One dreary mid-winter day in 1998, I was drinking tea from a cobalt blue mug decorated with an orange and yellow sun surrounded by stars. It had been a gift for speaking at a National Council for Geocosmic Research (NCGR) educational conference for astrologers in NYC. The horoscope in the hands was my topic. I had been a faculty member and resident palmist for over 20 years. I desired a sunnier future and decided to transform my sun mug into a talisman to help me achieve that goal.

I felt inspired as I rummaged around for an appropriate ‘mug shot’ of myself. After carefully cutting out my face, I glued it to the center of the sun. I applied several layers of crystal clear film. As I burnished down the edges, I imagined myself as Apollo, the Greek Sun God. When I finished, I raised the cup in my left hand to observe my handiwork. Simultaneously, the phone rang. I picked it up with my right hand. “Hello, I’m the Public Program Coordinator for the National Design Museum. We’re curating a major Solar Energy Exhibition in June and were wondering if you’d be interested in presenting the Lecture / Workshop series on the symbolism of the sun?”

I almost fell out of my chair. I’d experienced synchronicity, but this seemed impossible. How could a talisman work that quickly? Confidently, I replied, “You’ve come to the right place.” The magic of the sun materialized the moment I combined the esoteric power of the sun with my clear desire, intent, and action. My life instantly became sunnier.

Speaking of sun mugs, back in the early ‘80’s, a manufacturer of drinking mugs asked me to design a collection of astrology mugs for department stores like Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s. Six masculine sun signs were printed in 24 carat gold and six feminine signs in platinum. The customers loved the mugs, but began returning them not long after they were purchased because they were damaged in the dishwasher, even though they had been merchandised as ‘wash by hand’ only. My beloved mug collection was dumped despite my unrequited pleas to try again with dishwasher safe inks.

The sun in Leo (July 23 – August 23) rules the fifth house of the natural horoscope. The Sun’s day is Sunday. The Sun’s hour is noon. In Kabala, Tipareth corresponds to the Sun and the number six, which balances the tree of life. The word count of this post reduces to six. The Crown Chakra is ruled by the sun. The heart is the organ ruled by the sun. Solar archetypes exist in every culture: GREEK ~ Apollo & Hercules, JUDAIC ~ Samson, EGYPTIAN ~ Osiris & Ra ~ AFRICAN ~ Anansi, INDIAN ~ Narasimha, HINDU ~ Vishnu, PERSION ~ Mithra, JAPANESE ~ Amaterasu, NORSE ~ Odin, IRISH ~ Lugh, and ARTHURIAN ~ Percival. The Lion King and Goldilocks are LEO fairy tales. Lots of Leos are myths in their own minds. Musical links for the sun are the key of C and most instruments. Solar gemstones are diamonds, amber, and topaz. Solar trees are citrus, walnut, bay, and palm. Solar herbs, plants, and scents are sun flower, yellow poppy, saffron, marigold, cinnamon, pepper, peony, musk, honey, frankincense, rice, and all aromatic herbs. Aroma of Frankincense (Christ and the Nativity) when used in ritual magic brings good health, wealth, success, acclaim, mental clarity, fearlessness, confidence, and spiritual awakening. Gold and diamonds worn on the ring finger are marriage magic. Pyrite, fool’s gold, eases anxiety, frustration, and depression. Pyrite is wise man’s gold when charged with clear vision and pure intention to attract wealth, boost self-esteem, aid communications, and enhance appreciation. I’m publishing this post at the exact moment of the lunar eclipse on August 7, 2017 @ 2:11 pm EDT.

A talisman is anything (including a simple piece of paper) with a design on it that’s symbolic of what you want to impress on your psyche to catalyze change or reinforce something that needs to be strengthened. Amulets and hex signs are solar symbols used for protection. You see a lot of Amish hex signs blessing barns and homes and protecting livestock from harm.

It’s best to create your own talisman. The more tuned you are to your intent, the more potent your talisman will be. The more esoteric correspondences you include, the more powerful the talisman’s effect will be. After my mug experience, I was inspired to create a small metalworking shop where I could make talismans to my heart’s content. Specific metals, minerals, and gems are incorporated for specific purposes on specific months, days, and times of day. Everything matters. Even facing the right direction, smelling the right incense, and hearing the right musical vibration while you’re creating your talisman can enhance its potency. The four talismans below, I made for myself and wear often.

As you can see, ‘Grounding’ is beat up. I wear it most because I need lots of grounding. It works for me because I created it with the clear intent of becoming whole, centered, and peaceful. Copper represents Venus and earth and is grounded in practical reality. Silver symbolizes feelings and emotion. Gold promotes clear thinking, passion, intuition, and inspiration. Square shapes within circles add order, structure, discipline, and focus. Circles within circles help center, inspire, and motivate. The rest is intent and quest.

‘Energizing’ is solid bronze with an opal in the center. There was a huge crack in the casting. I almost chucked it, but decided the crack was like a bolt of lightning and an important pathway from the outside of the circle to the opal. When I finished polishing the talisman, it felt perfect for me and my purpose.

‘Strengthening’ was created on a picture-perfect day in May (Taurus). I have a Taurus moon and mars and the horns remind me to be determined, persistent, and relentless when necessary. This talisman helps me think with my head and feel with my heart. Being mainly bronze, it’s a blending of copper, tin, zinc, and lead. Alchemically, it blends Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn in order to balance ambition and compassion with order and action. A solid foundation encourages a healthy framework that supports a powerful structure.

‘Centering’ consists of circles within circles, heart (copper) surrounded by mind (gold) and emotion (silver). Six small outer circles within two large inner circles represent masculine (gold) and feminine (silver) principles and all twelve aspects of my character. I need to balance my character with my values, thinking, feelings, will power, health, relationships, creativity, philosophy, purpose, hopes and dreams, and spirituality.

In case you’re not convinced of the power of the sun, let’s look at how religions, politics, governments, dictatorships, and corporations use the powerful symbolism of the sun to magnetize, mesmerize, and monetize masses with ideologies, products, and services.

Circular logos and iconic names like $tarbuck$ are no coincidence