[1] Used in the form of a solid amalgam for talismans.

Consequently, the metal of which a talisman was to be made,
and also the time of its preparation, had to be chosen with due
regard to the planet under which it was to be prepared.[1] The power
of such a talisman was thought to be due to the genie of this planet--
a talisman, was, in fact, a silent evocation of an astral spirit.
Examples of the belief that a genie can be bound up in an amulet
in some way are afforded by the story of ALADDIN'S lamp and ring
and other stories in the _Thousand and One Nights_. Sometimes the
talismanic signs were engraved on precious stones, sometimes they were
inscribed on parchment; in both cases the same principle held good,
the nature of the stone chosen, or the colour of the ink employed,
being that in correspondence with the planet under whose auspices
the talisman was prepared.


[1] In this connection a rather surprising discovery made by Mr W. GORNOLD
(see his _A Manual of Occultism_, 1911, pp. 7 and 8) must be mentioned.
The ancient Chaldeans appear invariably to have enumerated the planets
in the following order: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon--
which order was adopted by the mediaeval astrologers. Let us commence
with the Sun in the above sequence, and write down every third planet;
we then have--

Sun . . . . Sunday.
Moon . . . . Monday.
Mars . . . . Tuesday.
Mercury. . . . Wednesday.
Jupiter . . . . Thursday.