Astrological Time Spirits, Holy Guardian Angel and Almuten Figuris

I wanted to pull together a lot of different posts and pages about the determining the name of the astrological time spirits and guardian angel and also the almuten figuris from an astrological chart, usually, but not always, a natal chart.

I provide these time spirit/guardian angel names and the almuten figuris for all my natal readings I highly recommend the Mage's Reading for all magician and practitioner of the esoteric arts!

So to start, what are time spirit/guardian angel names? The Renaissance mage and philosopher Cornelius Agrippa in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy, Book III, chapter 26 gives a number of procedures for taking a chart and getting spirit names from it. Basically each degree is given a letter and then you look at various degrees, for example the degree of the Sun, the Moon, the Ascendant, the Part of Fortune and the prenatal syzygy (Full or New Moon closest before birth), and take the letter at each of those degrees. Together the letters create a name, though for English you often need to add in vowels. This name is going to be unique to you, unless someone was born at the same location within 2-3 minutes of you. This means that you are not going to be able to Google search the name and get any more information on this spirit, since there are going to be billions and billions of different spirits.

For a long time I had been reluctant to say, "I am 100% that the natal time lord name is the Holy Guardian Angel name" since I don't have personal experience with the Abramelin operation or working with the guardian angel. However, I got the following from a Mage's Reading client very recently, "One thing I think you might find interesting: I had already contacted my guardian angel (HGA, etc) in the course of my magickal path. When that entity finally gave me its name it was a word very close to the one you found in my chart (the Agrippa, Modern), differing only in minor pronunciation differences. My HGA has other names as well, but that was the first one I learned. I have to say that even at first glance I am quite impressed with your reading." This is really fascinating and is a strong indication that the natal chart time lord name does correspond to at least some of the guardian angel names. Note that the guardian angel does have a variety of different names.

How do we determine this time spirit/guardian angel name in practice? We start with Agrippa's explanation of the various processes

Here's a detailed explanation of how to use one of Agrippa's processes, the one I use to determine the time spirit/guardian angel names.

Another point of intersection between astrology and the guardian angel is the almuten figuris, the chart ruler, derived from a rather complex calculation. In addition to the very individual time spirit/guardian angel, we are also under the dominion of one or more of the 7 planets, depending on our almuten figuris of our natal chart. Here is a discussion of how to derive the almuten figuris using Ibn Ezra's method

And here is a further discussion of the guardian angel and almuten figuris.

Christopher Warnock
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Astrological Talisman Weather for February 26-27, 2018: Struggling

Note that this only looks at basic essential & accidental dignity! Other factors may come into play.
Saturn dignified by sign (great for talisman)
Jupiter peregrine slow (avoid for talisman)
Mars peregrine (avoid for talisman)
Sun peregrine (avoid for talisman)
Venus dignified by exaltation, triplicity, (great for talisman)
Mercury in detriment fall term (avoid for talisman)
Moon dignified by sign and face (great for talismans)
Moon in the 3rd Face of Cancer, "The 3rd face of Cancer is of the Moon and is a face of hunting, pursing fugitives, of getting goods by war, quarrels and contention among men." Johannes Angelus "In the third face is a hunter carrying a horn and sling, with dogs running in front and behind him. He blows his horn while he hunts birds." Giordano Bruno

As noted the 36 decan/faces are a complete picture of reality, containing all possible interactions in the sub-lunary realm, not simply a shopping cart full of possible talismans and effects we can order up at our whim to fulfill our wishes.

In the Buddhist cosmology there are 6 worlds in the realm of form: (1) the hell worlds, who are possessed by suffering; (2) the world of the pretas, the hungry ghosts, who are perpetually in hunger and desire; (3) the world of the animals, which is generally characterized as being of ignorance, but also by the "law of the jungle"; (4) the human world, of mixed suffering and happiness; (5) the world of the ashuras, characterize by struggle, conflict, success and defeat; (6) the world of the devas, the gods, characterized by pleasure and the fulfillment of desires.

