How does a talisman image become a magical object?
The Renaissance astrologer Marsilio Ficino in his “Three Books of Life” refers to the process of capturing the spirit of a planet known as its Pneuma, and ‘ensouling’ it to a divinely inspired image by the technique of talismanic magic. The Image itself plays a great part in the efficacy of the talisman as a ‘link’ or ‘bond’. In Renaissance magical practice, the talismanic art becomes totally interiorized when the Pnuema of a planet is captivated by the image that it is directly engraved upon within the imagination of the magician.
