Totem and talisman stones

 Painting stones has become quite a trend, and you can find all kinds of tutorials online (and sometimes even workshops at places like your local library) that will guide you through the process of creating them.  And while many people create these as pure art, we can infuse such stones with intent and make them as talismans or totems, tools we can later return to for spiritual work.

Creating something by hand is always a labor of love, and the process of finding the right art and the right way to lay it onto a stone invests that stone with energy.  We often learn details about our subject as we study pictures for inspiration that we didn't know, and paying attention to these details helps us gain a greater appreciation for the subject as well.

Now, before we get any further, this is a project that doesn't require any artistic ability!  Because you are using your intention to create a stone dedicated to something you want to work with, you can make the simplest picture and have it hold the spirit of the thing you are painting.  Think about some of the early cave drawings, that are little more than stick figures, and yet clearly display whole scenes and emotions!

The first thing you will want to decide is what the purpose of your stone will be.  There are so many applications for this process, but a few ideas are:  an animal you wish to work more with, a plant who's energy you want in your home, an event you want to commemorate, a protective symbol, a blessing.  Really, you can turn any spell or working into art to be put on a stone, and once you do that stone becomes a holder for the energy of the spell, to be tapped into whenever you like.

 

You also don't have to stick to stones!  There are lots of other mediums you can use, for example clay or salt dough, to create your 'stones'.  You can mold forms out of the clay, like I did here with this cat and wolf head, or you can roll them out like cookies and carve symbols into them.

Of course, if you want to add more details you can, you can even fully paint the forms after they are hard, but simple suggested shapes work well too.

 

Wolf and cat have always been powerful figures in my life, and these two in particular are also associated to deities for me (wolf and Odin, cat and Freyja), so they have a double representation on my altar space.  I can use them as touchstones when I want to connect to their animal energies, or as a sort of go-between when working with their deity.

On the more symbolic side, you can create talisman stones that represent more abstract energies.  The stone with the circle and dot was created as part of a community project, a linking symbol for everyone to work with, while the sigil on the flattened bottle cap was one I made as part of a tarot journey I took part in.

Both of these are ways for me to tangibly connect to a project (and to the group associated with the project), and when I want to work with those projects I can pull out my stones to assist.

This stone is my Memorial day stone, and features poppies (the red for veterans who died for their country, the white for non-combatants who died and the purple for animals).

I created this stone as a way to honor and remember the many people who have died, so that I could put it on my altar and be mindful of all the lives lost in conflict.  I use it as a way to keep their sacrifice in mind, and to reflect on how I have benefited from their loss.

These are eclipse stones I made during a solar eclipse.  I painted the stones ahead of time, and then took them out to charge as the sky darkened overhead. 

I see these as a container for the energy of that event, a way to tap into that eclipse energy and all the magic it holds.  They remind me of that time, and stones like these can be made at gatherings or other events, as a way to tap into the energy that was present at that time, or to connect to the people you were with.

The great thing about creating stones (or other non-stone objects) like these is that you can put them on altars, around your house, at the edges of your property, or wherever you want to call upon the energy they represent.  You can use them as touchstones for meditations, journaling or other internal work.  You can create them as a way to deepen your connection to their subject.  You can infuse them with a spell and give them as gifts.  The possibilities are endless!