This Mansion seems characteristic of the animal realm and the ashura realm, of hunting and struggling, of struggling for power and domination. Personally I've been able to see this in what I call "cat world" which is the interactions of the neighborhood cats. While they all are well fed and housed, they still can't help fighting over territory and dominance. One cat is the king for awhile, until they become tired and a new king arrives. "Long live the king!" We can see very easily this same process taking place in the human realm.

Christopher Warnock
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Astrological Talisman Weather for February 19-20, 2018

Note that this only looks at basic essential & accidental dignity! Other factors may come into play.
Saturn dignified by sign (great for talisman)
Jupiter peregrine slow (avoid for talisman)
Mars peregrine (avoid for talisman)
Sun peregrine (avoid for talisman)
Venus dignified by exaltation, triplicity, (great for talisman)
Mercury in detriment fall combust (terrible for talisman)
Moon peregrine (avoid except for Mansion talismans)
Moon in the 2nd Mansion, "The second mansion is Albotayn, and it is for the removal of anger [from between two people]. When the Moon has passed around to this Mansion…form…the image of a crowned king."

I like the crowned king imagery of the 2nd Mansion. If we were honest with ourselves each of us has an inner king, around whom the entire universe rotates. Everything would be great if everyone and everything would just acknowledge this and get in line with our desires, needs and preferences. But like that it sounds a bit ludicrous, yet every day we unconsciously act in fulfillment of this monarch's whims. But the crowned king also points to the chakravartin, "the wheel turned" the Buddhist ideal of a universal ruler, who reigns ethically and benevolently. Cool!

Oh, and I will mention that I have been a busy bee with my website, recoding pages to be mobile responsive and rewriting them as I go, Latest page to be done was my new Astrological Magic Courses main page.

Christopher Warnock
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Astrological Talisman Weather for February 14-15, 2018 Fomalhaut & Venus!

Note that this only looks at basic essential & accidental dignity! Other factors may come into play.
Saturn dignified by sign (great for talisman)
Jupiter peregrine (avoid for talisman)
Mars peregrine (avoid for talisman)
Sun in detriment (avoid for talisman)
Venus dignified by exaltation, triplicity, term (great for talisman)
Mercury peregrine combust (avoid for talisman)
Moon peregrine (avoid except for Mansion talismans)
Venus conjunct Fomalhaut

Well, very auspicious for Valentine's Day, Venus the natural ruler of love is SUPER dignified in by exaltation, triplicity and term, a very unusually dignified +9. Plus she is conjunct the very interesting star Fomalhaut, the mouth of the constellation Piscis Austrinus, Southern Fish. Robson says that Piscis Austrinus is said to commemorate the transformation of Venus into the shape of a fish on one occasion when bathing. So more Venus synchronicities!

Robson says that Fomalhaut is one of the four Royal Stars or Watchers of the Heavens. Fixed Stars & Constellations in Astrology (1923) page 119. These stars were later associated with four archangels: Aldebaran with Michael, Fomalhaut with Gabriel, Regulus with Raphael and Antares with Uriel. Fomalhaut is said by Lilly to give "an immortal name" ie be associated with fame. Christian Astrology, page 621.

Christopher Warnock
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Looking Back Over 20 Years: Reviving Astrological Magic

2018 is a real milestone for me and for Renaissance Astrology because it was in 1998 that I became a professional astrologer and made my first astrological talisman, so this is my 20 year anniversary!

You can actually see the chart of this first talisman and fuller explanation here. Interestingly enough my first talisman was a malefic one, albeit a pest control talisman. My experience made me vow to never again make a malefic talisman and I haven't to this day. It's this sort of practical application of astrological history and theory that's really characterized my long journey.

And you can see much of that journey on the Renaissance Astrology website. I started the Renaissance Astrology website in 2000 and Google tells me that it has indexed 765 pages on the site. Wow! That's a big website!

