This blog post is split into two parts. First is A Rite of Seating Starlight: on Fixed Star Castor and Linseed, whereupon I will describe a repeatable ritual that you can do to safely and gently ‘seat’—plant and imbue—the lights of fixed star Castor into your body, inspired by workings of the Dragon Book of Essex and utilizing some text from the Azoëtia. Next, is a bonus post that I initially wasn’t intending to share publicly but I am choosing to do so in honor of Castor. Tales of Loss and Fire and Faith: Fixed Stars in FFXIV is a fun and lighthearted analysis of the game FFXIV: Shadowbringers and FFXIV: Endwalker, where I will point out the stellar motifs evident within the game’s narrative.
Part 1 – A Rite of Seating Starlight: on Fixed Star Castor and Linseed
On the Linseed
The linseed, also known as the common flax, is a plant associated with fixed star Castor. I first learnt about the association via JM Hamade’s class And the Flowers Bloomed Like Stars: Plants of the Lunar Stations and Fixed Stars. My experience with linseed prior to this only existed in the way I have used linseed oil in the past in making oil paintings. Likewise, the flax seed is sometimes used as a superfood additive to yogurt or as toppings on meals.
In terms of uses in magic, The Green Mysteries: An Occult Herbarium goes into detail about how flax seeds can be used in magic related to love, divination and necromancy— all of these being activities which the fixed star Castor also rules over. It is also a protective herb, which makes sense considering how Castor is a protector of sailors as they travel through rough waters. For example, according The Green Mysteries:
“Two separate formulae from the ancient spell-hoard of Greek Magical Papyri made use of Flax leaves for necromantic oracles derived from corpses. The first, entitled Pitys the Thessalian’s Enquiry of a Corpse, compels a cadaver to speech by the insertion of Flax lead inscribed with voces magicae into its mouth. After compounding a magical ink from “red ochre, burnt Myrth, juice of fresh Wormwood, evergreen and Flax”, the magician writes the words AZEL BALEMACHO on a Flax leaf and places it in the corpse’s mouth prior to question-ing. The second spell was used for discovering a thief. Considerably more complex, it required in-humation of the head of a drowned man, and flax planted on top of it. When mature, the Flax plant was harvested and the head excavated, washed in milk, and wrapped. The Flax leaves were then used in a knot-spell: the plant was invoked and the suspect’s name uttered twice before tying the plant in a knot. As the knot was drawn, it would compel the suspect to speak aloud.
Several ritual traditions have constellated around the sprinkling of Flax seeds upon the earth, either to render it fruitful, or to drive off ghosts and malevolent sprites. Curiously, an old Norwegian spell for constraining the spirits of those who haunt after death involves sprinkling Flax seeds about the homestead or in the coffin with the deceased. This dual power of commanding and restraining the corpse reveals a strong necromantic complex within the plant, and the Norwegian spell also participates in the phenomenon of seed-scattering magic, a general feature of which is to confound spirits by occupying them with counting. In the traditions of American Hoodoo magic, Flax seeds are cast upon the ground in charms for confusing or trapping evil spirits.”
Likewise, the flax is associated with weaving— something I associate with the weaving of fate and the weaving of tales. Again, this is an art which falls under the purview of Castor too. In addition to this, there exists a variation of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale whereupon a splinter of flax puts Talia (the beauty) to sleep. Though Talia is unconscious, she gives birth to twins—one of whom keeps sucking her finger. Talia awakens because the twin has sucked out the flax that got stuck in her finger. It should be noted too that the twins in this tale are associated with the ‘sun and moon’, something Castor and Pollux are associated with too. Moreover, the theme of sleep/death and resurrection/awakening is yet another motif associated with the tale of the Gemini twins.
On the Castor Star System
Although the fixed star Castor is commonly referred to as a ‘star’, it is in truth a ‘star system’ composed of three pairs of six individual stars. More information about the scientific aspect of the star system can be read here. It is for this reason, however, that the ritual utilizes six flax seeds, each one dedicated to a star of the Castor system.
Before the Rite
Prior to being inspired to perform this rite, I was initially working with Castor since late November to write a poem a day—or, at least, a few lines of poetry a day, for a specified period of time. After having done so and written many poems, handwriting them onto a booklet I dedicated to Castor, I picked out six poems which I am most proud of. I folded the pages of those poems and placed them in a jar of linseed oil, and infused the oil further with a small amount of genuine honeycomb.
