Involution
Tools & Talismans as Sigils
I’m aware that “talisman” has specific meanings in some magical and astrological practices. I’m using it here in the sense of a made or found object understood to evoke a particular effect by its presence.
I do not have a method for constructing talismans. I do feel a need for both some talismans, and for a method. I do, however, have access to methods for creating sigils. I’m going to try to think out whether I can apply this before I try it, and then if I still think it’ll work, give it a go.
So to make a sigil, let’s take this process (I’ve linked it before). You write down what you want, stated clearly. You cut that down to the non-vowel, non-repeated letters. You combine them into some sort of shape. You meditate on it, stare at it as you fall asleep, or otherwise get it into your subconscious. And then you put the sigil somewhere you can come across it frequently, and forget about what it’s actually for. This nudges your subconscious, the theory goes, into making the right decisions to achieve the thing you want, or at least tip the scales towards it.
If we take the same thing for physical objects, we can choose a number of components which “mean” the thing we want to achieve. This meaning can be assigned arbitrarily, or from a dictionary of meaning, which is probably a lot more use if it’s a personal one. Much as other people’s sigils aren’t going to work well for you, it’s debatable whether other people’s talismans constructed thus will work. Which, come to think of it, is an argument against this method, since the transferability of talismans is one of their strengths.
You then assemble these pieces in some visually pleasing way (which argues, perhaps, for your dictionary of meaning having things like “base”, “ornament”, “binding” in its index), and either place it where it can be seen, or wear it. It is probably better if it doesn’t resemble the thing it’s supposed to do, since it should be more abstract, somewhat forgettable.
Again, there’s something of a weakness here, since you can reverse fairly easily from the objects combined into the talisman to the meaning, without having the abstract step from letters to combined-form-of-letters-not-a-word to prevent that.
So perhaps what we’re constructing here are not talismans but tools. This tool, made from an oak base, with igneous minerals wound on with gold thread, represents stability and permanence. Use it for effects where you want things to stay the same. This other tool, made from flexible willow rods, with chips of metamorphic marble wrapped on in copper wire (which will go green, but hold), is for when you want things to change. And so on.
I’m coming out on the side of this not being the way to make talismans, but I’m going to think about it some more before I discard it.