View source for Sigil

{{Short description|Magical symbol}}
{{This|symbols used in magic}}
{{primary|date=October 2025}}
[[File:Goetia seals.jpg|thumb|Goetic seals from the ''[[Lesser Key of Solomon]]'']]
{{magic sidebar|Forms}}

A '''sigil''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɪ|dʒ|ɪ|l}})<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Chambers Dictionary |publisher=Chambers |year=2003 |isbn=0-550-10105-5 |edition=9th |chapter=sigil}}</ref> is a type of symbol used in [[Magic (supernatural)|magic]]. The term usually refers to a pictorial [[signature]] of a [[Spirit (supernatural entity)|spirit]] (such as an [[angel]], [[demon]], or [[deity]]). In modern usage, especially in the context of [[chaos magic]], a sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitioner's desired outcome.

==History==
[[File:72_Goeta_sigils.png|thumb|72 seals from ''[[The Lesser Key of Solomon]]'']]

The term ''sigil'' derives from the [[Latin]] {{Lang|la|sigillum}} (pl. {{Lang|la|sigilla}}), meaning "[[Seal (emblem)|seal]]".{{sfnp|Weschcke|Slate|2011|p={{pn|date=July 2021}}}}  In [[Medieval European magic|medieval magic]], the term ''sigil'' was commonly used to refer to occult signs which represented various [[angel]]s and [[demon]]s which the practitioner might summon.{{sfnp|Weschcke|Slate|2011|p={{pn|date=July 2021}}}}

===''The Lesser Key of Solomon''===
{{further|List of sigils of demons}}

Magical training books called [[grimoire]]s often listed pages of such sigils. A particularly well-known list is in ''[[The Lesser Key of Solomon]]'', 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]] of the spirit and thus granted the magician a measure of control over the beings.{{sfnp|Peterson|2001|pp=xi-xviii}}

==Methods of construction==
A common method of creating the sigils of certain spirits was to use ''[[kameas]]'', a special use case of [[Magic square#Magic squares in occultism|magic squares]]—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.{{sfnp|Greer|2003|p=438}}

{{quote|The word sigil [...] has a long history in [[Western magic]]. The members of the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn|Golden Dawn]] were perfectly familiar with it ("combining the letters, the colours, the attributions and their Synthesis, thou mayest build up a telesmatic Image of a Force. The Sigil shall then serve thee for the tracing of a Current which shall call into action a certain Elemental Force") and it was used in the making of [[talisman]]s. The sigil was like a signature or sign of an occult entity.{{sfnp|Baker|2011|p={{pn|date=July 2021}}}}}}

==Austin Osman Spare==
English artist and occultist [[Austin Osman Spare]] (1886–1956) developed his own unique method of creating and using sigils, which has had a lasting effect on modern occultism. Spare did not agree with medieval practice of using these, arguing that such supernatural beings were simply [[complex (psychology)|complexes]] in the unconscious, and could be actively created through the process of sigilization.{{sfnp|Spare|2005|p={{pn|date=July 2021}}}}{{sfnp|Baker|2011|p={{pn|date=July 2021}}}}

Spare's technique became a cornerstone of [[sigil#chaos magic|chaos magic]].{{sfnp|Morrison|2003|p={{pn|date=July 2021}}}} It also influenced artist [[Brion Gysin]], who experimented with combining Spare's sigil method with the traditional form of magic squares:

{{quote|Calligraphic magick squares were one of the techniques most commonly applied by Gysin. He would reduce a name or an idea to a "glyph" and then write across the paper from right to left, turn the paper and do the same again, and so on, turning the paper around and around to create a multidimensional grid... The same techniques and consciously driven functional intention also permeated his paintings. In a very real sense, everything he created was an act of sorcery.{{sfnp|P-Orridge|2003|p={{pn|date=July 2021}}}}}}

==Chaos magic==
[[File:Sigil.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|A modern personal sigil]]

In [[chaos magic]], 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 [[monogram]]. The chaos magician then uses the [[gnosis (chaos magic)|gnostic state]] to "launch" or "charge" the sigil—essentially bypassing the conscious mind to implant the desire in the unconscious.{{sfnp|Sherwin|1992|p={{pn|date=July 2021}}}}{{sfnp|Morrison|2003|p={{pn|date=July 2021}}}} To quote Ray Sherwin:

{{quote|The magician acknowledges a desire, he lists the appropriate symbols and arranges them into an easily visualised glyph. Using any of the gnostic techniques he reifies the sigil and then, by force of will, hurls it into his subconscious from where the sigil can begin to work unencumbered by desire.{{sfnp|Sherwin|1992|p={{pn|date=July 2021}}}}}}

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".{{sfnp|Spare|2005|p={{pn|date=July 2021}}}}

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.{{sfnp|Hine|1998|p={{pn|date=July 2021}}}} 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]].{{sfnp|Rysen|1999}}{{sfnp|Emerson|1997}}

Later chaos magicians have expanded on the basic sigilization technique. [[Grant Morrison]] 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]] series ''[[The Invisibles]]'' was intended as such a hypersigil.{{sfnp|Morrison|2003|p={{pn|date=July 2021}}}} Morrison has also argued that modern [[Logo|corporate logos]] like "the [[Golden Arches|McDonald's Golden Arches]], the [[Swoosh|Nike swoosh]] and the [[Virgin Group|Virgin autograph]]" are a form of viral sigil:

{{quote|Corporate sigils are super-breeders. They attack unbranded imaginative space. They invade [[Red Square]], they infest the cranky streets of Tibet, they etch themselves into hairstyles. They breed across clothing, turning people into advertising hoardings... The logo or brand, like any sigil, is a condensation, a compressed, symbolic summoning up of the world of desire which the corporation intends to represent... [[Walt Disney]] died long ago but his sigil, that [[Disney logo|familiar, cartoonish signature]], persists, carrying its own vast weight of meanings, associations, nostalgia and significance.{{sfnp|Morrison|2003|p={{pn|date=July 2021}}}}}}

==See also==
* {{Annotated link|Apotropaic magic}}
* {{Annotated link|Behenian fixed star}}
* {{Annotated link|Ceremonial magic}}
* {{Annotated link|Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic and Alchemical Sigils|''Dictionary of Occult, Hermetic and Alchemical Sigils''}}
* {{Annotated link|Icelandic magical staves}}
* {{Annotated link|Runic magic}}
* {{Annotated link|Seal of Solomon}}
* {{Annotated link|Sigil of Baphomet}}
* {{Annotated link|Sigillum Dei|''Sigillum Dei''}}
* {{Annotated link|Sympathetic magic}}
* {{Annotated link|Veve|''Veve''}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist|25em}}

===Works cited===
{{Refbegin}}
*{{cite book |title=Austin Osman Spare: The Life and Legend of London's Lost Artist |last= Baker |first=Phil |publisher=Strange Attractor |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-907222-01-6}}
*{{cite web |url=https://www.chaosmatrix.org/library/chaos/texts/gegregor.html |title=Egregore Definition Compilation |last=Emerson |first=Gabriel |date=1997 |website=Chaos Matrix |access-date=June 7, 2018}}
* {{Cite book |last=Greer |first=John Michael |author-link=John Michael Greer |title=The New Encyclopedia of the Occult |title-link=The New Encyclopedia of the Occult |publisher=[[Llewellyn Publications]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-56718-336-8 |location=St. Paul}}
*{{cite book |title=Prime Chaos: Adventures in Chaos Magic |last=Hine |first=Phil |author-link=Phil Hine |publisher=New Falcon Publications |year=1998 |isbn=978-1-60925-529-9}}
*{{cite book |title=Book of Lies: The Disinformation Guide to Magick and the Occult |last= Morrison |first=Grant |author-link=Grant Morrison |chapter=Pop Magic! |publisher=Red Wheel Weiser |year=2003| editor-last=Metzger |editor-first=Richard |isbn=978-0-9713942-7-8}}
*{{cite book |title=Book of Lies: The Disinformation Guide to Magick and the Occult |last= P-Orridge |first=Genesis |chapter=Magick Squares and Future Beats |publisher=Red Wheel Weiser |year=2003 |editor-last=Metzger |editor-first=Richard |isbn=978-0-9713942-7-8}}
* {{cite book |editor-last=Peterson |editor-first=Joseph H. |title=The Lesser Key of Solomon: Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis |location=York Beach, ME |publisher=Weiser Books |year=2001}}{{ISBN?}}
*{{cite web |url=https://www.chaosmatrix.org/library/chaos/texts/fen-egre.html |title=The Fluid Continuum --or-- What the f***'s an Egregore? |last=Rysen |first=Fenwick |date=1999 |website=Chaos Matrix |access-date=June 7, 2018}}
*{{cite book |title=The Book of Results |last=Sherwin |first=Ray |publisher=Revelations 23 Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-1-874171-00-3}}
*{{cite book |first=Austin Osman |last=Spare |author-link=Austin Osman Spare |title=The Book of Pleasure: The Psychology of Ecstasy |publisher=I-H-O Books |edition=Facsimile |year=2005 |isbn=1-872189-58-X}}
*{{cite book |title=The Llewellyn Complete Book of Psychic Empowerment: A Compendium of Tools & Techniques for Growth & Transformation |last1=Weschcke |first1=Carl Llewellyn |last2=Slate |first2=Joe H. |publisher=Llewellyn Worldwide |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-7387-2986-2}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Carroll |author-link=Peter J. Carroll |title=Liber Null and Psychonaut |publisher=Weiser Books |year=1987 |isbn=0-87728-639-6}}
*{{cite web |url=https://matrix-five.com/cca/secret-of-secrets-book-free/ |title=Secret of Secrets: Reality is Programmable |last=El |first=Moorpheus |date=2011 |website=Matrix-Five |access-date=August 28, 2011}}
*{{cite web |url=https://www.chaosmatrix.org/library/chaos/texts/servitors.html |title=Servitors: Part Two of Sigils, Servitors, and Godforms |last=Marik |date=1998 |website=Chaos Matrix |access-date=June 7, 2018}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{Wiktionary-inline|sigil}}
*{{Commons category inline|Sigils}}

{{Chaos magic series}}
{{witchcraft}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigil}}

[[Category:Sigils| ]]
[[Category:Ceremonial magic]]
[[Category:Chaos magic]]
[[Category:Hermetic Qabalah]]
[[Category:Hermeticism]]
[[Category:Practical Kabbalah]]