Leading up to the ritual, I recommend drinking or eating things associated with Castor. This could be bamboo—either as a meal, or as a tea—or just linseed seeds, sprinkled onto yogurt drizzled with honey. I also recommend you have an established devotional relationship with Castor or spirits of the star prior to performing the ritual. For some context, I have Castor on both at an angle of my natal chart and also on the meridian. I’ve also been performing devotions to Castor since mid-2022, and I am grateful to be in the possession of a Castor talisman made by JM Hamade. The point is: the stronger of a relationship you already have with Castor, the more effective the ritual would be.
Ritual Timing
I recommend performing the ritual when a) the moon is conjunct Castor, or b) Castor is on the ascendant or midheaven or c) whenever Castor is visible in the sky. However, it should be understood that although astrological magic may require precise elections, there are tricks in stellar witchcraft (credits to Sasha Ravitch for coining the term) that one may use to call upon stars even though the stars may not even be observable in the sky, or may even be beneath the horizon. Having a talisman that holds an essence of the star in it is one way to bypass the need for elections. Having pacts with certain stellar gods or spirits may also be another way. So, even if you are in a place of light pollution (like, in a city) or cloudy weather (like, the UK), it is still possible to practice stellar witchcraft even if you could not ‘see’ the star— although, I personally do have a preference for being able to see the star with my own naked eye, as it makes things ‘easier’.
The Ritual
You need:
- A jar of food-grade linseed oil, infused with six poems you’ve written (dedicated to Castor) and a bit of genuine honeycomb, preferably locally sourced.
- Twelve linseed seeds: six to offer to Castor, and six more as a ritual component
- A small bowl, preferably copper
- A pipette / dropper
First, perform the Invocation of I from Azoëtia (found on page 8 of the Sethos Edition). Then, from the same text, perform the Proclamation of the Living Temple (found on page 23 of the Sethos Edition). If you do not have access to the text or do not wish to engage with the text, then you can skip this step. I personally find these two invocations to be helpful in priming the body and self for magical exposure to stellar light.
Next, go to your ritual space (ideally an open space beneath the Gemini constellation) and open a ritual circle using whatever methods you wish. I personally do this by drawing an encircled cross using a ‘dagger’ I made, based upon the Tenth Holy Letter of the Azoëtia. The dagger acts as an arthame of sorts and is made from clay which has tasted blood and wine and other components, and has a bloodstone as its heart. You can use whatever tool or method you wish to prepare your ritual space, but below is the ‘rune’ of the circle that I like to use, taken from the Azoëtia.
“Circle of the Full Moon, Circle of the Sun at Noon, Circle of the Earth’s Horizon, Circle of the Seven Stars, Protect ye all that shall work herein. Find all Power here raised and summoned. Bridge Thou the Worlds of Gods and Men, and be Thou sealed: the Sigil of the Round Dance, the Wheel of High Sabbat.”
Then, take six flax seeds and strewn them across the circle as an offering to Castor, and take the remaining six and place them in the bowl and fill the bowl with oil (the one you have previously infused). When you are ready, say the Invocation of Alpha Geminorum:
“Lambent is the Head of the Foremost Twin, Al Ras al Taum al Muqadim. I feel your Light like a Song: the Song of Six Melodies entwined in a sailor’s knot of flax twine, the Song of Prophecy uttered by the drunken lips of Pythia, the Song of Two Lovers that not even Death could separate.
I ask of you, O Radiant Horse-Headed Twin, imbue your Light within my Sorcerous Body. May my supple flesh partake of your honeyed Light—the sinistral hand, the dextral hand, the sinistral foot, the dextral foot, the heart center and the center of my head—so I may walk this Earth singing praises of you, singing praises of Hope, singing praises of Love. My Mouth is the Temple of the Serpent’s Tongue, a Devourer of Souls and a Receiving Chalice. May the Flare Stars grant me the gift of Starlight upon my Tongue, swallowed down my Throat and into my Body. May the Flare Stars grant me the gift of all that you embody, of whatever your generosity sees fit to give. Praise be to the Six Stars, to whom I offer Six Seeds! Praise be to the Six Stars of the Head of the Foremost Twin, Al Ras al Taum al Muqadim!”
Raise the bowl (filled with oil and seeds) up to the sky, towards Castor. Once the light of the stars have touched the contents of the bowl, dip a finger into the oil and anoint six points of your body with the oil: anoint the left hand, the right hand, the left foot, the right foot, the chest/heart, and the head. Then take your pipette and drop six drops of the oil onto your tongue and swallow it.
The ritual is done. Repeat it whenever you feel the need to do so.
