Sigil (Dungeons
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A sigil () is a type of symbol used in
magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
. The term has usually referred to a pictorial
signature A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...
of a
deity A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...
or
spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...
. In modern usage, especially in the context of
chaos magic Chaos magic, also spelled chaos magick, is a modern tradition of magic. It initially emerged in England in the 1970s as part of the wider neo-pagan and magical subculture. Drawing heavily from the occult beliefs of artist Austin Osman Spare, ...
, sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitioner's desired outcome.


History

The use of symbols for magical or cultic purposes has been widespread since at least the
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
era. The term ''sigil'' derives from the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''sigillum'' (pl. ''sigilla'' or ''sigils''), meaning "
seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
." In medieval magic, the term ''sigil'' was commonly used to refer to occult signs which represented various
angels In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
and
demons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, anime, ...
which the practitioner might summon. The magical training books called
grimoire A grimoire ( ) (also known as a "book of spells" or a "spellbook") is a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination, and ...
s often listed pages of such sigils. A particularly well-known list is in ''
The Lesser Key of Solomon ''The Lesser Key of Solomon'', also known as ''Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis'' or simply ''Lemegeton'', is an anonymous grimoire on demonology. It was compiled in the mid-17th century, mostly from materials a couple of centuries older.''Lemegeto ...
'', in which the sigils of the 72 princes of the hierarchy of hell are given for the magician's use. Such sigils are considered by some to be the equivalent of the
true name A true name is a name of a thing or being that expresses, or is somehow identical to, its true nature. The notion that language, or some specific sacred language, refers to things by their true names has been central to philosophical study as wel ...
of the spirit and thus granted the magician a measure of control over the beings. A common method of creating the sigils of certain spirits was to use ''
kameas In recreational mathematics, a square array of numbers, usually positive integers, is called a magic square if the sums of the numbers in each row, each column, and both main diagonals are the same. The 'order' of the magic square is the number ...
'', a special use case of
magic squares In recreational mathematics, a square array of numbers, usually positive integers, is called a magic square if the sums of the numbers in each row, each column, and both main diagonals are the same. The 'order' of the magic square is the number o ...
— the names of the spirits were converted to numbers, which were then located on the magic square. The locations were then connected by lines, forming an abstract figure.


Austin Osman Spare

The artist and occultist
Austin Osman Spare Austin Osman Spare (30 December 1886 – 15 May 1956) was an English artist and occultism, occultist who worked as both a draughtsman and a painter. Influenced by Symbolism (arts), symbolism and art nouveau his art was known for its clear use o ...
(1886–1956) developed his own unique method of creating and using sigils, which has had a huge effect on modern occultism. Spare didn't agree with Medieval practice of using these, arguing that such supernatural beings were simply complexes in the unconscious, and could be actively ''created'' through the process of sigilization. Spare's technique became a cornerstone of chaos magic (see next section). It also influenced the artist
Brion Gysin Brion Gysin (19 January 1916 – 13 July 1986) was a British-Canadian painter, writer, sound poet, performance artist and inventor of experimental devices. He is best known for his use of the cut-up technique, alongside his close friend, the ...
, who experimented with combining Spare's sigil method with the traditional form of magic squares:


Chaos magic

In
chaos magic Chaos magic, also spelled chaos magick, is a modern tradition of magic. It initially emerged in England in the 1970s as part of the wider neo-pagan and magical subculture. Drawing heavily from the occult beliefs of artist Austin Osman Spare, ...
, following Spare, sigils are commonly created in a well ordered fashion by writing an intention, then condensing the letters of the statement down to form a sort of
monogram A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series o ...
. The chaos magician then uses the gnostic state to "launch" or "charge" the sigil – essentially bypassing the conscious mind to implant the desire in the unconscious. To quote Ray Sherwin: After charging the sigil, it is considered necessary to repress all memory of it. In the words of Spare, there should be "a deliberate striving to forget it". In modern chaos magic, when a complex of thoughts, desires, and intentions gains such a level of sophistication that it appears to operate autonomously from the magician's consciousness, as if it were an independent being, then such a complex is referred to as a
servitor In certain universities (including some colleges of University of Oxford and the University of Edinburgh), a servitor was an undergraduate student who received free accommodation (and some free meals), and was exempted from paying fees for lecture ...
. When such a being becomes large enough that it exists independently of any one individual, as a form of "group mind", then it is referred to as an
egregore Egregore (also spelled egregor; , ) is an occult concept representing a non-physical entity that arises from the collective thoughts of a distinct group of people. Historically, the concept referred to angelic beings, or watchers, and the specif ...
. Later chaos magicians have expanded on the basic sigilization technique.
Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, w ...
coined the term ''hypersigil'' to refer to an extended work of art with magical meaning and willpower, created using adapted processes of sigilization. Their
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
series ''
The Invisibles ''The Invisibles'' is a comic book series published by the Vertigo imprint of DC Comics from 1994 to 2000. It was created and scripted by Scottish writer Grant Morrison, and drawn by various artists throughout its publication. The series loosel ...
'' was intended as such a hypersigil. Morrison has also argued that modern corporate logos like "the
McDonald's Golden Arches McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...
, the Nike swoosh and the Virgin autograph" are a form of viral sigil:


