Of revered gold-wreathed and stunning Aphrodite
I shall sing, to whose domain belong the battlements
of all sea-laved Cyprus where, blown by the moist breath of Zephyros,
she was carried over the waves of the resounding sea
–The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite tr. Apostolos N. Athanassakis.
Venus is the lesser benefic, bringer of pleasure and ease. She governs what delights us, what draws us toward one another, what softens our edges. In Christian Astrology Lilly calls her “the author of mirth and jollity.” She is the garden and the bridal chamber, the musician and the perfumer, all who adorn and all who are adorned. The Picatrix describes her nature: “She signifies cleanliness, splendor, preciousness, word games, delight in music, joy, adornments, laughter, pictures, beauty, loveliness, playing music by the voice or stringed instruments; delighting in marriage, desiring spices and things that have good odors; sending dreams; provoking games of chess and dice; desiring to lie with women and to fall in love with them and receiving promises from them; desiring to appear beautiful, loving liberty, magnanimity of heart, and joy. In her domicile of Libra she presides over the pleasures shared between people, over diplomacy and the social graces, over the art of being in relation to another.
The apple is one of her oldest attributes, carried by Aphrodite in statuary and painting since antiquity, recalling both the golden apple she won in the Judgement of Paris and the fruit she gifted Hippomenes to win his bride. The comb speaks to her domain over beauty and adornment. These are the objects given in the Picatrix for talismans made under her influence in this sign: “If, under the influence of Venus, you make the form of a woman, holding an apple in her right hand and a comb in her left hand, in white stone, the first face of Libra ascending, whoever has or carries the above image will always laugh and be cheerful.”
Laughter is one of the oldest banishing rituals. It dispels fear and sadness, breaks curses, and unites us in shared joy. In a political moment that wants us angry, divide, and afraid, joy is an act of resistance.
Agrippa also records a similar image in his Three Books of Occult Philosophy: “They made other images of Venus, in the first face of Taurus, Libra, or Pisces, with Venus rising, whose figure is a girl with her hair spread out, wearing long and white garments, holding in her right hand laurel or fruit or flowers, in her left a comb: bearing this image makes a man gentle, pleasant, valiant, eager, and confers beauty.”
The design of these talismans follows the Picatrix: a woman with flowing hair and garments, an apple raised in her right hand, a comb in her left. She was hand-sculpted in wax and cast in solid sterling silver. A white mother of pearl quartz doublet sits at her loins, the region of the body governed by Libra in medical astrology. In the zodiacal man, the scales preside over the kidneys, the lumbar region, and the endocrine system, governing hormonal balance and the body’s equilibrium. Without getting overly personal, I will say that a hormonal issue related to my menstrual cycle that I had been dealing with for over a month resolved within an hour of making these talismans. The back of the stone was engraved with the same image from the Picatrix during the electional window. They were then suffumigated and enspirited with the intention of granting mirth and cheer. Set beneath the stone are rose, vervain, and lovage, all herbs of Venus.
The election took place on October 20, 2025. Venus rose on the ascendant in the first decan of Libra during the hour of Venus. Venus was dignified by sign and term. The Moon was free of aspects to the malefics and also rising in Libra with Venus as her ruler. The Moon was beginning to slow but remained above 12 degrees of motion per day, the threshold given by the Picatrix for a slow moon. The Moon was also waning, but this is overcome by the presence of a benefic on the ascendant. The chart is further fortunated by the Part of Fortune in the first house. The chart is available to view in the gallery.
Each talisman measures approximately 2.5 inches tall and comes on a black satin cord or oxidized sterling silver chain, along with a copy of the devotional artwork above printed on card stock. Only 8 are available.
May the daimon of these talismans grant you great mirth and cheer.
References
- Picatrix
- Agrippa, Three Books of Occult Philosophy
- Lily, Christian Astrology