. Our modern understandings, expectations, and standards are not the same as our forbears.
We can gain insight, but we can't completely relate, and that is usually a good thing...especially regarding suffering. What people used to have to do,
is not what we have to do anymore. We can take inspiration from them, meaning we can see why they may have chosen to move or act in a certain way considering
the factors in their environment at the time. We can compare similarly to things we are experiencing or have going on in our lives and think
"hey, you know what? I could employ a similar action by doing."
The talisman need not be made of metal or gold. I've made talismanic satchels and they do just fine. They need to be "recharged" or re-attuned from time to time,
but they do the job they need to. Sometimes, energy will seem to take longer. It may seem to take the hard path. It may seem as though it isn't working,
but I assure you, it is. HOWEVER, I did make a talisman of Saturn once, while it was retrograde. The effect was supposed to be one thing, but it caused
"bad luck", and I mean BAD. We had to rework a spell backward, burn the talisman, and then take the ashes to a place of great movement.
*Never make a talisman by
1) trying to "get over" on either your connection and/or belief in the ability, agency, or energy of the planet/star, etc and
2) never make a talisman to "do harm" or vengeance.
That shit will come up and bite you in the ass. I'm not talking about karma, I'm talking about what you wire into your energetic field intentionally.
It can be like rubbing yourself all over with blood and then walking into the forest at night. Don't do that. You "are what you eat" essentially, so just
be mindful that this also applies to taking in directed energy.
I usually finely grind or powder herbs corresponding to the work, into clay that I will engrave sigils into. The clay can be colored with dye. Make it a good clay, because the cheap stuff breaks easily. I have also burned sigils into wood and leather. You just have to contemplate what is best for you. If you don't wear jewelry, don't make it. Maybe something attached to your wallet or a dongle for a belt or
shoelace might be better. Maybe making several would be of service, with you placing them in places that you occupy. The idea is that it should be ON you,
hence the effects are given to the wearer. Do you, just think through it.
If you need any help, don't hesitate to ask.
~A
p.s. another option would be to sew and stuff a heart instead of using clay.
I made a printable with 3 options:
1) print onto transfer paper, iron on fabric, cut, stuff and sew.
2) use the outline provided for crossstitch, cut, stuff and sew.
3) cut out parts onto fabric, and/or paint, cut, stuff and sew.
Probably not perfect, but eh. Wiggle room. ;)
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