Making Talismans, Do-It-Yourself Methods Options

I will describe two ways to produce magical talismans from metal, having used both ways numerous times and having found them satisfactory. The first we will call the "cheap" method, and the second we will call the "laborious" method. I will leave the process of enchantment up to your own ingenium: this will detail the manufacture alone.

The Cheap Method

Get a piece of the sort of metal you want, about the right thickness, and cut it to a convenient shape using metal shears or a coping saw. Copper, tin, silver, and gold can usually be purchased in sheets, and this may save you some time. If you have something like a copper pipe for a start, simply lay it against a hard surface and bash away at it using a hammer. A nice 8 lb. sledge with a short handle proves most effective.

When you have the flattened sheet, engrave your design. You can use an engraving tool or even a nail. if you can do it carefully, and have no engraver, try tapping the design in as little pinpricks with the nail and hammer. This method requires very little skill, very limited resources, and can produce aesthetically pleasing talismans given a good starting material or a very thorough working.

The Laborious Method

You can do this with a whole set of professional equipment for an expense of anywhere from three to ten thousand dollars. What follows will keep your work in the "under $500" range: still expensive if you have a low budget, but not out of reach for someone who really wants to make these things.

1. Begin by carving a sheet of wax into the shape of your finished talisman. Decide whether to engrave the design, or to have it raised. I like to use the latter way, and to this end affix wax wires to the original wax plate by melting them along the edges with a hot needle.

2. Fix your wax design to a small cone of yet more wax, slightly at an angle. If one side has no features, let that side face downward.

3. Mix a batch of plaster. For lead and tin talismans, you can simply use plaster of paris, but for anything else you will ant to use a hardening silicate called "investment plaster." I like to mix this stuff in a box with a plastic viewscreen and arm holes to avoid inhaling any of the dry particles. Make sure you stir it well to remove bubbles. Paint the wet plaster all over the wax design and base, using a fine brush. You might even want to use a second coating.

4. Once dried, cover the entire wax mould setup with a tube of paper, tin foil, or anything that seals at the sides and bottom with an opening at the top. Let the base rest at the bottom, and the top of the tube (called a flask) sit at least half an inch above the highest part of the wax design. Duct tape can help you here, so can plastic wrap. Mix more plaster, and fill the whole tube, trying to get the bubbles out by pouring slowly and tapping the side as it dries.

5. Let it dry for a full day. Do not rush this step, it will lead to certain failure. When fully dried, heat the whole flask until it melts out all the wax and the plaster shines white. A burnout kiln is helpful here, but you can manage with a small fire-grill, especially if you have some sort of covering for the same.

6. Remove the hot flask using tongs, and place it into a "casting sling." By this I mean a small basket affixed either to an actual casting centrifuge or to a long chain. Any sort of apparatus whereby the flask may be spun around very rapidly at short notice will suffice. A typical casting arm has a spring-loaded arm with the flask dangling from one side and a weight on the other, allowing you to wind it up and affix it with a pin until you want it to 'let go' and spin. Do this step quickly, but not in haste.

7. Melt the metal in a crucible. A steel cooking pan, previously prepared, will work for lead or tin. Just heat up some fishing weights or an old lunchbox, and wait for it to melt. For precious metals, use a torch with oxygen and propane available at hardware stores. For a crucible, get one from a dental or jewelry supplier, it should cost around ten dollars. A firebrick worked out to have a divet and a pourig lip will also suffice. While the metal melts, it is helpful to add a pinch of boric acid to ease the flow of heat and to remove impurities.

8. When the metal looks like a shiny rolling ball or similar lump, immediately pour it into the flask. Be sure to use a red-hot flask. if you are not using a casting arm, have an assistant bring you the flask right when the metal is going into it, fresh from the oven. Handle the flask carefully, as the design is held along the interior and is fragile.

9. Immediately let the casting centrifuge go. If you are using a chain, spin it around in a circle, so the metal goes to the interior of the mould. Practice this beforehand, and make sure the flask will not disintegrate or bump anything.

10. Dunk the whole flask in water. Wait for the debris to settle, then extract it and brush off the remaining plaster.

11. Cut away the base and stem with a saw or file. Polish the talisman with a file, sandpaper, and finally polishing cloths. If the metal looks blackened, it needs only to soak in a weak acidic solution, and for this hot water and muratic acid are most common. Buffing wheels and compounds can be used to add final lustre if desired, and the talisman can also be cleaned by steam or ultrasonic devices.

This is how you can do it. I suggest practicing with simple designs first, and then adapting that to rings, pendants, adornments for weaponry of art, and so forth. If you had wanted to do this, you will eventually want to upgrade your equipment, and there are many catalogues for these tools.