See also

*
Apotropaic magic Apotropaic magic (from Greek "to ward off") or protective magic is a type of magic intended to turn away harm or evil influences, as in deflecting misfortune or averting the evil eye. Apotropaic observances may also be practiced out of supersti ...
– Magic intended to repel evil *
Behenian fixed star The Behenian fixed stars are a selection of fifteen stars considered especially useful for magical applications in the medieval astrology of Europe and the Arab world. Their name derives from Arabic ''bahman'', "root," as each was considered a s ...
– Fifteen stars with magical significance in medieval astrology *
Ceremonial magic Ceremonial magic (ritual magic, high magic or learned magic) encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic. The works included are characterized by ceremony and numerous requisite accessories to aid the practitioner. It can be seen as an ex ...
– System of magical rituals drawing from many historical and modern sources *
Icelandic magical staves Icelandic magical staves () are sigils that were credited with supposed magical effect preserved in various Icelandic grimoires, such as the Galdrabók, dating from the 17th century and later. Table of magical staves See also * Galdr A (pl ...
– Sigils found in ancient Icelandic grimoires * List of sigils of demons *
Runic magic There is some evidence that, in addition to being a writing system, runes historically served purposes of magic. This is the case from the earliest epigraphic evidence of the Roman to the Germanic Iron Age, with non-linguistic inscriptions and the ...
– Magic using runes or runestones *
Seal of Solomon The Seal of Solomon or Ring of Solomon ( he, חותם שלמה, '; ar, خاتم سليمان, ') is the legendary signet ring attributed to the Israelite king Solomon in medieval mystical traditions, from which it developed in parallel within ...
– Purported magical signet ring of the biblical King Solomon *
Sigil of Baphomet The Sigil of Baphomet is the official insignia of the Church of Satan. It first appeared on the cover of '' The Satanic Mass LP'' in 1968 and later on the cover of ''The Satanic Bible'' in 1969. The sigil has been called a "material pentagram" r ...
– The official insignia of the Church of Satan * ''
Sigillum Dei The Sigillum Dei (seal of God, or signum dei vivi, symbol of the living God, called by John Dee the Sigillum Dei Aemeth) is a magical diagram, composed of two circles, a pentagram, two heptagons, and one heptagram, and is labeled with the name ...
'' – "Seal of God", dating to at least the Middle Ages; purported to give a skilled user the ability to control all living creatures except archangels *
Sympathetic magic Sympathetic magic, also known as imitative magic, is a type of magic based on imitation or correspondence. Similarity and contagion James George Frazer coined the term "sympathetic magic" in '' The Golden Bough'' (1889); Richard Andree, however ...
– Set of magical beliefs and practices centered around the principles that like effects like and connections between objects remain, regardless of time or distance *
Veve A ''veve'' (also spelled ''vèvè'' or ''vevè'') is a religious symbol commonly used in different branches of Vodun throughout the African diaspora, such as Haitian Vodou and Louisiana Voodoo. The ''veve'' acts as a "beacon" for the ''loa'', a ...
– A magic and religious symbol in Voodoo representing a lwa


References


Citations


Works cited

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Further reading

* * *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sigil Ceremonial magic Chaos magic Hermetic Qabalah Hermeticism Magic symbols Practical Kabbalah