It's really been a combination of individual and collective effort. In many ways I minimize my own contribution and see myself as a link in the Aurea Catena, the Golden Chain of Hermetic Initiation that extends back to Hermes Trismegistus himself. The traditional astrology and astrological magic that I practice is almost entirely derived from our traditional sources, taught to me by my teachers in the traditional horary lineage of Olivia Barclay and magical theory and philosophy from Robert Zoller.

On the other hand, I do get some personal credit. In 1998 no one was publicly practicing or teaching traditional astrological magic, at least not using full chart elections. I spent 12 years working to translate and publish Picatrix, the key grimoire of astrological magic (John Michael Greer did an amazing job and translated about 75%, I did the remaining 25% including making sure the astrological sections made sense). I've created or supervised the creation of hundreds, by now perhaps thousands, of authentic astrological talismans. I've taught astrological magic to hundreds of students, ensuring that this ancient knowledge is a living tradition. I think it is fair to say that I single handedly revived traditional astrological magic.

Another additional and somewhat invisible role that I've played is in the practical structuring of how astrological talismans are elected and how talisman elections are explained and presented. As anyone who's had a reading from me knows, I am a bit unusual in doing written readings. Maybe this is my professional training, but I find I can think better when I write. I get the impression that many astrologers do a reading by calling you on the phone, casting the chart and riffing on the chart with the client. This is fine, but I like having a written record of the reading, particularly with horary. It keeps everyone honest about accuracy and allows for transparency.

So as part of a written reading, I always provide complete chart information, with the time, time zone, date and location. For a talisman election, I also provide the title and chapter or page of the traditional source used for the recipe and then provide the astrological factors that I relied on.

Now, as I mentioned I was the first person to openly provide authentic astrological talismans on the Internet. I was the first to provide the full chart information, traditional sources and the factors used for the election. I also emphasized that, according to our traditional sources, the talisman needed to be consecrated when made and needed to be made, not just consecrated at the elected time.

It's hard to explain how revolutionary this was. No traditional astrologer would touch astrological magic. No site explained how to do it, no one had any practical experience with it. No one taught it. You could not buy authentic traditional astrological talismans. Previously all that was available was astrology themed jewelry, or site with vague claims about ancient magic, but no traditional sources and no attempt to do full chart elections.

Now I'm starting to see more sellers of astrological talismans. Some of the sites look fancy and they follow my lead in many ways. They say (and I have no reason to disbelieve) that they are astrologically timing the creation of the talismans. I haven't seen actual astrological charts, but some sites will list the astrological factors used to elect the making of the talisman. Lots of sites like to use Picatrix or other traditional source quotes.

I've watched the evolution of these sites and I can see what an incredible influence Renaissance Astrology had on them, as they move closer and closer to the format for astrological talismans that I created. It's too much to expect that I'd get any acknowledgement on their sites, but I decided it was at least time to stand up and take credit for inventing a whole new business category, which is authentic traditional astrological talismans.

Most of these sites are jewelers that were and are selling a lot of esoteric themed jewelry, for these guys, it looks like astrological talismans were a complimentary product line. Others look more specialized. This post is my attempt to strike a balance between excessive modesty where my contribution is left unnoticed and going off on some silly rant.

I really don't see anyone as a competitor. I'm pleased that clients are getting sophisticated enough to want authentic astrological talismans and I am happy that this ancient art is getting more popular. Given the amazing power of astrological talismans there is more than enough business out there for everyone. It's true I invented the business, and I'm dismayed if I see Renaissance Astrology designs, images or texts sold by others, but that doesn't mean that there should be any barrier to the creativity or legitimate profit of others. While the elections I see are sometimes still problematic, I am increasingly impressed by the beauty of the astrological talismans on offer and willingness of more and more Internet sellers to create true authentic traditional astrological talismans. I think it is great to see how successful traditional astrological magic has become. From nothing in 1998, in 2018 this ancient art flourishes! I am privileged to have played the leading role, but there can be no doubt that I couldn't have done it without our illustrious predecessors, my teachers, students, clients and colleagues.

Christopher Warnock
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