Greetings Imperial Arts,

Excellent post, thank you very much. I have a few questions

1. Where can one buy the necessary equipment ? Are these things you can find at Home Depot, or are there specialty stores (perhaps an online company)?

2. From your experience, what can you tell us about working with different types of metals (i.e. gold, silver, bronze, lead, etc)? I know very little about this, but I assume that they each have a different melting point and have their associated pros and cons. What is a good metal for a beginner to start with to practice casting?

3. What material should one use for the "basket"of the casting sling?

4. I assume the "tube"should be the same diameter as the wax mold, is this correct? Also, how long should it be?

Man, it would be great if you could upload some photos of the tools you use (along with some of your final products). You can do this by adding the pics as attachments to your posts. Once you do this, you are given an option of "displaying the attachment" in the post itself. Alternatively, you can start your own Photo gallery in the Gallery section. Anyway, thanks for post

F

This post has been edited by Faustopheles: Jan 7 2007, 08:12 PM

I see that you had some questions, I'll try my votive best to answer them.

1. Where can one buy the necessary equipment ? Are these things you can find at Home Depot, or are there specialty stores (perhaps an online company)?

The best equipment for the personal self is one found, and also natural: tree branch, leaves, animal parts, bones, crystals, rocks, etc.

Now if you are making a talisman in order to protect your home for instance, you'd get a glass you drink out of occasionally and shatter it into many peices, put the peices in a jar and work on your amulet or talisman thereon.

2. From your experience, what can you tell us about working with different types of metals (i.e. gold, silver, bronze, lead, etc)? I know very little about this, but I assume that they each have a different melting point and have their associated pros and cons.

Gold is an excellent absorber of energy, so is silver, silver is best against etheric creaters (or entities). Bronze was used long ago by the Chinese for protection and prosperity, Lead... I know not that much about.

Your best choice is Metal or Gold for a talisman.


*Note

Bodily fluids such as Urine, Saliva, Blood, Faeces and other body parts such as: Nails, hair, skin, are all best for the creation of a personal talisman. Of course, all these are alternatives to the directed intentional energy you will be using.

I also want to note that for a symbol your best bet would have to be the Chaos Sorcery star, as this star can be programmed for anything, be it: healing purposes, protection, malicious purposes, connection with higher self or other spirits, etc. VERY powerful symbol.

Picture: (IMG:http://img.search.com/2/26/300px-Asterism-cuneiform.png)


See I'm a cheap arse so you won't get much $$ from me, keep it cheap.

I hope I could help my part.

This post has been edited by DeathStalker: Jan 7 2007, 08:22 PM

1. Where can one buy the necessary equipment ? Are these things you can find at Home Depot, or are there specialty stores (perhaps an online company)?

I buy my casting gear from dental and jewelry suppliers. It is entirely possible to improvise on any piece of equipment and get acceptable results. I heartily recommend "Practical Casting: A Studio Reference" as the only operating manual you will need.


2. From your experience, what can you tell us about working with different types of metals (i.e. gold, silver, bronze, lead, etc)? I know very little about this, but I assume that they each have a different melting point and have their associated pros and cons. What is a good metal for a beginner to start with to practice casting?

I recommend beginning with lead or tin. These have low melting points, and you can obtain them easily from fishing weights or ornamental tin. As a kid I used to make fantasy miniatures by pouring lead into moulds made from hard-drying clay after melting it over a barbecue grill in a disused saucepan. Since "Saturn" and "Jupiter" talismans (to remove obstacles and to obtain wealth) are often made in lead and tin, you can work out the details of getting better equipment from the success of these first steps.

Gold and silver and copper have high melting points, and to melt them you need a torch with oxygen/propane mix, gas tanks, tubing, and regulator valves. There is always a bargain to be found when buying these things. For talismans, I recommend using pure metals, 24k gold and .999 fine silver. The expense is worth it, and lends a certain dignity that cannot be gained by going the cheaper way.

I have never worked with bronze.

3. What material should one use for the "basket"of the casting sling?

A standard casting arm has a metal backplate with two long bolts leading to the part attached to the "swing" mechanism. If you're using a chain-sling, you can just run two 9-inch bolts up through a backing (even wood will work, though you will want to cover it in several layers of aluminum foil) and attach the bolts to a metal bar running through the end link on your chain.

4. I assume the "tube"should be the same diameter as the wax mold, is this correct? Also, how long should it be?

The mould needs some edge-room, at least half an inch on all sides. More is OK but unnecessary. A steel pipe is fine for the flask. Attach the wax base to clay or rubber, then put the pipe down over it and pour the plaster in over the shell-coated mould, tapping the side to release bubbles. When it's dry, remove the clay base, and you should see the wax base sticking out. this makes the hole for pouring your melted metal when the wax has been removed by burn-out.

