#star maps

James Wilson – Scientist of the Day

James Wilson, an early American artisan and globe maker, died Mar. 26, 1855, at the age of 92.

star maps, or charts, are maps of the night sky with celestial objects plotted on a grid. they have been used for navigation for literally forever by helping to determine one's position on earth relative to the celestial sphere and by keeping time. star maps have been found to exist via many different mediums - cave drawings, bone carvings, painted or drawn on paper, worked into metal, etc. a couple of examples of star maps include the astrolabe, planisphere, and armillary sphere.

for the purpose of this post, i'm referring to working with a star map that you can ideally lay flat on a surface (table, wall, etc.) and manipulate like you would a road map.

how does one obtain a star map?

you can find all of the items i posted above online, new or old. check out small sellers and secondhand retailers for some cool antique/vintage versions of these things. if you want to print from home, check out eyes on the sky and sky maps for downloadable star maps.

how to use star maps in magic

work surface - use a star map as the literal foundation of your spells. i'm picturing an altar cloth of some sort or even just a star map that you printed out. charging, enchanting, and cleansing - place objects near stars or constellations that match your intent. crystal grids - craft these grids by placing crystals over certain stars or constellations. sympathetic magic - assign a star or constellation to a target and work your magic from afar. bonus points if you use the constellation that matches their sun sign. stellar color magic - consider the spectral class of a star versus its given name when choosing which one to work with. mapping intention - use a star map as a manifestation board by pinning petitions or images to star points or constellations on the map. think of it like a mood board. alternately, connect dots between various points on the map to form a pathway that leads to your desired intent. dowsing - using a pendulum and with the lost object in mind, hover it over your star map and when you feel it begin to react, check the area of the map that caused the reaction - obviously we aren't going to find the lost hair tie that lives under the bed in a cluster of stars, but in this case, look for synchronicities between the stars and your life on this planet or assign mundane locations to points on the map. astromancy and stellar divination - just like dowsing! except this time we're looking for answers, not material objects, and there is more than one way to do this: throw a die and see where it lands; use a pendulum like you would to dowse; close your eyes and pick a point on the map with your finger or wand; automatic writing to form associations between constellations; etc. sigils - connect the dots of stars to form constellations and shapes and use as sigils or symbols of power. bonus points if you do so using colors that match your intent. also, how cool would it be if you did this using a needle and thread to really lock in your intent?

disposing a paper map

you can do so however you want! if it were me, i would flip the paper over and petition my intent in writing one last time, and then respectfully discard it. my personal preferences include burning and burying. if you plan to reuse your map because, for example, it's made of cloth, wash it when you're finished and do a little cleanse before its next use!

By your-street-serenade

Two actresses. One iconic sitcom reboot that could either make them or break them. Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce are about to find out that being funny is serious business. Celebrity AU.

Rated: Fiction T

Genre: Romance/Humor

Pairing: [Santana L., Brittany P.]

Status: ongoing

Chapters: 5

Words: 26,837

Published: Aug 7, 2023

Updated: Nov 5, 2023