Since earliest times, people have carried objects of special power and meaning to help them in their daily lives. Perhaps it was a bone from an ancestor to ward off storms, or a carved icon to promote fertility. Whatever the item or its intended use, it was considered the focus of divine energy and power.

Over the centuries, these talismans and amulets (talismans specifically worn to protect the wearer) were used for myriad purposes in almost every culture. They became an important part of Egyptian mummification rituals. The Greeks developed a system of talismanic cursing and binding, as well as healing and protection. But it was the ancient Jews who turned talisman making into a scientific art that has greatly influenced the Western magical tradition.

Rabbinical magicians would create powerful talismans using an appropriate name of God, an angel, as well as a relevant or specific verse from scripture. The talismans were made of metal disks, paper, or parchment. Their creation required such knowledge and piety that the work was often only done by the Chief Rabbi of the town.

Occultists of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance were heavily influenced by the talisman’s Judaic heritage. It was during the Renaissance that Henry Cornelius Agrippa of Nettersheim codified many of the magical correspondences used for talismans in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy (ISBN 0-87542-832-0).
The Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn added the concepts of the Kabbalah (or Tree of Life) and color to talismanic creation during the nineteenth century. They also developed tablets of flashing colors that could trap planetary energy to be used to energize talismans or other magical work.

In the twentieth century, Madeline Mountalban, an associate of Aleister Crowley, developed a simple, yet effective system for creating talismans. Her system is used in many Alexandrian Wiccan covens today. With this long and impressive history, it’s no wonder that talismans are considered an effective way to accomplish your magical goals.

In Making Talismans: Living Entities of Power, author Nick Farrell shows you how to design, create, and use talismans. He includes many tables to help you use the correct shapes, colors, numbers, magical alphabets, and symbols. He also explains how to use planetary influences, angelic hosts, and special names to strengthen the effect of the talisman. Making Talismans also has a chapter that shows you how to make a device to test the efficacy of your talisman, and what steps to take if there is a problem with it.

Making Talismans provides you with step-by-step guidance on design, creation, charging, consecration, testing, and use of this most powerful magical tool. And there are instructions on how to properly annul and dispose of a talisman when the its work is finished.

The following excerpt describes an important activity that must be mastered before attempting to create any talisman or magical object: the creation of personal sacred space in which to undertake works of magic. This particular technique was perfected by W. E. Butler, and can be implemented in any space and under any circumstances.

creating sacred space

Any magical work requires a space that is set aside and made special or sacred. What defines and makes sacred space special is the mind of the magician. Rituals can be performed silently, even in the busiest places if the magician can set aside, then access, a safe, quiet part of his or her mind. It takes practice, and there are many different techniques to do it. One of the simplest is the preparation of place exercise as taught by W. E. Butler, a pupil of Dion Fortune.
Sit in a chair and relax as deeply as possible. Regularize your breathing so that your inhalations take the same amount of time as your exhalations.

Visualize yourself surrounded by a shell of impermeable bright blue light. Then meditate on the intention of your ritual.
Stray thoughts will appear in your mind and the sounds of the outside world will distract you. As they appear see them as objects, like birds or dogs, and gently push them outside the blue sphere. Keep doing this until the space within the blue sphere is totally calm and quiet. Visualize a still candle of divine light in your heart—this represents your divine self.
Visualize the blue sphere getting bigger until it fills the physical space you wish to work your ritual. As the blue light expands it pushes aside all thought forms, people, and objects out of its way.

See the light of the candle glow brightly, filling your sacred space with divine presence and making the ground on which you stand holy.

It takes time to master this technique, but once achieved it is possible to work a ritual anywhere in the sort of calm that would be achieved only by a magician working in an isolated temple.