I might add that this is not difficult (even though there are specific processes and some essential yet obscure tools), and that an enterprising person can make an enormous amount of money by creating fine jewelry and other items in precious metals. For jewelry purposes, you will want to use 18k or sterling silver. I amalways amazed at the number of "career options" that are never given consideration in the educational system. There is a matter of acquiring supplies, advertising, etc... but the basic skills are at least enough to merit $15.00 hourly wage at the lowest-quality jewelry stores, or making rings and knife-hilts for bikers. This is how I began, and now we sell two or three works in the $70,000 range weekly. If you have any artistic talent at all in this media, your profit is limited only by your vision and your venue.

Happy casting!

Ahh, that post makes me long for the days in high school and college when I used to do jewelry.

I've found polymer clay works very well for talismans too. I like it because you can find it in any craft shop, it's cheap, and a little pack goes a long way. I also like that it comes in virtually any colour that you may need, including glow-in-the-dark, and if it's not exact you can blend colours together or paint it once it's cured. Also, you can mould it to any seal you might need with just a set of clay tools. Bake it in the oven at 250 for ten minutes per quarter inch of thickness and it's now permanent. And if you ever have to destroy the talisman once baked, that's easy too--put it in a plastic bag and smash it with a hammer. It turns brittle if you bake it too long though.

This post has been edited by Darkmage: Jan 7 2007, 10:18 PM

Im intersested in doing it the first method, I have an engraver but ill probley send it to get engraved for a nicer cleaner look.
my question is if you want to make the sigil in the spirits metal how would you go about finding some of those exotic metals like brass, copper, tin, aluminium so forth do you know any websites on the web were you can buy many kinds of sheet metal.
imperial arts would you be interested in doing custom work for people if they pay you?

my question is if you want to make the sigil in the spirits metal how would you go about finding some of those exotic metals like brass, copper, tin, aluminium so forth do you know any websites on the web were you can buy many kinds of sheet metal.
imperial arts would you be interested in doing custom work for people if they pay you?

I don't know of any traditional talismans that require aluminum, but fortunately since about 15% of the Earth's surface is littered with the stuff, you can find it in everything from soda cans to cooking pans.

Copper is easily obtained from hardware stores in the form of piping tubes, tin and brass are also to be found in many products. I have already mentioned using fishing weights as a source of lead, and elsewhere described the hazardous process of creating mercury sulfide.

For gold and silver, there are metals dealers like www.gsgold.com, and they carry some interesting products like non-tarnishing sterling silver, casting grain, and sheet metals.

I'm not as interested in being put to work as I am in seeing other occultists develop new skills that add depth and dignity to their arts.

Greetings!
Copper, lead and zinc can also be found as 'flashing' for use on roofs. A good hobby store can also put you onto brass, silver, copper and gold sheets(silver and gold sheets will be found with jewelry making supplies-Google these also). A Moderator (at one time) on this Forum, Athena, owns (or use to own) a web store that sold metal disks of a variety of metals for very reasonable rates...check out her profile for her homepage. Just another blurb in addition to Imperial Arts quick description of the lost wax method...use microcrystaline wax if possible the next choice being uncolored, unscented parafin (available in 1 lb. blocks or 11lb sheets). Tin is not easy to find...believe it or not...but with perseverance can be had. Expanding ones skills is always a good bet! I've found that learning to make your own paper can have further rewards. Good Luck! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

Hi , im only a newbie on the subject but i just read the ideal material for making a talisman is virgin parchment paper, and virgin ink etc, any thoughts would be great.
mark

I would like to mention that, for those interested, the Gallery here now has my photo series of the casting procedure for the copper Seal of Alloces. They appear to be arranged in reverse order, but show the whole process from basic wax to polishing. These photos were taken in 2005.

Sacred Magick Gallery - Casting Procedure

This is avery great resource post, thanks!

