Sigils: How to Harness the Power of Meaningful Symbols

All real symbols have power: The rising sun, the peace sign, Harry Potter’s Lightening shaped scar, the ‘S’ on Superman’s Chest. But symbols only have power because people believe in them. Symbols have the power we give them. Let’s talk Sigils. We’ve discussed setting intentions and using manifestation as a tool for change already. Today I want to dive a little further. Sigils are a psychological tool that you can add to your belt to help manifest those positive changes.

History of Sigils

Sigils have been used for hundreds of years in a number of cultures and religions as marks of power. Symbols of everything from deities to prayers and promises. The word sigil derives from the Latin word segillum or ‘seal’ and etymologists also speculate connections to the Hebrew word segula meaning ‘action, talisman, word’.

The Ancient Egyptians used sigils for invoking deities and for protection. In medieval they were common in the science of Alchemy. Sigils are one of those topics that usually has people getting defensive or accusatory quickly and I have never understood why. ‘Sigils’ as a concept is a very broad term, and they are ubiquitous.  

Don’t believe me? Star of David: Sigil. The cross of Jesus Christ: Sigil. Yin and Yang: Sigil. Buddhist Om: Sigil. Hamsa: Sigil. Nazar: Sigil. Triquetra: Sigil. Astrological Sign: Sigil. Zodiac: Sigil. Rose Compass: Sigil. Sun Symbol: Sigil. Moon Symbol: Sigil. See where I’m going with this?

These symbols travel, evolve and are absorbed and adapted by cultures as they move. It’s a concept that has always fascinated me and probably part of the reason I was so obsessed with the Dan Brown ‘Davinci Code Books’ and Tom Hanks’ later portrayal of Professor Langdon as a kid.

Formal Modern Uses

In modern witchcraft sigils are used to focus energy and strengthen manifestations. Some Wiccan doctrines use the practice of turning people’s names into sigils for positive sympathetical magics (general protection and positive attraction). These can be highly specific phrases turned into images, or general big concepts you are trying to introduce to your life: Protection, Guidance, Focus, Manifestation, or Determination.

Psychology and Sigils

From a psychological standpoint think of it as a meeting of “The Mind attracts what it dwells upon” and “Seeing with your Mind’s Eye”. ‘Out of sight out of mind’ but in reverse. Rewiring your brain isn’t easy.  A lot of people struggle with positive affirmations; with our inner dialogue either being too loud or not loud enough. It’s very easy to get disconnected from it, or have it be drowned out by the constant flood of outside input.  

Sigils provide a visual reminder, a front-and-center image to keep at the forefront of your day-to-day existence. Which, if you are a visual person, or ADHD like me and struggle to keep specific thoughts in your head at any given second- is a priceless tool. Sigils provide a visual touchstone during the chaos of any given day to remind me about whatever my current manifestation or self-talk project is.

Nothing is inherently ‘powerful’ or ‘mystical’ about the concept of sigils. Symbols have power because we give them power. The idea behind the application of sigils is that it is a grounding point or a tool to help you focus on the manifestation at hand.

Creating and Using Sigils

Technically, you could choose any existing image or symbol as the touchstone for your manifestation. However, if it’s a symbol that already has a strong meaning attached to it- that can kind of defeat the purpose. Plus, you want it to be as specific to you as you can make it. You want the association of that symbol to be so strong in your own mind that it creates instant visual reinforcement every time you see it. It should also be highly specific to your current project. Unfortunately, using standard symbols makes this hard as almost all of them have some kind meaning attached to them already.

So how do we bypass this? We make our own symbol. Now if you’re an uber creator like my sister, Taylor, where ideas and pictures readily flow into your mind- this could be anything and probably sounds like a piece of cake. If you’re more like me, and you need some kind of inspiration, flow of concept, or launching pad this can sound really challenging.

The good news is: There are tools for that. A number of different systems exist for creating sigils and they are all different and range from simple and more runic to complex and highly abstract. An easy pinterest or google search will bring up a myriad of results and how-tos.

I prefer the straightforward method because I feel like life is complex and abstract enough without me mucking about too much.

Simply Put:

1. Write out your sentence, desire, or goal in Capital Letters. An example might be: SETTING HEALTHY BOUNDARIES.
2. Get rid of every repeating letter. The above example will leave you with: GLYBOUDR
3. Simplify the remaining letters into basic shapes.
4. Overlay those basic shapes into a single graphic.
5. Enclose the graphic in a basic geometric shape (circle, triangle, square, hexagon, or trapezoid, etc.) I am partial to circles because they are soft and warm, but sometimes a more masculine shape feels better for a particular concept etc. You do you.

Application:

Once all that is done, you now have a sigil. Now you take that image and you put it someplace you will see it all the time, or multiple places. Your car, your bathroom mirror, the door of your fridge, the wall of your cubicle, your wallet. You can draw it on a piece of paper, wood burn it onto something if you want to get more fancy, or take a picture of it and make it your phone screen. But every time you see that image you repeat your phrase and you repeat this action until the picture is synonymous with your phrase.

After a day or two of essentially Pavloving yourself with this concept or idea it takes on a bit of a life of its own. Instead of you seeing that graphic and making an effort to intentionally repeat your message to yourself as a reminder, the graphic does it for you and it goes from conscious effort to unconscious byproduct, subliminally reinforcing that thought every time you see it. It magnetizes itself into the forefront of your mind all on its own. Congratulations- you’ve given a symbol power. Maybe not to everyone, but for yourself. That’s impressive and the amazing thing is- it wasn’t even that hard.

Give it a try

Next time you feel like you’re struggling to manifest something or get truly intentional about a change in your life go ahead and give this a try. It really is just spicy psychology. If you’re an out of sight out of minder like me, then put it in sight in a way that isn’t just another ignored sticky note with a scribbled sentence on it crammed in with all the others. Make it unique, noticeable, and something that will catch your eye. I really hope it helps!

All the best,

Mikaela