…from the book…

/Mission

This book is my contribution to the living tradition of astrological magic. The images you’re about to interact with emerged from my exploration with the relationship between technology and the occult. I created these talismanic images wanting to emphasize the Greek root of the word technology, techne, which simply means making, or doing. I worked in collaboration with the artificial intelligence network known as Midjourney in its versions 1–4 to generate images inspired by the collected aesthetics of medieval and classical paintings, as well as the mysterious pages of ancient compendiums of alchemy and magic. 

In following the traditional instructions to create magical images in grimoires, I found myself participating in the continuum of talismanic ekphrasis that animates this deep spiritual practice. The digital nature of the tool I utilized to create the elements of each talismanic image did not feel like a distraction or a sacrilegious shortcut, but a completely integrated mechanical process moved by all the principles found in the worldview based on the Anima Mundi. The neural network, with its “hidden layers” mysteriously at work, crystalizes potent images out of noise, drawing in the sense of awe and summoning the forces of inspiration we seek when performing magical ritual. With these images printed and physically in your hands, I openly invite you to participate in keeping the practice of creative divination alive and iterating. 

On the left page, you’ll see the codex; on the right, a talismanic image. The image sources appear below the codex page, with the most central works being the /Picatrix/ (Ghāyat al-Hakīm), and the /Three Books of Occult Philosophy/ written and compiled by H. C. Agrippa. I consulted various translations of each text as I crafted my prompts.*

Work with this book in the spirit of techne. Copy its pages. Write on their blank spaces and on the images. Rip them and burn them if appropriate for your talismanic rituals. The tradition hungers for us to wrestle with it, using our own compulsive and idiosyncratic methods. I hope this collection can serve as one arena to engage that confrontation. 

/Ad maiora. 

Arturo Martinini
Portland, OR
2023