The Leftovers
Depending on the size of your bowl and how much oil you use, you should have six seeds and some oil left in the bowl. You can take the six seeds and place them in a roller bottle and fill the bottle with linseed oil, so you can anoint yourself with the oil in the future. I recommend consecrating this bottle one more time by burying the bottle in a bowl of flax seeds and lighting a beeswax candle on top of it whilst praying to Castor.
I also recommend using the Lovers tarot card in the consecration, either by placing it under the bowl or sticking it into the seeds (take care not to let the card accidentally catch fire). The Lovers, in tarot, correspond to the sign of the Gemini. It is, coincidentally, also the sixth card in a deck.
Part 2 – Tales of Loss and Fire and Faith: Fixed Stars in FFXIV
Introduction
The tale of Castor and Pollux is the interplay of light, shadow and darkness. A recurring quote that ties the majority of Final Fantasy XIV together is the mantra that our player character repeats again and again:
“For those we have lost. For those we can yet save.”
Pollux is the one who mourns for what is lost. Pollux wears the willing chains of grief, the burdens of regret, carrying on his back the casket of what could’ve been, the coffin of what should’ve been. Potential that never bloomed. Every flower that is cut down before they get the chance to blossom. Lives and hopes which are cut short fall into the waterlogged realm of Pollux. Castor, on the other hand, has his sights set on the horizon. Castor looks to the future: what is yet to come, the promise of brighter skies after a storm.
In this exploration, I wish to propose that the themes associated with Pollux can be understood through the narrative arc of the character of Emet-Selch. Meanwhile, the traits associated with Castor can be best exemplified through the characters of Venat, G’raha Tia, and the player character themself, the Warrior of Light. Initially, I was going to link Pollux to Hermes and Meteion. But, upon second thoughts, I begin to associate those two characters more so with the annihilation of Achernar rather than the melancholy and grief of Pollux.
Additionally, it should be noted that other people have discussed fixed stars in relation to films and media before, such as Sasha Ravitch and JM Hamade with Arcturus and Alphard, and Azur who wrote a blog post discussing stars in pop culture— I am not the first to do so. But, I believe, no one else (as far as I am aware) has written about fixed stars in relation to video games or MMORPGs before. So, this is my attempt, especially as I do consider gaming to be an art form, and hopefully it makes sense to both gamers and non-gamers alike.
MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW
Hades / Emet-Selch
“These memories ache with the weight of tomorrow.”
Emet-Selch spends his time wallowing in the sunken ruins of Amaurot — the bygone city he loved and poured his heart into — and populates the city with illusions of dead citizens and dead friends, the city being a place stuck in time, doomed to repeat the Final Days leading up to the Sundering like a tape recording to be replayed over and over. In other words, he fills the city with ghosts. The city, whose name comes from the root word of ‘amor’ meaning ‘love’, is a monument and a gravestone to all who died or gave their lives. It is implied that in the millenia since the end of the World Unsundered, Emet-Selch spends his time watching over this haunted, mournful place. It is befitting too that the player would later learn that Emet-Selch’s true name is Hades, the God of the Dead and the Underworld.
One goal pushes him forward: the desire to bring back the things he has lost. Just as Pollux is willing to give up his own life to bring back Castor, Emet-Selch is willing to go to unfathomable lengths to resurrect the world and people he once knew and loved. In a previous blog post about Castor and Pollux, I had written the following:
“This grief that Pollux experienced, a grief so profound he would rather die than spend a life apart from his twin, is so immense and yet due to the inability for the grief to be integrated, the emotions are forgotten. Again, to quote Clark (2000): ‘the feelings that are constellated with this loss are consciously forgotten, flowing into the Lethe, the Underworld river of forgetting. The potent feelings of grief, awoken by the separation from the other, are interred and denied conscious access, becoming shades of feelings: a sense of emptiness, something feels missing or lost, a feeling of incompleteness’. In this light, it could perhaps be concluded that the twins’ association with the Underworld is less related to the concept of death itself, and more so the concept of loss and grief, especially with regards to loss as a form of forgetting.”
A major spoiler and revelation of Emet-Selch’s story arc is that, in actuality, he has forgotten how he was warned about the end of the world priorly. He has forgotten the very events that set off what is tantamount to the apocalypse. He has forgotten that it was the Warrior of Light, the very person whom he is now fighting against, who is the reincarnation of his best friend. He has forgotten the true origins of his grief. In other words, his memories are fragmented and, by extension, so is his grief. Only after his memories return after his death does he find a semblance of peace, an opportunity to integrate and move on and rest.
