Sigil Witch - Tumblr Posts
Load a Sigil
Meditating on the sigil. Focus on the sigil intensely. Chanting over the sigil. Burning candles around, or on the sigil. Rubbing blood upon the sigil(a small drop of your blood is enough)). Anointing the sigil with essential oils. Anointing of the sigil with sexual fluids. Spitting on the sigil. Putting the sigil in the sunlight, or moonlight. Having the sigil on your person while going through your day, keeping it with you so that it can feed off your energy. Heating up the sigil(burning the stealth). after loading your sigil, don't let anyone else see it (you can only see it yourself)
I don’t really know what people generally call this method of sigil making, so I’m just calling it “Letter Shaping” because you’re using the basic shapes from certain letters. EDIT: It’s one of many variations of the ‘Spare Method’ created by Austin Oswald Spare in the early 1900s This is the most common form of sigil making, and it allows the most creative influence. As you see above the sigils are for nearly the same thing, yet the sigils came out completely different. Not because the purpose was different, but because I approached them both a different creative way, and that’s what I like so much about this method. There’s a lot of freedom and personalization involved.
(UPDATE: Here’s a link to a guide on how to deconstruct letters down to basic shapes)
Introduction to Sigils
What is a Sigil
A sigil is a symbol that is drawn for a specific magical purpose; to represent the intent of the drawer or to represent a specific entity.
In Medieval systems of ceremonial magick systems, a sigil was the symbol of a specific entity, an angel or a demon which allowed a magician to summon and control the entity. In modern magical systems, a sigil is often used in magical work to represent a specific intention or to give shape to a thought form. In Chaos magic, a word or a statement may be reduced to symbolic form to create a sigil for ritual use using Spare’s technique. Sigils may also be created using someone’s name and used as a target for sympathetic magical practice.
A sigil may be drawn, carved or wood burned using any medium you like, but a pen and paper is usual. When the sigil is no longer needed, it can then easily be destroyed by tearing it up and/or burning it. While rituals surrounding drawing and activating sigils vary, the most important thing is to keep your mind on the goal while drawing the sigil. It can then be carried, hidden nearby or hung up where people can see it as is appropriate.
The word sigil derives from the Latin sigillum meaning “seal” and is likely also related to the Hebrew segula meaning “word, action, talisman”. The plural of sigil may be sigilla or sigils.
Spare’s Technique
Spare’s Technique is a method for creating sigils that was developed by Austin Osman Spare right around the turn of the 20th century. It involves creating a sigil using the letters in a written statement of intent.
First, the statement of intent is written on a piece of paper.
Traditionally, the statement begins with “This is my will…” or “This is my wish…” Though I’ve seen modern practitioners use “MY Will = …” etc. Or dispense with this part altogether.
Most modern practitioners who have dispensed with the “MY WILL” statement, avoid any statement indicating “wishing” or “hoping”, lest one continue wishing and hoping.
The statement must be a positive statement, that is, the words “no”, “not”, “never”, etc. should not appear in the statement. Instead of saying “This is my will that I will never get in a plane crash” you would write “This is my will; I travel safely by plane.” Instead of “This is my will; That the floodwaters do not reach my house.” you would write “This is my Will, that my house is safe from the floodwaters”.
It is also important that the statement be very specific to avoid any situations that could involve your Will coming to pass in a way that is unacceptable to you. The statement “I have a new home.” Could be brought about by a serious accident that put you in a nursing home, or the death of a family member resulting in your inheritance or a transfer in your job that causes you to move out of necessity. Best to state “I have purchased a three-bedroom home in Birmingham.” or “It is my Will to purchase a three-bedroom home in Birmingham.” – but try not to use any extra words, be concise.
Next, Reduce the Statement to an Image
Remove all the vowels and write down the consonants, but only write down each consonant one time. You can convert numbers written as words into numerals if you like. At this time, you may also wish to convert the English letters into another language, an ancient or magical alphabet or whatever suits you. Or leave them in English as Spare did. Combine the remaining letters into a single image. Use the lines from one letter to make the lines for another letter, put letters within letters until you get the simplest image you can manage.
Voila, you have a sigil.
Spare was not the first person to use this method. It is reminiscent of sigils used by Agrippa and sigils found throughout the world in various languages, including bindrunes. The technique has been further refined since Spare’s time as well. Grant Morrison is credited with the most modern variant of this technique.
Using the Sigil You can use this sigil in a variety of ways. While the act of creating the sigil itself is a magical act that naturally causes you to focus your energy on the desired result, some prefer to use the sigil as a part of a larger spell. You may wish to use it for a petition or add it to a container spell or dress it and focus on it while raising energy- direct the energy into the sigil. You may choose to light a candle and chant over it or put it within your field of vision while raising energy in a more physical way. You can then hide it somewhere around your house or carry it on your person to bring the desired effect. Some schools of thought suggest you hide the sigil and forget all about it while others prefer to display it prominently.