The only thing I feel should be mentioned is that working with lead is HIGHLY TOXIC. Inhaleing lead fumes(or any metalic fumes for that matter....but keep in mind the high toxity of lead) from incineration is dangerous and should be approached with serious caution.

yep, i was going to say that inhaling lead fumes, and also gold fumes because of the mercury they use to refine it, is toxic and you don't want to do a lot of that

a few years ago at walmart, they had a kid's toy called the jewelry maker - i don't know if they still have them or not - they are in the craft isle - it makes moons and stars and flowers and junk with rubber molds and a pewter metal that is sold in little tubes of tiny balls - you filled the hopper then plugged it in, once the low-melting-temp pewter metal had melted you turned the handle and the metal filled the mold and you had a pewter casting - oddly enough, it worked just fine with plaster of paris, and even silicone caulk molds, instead of rubber molds

you can also get acrylic resin now at wal-mart, just make a molding dough (playdoh) mold and mix up a batch and fill it up - spray it with mold release from a hobby shop or pam cooking spray first - and be careful cause the goop gets hot as it cures - the smoother the mold surface, the clearer the the acrylic on the finished piece
remember if you are going to wear the object, be sure to include a bail or some sort of mounting hole or loop - i had the most superb tiny clear crystal skull with a baphomet inside the cranium, but no freaking way to mount it to wear it, and superglue discolored it and didn't hold!!!!

everyday kids molding dough will also make a great molding surface for medallions and talismans from the crystal plastic beads in most kid's kits these days
get some candle wax and melt it to the rough shape, then carefully make the wax carving of your object using heat so the wax dosen't flake and crack, and be sure to make it is big and deep enough to see the letters and all the figures, etc, or you can use a premade object and just carve stuff into it
lay the carved wax or "positive" object on a flat hard surface and cover it with a big blob of the molding dough and pressing downward to get it into all the cracks
pick it all up and carefully remove the wax object from the molding dough "negative"
if there are two sides or more, then do one for each side - this is the way we used to make our totally cool 12-sided dice for d&d parties!
lay the molding dough negative down on the flat surface and carefully inspect it for errors and smudges and fix them if needed
put it on a cooking sheet and fill the negative up with the colored crystal beads and put a little extra on top to fill in any shrinkage during melting
pop it in the stove at the reccommended temp for the crystal beads to do their thing
when it is done and cooled to touching, remove the molding dough and you have a crystal object
paint if necessary with the approciate metal colors

es

Great Post!

Thanks Imperial Arts for that awesome instruction on professional casting!
and the Pics really made it easily understandable.
I have a question on the ceterfuge; I couldn't make that out in the pic series, is that to spin off the excess casting material? or does that process Fill the mould thouroly with the metal? thank you very much as this stuff is very interesting,

Also about Esotericas method..can you just make a clay(or other material) open top "flat mold" and then just carefully pour into that being careful to not overflow the metal?

Lastly: would one of those mini-oxy acetalyne torches form the hard ware store be sufficient to melt lets say silver?
Thanks for the class

This post has been edited by Lightning777: Jul 26 2009, 12:53 AM

I use a propane/oxygen mix with a wide multi-outlet torch. This will melt platinum, reduce steel to sparks in seconds, and melt gold like butter. I don't know much about other sorts of torches, but silver needs a hot and consistent flame in order to be melted thoroughly, as it conducts the heat out from itself very quickly.

The centrifugal force pushes the metal through the mould and fills it. The force of the swing causes the gases inside to be pushed out, whereas gravity might not be strong enough to press the hot metal into every tiny crevice.

Interesting... can't beat doing things yourself.

Have just had a cloak tailor made and have been thinking about making some gemstone cufflinks to go with it.. several... appropriate correspondences for the planet I may be working with but am having problems finding decent clasps or backings for them.. would be easier to have a clasp set that can open so varying gemstones can be used perhaps... unsure... would also be good to have a clasp set ring also.

Hoping this will be my introduction into jewelry making for talismans later on.

Any advice?

Peace
.M.

This post has been edited by Mchawi: Aug 21 2009, 12:40 PM

If you wanted to buy base metal cuff link backs in gold-tone or silver-tone, you can buy pairs for about 8 dollars a dozen. Bezel backs in 20mm sterling cost about five dollars each. It shouldn't be a big deal to buy several and set them individually, rather than move the stones around from one to another. If you are working with something high-quality, it is best to set the stones and leave them in place.

I prefer solid-back cufflinks. This is just my personal preference, but they are also easy to make from a whole casting. To make a movable-back link, from scratch as opposed to using a pre-fabricated piece, you'll need flat sheets of metal. If you want to know how to make one, get a cheap one and tear it apart to see what makes it work. Some people use a short chain and a cross-bar, but either way you just cut the pieces and solder them together. The chief obstacle there is the soldering equipment (a simple iron and lead solder will be too weak), but it is pretty simple to put things together once you've cut the shapes.

You can of course engrave on the back-plates or the stones, use inlays and enamels, or other decorations once the whole piece is complete. If you plan on working with jewelry often, consider setting up an account with a supplier like RioGrande who, while ordinarily for wholesale orders, has a division set aside for hobbyists.