Pollux’s ability to be both the psychopomp — the guide and protector and shepherd of souls — and the necromancer — the one who resurrects the souls — is depicted through Emet-Selch’s various actions as well. In the very climax of Endwalker, Emet-Selch (along with Hythlodaeus) assist in guiding us through the Aetherial Sea (a place where souls go after death, something akin to the afterlife), making a path for us to travel where we need to go. Likewise, he has a mastery over the ‘Lifestream’, the current of Aether that flows through all things. It is through this control that he is able to ‘resurrect’ or bring back souls who are lost adrift, such as when he helped bring back Y’shtola. Yet, there are limits to his abilities. Things even he cannot truly resurrect: Hythlodaeus for example, along with the rest of the souls of those who gave themselves to Zodiark. This echoes Pollux’s inability to truly bring Castor back. Castor still lives a liminal life, spending half his time in the heavens and half his time in the Underworld.
The final point I noticed about Emet-Selch in relation to Pollux is regarding the Convocation crystals. Each member of the Convocation of Fourteen has a constellation associated with them, and we learn from the crystals that the seat of Emet-Selch is associated with Gemini, the home constellation of Castor and Pollux.
G’raha Tia / The Crystal Exarch
“When I was a boy, many long years ago…I yearned to stand tall as the heroes of eld. But like a fool seeking to pluck the stars from the heavens, my every attempt to reprise their deeds fell short… And then, one day, an all but forgotten dream from my youth stood before me, in the flesh. A hero who looked to the horizon and beyond, and saw I knew not what. All I knew was that I would give anything to stand at that hero’s side.”
G’raha Tia starts off as a young man yearning for adventure, to be a hero like the heroes in the stories he read about in his youth. When he finally meets a figure who is a true hero, someone who looks up to, he does get the chance to go on ‘adventures’ with his idol, only for the adventure to be cut short as he has to made a sacrifice—the first of many—to lock himself away in the Crystal Tower to save the hero he now calls his friend.
“If you like, I will tell you a tale. A tale of a world on the brink. Of a people who never gave up on the future.”
Like Castor, his role, in the narrative, is both that of the narrator—the storyteller—and the one who tends to the flame of hope. He keeps the Warrior of Light ‘alive’ by telling their tale to others, ensuring that the hero continues to live on in their tale, a tale which inspires hope in those who hear it, allowing for hope to flourish at a time when the world is literally on the brink of an apocalypse. Later on, in one timeline when the Warrior of Light does indeed die, he is the one who utilizes the power of hope and story to manipulate time and space to bring the Warrior of Light back to save the world once more. When the Warrior of Light meets G’raha Tia again, he is no longer young but old and wise, very much the embodiment of the wizard-mentor archetype in the Hero’s Journey to guide the hero to where they were meant to be.
“The Warrior of Light’s tale is one of unyielding bravery. To tell it was to feel courage; to hear it was to feel hope. It was a breath of inspiration in an age of suffocating shadow. In the histories of a fallen nation was our hero hailed as its greatest ally. In the timeworn pages of a noble’s memoirs were his deeds joyously retold. For many, these stories were the flame which warmed them through the coldest of nights. And so it should come as little surprise that the plan found no shortage of volunteers, concerning as it did the Warrior of Light himself. It was their chance to add their own verse to the hero’s saga. He was the lodestar that brought them all together, to send their final message back through time and space… to him: ‘the light of your legacy was our torch in the darkness. Burn bright again… and live.’ I am merely the bearer of that wish, come to ensure it is safely delivered.”
After making the ultimate sacrifice—coming to the Warrior of Light’s aid, using the last of his strength to drive their enemies away—G’raha Tia allows himself to become crystalized, becoming one with the Crystal Tower, in other words, to die. Only, like Castor who too transcends death by becoming one with the stars, G’raha Tia gives to the Warrior of Light a spirit vessel containing his soul and memories for the Warrior of Light to use to bring him back. Yet, it is not a true resurrection. His soul and memories merge with that of his younger self from another timeline (the one who originally was trapped in the Crystal Tower), and when he wakes he is arguably something else entirely: something not quite his younger self, something that is the memories of his older self superimposed onto that of his other body.
“My friend. With you, my mind and memories shall travel to the ends of the world and beyond. But in this place shall my body stand immovable. May it serve as an undying promise, not only to those who looked to me for leadership, but to any soul who has known despair, that hope is everlasting. For in times of hardship, when you fear you cannot go on… the joy you have known, the pain you have felt, the prayers you have whispered and answered— they shall ever be your strength and your comfort. This I hope— I believe, here at memory’s end.”
In the end, what is important is that—after all the little and large deaths and the long nights of slumber—he is alive.
And, most importantly, he gets to live once more and go on more adventures with the Warrior of Light, the hero he looks up to, the friend he loves.
“If I was to tell you that this isn’t the end, that we will meet again… would you believe me?”
G’raha Tia is the embodiment of how we all live on in the stories others tell of us. He even gets to play many of the roles common to the Hero’s Journey: that of the ally, the mentor, even the (false) villain at one point, eventually becoming a hero himself. The themes of hope, of adventure, of heroism, of storytelling, of death-and-resurrection, of not giving up in the face of utter despair, all of these are Castor-ian themes which are evident in the character of G’raha Tia.
“Stand tall, my friend
May all of the dark lost inside you find light again
In time tumbling, turning we seek amends
Eternal winds to the land descend
Our journey will never end.”
Although I do not have the exact birth data of his voice actor, Jonathan Bailey (who you may recognize from Bridgerton or Wicked or The Last Five Years), his voice actor is known to be a horse rider, going as far as to request the same horse that he bonded with to be rode upon both in Bridgerton and Wicked. I found this to be very on-the-nose and it made me suspect too that Bailey may have Castor placements as well. After all, Castor and Pollux are associated with horsemanship.
Venat / Hydaelyn
“Even now, I remember standing there. Locked in a moment where the sky is aflame. Where stars fall as tears, and screams darken the seas. Where resignation rots the trees. Where terror turns magicks into abominations.”
Without spoiling too much, Venat (a name which sounds very similar to Venus, perhaps intentionally so) acts as our mentor and guardian throughout the whole game. She feels, to me, to be the embodiment of Castor-Venus: both in her capacity for destruction and also the Luciferian aspect of her character. She is, after all, the one who threw the Ascians (the ‘angels’) out of their heaven, sundering the world anew and arguably being responsible for much of the game’s plot.
“No more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise. Henceforth he shall walk.”
She is both terrifying in her destructivity, and loving in her motherly benevolence. She is the one who also asks us, the player, to reflect on our love for life, on our love for the world that which we live in. She asks us if our journey as been “worthwhile”. She makes us reflect upon the beauty of the world and the reason why we live: the “lands that stretched on forever. Skies one could drown in. The heartbeat of nature, silent yet strong. And amidst it all a people. Beacons of light and life.”
“Hear… The song of Creation’s end
Feel…The sorrow at Hope’s Demise
Think… And find your way in the darkness.”
Most importantly though, Venat is an initiator. She tests us, forces us to prove our strength of will, before she sends us off to the edge of the universe to confront the Endsinger, the embodiment of despair. In the end, we emerge triumphant, and it is only due to her Light that we are able to stand tall against the darkness.
“And amidst deepest despair, light everlasting.”
The Warrior of Light / Azem
“The sorrow of a thousand thousand worlds weighs heavy. And yet you can walk on.”
Finally, we—the player character—is the Warrior of Light, formerly an individual who goes by the title of Azem. We are the Hero in the Hero’s Journey, and I would argue that the player character is representative of Castor-Canopus. Canopus is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina and the second-brightest star in the night sky, second only to Sirius. As a constellation, Canopus is the keel of a ship, and forms the southern foundation of the larger constellation of Argo Navis
Castor is the patron of sailors and Canopus is a ship. Both represent naval travel, which goes well with how the title Azem that the player character once held translates to ‘Traveler’. This is due to how Azem’s role among the Convocation is to be the one who is the ‘shepard to the stars’, to journey across the world to understand its many cultures and people. Moreover, to make the symbolism more obvious, we get to ride a familiar by the name of Argos who carries us through the stars, acting as our mount. Furthermore, as aforementioned, each member of the Convocation of Fourteen has a constellation associated with them, and we learn from the Convocation crystals that the seat of Azem is represented by the Sun— much like how Castor too is associated with light and the Sun.
Conclusion
Of course, there are many characters I could’ve discussed too, Hermes and Meteion being examples. Regardless, FFXIV: Shadowbringers and FFXIV: Endwalker is packed to the brim with themes associated with fixed stars Castor and Pollux. I highly recommend anyone interested to play it. Or, if not, then simply to have a listen to the songs from that game. Some which I have used as Castor ritual music before include the songs Flow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Close in the Distance, and Footfalls.
If you wish to read more blog posts about the Gemini stars, here are some other posts I have written:
Upon the Altar 